On this day in Labor History the year was 1961.
That was the day when Herbert Lee was murdered just outside of Liberty, Mississippi.
He was a successful black cotton farmer, who became active in efforts to register black voters.
Lee had nine children.
He was one of the few area black farmers with a vehicle.
This made him very valuable to the voter registration movement.
Lee would drive Bob Moses from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee around Amite County to reach unregistered voters.
It was dangerous work to register black share croppers and farmers in rural Mississippi.
Attempts by black residents to gain legal or economic equality were met with threats and violence.
On the morning of his murder, Lee had come to the Westbrook Cotton Gin outside of Liberty to drop off a truck load cotton.
There he was met by a childhood friend, Mississippi State Representative, E. H. Hurst.
Hurst came up to the truck and started shouting at Lee.
He then took out a gun and shot Herbert Lee in the head.
Witnesses stated that Lee had brandished a tire iron at Hurst.
Hurst claimed self-defense.
A jury declared the murder a justifiable homicide.
Louis Allen, a black farmer and timber worker, was one who had testified about witnessing the shooting.
Later he recanted his testimony, saying he had lied about Lee threatening Hurst because he feared for his life.
After Allen began to talk about what he saw that day, he became the victim of harassment and beatings.
Finally, on January 31, 1964 he too was gunned down in his driveway.
No one was every convicted or arrested for his murder.
May 18 - The TVA Transforms the South
May 17 - Striking for Dignity and Respect
May 16 - Minneapolis Teamsters Lead the Way
May 15 - The Winnipeg General Strike Begins
May 14 - Wobblies On the Waterfront
May 13 - Women Strike Tolteca Foods
May 12 - Of ICE Raids & Union Busting
May 11 - Organizing in the Fields
May 10 - Bankruptcy Bonanza for Big Bankers
May 9 - The Historic ‘34 West Coast Maritime Strike Begins
May 8 - Mary Marcy is Born
May 7 - Popeye The Union Man
May 6 - FDR Rolls Out the WPA
May 5 - The Bay View Massacre
May 4 - UE Beats Back HUAC in Dayton
May 3 - First Workers Compensation Law is Passed
May 2 - Our Thing is DRUM!
May 1 - Mayday Marchers Attacked in Cleveland
April 30 - Refinery Workers Walk Off the Job
April 29 - Allis-Chalmers and the Road to Taft-Hartley
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