| Part of Jim Crow Era | |
 Location of the burning of Hullen Owens Texarkana | |
| Date | May 19, 1922 |
|---|---|
| Location | Texarkana, Bowie County, Texas |
| Participants | A white mob made up of thousands of people. |
| Deaths | Hullen Owens |
Hullen Owens was an African-American man who was lynched in Texarkana, Bowie County, Texas by a white mob on May 19, 1922. According to a 1926 report by the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, this was the 26th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States. [1]
Texarkana is a city that developed on both sides of the state border between Texas and Arkansas. It was the site of the junction between two major railways that served the two-state region, and extended north to St. Louis, Missouri. The west of the city is in Bowie County, Texas and the east is in Miller County, Arkansas.
Hullen Owens had been arrested in Texas on May 18, 1922, for alleged car theft. He was taking police to recover some stolen items when he pulled a gun he had earlier stashed and made an escape. During the ensuing chase, he was shot in the mouth, but shot several times at the Chief of Police L. J. Lummus, also fatally wounding officer R.C. Choate. The chase ended with Owens allegedly trying to drown himself in a pool. Sheriff John Strange pulled him from the water and took him to the Miller County jail across state lines in Arkansas. [2] [3]
By this time a mob of thousands of people gathered to lynch Owens for shooting at the chief and killing a white officer. Judge H.M. Barney tried to calm the enraged mob to no avail. They stormed the Miller County jail and used a battering ram to break down the jail door. They dragged Owens outside and to the Texas side of the city. There he was shot multiple times and his body was dragged behind a car through the streets. The mob took his body to the Union Depot near the intersection of First and State streets, doused is body in kerosene and lit it on fire. [2] Some sources, however, say that he was dragged alive eight city blocks before dying of strangulation by the rope around his neck. [4]
The National Memorial for Peace and Justice opened in Montgomery, Alabama, on April 26, 2018. It is devoted to telling the history of lynchings in the United States and memorializing the victims. Among its exhibits is the Memorial Corridor. Here hang 805 steel rectangles, each representing a county in the United States where a documented lynching took place. On each rectangle is incised the names of those lynched in that county. [5] Copies of the rectangles are available, in the hopes that communities such as Texarkana, which were sites of lynchings, will install them as memorials for awareness. Another exhibit has jars full of dirt, taken from those counties where documented lynchings took place.
Texarkana is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States, in the Ark-La-Tex region. Located approximately 180 miles (290 km) from Dallas, Texarkana is a twin city with neighboring Texarkana, Arkansas. The Texas city's population was 36,193 at the 2020 census.
James Harvey and Joe Jordan were two African-American men who were lynched on July 1, 1922, in Liberty County, Georgia, United States. They were seized by a mob of about 50 people and hanged while being transported by police from Wayne County to a jail in Savannah. Investigations by the NAACP showed that the police involved were complicit in their abduction by the mob. Twenty-two men were later indicted for the lynching, with four convicted.
Will Arthur Bell was lynched by a mob in Pontotoc County, Mississippi as the local sheriff tried to move him to prevent the lynching. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 6th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.
Willie Lee Jenkins was lynched in Eufaula, Barbour County, Alabama. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 3rd of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.
Charles Strong was lynched by in Mayo, Florida. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 5th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.
Three Black men were Lynched in Kirvin, Texas for allegedly murdering a young girl. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 19th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.
Will Jones was an African-American man who was lynched in Ellaville, Schley County, Georgia by a white mob on February 13, 1922. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 13th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.
Charles Atkins was a 15-year-old African-American boy who was lynched in Davisboro, Washington County, Georgia by a mob on May 18, 1922. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 25th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.
Jim Early was a 25-year-old African-American man who was lynched in Plantersville, Grimes County, Texas, by a mob on May 17, 1922. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 24th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.
Joe Winters was a 20-year-old African-American man who was lynched in Conroe, Montgomery County, Texas by a mob on May 20, 1922. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 27th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.
Ed and his son George Hartley were lynched in Camden, Benton County, Tennessee by a mob on October 20, 1922. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary they were the 54th and 55th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States. The two were the only lynchings in the state of Tennessee and of the 61 lynchings they were 2 of 6 white victims.
Jesse Thomas was a 23-year-old, African-American man who was murdered in Waco, McLennan County, Texas by Sam Harris on May 26, 1922. A large mob then seized the body from the undertaker and burnt it in Waco's public square. The lynching of Jesse Thomas was the 10th lynching in 20-days in Texas and according to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 30th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.
Elias Villarael Zarate was a 22-year-old, Mexican immigrant who was lynched in Weslaco, Hidalgo County, Texas by a white mob, his body then being discovered on November 11, 1922. The lynching of Zarate was the 15th lynching in Texas. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 56th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.
On December 11, 1922, George Gay was Lynched in Streetman a town that straddles the border of Freestone and Navarro counties in Texas. He allegedly assaulted a young girl. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 60th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.
Mr. Norman was an African-American man who was lynched in Texarkana, Miller County, Arkansas by masked men on February 11, 1922. According to the 1926 report of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, this was the 12th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.
John West was a 50-year-old African-American man who was lynched in Guernsey, Hempstead County, Arkansas by a group of men on the Hope-Texarkana train on July 28, 1922. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 41st of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.
Bayner Blackwell was an African-American man who was lynched in Swansboro, Onslow County, North Carolina by a group of men on August 6, 1922. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 44th of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.
John "Cockey" Glover was a 35-year-old African-American man who was lynched in Holton in Bibb County, Georgia by a mob of 300 white men on August 2, 1922. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 43rd of 61 lynchings during 1922 in the United States.
John Henry Harrison was a 38-year-old African-American man who was lynched in Malvern, Hot Spring County, Arkansas, by masked men on February 2, 1922. According to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary it was the 10th of 61 lynchings in America and 1 of 5 lynchings in the State of Arkansas during 1922.