Lynching of Robert Mallard

Robert "Big Duck" Mallard (mˈælɑː͡ɹd; 1918 – November 20, 1948) was an African-American traveling salesman who was shot and lynched by a group of 20 men in Lyons, Toombs County, Georgia. He was murdered because of his prosperity, and voting in the 1948 Georgia primary.

Not to be confused with Rob Mallard.
Robert Mallard
Born1918
DiedNovember 20, 1948
Lyons, Georgia, Toombs County
Cause of deathGunshot wounds, lynching
NationalityAmerican
Other namesBig Duck
Duck
Known forCircumstances of death
SpouseAmy James Mallard
Children1

Robert’s death was published in The New York Times three weeks after his death. The article led to an investigation led by the NAACP. Five men surrendered, and two of the men were indicted. The men were William Howell and Rodrick Clifton.

A court hearing took place in the Toombs County courthouse. After 25 minutes of deliberations, the jury acquitted Howell. Following the acquittal, the charges against Clifton, whose case had weaker evidence, were dropped. Amy’s family went to Baltimore, Maryland to protest the decision. Amy’s family moved from Lyons to Buffalo, New York, and their original house was burned down by members of the Ku Klux Klan.

Biography

Prior life

Mallard was born in 1918. He was a traveling salesman working for the Standard Products Company. He gained a 32-acre plot of land from the white stepfather of his wife Amy. Mallard lived on the banks of the Altamaha River with his wife and son. She worked as an elementary school teacher with a college degree.[1][2]

Death

On the night of November 20, 1948, near the general elections. Robert Mallard and Amy were driving home from a fundraiser at an elementary school with their 2-year-old son, John, and two teenage relatives, in Lyons, Toombs County, Georgia. Mallard was driving in a new Frazer.[3][4] The car was stopped by a group of 20 members of the Ku Klux Klan wearing all-white robes. Mallard stopped the car in front of the Providence church, and the group shot the vehicle with pistols, which killed Mallard.[5] When the police arrived to the scene, they searched Amy’s pocketbook and the vehicle, where they found Amy’s firearm.[6] The former Georgia governor, Herman Talmadge did not order an investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI). Instead, Talmadge sent two agents went to Mallard's funeral. They arrested and detained her for nine hours.[7][8]

Newspaper coverage and investigation

Newspaper coverage started slow. The picked up pace after The New York Times published an article about the murder on December 11, 1948.[9][10] After the news became nationwide, the NAACP helped Amy and the police with the case. Five men surrendered, and two of the men were indicted for the murder; Ku Klux Klan members William “Spud” Howell, and Rodrick Clifton. After the surrenders, fires broke out in the local black business area.[11][12][13]

The trial

The trial for the murder of Mallard began in the Toombs County Courthouse on January 11, 1949.[14][15] During the trial, Amy argued that she recognized Howell during the event.[16] Howell's lawyer, Thomas Ross Sharpe, used character witness in his arguments. After 25 minutes of deliberation, Howell was acquitted. The charges against Clifton, whose case had weaker evidence, were subsequently dropped.[17][18]

After the trial, Amy took her two children, Doris Byron and John Mallard, went to Baltimore, Maryland with members of the NAACP to protest the decision.[19][20]

See also

References
  1. Thomas, Damion L. (2012-09-30). Globetrotting: African American Athletes and Cold War Politics. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-09429-3.
  2. Congress (U.S.), Civil Rights (1952). We Charge Genocide: The Historic Petition to the United Nations for Relief from a Crime of the United States Government Against the Negro People. International Publishers.
  3. "Robert Mallard – The Georgia Civil Rights Cold Cases Project". Retrieved 2023-05-28.
  4. Cohen, Hon William S.; LLC, Anne & Emmett (2009-06-16). Race and Reconciliation in America. Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0-7391-3552-5.
  5. "We Charge Genocide - The 1951 Black Lives Matter Campaign". depts.washington.edu. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  6. Newton, Michael (2009-02-04). The FBI and the KKK: A Critical History. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-4072-6.
  7. "GEORGIA: Justice In Toombs County". Time. 1949-01-24. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
  8. Ward, Jason Morgan (2011). Defending White Democracy: The Making of a Segregationist Movement and the Remaking of Racial Politics, 1936-1965. Univ of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-3513-5.
  9. "2 WHITES INDICTED IN GEORGIA KILLING; Early Trial slate in Ambush of Negro -- McGill, Editor, Closeted With Jurors". The New York Times. 1948-12-11. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-05-28.
  10. "GEORGIA: Just Another Killing". Time. 1948-12-06. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  11. "News article from Pittsburgh Courier regarding murder of Robert Mallard : January 8, 1949 | The Burnham-Nobles Digital Archive". www.crrjarchive.org. Retrieved 2023-05-28.
  12. Glass, Richard C. (December 1, 1948). "Ga. Waiting for Warrants in Slaying". Schenectady Gazette. p. 2.
  13. "5 Georgia Men Held In Ambush Slaying". The New York Times. Associated Press. 1948-12-05. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  14. "The Mallard Murder Case". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2023-05-28.
  15. Judiciary, United States Congress House Committee on the (1949). Hearings.
  16. Times, John Pophamspecial To the New York (1949-01-12). "Georgians Freed in Negro's Killing; Two on Jury Testify for the Defense; Georgians Freed in Negro's Killing; Two on Jury Testify for the Defense". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-05-28.
  17. Novotny, Patrick (2007). This Georgia Rising: Education, Civil Rights, and the Politics of Change in Georgia in the 1940s. Mercer University Press. ISBN 978-0-88146-088-9.
  18. Newton, Michael (2016-02-11). Unsolved Civil Rights Murder Cases, 1934-1970. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-2362-7.
  19. "Amy Mallard". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2023-05-29.
  20. "'Let Them Take My Picture' Sobs Widow" (PDF). Baltimore Afro-American. December 18, 1948. p. 6.
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