8.5 Murder of Frank Hanes, 1939

Teaching Labor's Story

8.5 Murder of Frank Hanes, 1939

Photo: Le Petit Journal. Courtesy of New Georgia Encylopedia on Segregation.

These three letters describe the murder of an African American farm worker named Frank Hanes by Mississippi plantation owner Tom Alexander. Bernice Wims wrote to the U.S. attorney general to request an investigation, but the federal government refused to act.

Primary Source (pdf link)

Teaching Guide (pdf link)