Little Known Black History Fact: Joan Little

The case of Joan (pronounced “Jo-Anne”) Little helped bring awareness to sexual buse of women in prison. On this day in 1975, Ms. Little became the first woman acquitted of murder using a self-defense plea after she killed an abusive white prison guard.

Little was born in 1953 in Washington, N.C, a small coastal town. Little had a tormented childhood and often rebelled against her strict religious mother. As one of 10 children Little served as a caretaker for her siblings while her mother worked. After several instances of truancy and running away from home, she eventually fled to Philadelphia and graduated from high school there.

Little returned to North Carolina and immersed herself in life of crime. Along with her brother, Jerome Little, she burglarized homes in Beaufort County, racking up a string of arrests before being convicted of grand larceny in 1974. At age 20, Little was ordered to serve seven to 10 years at the Women’s Prison in Raleigh. However, Little chose to serve her time at the Beaufort County Jail to raise bond and appeal the conviction.

At just 5-foot-3 and 120 pounds, Little was considerably smaller than the male prison guards. The county jail was often lax in its security and it was known that guards often promised freedom to the inmates in exchange for sexual favors.

According to Little’s account, married prison guard Clarence Alligood entered her cell one evening and allegedly tried to assault her. In a scuffle, Alligood, who stood 6 feet tall and weighed 200 pounds, was stabbed 11 times with an ice pick.

Little Known Black History Fact: Joan Little  was originally published on ioneblackamericaweb.staging.go.ione.nyc

Little took Alligood’s keys and escaped. It was believed that she took the ice pick from the guard, as it was a common tool used it for odd jobs around the jail. Although evidence the attempted assault was found at the scene, Little was charged with murder. After her capture, she was moved to the Women’s Prison in Raleigh out of fear of retaliation and hopes of a fair trial.

The case went public in 1974 and the explosive five-week trial began in July 1975. Little became a “cause célèbre” among feminists, civil rights activists and others worldwide. The case attracted the attention of local attorney Jerry Paul and Southern Poverty Law Center general counsel Morris Dees from Alabama. The pair created the “Joan Little Defense Fund” and raised $350,000 which she used to make bail.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference President Ralph Abernathy and activist Angela Davis were both vocal in their support for Little, which they argued had racial implications. When the trial began, Dick Gregory, Julian Bond and others protested outside the courts. On the final day of the trial, the jury handed down an acquittal after just 78 minutes of deliberation.

Despite Little’s good fortune, she couldn’t let go of her past. Just a month shy of making parole after returning to prison to finish her grand larceny time, she escaped. After her her recapture and serving out her sentence, she was arrested twice more in 1979 and in 1989 while living in New York.

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Little Known Black History Fact: Joan Little  was originally published on ioneblackamericaweb.staging.go.ione.nyc