Jacob Beavin: The Commonwealth of Kentucky Vs. Will Lockett: Revisiting the Controversial Murder Case at the Centennial
Jake Beavin is a senior graduating with a bachelor of arts in political science and a minor in English from the University of Kentucky. After spending a semester working with archival letters belonging to Kentucky’s own Mary Breckinridge, Jake became fascinated with the University Archives and Kentucky history collections available at the UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center. The Samuel Wilson Legal Files, 1870s-1920s was of special interest to him, as it contained a specific file regarding the controversial and infamous 1920 Lexington murder trial of Will Lockett.
The collection shed new light on a case that has been examined and debated for a century. While the matter of guilt or innocence will likely never be answered, the unprocessed collection offered new insights on Lockett, his lawyer, and Lexington during that time period. Research involving the case tackled matters of race, mental health, and the rule of law in a southern city. Jake feels that this collection is imperative to viewing this point in history in its most complete form.
Jake will attend the Indiana University Maurer School of Law in Bloomington, Indiana, this fall with the hopes of becoming a lawyer.
Jake's research into the Samuel Wilson Legal Files was accepted to the National Conference of Undergraduate Research at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, March 26-28, 2020. The conference was cancelled due to COVID-19.
Abstract title: The Commonwealth of Kentucky vs. Will Lockett: Revisiting the Controversial Murder Case at the Centennial
In 1920, a 10-year-old white girl named Geneva Hardman was found brutally murdered in a field in Lexington, Kentucky. Soon after the discovery, police arrested Will Lockett, an African American World War I veteran suffering from physical and mental health issues, for the crime. A trial was promptly set, and in the time between his arrest and the trial, Lexington citizens became enraged by the crime. On the day of his trial, a large mob amassed outside of the courthouse in an attempt to break in and lynch the accused. The National Guard was brought in to keep the peace, and Lexington city officials were determined to let legal justice prevail rather than succumb to the mob. Lockett’s trial lasted fifteen minutes before the jury found him guilty and sentenced to death. One hundred years after the verdict, the question remains: was justice truly served for Will Lockett? Using newly processed legal files from Lockett’s attorney available at the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center, as well as primary source court records and newspaper accounts, investigation into the legal process is expected to provide valuable insight into the process of justice as it was practiced in 1920. Using a 21st century lens on which to view this century-old case will answer the questions that are commonly held about the case: should Lockett have been sent to his death for the crime and should his mental health have been factored into his verdict? This study will compare the Lockett case to similar, 21st century cases to examine differences in how verdicts have evolved to encompass mental health issues.