Atlanta, GA
Moore’s Ford Bridge: Remembering America’s last mass lynching
About 50 miles east of Atlanta, along Highway 78 near the Oconee County line, a modest roadside marker tells the story of one of the most horrific racial crimes in American history.
It marks the site of the Moore’s Ford Bridge lynching — widely recognized as the last documented mass lynching in the United States.
Between 1880 and 1968, Tuskegee University researchers say Georgia recorded 637 lynchings — one of the highest totals in the nation. Most went unprosecuted.
Among them: the killings on July 25, 1946.
On that summer day, George Dorsey — a World War II veteran — and his wife Mae, along with Roger and Dorothy Malcolm, were traveling near the Apalachee River in Walton County.
The Malcolms and Dorseys were sharecroppers who had encouraged Black community members to vote in Georgia’s all-white primary earlier that year.
After a confrontation with a wealthy white landowner, Roger Malcolm was arrested and jailed in Walton County. He was later bailed out by Loy Harrison, a local farmer who was also identified as a Klansman.
As Harrison drove the two couples toward his farm, their car was stopped at Moore’s Ford Bridge by a mob of roughly 30 white men.
George Dorsey and Roger Malcolm were dragged from the car, tied to a tree in a nearby field, and shot. Dorothy Malcolm, who was seven months pregnant, and Mae Dorsey were also killed. According to statements later given to authorities, the four were shot dozens of times.
No one was ever convicted.
A case that still haunts Georgia
For Cassandra Greene and Nicole King-Crawford, the site is not just history — it is sacred ground.
“I immediately feel sad… hurt,” Greene said during a recent visit to the bridge. “This is exactly where they were killed.”
For two decades, Greene and King-Crawford have helped organize an annual July 25 reenactment of the lynching. They say the performance is not about spectacle, but remembrance.
“It reconnects you to your humanness — your compassion, your empathy,” Greene said. “That’s what it should do.”
Despite four sweeping investigations by the FBI and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation over 81 years, no suspects were publicly named and no arrests were made.
Many in the community believe prominent local residents were involved.
“This town… there were prominent people here that were involved,” Greene said. “Would you want your family’s name to be out? They don’t want it.”
The sealed grand jury testimony
One potential key to the case remains locked away: sealed federal grand jury testimony from 1946. More than 100 witnesses reportedly testified.
Hank Klibanoff, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and director of the Georgia Civil Rights Cold Cases Project at Emory University, has long pushed for access to those records.
“I do believe the secrecy behind grand juries — including Moore’s Ford — is to protect the bad guys, not the good guys,” Klibanoff said.
He remains hopeful that answers may still exist in archives — or within families.
“You don’t know if someone gave a deathbed confession 40 years ago,” he said.
Authorities acknowledge it is unlikely that anyone who directly witnessed the lynching is still alive. But descendants in Walton County may hold pieces of the truth.
Greene says she prays one day a family member will come forward — not just for accountability, but for reconciliation.
“We want reconciliation,” she said. “That’s what’s important.”
A national reckoning
The impact of Moore’s Ford reached beyond Walton County.
In December 1946, the killings helped prompt President Harry Truman to establish the President’s Committee on Civil Rights — a 15-member panel tasked with investigating racial violence and recommending federal action to protect civil rights.
Nearly 80 years later, Moore’s Ford Bridge stands as a reminder of terror, silence, and unfinished justice — and of a chapter of Black history that remains as difficult to confront as it is necessary to remember.
EMS crews often face waits of an hour — or more — to transfer patients into hospital care.
A medical crew wheels a patient across the parking area into Grady Memorial Hospital after parking across the street because the ambulance bay was full on Friday, May 1, 2026. (Ben Hendren for the AJC)
Some Georgia ambulances are reaching hospitals with a patient on board and then shifting into park.
And waiting.
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A ambulance leaves the parking bay outside the Marcus Trauma and Emergency Center at Grady Memorial Hospital on Friday, May 1, 2026. (Ben Hendren for the AJC)
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Asia Simone Burns is a rapid response reporter for the AJC. Burns was formerly an intern in AJC’s newsroom and now writes about crime. She is a graduate of Samford University and has previously reported for NPR and WABE, Atlanta’s NPR member station.
Atlanta, GA
Two Georgia residents monitored after cruise ship hantavirus outbreak, health officials say
The Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) is actively monitoring two Georgia residents who recently returned home after disembarking from the MV Hondius, the cruise ship at the center of a hantavirus outbreak that has raised concerns among global health officials.
According to DPH, both individuals are currently in good health and have shown no signs of infection. They are adhering to the latest recommendations provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The outbreak, which was first reported earlier this week, has health experts on alert due to the rare nature of hantavirus transmission aboard cruise ships.
According to CBS News reporting, the virus typically spreads through contact with rodent droppings, urine, or saliva, and human-to-human transmission is considered extremely rare. The MV Hondius incident marks an unusual case, prompting heightened surveillance and coordination between public health agencies worldwide.
CBS News further reports that the cruise ship, which had been traveling through polar regions, has been thoroughly sanitized, and all passengers have been advised to monitor their health closely.
The CDC and international health agencies are working to trace possible sources of exposure and ensure that protocols are in place to prevent further spread.
At this time, the Georgia DPH emphasizes that there is no immediate risk to the public.
The two monitored residents continue to remain symptom-free, serving as a reminder of the importance of vigilance and rapid response in managing emerging infectious disease threats.
ATLANTA – Ticket prices for FIFA World Cup matches in Atlanta are climbing into the thousands of dollars as demand grows for games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
What we know:
On FIFA’s website, some premium tickets for group-stage matches were listed starting around $2,200. Prices for Round of 16 matches increased by nearly another $1,000.
One semifinal ticket in Atlanta was listed for more than $14,000.
Atlanta’s first World Cup match is scheduled for June 15, with Spain set to face Cabo Verde.
While ticket prices continue to rise, the outlook for many U.S. hotels is less optimistic. The American Hotel and Lodging Association said bookings in most host cities are below projections.
The group cited several factors, including fewer international travelers, concerns over visa delays and rising costs.
Atlanta, however, is meeting or exceeding hotel booking expectations, according to the industry group.
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