Alabama Governor Orders Probe as 3 Blacks are Lynched

Title

Source Type

Newspapers

Author

N/A

Publisher

The La Crosse Tribune

Publication Place

La Crosse, WI

Publication Date

August 13, 1933

Transcript

Negroes Being Moved to Birmingham For Safe Keeping Taken by Mob. Tuscaloosa, Ala.- (UP)- One of three negroes spirited away by a lynching party was still missing Monday after the bodies of his two companions were found riddled by bullets. The three, Dan Pippin JR., 18, Elmore Clark, 28, and A.T. Harden, 16, had been indicted for killing Miss Vaudine Maddox, 21-year-old white girl, whose battered body was found in a ravine. Police said that as a reesult of rumors of a threatened attack on the jail here, they had decided to remove the prisoners to Birmingham for safekeeping. Sheriff R.L. Shamblin said that on the way, the party was halted Sunday near the Jefferson county line by twi automobile loads of armed men, who seized the negroes. Later the bodies of Pippen and Harden were found near Blocton. Acting on instructions from Governor B.M. Miller, Judge Henry B. Foster ordered a grand jury investigation. Bitter criticism came from the International Labor Defense, radical organization. Lawyers for the I.L.D. had sought to represent Pippen but were ruled out. Sheriff Shamblin charged that feeling aroused by "the interference of the International Labor Defense lawyers in the case is directly responsible for this violence."

Sources for

See all items with this value A.T. Hardin