Lynching in America / Lynching of Charles Hale

Marker Text: Shortly after midnight on April 8, 1911, a mob of at least 200 white men lynched a Black man named Charles Hale in downtown Lawrenceville. The mob broke into the Lawrenceville Jail and abducted Mr. Hale from his cell, with no resistance from the police officers who were armed and responsible for protecting him. The mob dragged Mr. Hale to a telephone pole near the Gwinnett County Courthouse, hanged him, and then shot his body repeatedly. Law enforcement took no action and allowed his body to hang until the next day when white families, including children, posed for photographs with Mr. Hale’s mutilated body. The photographs show a sign hanging from Mr. Hale that reads, “Please do not wake him.” According to news reports, on April 7, a white farmer reported that his wife had been assaulted. A posse of white men formed by the sheriff to hunt down the alleged assailant encountered Mr. Hale in the nearby woods and captured him. The mob lynched Mr. Hale before he had the chance to defend himself against the accusation. County officials eventually had Mr. Hale’s body removed and buried in a paupers cemetery, making no effort to hold a coroner’s inquest or to identify mob participants. None of the mob participants or the county officials who failed to intervene were held accountable for the lynching of Charles Hale.