ADAuthorities never investigated Finch’s death or charged anyone for it, and it was clear why. As part of her investigation, Aranda examined an unpublished investigation into Finch’s death conducted by the Commission on Interracial Cooperation, a race reform organization founded in segregated Atlanta in 1919. According to Finch-Morris, Smith may have been secretly dating her uncle — a verboten relationship that could have led to the rape allegation. In 1949, 13 years after Finch’s lynching, Roper became Imperial Wizard of Georgia’s Klan organizations. Somewhere between his house and his arrival at Grady Hospital on the verge of death, Finch was beaten and shot.

Source: Washington Post July 19, 2020 11:02 UTC