Booker Thomas Spicely (December 1, 1909 – July 8, 1944) was a victim of racial violence whose murder in North Carolina, United States is considered to be one of a series of outrages that contributed to rising activism in the Civil Rights Movement.
Other incidents in this period included Irene Morgan in July 1944 being arrested and jailed in Virginia for refusing to give up her seat on an interstate bus to a white person.
He attended two years of high school and was a cook before volunteering for the United States Army on December 31, 1943, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The driver told them all to move to the last seat for some white soldiers who boarded, as public transportation was segregated in North Carolina.
[1] The driver, Herman Lee Council, a Duke Power employee, was tried for the second-degree murder of Spicely; he was acquitted by the all-white jury on the grounds of self-defense.
His cause of death, which occurred during World War II, is listed as DNB, or “Died, Non-Battle.” Spicely's body was returned to his home in Blackstone, Virginia, for burial.