Henry “Peg” Gilbert

Photo of Henry "Peg" Gilbert. Courtesy of the Archive.
Photo of Henry "Peg" Gilbert. Courtesy of the Archive.

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

For newspaper reports, advocacy group documents and more, search our archive.
Burnham-Nobles Digital Archive

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