Recy Taylor who fought for justice after 1944 rape  dead at 97
Recy Taylor
Recy Taylor  an Alabama African-American woman whose 1944 abduction and rape sparked national headlines   died in  her  sleep just a few days ahead of  her  98th birthday.
 Taylor  died Thursday at an Abbeville nursing home   her  brother Robert Corbitt said. He added that  she âd been in good spirits the day prior and  her  death was fairly sudden.
 Taylor  was only 24 years when  she  was brutally attacked in  her  Alabama hometown.  She  was kidnapped  and raped at gunpoint while walking home from church by six white men who then left  her  on the side of the road in an isolated area.
The young  married mother reported the incident to police â at the height of the Jim Crow era â despite threats against  her  life from  her  group of attackers.
Two all-white  all-male grand juries however declined to indict the six men who admitted to authorities that theyâd attacked  her .
Recyâs story is the heart of filmmaker Nancy Buirskiâs â The Rape of Recy Taylorâ  â a documentary detailing the case  which made  its  North America debut at the New York Film Festival earlier this year.
 It âs also highlighted  alongside the stories from women of color attacked by white men during the Civil Rights era  in Danielle McGuireâs 2010 book: âAt the Dark of the Street.â
âIt is  Recy Taylor  and rare other black women like her who spoke up when danger was the greatest â Buirski told NBC News.
[TGT] an Alabama African-American woman whose 1944 abduction and rape sparked national headlines   died in   [TGT]   sleep just a few days ahead of   [TGT]   98th birthday.
  [TGT] died Thursday at an Abbeville nursing home    [TGT]   brother Robert Corbitt said. He added that   [TGT]  âd been in good spirits the day prior and   [TGT]   death was fairly sudden.
  [TGT] was only 24 years when   [TGT]   was brutally attacked in   [TGT]   Alabama hometown.   [TGT]   was kidnapped  and raped at gunpoint while walking home from church by six white men who then left   [TGT]   on the side of the road in an isolated area.
The young  married mother reported the incident to police â at the height of the Jim Crow era â despite threats against  her  life from  her  group of attackers.
Two all-white  all-male grand juries however declined to indict the six men who admitted to authorities that theyâd attacked  her .
Recyâs story is the heart of filmmaker Nancy Buirskiâs â  [TGT] â a documentary detailing the case  which made   [TGT]   North America debut at the New York Film Festival earlier this year.
  [TGT]  âs also highlighted  alongside the stories from women of color attacked by white men during the Civil Rights era  in Danielle McGuireâs 2010 book: âAt the Dark of the Street.â
âIt is   [TGT]   and rare other black women like  [TGT]  who spoke up when danger was the greatest â Buirski told NBC News.