On August 14 in 1904, a white woman in Thomaston, Alabama — ancestral homelands of the Choctaw Nation, until their removal by the U.S. government, and home to many large plantations during the 1800s — claims a Black man has entered her home and frightened her. A hat is found outside her home and a neighbor identifies it as belonging to Rufus Lesseur, a 24-year-old Black man.

A mob of unmasked white men kidnaps Lesseur, and locks him in a tiny calaboose in the forest for more than a day.

At 3 am on August 16, the mob drags Lesseur from the shack, and riddles his body with bullets.

Officials claim they are unable to identify, arrest, or prosecute anyone in the town of 300 for Lesseur’s murder.

The calaboose is preserved in Thomaston to this day.