June 27, 1924

Two African-American men were executed in the wake of what became known as the Catcher Race Riot. The December 28, 1923, assault and murder of a white woman in the Catcher community in Crawford County had quickly ignited a firestorm of racial hatred that, within the span of a few days, exploded into the murder of an innocent black man, charges of night riding being leveled against eleven African Americans, and the exodus of all black families from Catcher, numbering at least forty. In addition to the two men who were executed in relation to the murder, a third was given life in prison following trials that included dubious evidence offered by the prosecution.