Willie Piggee
Willie Piggee was one of 21 Black boys who died on March 5, 1959, when fire swept through a dormitory at the Arkansas Negro Boys Industrial School in Wrightsville, Pulaski County, where he was held. A 2019 Arkansas Department of Correction account says the boys were locked in their dormitory when the blaze started, and an Encyclopedia of Arkansas entry says the doors were reportedly locked from the outside. Officials have described the cause as a fire. The department dedicated a memorial in 2019 bearing his name and the names of the other boys who died.
Cause of death, as reported: Cause not yet determined (neglect alleged). Officials attributed his death to a dormitory fire, and reports say the doors were locked from the outside, so the boys could not get out.
Reported by: state officials; news reports.