Isaiah Taylor
Age 34
A Black man with a history of mental illness
Ruleville, Mississippi
June 26, 1964
Isaiah Taylor, a 34-year-old Black man, had a history of mental illness and was known to walk along the roads of Ruleville, Mississippi. On June 26, 1964, Taylor was standing on the side of Highway 49, covering his face with his hands, when he was approached by Patrolman Robert Wallace and Constable T.A. Fleming of the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol. The officers, who had been on the lookout for an escaped prisoner, asked Taylor for identification. According to a Justice Department memo on the case, the officers and a witness differed on what happened next, but shortly thereafter Wallace shot Taylor in the chest, killing him.
Initial Investigation
According to a Department of Justice memo on the case, a preliminary hearing was held the day after Taylor’s death, and the county judge ruled that Wallace was not guilty of manslaughter. While six witnesses were listed on the docket for the state, the judge referenced only two in his decision. According to the DOJ memo, the judge largely summarized Wallace’s version of events.
According to Wallace, Taylor refused to show identification or to remove his hands from his pockets. Wallace said Taylor then pulled out a switchblade and charged at him. Wallace claimed he fired two warning shots toward Taylor’s feet, but Taylor continued to advance and threw a knife at him.
Till Act Status
In 2008 the FBI initiated a review of Taylor’s case. They interviewed a friend of the victim, who said Taylor had a history of mental illness, as well as a hard time hearing, and got confused. The FBI also interviewed the person they believed to be the sole living witness to Taylor’s death, who testified in the preliminary hearing in 1964.
The witness, whose name was redacted in the DOJ memo, said Taylor neither cursed nor brandished a knife. The witness said that while Taylor did take time in complying with Wallace’s orders, when he raised his hands in surrender, he was “immediately shot.” The witness further denied that Wallace fired any warning shots. The witness also stated that Fleming, who grew up in the area, should have been able to recognize Taylor.
The FBI sought records from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, the District Attorney’s Office for the Fourth Circuit Court District, the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, the Ruleville Police Department and the Sunflower County Sheriff’s Office, but none were found.
Wallace died in 2007. Citing his death and a statute of limitations, the FBI closed Taylor’s case in 2010.
Case Status closed
Closed 04/12/2010
Themes
- Closed All Subjects Deceased
- Closed Cases
- Deaths Involving Law Enforcement
- Men
About the Project
This multiplatform investigation draws upon more than two years of reporting, thousands of documents and dozens of first-hand interviews. FRONTLINE spoke to family and friends of the victims, and witnesses, some of whom had never been interviewed; current and former Justice Department officials and FBI agents, state and local law enforcement; lawmakers, civil-rights leaders and investigative journalists, to explore the Department of Justice’s reopening of civil rights-era cold cases under the 2008 Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act.
In addition to an examination of the federal effort, the project features the first comprehensive, interactive list of all those whose cases were reopened by the Department of Justice. Today, the list stands at 151 names. Among the victims: voting rights advocates, veterans, Louisville’s first female prosecutor, business owners, mothers, fathers, and children.
The project consists of a web-based interactive experience, serialized podcast, a touring augmented-reality exhibit, documentary and companion education curriculum for high schools and universities.
A project like Un(re)solved would not be possible without the historic and contemporary contributions of universities, civil rights groups, and the press, particularly the Black press, who have ensured the ongoing public record of racist violence in the United States. To pay homage to these groups, the web interactive begins with a quote from journalist, activist and researcher Ida B. Wells, one of the first to document with precision the horrors of racial terror in America. “The way to right wrongs,” she wrote, “is to turn the light of truth upon them.”
At the outset of the project, FRONTLINE forged a relationship with Northeastern University’s Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project (CRRJ), bringing them on as an academic partner. Launched in 2007 by Distinguished Law Professor Margaret Burnham, CRRJ is a mission-driven program of interdisciplinary teaching, research and policy analysis on race, history, and criminal justice. Their work has expanded beyond the names on the Justice Department’s list, archiving documents in over 1,000 cases of racially motivated homicides.
With support from the CRRJ, FRONTLINE reporters gathered what could be known about the individuals on the list, conducting interviews with family, friends and witnesses, delving into newspaper archives and gathering documentation including headstone applications, draft cards and archival photographs.
At the heart of the project has been a drive to center the voices of the families of those on the list. FRONTLINE partnered with StoryCorps to record nearly two dozen oral histories with victims’ next of kin, which are featured both in the web-based interactive and traveling AR exhibit. These oral histories will also be archived in the National Library of Congress.
To lead the creative vision for the web experience and installation, FRONTLINE partnered with Ado Ato Pictures, a premier mixed reality studio founded by artist, filmmaker, and technologist Tamara Shogaolu.
Shogaolu rooted the visuals in the powerful symbolism of trees. In the United States, trees evoke the ideal of liberty, but also speak to an oppressive history of racially motivated violence. In Persian myth, trees are humanity’s ancestors, while in Toraja, Indonesia, they serve as sacred burial sites.
“I was really inspired by looking at the role of the tree as a symbol in American history” Shogaolu said. “It’s been looked at as a symbol of freedom, we look at it as a connector between generations, and also there’s the association of trees with racial terror.” When designing the creative vision for Un(re)solved Shogaolu wondered whether she might be able to reclaim the symbol of the tree. “As a person of color, we’re often terrified of being in isolated places in the woods. And I thought it was kind of crazy that there are natural environments that instinctually give great fear because of this connection with racial terror and I wanted to reclaim that — to turn these into beautiful spaces.”
Un(re)solved weaves imagery of trees, which also recall family ties, into patterns and textures from the American tradition of quilting. Among enslaved African Americans forbidden to read or write, quilts provided an important space to document family stories. Today, quilting remains a creative outlet rich with story and tradition for many American communities.
We invite you to enter this forest of quilted memories — a testimony to the lives of these individuals, and the multi-generational impact of their untimely, unjust loss.
(Credits to come)