HAHIRA, Ga. — Mary Turner and her unborn child were brutally murdered in 1918; and still, her narrative continues to be shared 100 years later.

A commemoration service was held late Saturday morning in the Webb Miller Community Church in the small town of Hahira, Georgia to honor Turner, a 33-year-old who was lynched during a mob rampage while eight months pregnant.

The lynching came after Turner protested the death of her husband, and at least 13 others were killed by lynch mobs in south Georgia a century ago. 

Following the service, a caravan drove to Turner’s historical marker site on Highway 122. The names of all the lynching victims were read.

Turner’s great-granddaughter, Audrey Grant, said she felt a presence upon learning the story of her great-grandmother’s death.

“My emotions were kind of like I was there, and the emotions were like it had just happened because it touched my heart; it touched my spirit,” she said.

Grant said Turner stood for justice, not only for blacks, but for everyone of all groups.

“How I feel today is that I am privileged, and my family is privileged, to be a part of someone that is so great, and we want to continue to honor her name because of what she stood for,” she said.

Family members will continue efforts to highlight Turner’s legacy through the Mary Turner Project, Grant said.

Mark George, event coordinator and a founder of the Mary Turner Project, spoke Saturday during the program. Tears escaped his eyes as he struggled to find his words.

His emotional introduction was due to recent deaths, as well as he was moved by the service, he said.

“If you were to ask me when I was going to a segregated school in the second and third grades that I would be standing here with a bunch of folks of color, and we would be commemorating a racial atrocity, I couldn’t fathom that,” he said.

“This is so different than the world I grew up in that, at times, I’m reminded by that. … I think it’s very historic and sacred when white people and black people get together, and we tell the truth, and we listen to one another no matter how ugly or painful that truth is,” he said.

George said his grandmother was alive during the era of Turner’s lynching.

“If this were to be my grandmother, I would hope people in the community and the world would feel like it was a travesty, and they would speak about it and try to do something about it,” he said.

Also remembered during the reflection at the marker site were Will Head, Will Thompson, Julius Jones, Hayes Turner, Turner’s unborn child, Eugene Rice, Chime Riley, Simon Schuman, Sidney Johnson and three unidentified people.

Visit maryturner.org to learn more about Turner’s story. 

Amanda Usher is a reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times. She can be contacted at 229-244-3400 ext.1274.