- Collection:
- New Georgia Encyclopedia
- Title:
- The Mallard Murder Case
- Date of Original:
- 2014-09-10
- Subject:
- African Americans--Crimes against--Georgia--Lyons
Lynching--Georgia--Lyons
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Civil right movements--Georgia
Georgia--Race relations - People:
- Mallard, Robert, -1948--Assassination
Mallard, Amy - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Toombs County, Lyons, 32.20435, -82.32179
- Medium:
- articles
- Type:
- Text
- Description:
- Encyclopedia article about the murder of Robert Mallard and the arrest of his wife. On November 20, 1948, a mob of twenty armed white men shot and killed African American Robert Mallard in front of his family in Lyons, the seat of Toombs County. The killing initially garnered little attention, but due in part to the outspokenness of Mallard's wife, the case soon became national news, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) entered the case. Despite no evidence linking her to the crime, Amy Mallard was arrested by local officials for her husband's murder. Eventually, two men—William Howell and Roderick Clifton—were indicted for the murder, but Howell was acquitted, and the charge against Clifton was dropped. After the acquittal, Amy Mallard toured the country on behalf of the NAACP, exposing the terror of mob violence in Georgia. The Mallard case revealed much about the practices of local and federal law-enforcement institutions, civil rights organizations, and the pre–civil rights era.
GSE identifier: SS8H10 - Metadata URL:
- https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/the-mallard-murder-case/
- Language:
- eng
- Additional Rights Information:
- If you wish to use content from the NGE site for commercial use, publication, or any purpose other than fair use as defined by law, you must request and receive written permission from the NGE. Such requests may be directed to: Permissions/NGE, University of Georgia Press, 330 Research Drive, Athens, GA 30602.
- Original Collection:
- Forms part of the New Georgia Encyclopedia
- Contributing Institution:
- New Georgia Encyclopedia (Project)
- Rights:
-
