In the annals of Atlanta’s dark history, few chapters are as chilling and unresolved as the saga of the Atlanta Ripper.
Between 1911 and 1912, with possible extensions from as early as 1909 to 1915 or even later, a shadowy figure—or perhaps multiple perpetrators—stalked the streets of the city’s Old Fourth Ward and surrounding areas, preying on young Black women.
Terror in the Shadows of Early 20th-Century Atlanta
This series of brutal murders, often compared to the infamous Jack the Ripper killings in London just two decades prior, left at least 20 to 24 victims in its wake and instilled fear in Atlanta’s Black communities during an era already fraught with racial tension.
The Atlanta Ripper’s crimes remain one of the city’s most infamous unsolved cases, a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities faced by marginalized groups in the Jim Crow South…