Berry Washington (c. 1847 – May 26, 1919) was a 72-year-old black man who was lynched in Milan, Georgia, in 1919. He was in jail after killing a white man who was attacking two young girls. He was taken from jail and lynched by a mob.
A Life Shaped by Injustice
Berry Washington was born in 1847 in Georgia, a slave state where Black lives were defined by forced labor and brutal control. Berry likely spent his childhood picking cotton, subject to the whip if he failed to meet daily quotas. When emancipation came in 1865, Berry, like other newly freed people, witnessed the hope of Reconstruction—a time promising freedom, citizenship, and political participation for Black Americans.
However, that hope was short-lived. By the time Berry entered his twenties, federal troops were withdrawn from the South, signaling the end of Reconstruction and the rise of Jim Crow laws. He lived through the terror of the Ku Klux Klan, the enforcement of Black Codes, and the re-enslavement of Black people through convict leasing and peonage.
Despite these challenges, Berry survived. He married Annie, another formerly enslaved person, and by 1910, they were sharecroppers in Milan, Georgia. Like many Black families, Berry and Annie worked under a system designed to perpetuate Black labor exploitation. Sharecropping kept Black farmers in a cycle of debt and poverty, a new form of slavery in all but name.
The Attack on the McCollers Family
On May 24, 1919, Berry Washington was 72 years old. That night, in Milan’s Black neighborhood, Emma McCollers and her two daughters were asleep when two white men, John Dowdy and Levi Evans, arrived at their door. John Dowdy was the son of Milan’s mayor, Reverend William Dowdy, and his presence in the Black part of town at 1 a.m. was menacing. When the McCollers family refused to open the door, Dowdy fired his gun into the home.
The McCollers daughters fled to a nearby neighbor, Emma Tishler, and hid under her floorboards. Dowdy and Evans followed, attempting to tear up the floor to reach the girls. Tishler, terrified, jumped into a nearby well to escape. The chaos drew the attention of Berry Washington, who lived nearby.
Hearing the commotion, Berry grabbed his firearm and confronted Dowdy and Evans. When Dowdy fired at Berry and missed, Berry defended himself, fatally shooting Dowdy. Evans fled, leaving Berry and the McCollers family safe—for the moment.
A Predictable Outcome: Arrest and Lynching
Berry knew the danger of what had occurred. Despite acting in self-defense to protect two young girls, the racial dynamics of 1919 Georgia were clear: a Black man killing a white man, even in self-defense, was a death sentence. Encouraged by a neighbor, Berry went to the authorities in Milan to explain what had happened.
Instead of being treated fairly, Berry was arrested and transferred to a jail in McRae for “his protection.” However, word of Dowdy’s death spread quickly, and a lynch mob began forming. On the night of May 25, 1919, Deputy Sheriff Dave McRanie, a known sympathizer with the mob, handed Berry over to them.
The mob took Berry back to the site of the shooting. There, in front of his community, they lynched him. Berry was hanged from a post, and his body was riddled with bullets in an act of terror meant to send a message to the Black residents of Milan: resistance, even in self-defense, would not be tolerated.
The Aftermath and Cover-Up
After the lynching, the town of Milan silenced any discussion of the event. The local papers were instructed not to report on the lynching. The first public account came from a Macon newspaper, which distorted the story, omitting the attempted assault on the McCollers daughters and portraying Berry as an unprovoked aggressor.
The NAACP’s efforts brought national attention to Berry Washington’s story, but justice remained elusive. A grand jury in Telfair County found no one accountable for the lynching, despite clear evidence of involvement by law enforcement and local officials. Sheriff John Williams was criticized for leaving the jail unguarded, but no legal action was taken against him. Deputy McRanie, the mob’s ringleader, died shortly after the lynching, ensuring he faced no consequences.
A Legacy of Courage and Injustice
Berry Washington’s life and death exemplify the horrors of racial violence in America. His story also highlights the bravery of those who resisted injustice, like Reverend Dinkins and Monroe Work, who risked their lives to expose the truth.
Berry’s tragic end is a stark reminder of the systemic racism that shaped the United States during the Jim Crow era. It is also a call to honor the lives of those like Berry who, despite enduring unimaginable hardships, stood up for themselves and others in the face of overwhelming injustice.