Please join us for the dedication of a new Georgia historical marker about Denna Strickland and Estella Strickland (d.1932).
The dedication is public and will take place on Saturday, June 13, at 2:00 p.m., at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church Cemetery, off Cecil Hunter Road, Moreland, Georgia. Parking is available at the Cemetery. Overflow parking is available at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church (644 Bear Creek Rd, Moreland, GA 30259).
The historical marker reads:
Denna Strickland and Estella Strickland (d. 1932)
Denna and Estella Strickland, buried here, were mother and daughter members of a successful African-American farming family. In October 1932, Denna’s 19-year-old son, M.C., was involved in a car accident with a White man. Despite being resolved without law enforcement, on October 17, Coweta bailiff Sam Thompson, with fellow White farmers Cecil Hunter and Theo McDonald, entered the Strickland’s home, demanding money for damages from an absent M.C. Thompson shot and killed Denna and Estella and shot Onelious, 16. Buford, 14, bore witness. The Atlanta Daily World and other organizations throughout Georgia called for accountability. The men faced no charges. Thompson was later elected constable. The killings reflect a broader shift in racial terror during the Jim Crow era from lynchings to unprosecuted violence and social and economic intimidation by White citizens and law enforcement.
Erected by the Georgia Historical Society, the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project, African American Alliance, Inc., and Mt. Calvary Baptist Church