Women And Families Behind The Confrontation

Historical accounts of Hayes Pond often focus on the men who went to the field because they were the people most visible in photographs and eyewitness descriptions.

But the community response involved families.

Women knew about the threats.

They lived with the same racial pressure.

They saw the cross burnings and heard the rumors about the rally.

Many feared what could happen if armed men confronted the Klan at night.

Accounts preserved by the Museum of the Southeast American Indian note that women urged relatives to stay home because they feared violence.

That fear was reasonable.

A gunfight could have killed fathers, husbands, brothers, sons, or bystanders.