Race, Rape, and Radicalism: The Case of the Martinsville Seven, 1949-1951

The execution of a group of young black men on Feb 5, 1951, created anuproar among civil rights advocates, death penalty opponents and communists. The men, known as the Martinsville Seven, were convicted of raping a white woman. Previous cases of human rights violations against blacks and the unfair treatment they received in US courts casted doubts on the guilt of the seven. White southerners during the early part of the century often resorted to legal lynchings, or the summary convictions of innocent black defendants with the connivance of the courts.