Ossian Sweet

Common card · No. 384024

Ossian Haven Sweet (/ˈɒʃən/ OSH-ən; October 30, 1895 – March 20, 1960) was an African-American physician in Detroit, Michigan. He is known for being acquitted of murder in 1925 after he and his friends used armed self-defense against a hostile white mob protesting after Sweet moved into their neighborhood. Born in Florida to a farming family, Sweet went to Wilberforce University for preparatory work and his undergraduate degree. He earned his medical degree from Howard University, also a historically black university. After moving into a white neighborhood, the Sweets had stones thrown at their house, breaking windows. Shots were fired, and one white man was killed and another wounded. Sweet, his wife, and nine associates at the house (including two brothers) were all arrested and charged with murder. At the first trial, the jury could not agree on verdicts for several defendants. The judge declared a mistrial. The court accepted the defense motion to sever the defendants, and the prosecutor...

Read on Wikipedia