Virginia Governor Posthumously Pardons Seven Black Men Executed in 1951 for Rape

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has issued posthumous pardons to the “Martinsville Seven,” executed in 1951.

Northam granted the pardon on Tuesday after years of outrage over the execution of Frank Hairston Jr., Booker T. Millner, Francis DeSales Grayson, Howard Lee Hairston, James Luther Hairston, Joe Henry Hampton, and John Claybon Taylor. The Black men were all convicted for raping a white woman named Ruby Stroud Floyd on January 8th, 1949. At a time when rape was a capital offense, all of the men were convicted and sentenced to the electric chair within eight days by an all-white jury. Their case has drawn years of criticism since some of the defendants could not read the confessions they signed while others were impaired at the time of their arrest. None of them had legal representation. Four of the defendants were executed on February 2nd, 1951, with the three remaining facing electrocution on February 5th. The “Martinsville Seven” remains the largest group of people executed for a single-victim crime in the state’s history.

While rape was punishable by execution at the time, the penalty was reserved only for Black people. Between 1908 and 1951, all 45 people executed for rape were Black. Despite Virginia officially abolishing the death penalty in 2021, studies have proved that a Black defendant was more likely to be sentenced to the death penalty if their victim was white.

Northam slammed the execution of the seven men, admitting that the men were killed “because they were Black.” He acknowledged that the punishment they received did not fit the crime that they were convicted of.

James Walter Grayson was just four years old when authorities knocked on the door and took his father away for the crime. He was present as Northam informed descendants of the men that they would be pardoned.

“It means so much to me,” he stated.