Jessie Carpenter Jr.
Jessie Carpenter Jr. was 16 years old and Black, and he was held at the Arkansas Negro Boys Industrial School in Wrightsville, Pulaski County. On March 5, 1959, a fire broke out in the dormitory where he was housed, and he was one of 21 boys who died in it. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas reports that the doors were locked from the outside, and officials have given the cause as fire. He is listed among those buried in Haven of Rest Cemetery in Little Rock. In 2019 the Arkansas Department of Correction dedicated a memorial bearing the names of all 21 boys.
Cause of death, as reported: Died in an accident (neglect alleged). Officials said the boys died in a dormitory fire, and an account reports the doors were locked from the outside, trapping them inside.
Reported by: Arkansas Department of Correction and state officials (the agency that held him); news accounts of the fire.