Pittsburgh in Atlanta in Fulton County, Georgia — The American South (South Atlantic)
Lynching in America ⎯⎯⎯ The Lynching of Dennis Hubert
Community Remembrance Project
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, June 11, 2023
1. Lynching in America side of marker
Inscription.
Lynching in America
Between 1865 and 1950, thousands of Black people were victims of lynching across the United States. Following the Civil War, many white Southerners fiercely resisted equal rights for African Americans and sought to uphold an ideology of white supremacy through intimidation and fatal violence. Lynching emerged as the most public and notorious form of racial terrorism, which often went beyond hanging and included death by gunshot, burning, or mutilation. White mobs regularly displayed complete disregard for the legal system, seizing their victims from police custody or lynching victims in broad daylight before crowds of spectators. State and federal officials largely tolerated the lawless killings of Black women, men, and children by not holding mob participants accountable for their crimes. Many Black people were lynched for resisting economic exploitation, violating perceived social customs, engaging in interracial relationships, or being accused of crimes, even when there was no evidence tying the accused to any offense. Even though lynchings occurred in communities with functioning legal systems,
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rarely were they followed by robust investigations or even an attempt to arrest the mob perpetrators. Many victims of racial terror lynching will never be known, but at least 595 racial terror lynchings have been documented in Georgia between 1865 and 1950. At least 36 of those victims were lynched in Fulton County.
The Lynching of Dennis Hubert
On the evening of June 15, 1930, a mob of seven white men lynched a young Black man named Dennis Hubert on the playground of Atlanta's segregated Crogman School for Black children. Dennis Hubert was 18 years old and a Divinity School student in his sophomore year at Morehouse College at the time of his death. The mob attacked Mr. Hubert around 6:00 pm, mistaking him for someone who had allegedly insulted a white woman in the park earlier that day. Eyewitnesses reported that Mr. Hubert asked the mob, “What do you want from me? I have done nothing.” Fifteen minutes later, the white men held a gun to the back of Mr. Hubert's head and shot him at point blank range. Because Mr. Hubert was the son of one of Atlanta's prominent Black families, the cold-blooded and terrorizing lynching sent shock
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, June 11, 2023
2. The Lynching of Dennis Hubert side of marker
waves throughout Fulton County, soliciting a response that was unusual for the time. Seven white men were eventually arrested and indicted for the lynching. But, even with confessions and two dozen eyewitnesses, the seven men were acquitted of murder and only two were convicted of lesser offenses. One newspaper stated that the minimal sentencing of only two years for the white man who shot Dennis Hubert in the head showed “just how cheaply the life of a Negro is held, no matter what his station in life may be, when it is taken by a white man.”
Erected 2022 by Fulton County Remembrance Coalition · Equal Justice Initiative.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights • Law Enforcement. In addition, it is included in the Lynching in America series list. A significant historical date for this entry is June 15, 1930.
Location. 33° 43.455′ N, 84° 23.872′ W. Marker is in Atlanta, Georgia, in Fulton County. It is in Pittsburgh. It is on Roy Street Southwest east of Windsor Street Southwest, on the left when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address:
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, June 11, 2023
3. The Lynching of Dennis Hubert / Lynching in America Marker
Regionally, this marker is in Georgia’s Piedmont. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Deep South. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Credits. This page was last revised on October 1, 2023. It was originally submitted on July 3, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 1,826 times since then and 49 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on July 3, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
