The Exoneration of George Stinney, Jr.

Mugshot Series: The Exoneration of George Stinney, Jr. 30x40 Oil/Gold Leaf 2018

Some years ago I ran across the story of George Stinney, Jr. along with his mugshot. Stinney was executed in 1944 for the murder of two white girls in a rural South Carolina town. He was only fourteen. In 2014, his conviction was posthumously vacated.

I remember being quite bothered by this case and the photo of young George haunted me tremendously. I filed the photo away not knowing what I’d do with it. After retirement and in getting more serious about my painting, I revisited the mugshot of Stinney. It would be the first in a series of mugshot painting I’ve done in my attempt to recognize and honor those arrested and sometimes killed needlessly because of their race and/or social activism.

When I was a child, a relative had a stillborn child and I distinctly remember being in a small family party that took the beautiful newborn to our church cemetary for burial. This was not a normal funeral. There was no church service. There was no casket. The small body was just put back to the earth. I doubt that it would be possible for one to take possession of a stillborn child today but it most have been possible then. My grandmother told me that the child didn’t need a church service because it was born innocent and didn’t have the opportunity to commit any sins but I am sure she was comforted in buring the child on church grounds rather than having it incinerated.

Whenever I look at George Stinney’s mugshot, I think of what my grandmother said. Although he was old enough to have sinned, it is difficult for me to imagine him having the ability to kill two girls, ages seven and eleven. In my portrait of Stinney, I honor him with a crown of thorns and a hallow. For if there is a heaven, I am sure he is there. Often times I get a spiritual connection when doing a portrait of the dead and I always pray to do justice in keeping their memory alive. I felt this connection with George Stinney and hope you take the time to learn more about his tragic story. In South Carolina, learn more about social justice by visiting and supporting Justice 360 but also support national efforts such as Brian Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative. His book Just Mercy is a must read and the movie is quite good as well. Black Lives Matter!

This was also my first time experimenting with gold leaf, a favorite medium of one of my best friends, artist Steven Towns. He is a South Carolinian who currently resides in Maryland and is doing big things in the artworld.