Anne Sheppard Turner
Biography
Originally from Auburn, NY. White social worker, age 35 at time of arrest — the only woman and only white member of the Wilmington Ten. Convicted as accessory before the fact and conspiracy to assault emergency personnel; sentenced to 15 years. Paroled 1977. Died 2011, pardoned posthumously 2012.
Anne Sheppard (also reported in some records as “Ann Shepard”) was the only white and only female defendant among the Wilmington Ten. Sheppard was involved in the broader community context around the 1971 boycott and protests centered on educational equality and the treatment of Black students during Wilmington’s desegregation turmoil.
Sheppard was charged as an accessory before the fact in the burning of the building that housed Mike’s Grocery, while the nine male defendants faced charges including conspiracy to assault emergency personnel and burning the building. The Wilmington Ten were convicted on October 17, 1972; Sheppard received a 15‑year sentence. The convictions were later overturned in 1980, and the group ultimately received pardons of innocence in 2012.
