Louis Allen (April 25, 1919 – January 31, 1964) was an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

businessman in

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 ...

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 ...

, who was shot and killed on his land during the

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 ...

era. He had previously tried to register to vote and had allegedly talked to federal officials after witnessing the 1961 murder of Herbert Lee, an NAACP member, by E. H. Hurst, a white state legislator. Civil rights activists had come to Liberty that summer to organize for

voter registration In electoral systems, voter registration (or enrollment) is the requirement that a person otherwise eligible to vote must register (or enroll) on an electoral roll, which is usually a prerequisite for being entitled or permitted to vote. The r ...

, as no African-American had been allowed to vote since the state's disenfranchising constitution was passed in 1890. Allen was harassed and jailed repeatedly by Amite County Sheriff Daniel Bryant Jones (January 3, 1930 – July 26, 2013). The day before he planned to move out of state, Allen was fatally shot on his property. Since the late 20th century, his case has been investigated by

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

history professor Plater Robinson. The case was reopened by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

beginning in 2007 as part of its review of civil rights-era cold cases. In 2011 the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

program '' 60 Minutes'' conducted a special on his murder as well. Their work suggested that Allen was killed by Jones. However, no one has been prosecuted for the murder.

Early life

Louis Allen was a native of Amite County,

, where he was born in 1919. The county's population was majority African-American, with an economy based on agriculture: cotton, dairy farming and logging. Many blacks left before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

because of poor economic opportunities,

racial violence Ethnic violence is a form of political violence which is expressly motivated by ethnic hatred and ethnic conflict. Forms of ethnic violence which can be argued to have the characteristics of terrorism may be known as ethnic terrorism or ethn ...

, and social oppression under Jim Crow, decreasing the black population by 29% from 1940 to 1960, following earlier declines. More than six million blacks left the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

in the Great Migration to the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

, the Midwest, and, beginning in the 1940s, the West Coast. Allen served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

during the war; he enlisted at age 23 in the service at

Camp Shelby Camp Shelby is a military post whose North Gate is located at the southern boundary of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on United States Highway 49. It is the largest state-owned training site in the nation. During wartime, the camp's mission is to s ...

on January 12, 1943. After his return to Mississippi, he worked as a logger and farm laborer. Allen and his wife Elizabeth had four children together, including a daughter and a son named Henry (called Hank). He built up his own logging business, doing well enough also to buy his own land, where he and his family raised produce and cattle.

Murder of Herbert Lee

Mississippi's state constitution, enacted in 1890, politically disfranchised African-Americans, using provisions 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 raise barriers to voter registration and exclude blacks from voting. In the early 1960s, a local chapter 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. ...

(NAACP) was founded by E.W. Steptoe for the purpose of registering black voters. He was soon joined by Bob Moses of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). In August 1961, Moses filed charges against Billy Jack Caston, cousin to Sheriff Daniel Jones and son-in-law of pro-

segregation Segregation may refer to: Separation of people * Geographical segregation, rates of two or more populations which are not homogenous throughout a defined space * School segregation * Housing segregation * Racial segregation, separation of humans ...

state legislator E.H. Hurst, for an assault against him and other civil rights activists by a white mob. It was the first time that an African-American had legally challenged white violence in Amite County. The

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 ...

acquitted In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as criminal law is concerned. The finality of an acquittal is dependent on the jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the ...

Caston, and Moses was escorted to the county line, ostensibly for his own safety. Moses left the county in January 1962."Murder of Herbert Lee and Louis Allen"
Amite County, Mississippi Civil Rights Project. Retrieved March 16, 2014 Steptoe consulted with Justice Department agents in

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

about intimidation tactics used by Hurst and other prominent whites in the town of

. On September 25, 1961, Hurst shot and killed an NAACP member named Herbert Lee at the Westbrook Cotton Gin. Allen and eleven other men witnessed the murder. When a

coroner's inquest A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within the coroner's jur ...

was conducted hours later, in a courtroom filled with armed white men, Allen and the other witnesses were pressured into giving false testimony. They supported Hurst's claim of shooting Lee in

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 ...

, leading Hurst to be cleared of any wrongdoing. However, Allen later told fellow activists the truth behind Lee's killing. He also discussed the incident with

Julian Bond Horace Julian Bond (January 14, 1940 – August 15, 2015) was an American social activist, leader of the civil rights movement, politician, professor, and writer. While he was a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, during the e ...

, who encouraged him to tell his story to the

. Bond was aware that, in the racially charged atmosphere of Amite County, Allen was at high personal risk if it became known that he had talked to the Bureau. Interviewed in 2011, Bond said:

"He lied t Hurst's inquestbecause he was in fear of his life...If he had implicated a powerful white man in a murder of a black man, he was risking his life...I tried to encourage him to tell the truth, but you know, it was like saying, 'Why don't you volunteer to be killed?'"

Learning that a federal jury was to consider charges against Hurst, Allen talked to the FBI and the

United States Commission on Civil Rights The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (CCR) is a bipartisan, independent commission of the United States federal government, created by the Civil Rights Act of 1957 during the Eisenhower administration, that is charged with the responsibility fo ...

in Jackson, asking for protection if he testified. An FBI memo reported that Allen "expressed fear that he might be killed", but the Justice Department said it could not give him protection. Allen chose to repeat the official version of events which exonerated Hurst.

Harassment and murder

Although Allen had not cooperated with the Justice Department, rumors of his visit in Jackson quickly spread among Liberty's white community. Local whites shunned Allen and cut off customers for his logging business. In August 1962, as Allen and two other black men tried to register to vote at Amite County Courthouse, they were shot at by an unknown assailant. (No black person had been allowed to vote in Amite County since 1890.)Jack Newfield, "Amite County"
from Chapter: "Racist Power & Terror in Southwest Mississippi" (1960), in ''A Prophetic Minority'', New American Library, 1966, hosted at ''Chicken Bones Journal'' Following this incident, a white businessman threatened Allen, saying, "Louis, the best thing you can do is leave. Your little family—they're innocent people—and your house could get burned down. All of you could get killed."
CRMVet.org (Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement) When Allen reported the death threats, the FBI – which had limited

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. J ...

over civil rights cases at the time – referred the matter to Sheriff Jones's office. The FBI did so despite an agent acknowledging in a 1961 memo that, "Allen was to be killed and the local sheriff was involved in the plot to kill him."Cold case: "The Murder of Louis Allen"
''60 Minutes'' (CBS), April 10, 2011, video and text Allen then allegedly became a target of harassment by Jones. In a later interview, Hank Allen described Jones as "mean", recounting how he arrested his father on trumped-up charges and beat him outside his home. On one such occasion in September 1962, Jones broke Allen's jaw with a flashlight. Moses wrote to Assistant Attorney General John Doar about Allen, making reference to "a plot by the sheriff and seven other men." Jones' father was a high-ranking Exalted Cyclops in Liberty's chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. FBI documentation from the 1960s claimed that Jones was also a Klan member. When Allen was released from jail, he filed an assault complaint with the FBI against Jones. He summarily testified before an all-white federal grand jury; as blacks had been prevented from registering and voting, they could not serve on juries. The jury dismissed his complaint. Allen stayed in Liberty because he was caring for his elderly parents."Deposition of Mrs. Elizabeth Allen, Amite County, Mississippi, 1965"
Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement website, 2011 Among his associates was Leo McKnight, who had worked with him and twice tried to register to vote with him. In February 1963, McKnight and his family died in a suspicious fire that local blacks believed was a murder. In November 1963, Jones arrested Allen again, falsely charging him for bouncing a check and having a concealed weapon. Law enforcement officials threatened Allen with three to five years in prison; after three weeks, the NAACP raised the

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countrie ...

for Allen. In January 1964, after his mother died, Allen arranged to leave Liberty and move in with his brother in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, as he feared for his life. On January 31, the night before his planned departure, Allen was ambushed at the cattle grid at the border of his property. He was killed by two shotgun blasts to the head. His body was found by his son Hank. Interviewed in 2011, Hank said, "He heriff Daniel Jonestold my mom that if Louis had just shut his mouth, that he wouldn't be layin' there on the ground. He wouldn't be dead." Allen's death is mentioned in the first

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...

of civil rights activist Anne Moody titled '' Coming of Age in Mississippi''. When Moody writes about reasons she should stay away from her family, she mentions Allen's murder.

Investigations

No thorough investigation into Allen's murder was conducted until 1994. That year, Plater Robinson, a history professor at

, began examining the case files. Robinson's research in the following years pointed to Jones as a likely suspect in the killing. In 1998, Robinson conducted a tape-recorded interview with Rev. Alfred Knox Sr. (April 29, 1904 – June 16, 2006), an elderly black preacher in Liberty, who reported that Jones had recruited his son-in-law, Archie Lee Weatherspoon (May 27, 1927 – October 13, 2001), to "kill Louis Allen". When Weatherspoon refused Jones' request to "pull the trigger", Jones allegedly killed Allen himself. Both Knox and Weatherspoon have since died. In 2007, the FBI reopened Allen's case as one of a number of civil rights-era

cold case A cold case is a crime, or a suspected crime, that has not yet been fully resolved and is not the subject of a current criminal investigation, but for which new information could emerge from new witness testimony, re-examined archives, new or r ...

s it was examining. Its staff identified Jones as the

prime suspect ''Prime Suspect'' is a British police procedural television drama series devised by Lynda La Plante. It stars Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, one of the first female Detective Chief Inspectors in Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service, who ...

. , the FBI has been unable to collect enough evidence to prosecute. In April 2011, the CBS newsmagazine ''60 Minutes'' broadcast a report about the Allen case. Correspondent

Steve Kroft Stephen F. Kroft (born August 22, 1945) is an American retired journalist, best known as a long-time correspondent for ''60 Minutes''. Kroft's investigative reporting garnered widespread acclaim, winning him three Peabody Awards and nine Emmy a ...

had traveled to Liberty to interview local residents and was largely met with silence. Kroft interviewed Jones on his property; the elderly man denied killing Allen, and he invoked the Fifth Amendment when asked about his alleged Klan membership.

Legacy and honors

*Bertha Gober's song, "We'll Never Turn Back," memorialized Lee's murder.John Dittmer, ''Local People. The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1994), p. 109 *Lee's son, Herbert Lee, Jr., became active at age 15 in the civil rights movement in 1965. *The Westbrook Cotton Gin was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 2010. Its significance was in part as the site of Lee's murder during the Civil Rights era by a white man who was never punished.

References

External links

SNCC Digital Gateway: Herbert Lee
Documentary website created by the SNCC Legacy Project and Duke University, telling the story of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee & grassroots organizing from the inside-out

Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement website, 2011

from Chapter: "Racist Power & Terror in Southwest Mississippi" (1960), in ''A Prophetic Minority'', New American Library, 1966, hosted at ''Chicken Bones Journal'' * FBI file on Louis Allen {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Louis 1919 births 1964 deaths 1964 in Mississippi 1964 murders in the United States African-American history of Mississippi African Americans in World War II American loggers Deaths by firearm in Mississippi Male murder victims Murdered African-American people People murdered in Mississippi Racially motivated violence against African Americans United States Army soldiers Unsolved murders in the United States United States Army personnel of World War II African-American United States Army personnel