oct 7, 1892 - In Columbia, S.C., on October 7, 1892, 13 yr old Mildrey Brown was hanged on the gallows for allegedly poisoning a white infant

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In September, 1892, Brown was found guilty of murder in the first degree on the charge of poisoning a little white infant that she nursed. She was sentenced to be hanged. The governor refused to lighten her sentence, and on October 7th, 1892, in Columbia, South Carolina, she was hung on the gallows. This is one of the most heartbreaking cases, due to her age, and the shocking but at the same time un-shocking treatment and cruelty from the justice system towards this little black girl. The governor thought that being hanged on the gallows, which is technically a public execution, would be the appropriate punishment for a child. Now there was no mention of evidence of Brown committing the crime, so she may or may not have been innocent. But even if she was guilty, this level of punishment is brutal and isn't right to give to a child.

According to an article, "This made the second colored female hanged in that state within one month. Although tried, and in rare cases convicted for murder and other crimes, no white girl in this country ever met the same fate." If Brown was a white girl, she would have never been hanged, even if proven guilty with a substantial amount of evidence. This shows that the double standard when it comes to race and crimes in the south, sadly also applies to children; black young girls and boys, even though unmistakably are children, are seen and treated as adults, facing the same, brutal, inhumane punishments.

Photo: The Brooklynn Daily Eagle, Oct. 6 1892, mentioning the execution of Mildrey Brown

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