Berry Washington, an elderly African American man in his seventies, became a tragic symbol of racial injustice when he was lynched in Milan, Georgia, on May 26, 1919. His crime? Defending two young Black girls from a violent assault by a white man, John Dowdy.
In the early hours of May 24, 1919, John Dowdy and Lewis Evans, two white men, entered the Black neighborhood of Milan. They first targeted the home of Emma McCollers, firing a gun when the family refused to let them in. Frightened, the McCollers’ daughters sought refuge in the home of Emma Tisber, a Black widow. Dowdy and Evans pursued them, breaking into the Tisber residence and attempting to assault the younf girls.
Berry Washington, armed with a shotgun, confronted the intruders to protect the girls. In the ensuing struggle, Dowdy fired at Washington, who ultimately shot and killed Dowdy in self-defense. Washington immediately reported the incident to the local police and was taken into custody.
Despite his act of self-defense, Washington was not granted the protection of the law. On May 25, 1919, a mob of 75 to 100 white men stormed the jail, forcibly removing Washington. They took him to the site where he had killed Dowdy in self-defense and hanged him from a post. His body was then riddled with bullets and left hanging until the following day as a warning to the Black community.
The lynching incited further violence, with white residents rioting, and destroying Black homes. Many were forced to flee in fear, while those who stayed were threatened into silence about the atrocity.
The local authorities, influenced by the racial hatred of the time, attempted to suppress the truth. African American residents were warned not to speak of the lynching, and justice was denied as no one was held accountable for Washington’s murder. The mob’s identity was an open secret, yet no arrests were made, and the rewards offered by Georgia’s Governor Hugh Dorsey and Dr. Floyd McRae went unclaimed.
Berry Washington’s lynching was not an isolated incident. The early 20th century saw numerous lynchings of African Americans, often under the pretext of crimes they did not commit or in situations where they acted in self-defense. The justice system frequently colluded with perpetrators, ensuring that such crimes were rarely punished.
