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The Wrong Walk Home — History
The Wrong Walk Home

In the small town of Lexington, SC, secrets, lies and racism came together to take away a young Black man’s freedom and ultimately, his life.
Willie Leaphart, 17, was walking home from church one night on Jan. 26, 1890, when he was arrested and accused of attacking a white woman at one of Lexington’s finest homes. Despite being a teenager, Willie must have known that a Black man facing a charge like that in the Jim Crow South faced almost certain death.
The attorney George Graham, reluctantly appointed by the court to defend Willie, uncovered facts that undercut the accusations of Willie’s guilt and suggested a darker reason for why he was accused of the crime in the first place and why he couldn’t be allowed to make it out of Lexington’s jail, where he was lynched by a mob of 100 men.
For 130 years, the crime was forgotten. But when the evidence is rediscovered in 2021 in the course of River Bluff High School research project about lynching in the county, it creates a chance for Willie’s name to finally be cleared. But can South Carolina in the 21st century correct a 19th century injustice? Will the reason for his death finally come to the forefront?

Copyright: © 2024

Latest Episodes:

BONUS EPISODE: Live from River Bluff High School Apr 03, 2024

Show notes

Bristow Marchant, Michael Burgess and more discuss the Willie Leaphart podcast with the Lexington community at River Bluff High School.

*****

Bristow Marchant is the reporter on this podcast. It is a a production of The State and McClatchy, and produced by Loumay Alesali, Jennifer Molina, Kata Stevens, Hrisanthi Pickett and Joshua Boucher. Special thanks to Don Blount.

Episode 6: Can Anybody Help? Feb 28, 2024

Show notes

What happens in a small Southern town after a lynching? Will Willie’s killers be held accountable? The man accused of leading the lynch mob actually faces charges, but another Lexington trial has a very different focus and a different outcome than Willie Leaphart’s.

More than 130 years after Willie Leaphart’s murder, a new legal case will take up the challenge of getting his initial rape conviction overturned. But even today, the challenges that come with correcting the injustice are steep. Can Willie ever get justice?

*****

Bristow Marchant is the reporter on this podcast. It is a a production of The State and McClatchy, and produced by Loumay Alesali, Jennifer Molina, Kata Stevens, Hrisanthi Pickett and Joshua Boucher. Special thanks to Don Blount.

Episode 5: 'If You Are Through With Me, Let Me Out' Feb 28, 2024

Show notes

With Graham’s appeal looking like it might succeed, some people in Lexington are getting very anxious. It culminates in a late-night attack on the Lexington jail where Willie is being held, and the young man meets a violent end at the hands of a lynch mob. This episode features first-hand accounts of the lynching itself.

*****

Bristow Marchant is the reporter on this podcast. It is a a production of The State and McClatchy, and produced by Loumay Alesali, Jennifer Molina, Kata Stevens, Hrisanthi Pickett and Joshua Boucher. Special thanks to Don Blount, Jeff Wilkinson, Walter Edgar and Orry Lee.

Episode 4: The Friend of the Common People Feb 28, 2024

Show notes

A step back to look at the other characters in this story. The Union-sympathizing scalawag congressman who took young Rosa into his home, the pro-Jim Crow friend of a future governor who led the prosecution of Willie, and the secret letters and press speculation that call the story of that night into question, and the scandalous reason it can’t be challenged.

*****

Bristow Marchant is the reporter on this podcast. It is a a production of The State and McClatchy, and produced by Loumay Alesali, Jennifer Molina, Kata Stevens, Hrisanthi Pickett and Joshua Boucher. Special thanks to Don Blount, Jeff Wilkinson, Walter Edgar and Orry Lee.

Episode 3: Innocent Blood Feb 28, 2024

Show notes

After the trial, Graham makes an appeal for clemency to the governor. He presents evidence he was prevented from bringing forward at trial, including witnesses who place Willie at church at the time of the attack. He also has first-hand evidence casting doubt on Rosa’s story. Excerpts from Graham’s own handwritten appeal.

*****

Bristow Marchant is the reporter on this podcast. It is a a production of The State and McClatchy, and produced by Loumay Alesali, Jennifer Molina, Kata Stevens, Hrisanthi Pickett and Joshua Boucher. Special thanks to Don Blount, Sarah Ellis and David Travis Bland.

Episode 2: Southern Justice? Feb 28, 2024

Show notes

Willie Leaphart was tried on a charge of raping a white woman just 25 years after the end of slavery. His judge, William Wallace, is a former Confederate general. There are warnings he may be lynched. George Graham is reluctantly appointed to be his attorney, but it does not go well.

*****

Bristow Marchant is the reporter on this podcast. It is a a production of The State and McClatchy, and produced by Loumay Alesali, Jennifer Molina, Kata Stevens, Hrisanthi Pickett and Joshua Boucher. Special thanks to Don Blount, Sarah Ellis, David Travis Bland and Jeff Wilkinson.

Episode 1: The 'Hideous Face' at the Window Feb 28, 2024

Show notes

A quiet church night in 1890 turns violent when 18-year-old Rosa Cannon reports being attacked and sexually assaulted by an intruder in her home. Suspicion very quickly falls on Willie Leaphart. But this individual story brings into sharp focus issues of race, class and power in 19th-century Lexington, SC. Rosa tells her own story of that night in an archival police statement.

*****

Bristow Marchant is the reporter on this podcast. It is a a production of The State and McClatchy, and produced by Loumay Alesali, Jennifer Molina, Kata Stevens, Hrisanthi Pickett and Joshua Boucher. Special thanks to Don Blount, Sarah Ellis and Jeff Wilkinson.

The Wrong Walk Home - Trailer Feb 22, 2024

Show notes

In the small town of Lexington, SC, secrets, lies and racism came together to take away a young Black man’s freedom and ultimately, his life. Willie Leaphart, 17, was walking home from church one night on Jan. 26, 1890, when he was arrested and accused of attacking a white woman at one of Lexington’s finest homes. Despite being a teenager, Willie must have known that a Black man facing a charge like that in the Jim Crow South faced almost certain death. The attorney George Graham, reluctantly appointed by the court to defend Willie, uncovered facts that undercut the accusations of Willie’s guilt and suggested a darker reason for why he was accused of the crime in the first place and why he couldn’t be allowed to make it out of Lexington’s jail, where he was lynched by a mob of 100 men. For 130 years, the crime was forgotten. But when the evidence is rediscovered in 2021 in the course of River Bluff High School research project about lynching in the county, it creates a chance for Willie’s name to finally be cleared. But can South Carolina in the 21st century correct a 19th century injustice? Will the reason for his death finally come to the forefront?

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