02/19/2026
❗Trigger Warning: Sexual violence, racial violence
During Black History Month, we honor survivors like Betty Jean Owens and her courage in seeking justice after unimaginable violence. Her story reminds us that healing and accountability matter. At CITRC, we support survivors with compassion, dignity, and long-term care, because every survivor deserves to be believed.
The r**e of Betty Jean Owens is remembered as one of the most significant criminal cases of the American civil rights era, not only because of the brutality of the crime, but because of the historic legal outcome that followed.
In May 1959, Betty Jean Owens was a 21-year-old college student attending Florida A&M University (FAMU), a historically Black university in Tallahassee, Florida. One evening, she and three friends were driving when their car stalled. What began as an inconvenience quickly escalated into terror.
Four white men — William Collinsworth, David Beagles, Charles Greenlee, and Earnest Knox — encountered the women and offered assistance. Instead of helping, the men forced their way into the situation at gunpoint. Owens was abducted and driven to a secluded area, where she was brutally r**ed over the course of several hours. Meanwhile, her friends were released and immediately sought help.
The crime took place during the height of racial segregation in the American South. In 1959, in*******al violence and sexual assault cases involving Black victims were often ignored or dismissed by authorities. Historically, the legal system in the Jim Crow South had almost never imposed severe penalties on white men for ra**ng Black women. The expectation among many in the community was that the attackers would face little to no real punishment.
However, this case unfolded differently.
Owens’ friends quickly alerted authorities, and the suspects were arrested within hours. The local Black community, along with civil rights advocates, mobilized immediately. Students at Florida A&M University organized protests and demanded justice. National civil rights organizations closely monitored the case, recognizing its potential historical importance.
The trial took place in Tallahassee later that year. In a deeply segregated judicial system, the courtroom was tense. Yet the prosecution moved forward decisively. Betty Jean Owens testified about her ordeal, demonstrating remarkable courage in a public setting that was often hostile toward Black women who reported sexual violence.
In a landmark decision, an all-white, all-male jury convicted the four men of r**e. Even more extraordinary for the time, they were initially sentenced to death.
This outcome was unprecedented in the South: it marked the first time in Florida’s history that white men were sentenced to death for ra**ng a Black woman. The verdict sent shockwaves throughout the region. While the death sentences were later commuted to life imprisonment by the governor, the convictions themselves represented a profound shift in legal accountability.
The case became a turning point in the fight for civil rights and justice for Black women. It challenged long-standing racist assumptions within the legal system and demonstrated the power of organized community action. It also exposed the double standards that had historically protected white perpetrators while silencing Black victims.
For Betty Jean Owens, the trauma of the assault was immense, yet her willingness to testify helped secure accountability in a system that rarely offered it to women like her. Her case is often cited in historical analyses of civil rights–era legal reform and the evolving recognition of sexual violence as a crime that demanded serious prosecution regardless of race.
Today, the r**e of Betty Jean Owens is remembered not only as a horrific act of violence but as a watershed legal moment. It highlighted both the brutality Black women faced under segregation and the gradual, hard-fought progress toward justice in the American South.
Her story stands as a reminder of the intersection of race, gender, and power — and of the courage required to seek justice in an unequal system.
