Mobile in Mobile County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)
Michael Donald
Photographed By Mark Hilton, December 10, 2017
1. Michael Donald Marker
Inscription.
Michael Donald. . On March 21, 1981, 19-year-old Michael Donald was abducted, beaten, killed and hung from a tree on this street by members of the Ku Klux Klan. He was randomly selected in retaliation for an interracial jury failing to convict a black man for killing a white Birmingham policeman. The lynching was intended to intimidate and threaten blacks. Two Klansmen were arrested and convicted. Morris Dees, cofounder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, and Alabama state Senator Michael Figures filed suit on behalf of Michael Donald's mother, Beulah Mae Donald. A jury awarded her $7 million, bankrupting the United Klans of America. In 2006, Mobile renamed Herndon Avenue as Michael Donald Avenue.
On March 21, 1981, 19-year-old Michael Donald was abducted, beaten, killed and hung from a tree on this street by members of the Ku Klux Klan. He was randomly selected in retaliation for an interracial jury failing to convict a black man for killing a white Birmingham policeman. The lynching was intended to intimidate and threaten blacks. Two Klansmen were arrested and convicted. Morris Dees, cofounder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, and Alabama state Senator Michael Figures filed suit on behalf of Michael Donald's mother, Beulah Mae Donald. A jury awarded her $7 million, bankrupting the United Klans of America. In 2006, Mobile renamed Herndon Avenue as Michael Donald Avenue.
Erected by the African-American Heritage Trail of Mobile. (Marker Number 27.)
Location. 30° 41.423′ N, 88° 3.79′ W. Marker is in Mobile, Alabama, in Mobile County. Marker is on Michael Donald Avenue north of Old Shell Road, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is
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at or near this postal address: 114 Michael Donald Avenue, Mobile AL 36604, United States of America. Touch for directions.
2. View from marker looking north on Michael Donald Avenue.
Photographed By Mark Hilton, December 10, 2017
3. View from marker looking south on Michael Donald Avenue.
Credits. This page was last revised on December 12, 2017. It was originally submitted on December 12, 2017, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 1,332 times since then and 150 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on December 12, 2017, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.