The Georgia Historical Society held a ceremony with local dignitaries to dedicate a historic marker for the Camilla Massacre, an 1868 incident in which about a dozen Black freedmen died.

CAMILLA, Ga. — The Georgia Historical Society, in conjunction with Union Baptist Church, Mitchell County NAACP Branch #5254, and Mitchell County High School Class of 1980, dedicated a historical marker about the Camilla Massacre on Monday, Feb. 27, at the Mitchell County Court House in Camilla.

The marker recognizes one of the most violent episodes in Reconstruction-era Georgia, the Georgia Historical Society said in a press release.

“In response to the expulsion of Georgia’s (Republican) African-American legislators who were elected in April 1868, Republicans rallied in Albany to march to Camilla on September 19, 1868,” the release said. “The group was met with violent local White backlash that resulted in the deaths of over a dozen freedmen and injury to many more. As a consequence of the violence in Camilla and other Southern communities, many Black voters, fearing more violence, did not participate in the November 1868 presidential election.”

The bloodshed in Camilla led Congress to return Georgia to military occupation and further Reconstruction governance, the press release said. The event pointed to the larger trend of politically motivated racial violence occurring throughout the South.

“The Camilla Massacre is an important but long-overlooked event in Georgia’s history, particularly as it relates to the history of Reconstruction in America and the struggle for Civil Rights,” said Dr. Stan Deaton, Senior Historian and Dr. Elaine B. Andrews Distinguished Historian at the Georgia Historical Society. “This marker dedication will provide an opportunity for everyone to come together to learn more about this critical event, its place in American history, and why historical markers like this one are vital to helping us better understand the past as we prepare for the future.”

To learn more about the Camilla Massacre historical marker, please contact Keith Strigaro, director of communications at the Georgia Historical Society, at (912) 651-2125 ext. 153 or kstrigaro@georgiahistory.com.