Ed Johnson was an African American man who was lynched on the Walnut Street Bridge in Chattanooga in 1906. Despite significant efforts by his lawyers, Noah Parden and Styles Hutchins, to save his life, Johnson was sentenced to death based on allegations that he raped Nevada Taylor, a white woman. Many reports and witnesses claimed his innocence, and the United States Supreme Court issued a stay of execution. However, soon after the sentencing, a white mob broke into the prison, abducted Johnson and took him to the Walnut Street bridge, where they hung and shot him.





