"2 Lynched in Florida"
Dublin Core
Title
"2 Lynched in Florida"
Subject
Lynching
Race Relations Tallahassee
Description
In July of 1937, Richard Hawkins and Ernest Ponder stood accused of assaulting a local policeman with a weapon. In the early hours of July 20, a group of armed men wearing masks took the two from the jail, drove approximately three miles away, and shot them to death. In addition to shooting the accused, the mob had left menacing worded placards threating African Americans with similar vigilante justice if they transgressed cultural norms.
The lynching of Hawkins and Ponder had national impact. In response to a statement by Florida’s governor, Fred P. Cone, that this was “plain murder,” the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) urged that the state define it as a lynching. This incident also stimulated discussions of national anti-lynching legislation. The event also prompted a minor Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) ballistics inquiry. The active investigation, however, came to a close after a coroner’s jury, which deliberated for only three minutes, came to the conclusion that it could not determine who shot Ponders and Hawkins.
The lynching of Hawkins and Ponder had national impact. In response to a statement by Florida’s governor, Fred P. Cone, that this was “plain murder,” the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) urged that the state define it as a lynching. This incident also stimulated discussions of national anti-lynching legislation. The event also prompted a minor Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) ballistics inquiry. The active investigation, however, came to a close after a coroner’s jury, which deliberated for only three minutes, came to the conclusion that it could not determine who shot Ponders and Hawkins.
Creator
Wyandotte Echo (Kansas City, KS)
Source
original digital item located in America's Historical Newspapers that can be accessed with an account at lib.fsu.edu
Date
1937-07-30
Rights
These materials were gathered together as part of an effort between FSU's History Department and FSU's Libraries to assemble materials related to the history of race relations in Tallahassee. The user is responsible for investigating any copyright restrictions on further use of these materials outside this digital collection.
https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/?language=en
Identifier
HRRT_1150
Files
Citation
Wyandotte Echo (Kansas City, KS), “"2 Lynched in Florida",” A Community History of Race Relations: Tallahassee & Florida State University , accessed May 18, 2024, https://historyracerelationstlh.omeka.net/items/show/162.
Item Relations
| This Item | dcterms:relation | Item: "Harlem Stirred Up over Lynching Orgy" |
| This Item | dcterms:relation | Item: "Lynch Two in Florida" |
| This Item | dcterms:relation | Item: "Florida Paper Says Lynching Probe Ended" |
| Item: "Urge Florida Gov. to Act in Lynching" | dcterms:relation | This Item |
| Item: "Fla. Governor Urged to Punish Lynchers" | dcterms:relation | This Item |
| Item: "Florida Paper Declares Lynching Probe Ended" | dcterms:relation | This Item |