Herbert Lee (January 1, 1912 – September 25, 1961) was an American

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

activist in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

remembered as a proponent of

voting rights Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...

for African Americans in that state, who had been disenfranchised since 1890. He was a charter member of the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. ...

in Amite County and sought to enfranchise African-Americans by encouraging voter registration. In 1961, Lee assisted

Bob Moses Robert Moses (1888–1981) was an American city planner. Robert Moses may also refer to: * Bob Moses (activist) (1935–2021), American educator and civil rights activist * Bob Moses, American football player in the 1962 Cotton Bowl Classic * Bob M ...

in his efforts to persuade locals to register. His activities were met with threats of reprisal by the white community, and Lee became one of the movement's earliest victims to white violence. He was murdered by Mississippi state representative E. H. Hurst in broad daylight at a cotton gin while delivering cotton near

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

Early life

Herbert Lee was born in

Liberty, Mississippi Liberty is a town in Amite County, Mississippi. It is part of the McComb, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area. It has a population of 728 according to the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Amite County. The town can be accessed via I-5 ...

on January 1, 1912, to Albert Lee, a farmer, and his wife Elvira Turner. Lee lacked a formal education, but his wife, Prince Estella Melson of Helena, Louisiana, taught him how to sign his name. The couple had nine children together. By the 1950s, Lee built his dairy and cotton farms into successful businesses, profitable enough to support his large family.

Career

In 1952, E. W. Steptoe, a fellow farmer and friend of Lee's, organized the Amite County chapter of the

for the purpose of registering black Americans to vote; Lee became a charter member and attended meetings in a neighboring farmhouse. Mississippi's constitution of 1890 had politically disfranchised black Americans, creating barriers to voter registration such as

poll taxes A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. Head taxes were important sources of revenue for many governments f ...

, literacy tests, and

grandfather clause A grandfather clause, also known as grandfather policy, grandfathering, or grandfathered in, is a provision in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations while a new rule will apply to all future cases. Those exempt from t ...

s to exclude them from voting. Only one black person was registered in all of Amite County, and he never voted. When

of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) arrived in Amite County in 1961 to organize a voter registration movement, Lee served as a driver for him and other SNCC activists. Upon Moses's arrival in Mississippi, and amid increasing civil rights activity, the white community attempted to deter blacks with threats of reprisal, harassment, and

intimidation Intimidation is to "make timid or make fearful"; or to induce fear. This includes intentional behaviors of forcing another person to experience general discomfort such as humiliation, embarrassment, inferiority, limited freedom, etc and the victi ...

; in his reports to John Doar of the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

, Moses expressed dire concern for Lee's life.

Murder

Although less visible than Moses or Steptoe, Lee became one of the voting rights movement's earliest victims of white violence. He was transporting cotton to a cotton gin near Liberty on the morning of

September 25 Events Pre-1600 * 275 – For the last time, the Roman Senate chooses an emperor; they elect 75-year-old Marcus Claudius Tacitus. * 762 – Led by Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya, the Hasanid branch of the Alids begins the Alid Revolt ag ...

, 1961, when Mississippi state representative E. H. Hurst confronted him, armed with a pistol. In the presence of several witnesses, Hurst killed Lee in cold blood with a single gunshot to the head. Hurst later claimed

self-defense Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force ...

to a coroner's jury—saying that, in an argument over debts, Lee had attacked him with a

tire iron A tire iron (also tire lever or tire spoon) is a specialized metal tool used in working with tires. Tire irons have not been in common use for automobile tires since the shift to the use of tubeless tires in the late 1950s. Bicycle tire irons ...

, and his gun had fired in the ensuing skirmish. Among those forced to confirm his story in a courtroom filled with armed white men was

Louis Allen Louis Allen (April 25, 1919 – January 31, 1964) was an African-American businessman in Liberty, Mississippi, who was shot and killed on his land during the civil rights era. He had previously tried to register to vote and had allegedly talked ...

because he feared for his life. An

all-white jury Racial discrimination in jury selection is specifically prohibited by law in many jurisdictions throughout the world. In the United States, it has been defined through a series of judicial decisions. However, juries composed solely of one racial ...

ruled that the killing was a

justifiable homicide The concept of justifiable homicide in criminal law is a defense to culpable homicide (criminal or negligent homicide). Generally, there is a burden of production of exculpatory evidence in the legal defense of justification. In most countri ...

. In 1964, Allen was killed after informing federal investigators of his forced

testimony In law and in religion, testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. Etymology The words "testimony" and "testify" both derive from the Latin word ''testis'', referring to the notion of a disinterested third-party witness. ...

. Those who were aware of Lee's voting rights activities knew he was targeted in this killing. Ten days after his death, 115 black high school students marched through

McComb, Mississippi McComb is a city in Pike County, Mississippi, United States. The city is approximately south of Jackson. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 12,790. It is the principal city of the McComb, Mississippi Micropolitan Statist ...

, in protest of his murder. Lee's death brought the SNCC's voter registration movement in the county to a close. Unable to guarantee activists' safety, Moses left the county in 1962. Later the cotton gin was renovated for use as a restaurant. In 2010, the owner of the Cotton Gin Restaurant erected a historical marker at the spot where Lee was killed.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Herbert 1912 births 1961 deaths 1961 murders in the United States Activists from Mississippi American civil rights activists Civil rights movement Farmers from Mississippi People from Liberty, Mississippi People murdered in Mississippi Male murder victims