Julie Hayden

Julie Hayden (August 21, 1874), sometimes Julia Hayden, was an American Black school teacher murdered by members of the White Man's League within days of starting a teaching position at a school for Black children in Tennessee.

Early life and education Hayden grew up in Spring Hill, Tennessee. She attended Central Tennessee College in Nashville, a teachers' college for Black students. Three days after her arrival in Hartsville, on August 21 at 2:00 am, the Lowe home was invaded by members of the White Man's League, who chased her through the house and shot and killed her.

In August 1874, the Republican Banner reported that the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Colonel John Fleming, had requested Robert S. Smith, the Trousdale County superintendent, provide a report on the murder. In September 1874, Black citizens of Spring Hill, where Hayden's family lived, petitioned Tennessee Governor John C. Brown to find and arrest the murderers. In October 1874 the accused were released on $3,500 bail.

According to Alan Friedlander and Richard Allen Garber, Hayden "became the poster child of southern violence".