Location: Madison County, Georgia
Age: Unknown
Year: 1936
Lent Shaw was a farmer who was killed by a white mob in Madison County, Georgia, in 1936.
Shaw was accused of attacking two white girls, which he denied, and was taken from jail hours before his trial by a white mob of about 40.
He was shot and lynched.
A mob had previously attempted to lynch Shaw but had been stopped by a judge.
For more information, search CRRJ’s archive.
Read more about Shaw’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 Shaw's death
For newspaper reports, advocacy group documents and more, search our archive.
Recent news on Shaw's case
A CBS News report (April 9, 2018) highlights the work of CRRJ with the family of Georgia lynching victim Lent Shaw. Among those interviewed are Professor Margaret Burnham and Melissa Nobles.
Lent Shaw was accused of harassing a white woman and lynched when he was 42. The chilling, gruesome image of what happened to him has haunted Shaw’s great-grandson, Evan Lewis, nearly his entire…