Died in juvenile detentionUnder 18
One of 19 people whose names were not reported
This boy was one of 21 African American boys who died in a fire at the state's Wrightsville reform school in rural Pulaski County, Arkansas, on March 5, 1959. The boys were locked in their dormitory when the blaze started, and officials attributed the deaths to the fire. In 2019 the Arkansas Department of Correction dedicated a memorial that lists each of the boys' names. He is remembered there among the 21 boys who died that day.
Cause of death, as reported: Cause not yet determined. State officials attributed the death to a fire at the Wrightsville reform school, and no source in the accounts says how the fire started.
Reported by: state officials. The only account of how this person died comes from the agency that held him.