Lena Baker
An African American maid executed for killing her white employer, she received a full, symbolic pardon six decades later, exposing a grave injustice.
1900–1945 (age 45)·African American wrongful execution victim·Birthday: June 8·The Lost Generation
Biography
Lena Baker's story is a stark, grim window into the Jim Crow South. A Black maid and mother of three in rural Georgia, she worked for and became involved with Ernest Knight, a white mill owner known for violence. In 1944, during a struggle, she shot and killed him. Her trial was a swift travesty—an all-white, all-male jury took just a day to convict her of capital murder, despite her testimony that she acted in self-defense while he held her captive. The state of Georgia electrocuted her in 1945, making her the only woman ever executed in the state's electric chair. For decades, her case was a footnote of racial terror. Then, in the 1990s, her family began a campaign for clemency. In 2005, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles granted her a full pardon, not on a technicality, but on the grounds that she deserved a pardon, a rare and powerful acknowledgment of a historic wrong.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
Lena was born in 1900, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Lena Was Born
The biggest hits of 1900
Lena's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1900Born
Boxer Rebellion in China
President: William McKinley
1905Started school
Einstein publishes the theory of special relativity
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1913Became a teenager
The Federal Reserve is established
President: Woodrow Wilson
1916Could drive
The Battle of the Somme claims over a million casualties
President: Woodrow Wilson
1918Could vote
World War I ends; Spanish flu pandemic kills millions
President: Woodrow Wilson
1921Turned 21
First commercial radio broadcasts
President: Warren G. Harding"My Man" — Fanny Brice
1930Turned 30
Pluto discovered
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $3,510President: Herbert Hoover"Body and Soul" — Paul WhitemanBest Picture: All Quiet on the Western Front
1940Turned 40
The Blitz: Germany bombs London
Gas: $0.18/galHome: $2,938Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"I'll Never Smile Again" — Tommy DorseyBest Picture: Rebecca
1945Died at 45
WWII ends; atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $4,600Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Sentimental Journey" — Les Brown & Doris DayBest Picture: The Lost Weekend
Key Achievements
- Her posthumous pardon in 2005 by the State of Georgia represented a formal acknowledgment of the injustice of her trial and execution.
- Her case brought renewed historical scrutiny to racial disparities and the abuse of the legal system in the Jim Crow era.
- Inspired the book 'The Lena Baker Story' and a subsequent film adaptation.
Did You Know?
She is the only woman ever executed by electrocution in the state of Georgia.
Her last words were, 'What I done, I did in self-defense. I have nothing against anyone.'
She was buried in an unmarked grave until 1998, when a relative had a proper headstone installed.
The pardon granted to her in 2005 was an 'unpardon,' a unique declaration of innocence, not just forgiveness.
“What I done, I did in self-defense. I have nothing against anyone.”
