Location: Harris County, Georgia
Age: 42
Year: 1947
Henry “Peg” Gilbert, 42, was a prosperous farmer and church deacon who was killed in 1947 by Police Chief W. H. Buchanan in the Harris County jail in Harris County, Georgia.
Gilbert was arrested for allegedly hiding Gus Davidson, who was accused of killing a white farmer. Davidson had allegedly run over the farmer’s cow with his vehicle and an argument had ensued.
Buchanan claimed Gilbert attacked him in jail, and that the police chief fired shots in self-defense.
For more information, search CRRJ’s archive.
Read more about Gilbert’s death on the Burnham-Nobles Digital Archive
About the Archive
The Burnham-Nobles Digital Archive houses case files and documents for more than 1,000 cases of racial homicides in the Jim Crow South. Co-founded by Melissa Nobles, professor of political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Margaret Burnham, CRRJ director and professor of law at Northeastern, these uncovered stories highlight how violence affected lives, defined legal rights and shaped politics between 1930 and 1954.
Documents relating to Gilbert's death
Death certificate of Henry Gilbert, Georgia. Department of Public Health, filed May 31, 1947
For newspaper reports, advocacy group documents and more, search our archive.
Recent news on Gilbert's case
Researchers at CRRJ uncovered Gilbert’s story. As law students at the time, Tara Dunn and Ariel Kong proved that Gilbert was lynched, and that the legal records lacked evidence for any wrongdoing on his part. Their work led to an official apology from the current sheriff of Harris County, Georgia.
Honoring their lives and restoring justice On March 10, 2018, CRRJ Director Margaret Burnham and Tara Dunn, Esq. (’17) joined the family of Henry “Peg” Gilbert and Mae Gilbert for an event…
CRRJ is excited to announce Hulu’s release of the documentary, “The Lynching of Henry ‘Peg’ Gilbert,” a production of the Civil Rights & Restorative Justice Project, ABC 7 Chicago, and the Northeastern University…