It does not appear that any law enforcement officials were among the group at the Carrier home on the night of January 4, 1923. So in some ways this is my way of dealing with the whole thing. An attack on women not only represented a violation of the South's foremost taboo, but it also threatened to dismantle the very nature of southern society. Robin Raftis, the white editor of the Cedar Key Beacon, tried to place the events in an open forum by printing Moore's story. It's a sad story, but it's one I think everyone needs to hear. Survivors from the town hid for several days in nearby swamps until they were evacuated by train and car to larger towns. 2007. http://www.rosewoodflorida.com/. They assisted in the evacuation of several black women and children mostly. They had three churches, a school, a large Masonic Hall, a turpentine mill, a sugarcane mill, a baseball team named the Rosewood Stars, and two general stores, one of which was white-owned. "[52], Philomena Goins Doctor died in 1991. They hid many [11], White men began surrounding houses, pouring kerosene on and lighting them, then shooting at those who emerged. Jesse Hunter became the focus of the search. In addition, several of the black women of Rosewood worked in domestic capacities for the white residents of Sumner. [44] The sawmill in Sumner burned down in 1925, and the owners moved the operation to Lacoochee in Pasco County. The company opened a new mill in Lacoochee, Florida, in Pasco County, and many of the Rosewood families moved to that area. Lexie Gordon, a light-skinned 50-year-old woman who was ill with typhoid fever, had sent her children into the woods. By the 1920s, almost everyone in the close-knit community was distantly related to each other. Brown, Eugene (January 13, 1923). [21], On January 1, 1923, the Taylors' neighbor reported that she heard a scream while it was still dark, grabbed her revolver and ran next door to find Fannie bruised and beaten, with scuff marks across the white floor. The John Wright home, built in 1901, is the last known remaining structure from the original Rosewood community. The neighbor found the baby, but no one else. Losing political power, black voters suffered a deterioration of their legal and political rights in the years following. Shipp commented on Singleton's creating a fictional account of Rosewood events, saying that the film "assumes a lot and then makes up a lot more". The only remains of Rosewood. His survival was not otherwise documented. The Miami Metropolis listed 20 black people and four white people dead and characterized the event as a "race war". When her home was set on fire she went out the back door and was shot and killed. Some of the property of the Rosewood residents apparently was lost to taxes, but there are a few records that indicate some property was later sold. No arrests were made for what happened in Rosewood. She joined her grandmother Carrier at Taylor's home as usual that morning. Carter then took them to a place down the road where he said he let the fugitive off; however, when the dogs failed to pick up the scent, one of the men in the crowd shot and killed Sam Carter. German propaganda encouraged black soldiers to turn against their "real" enemies: American whites. How bad? Most of the local economy drew on the timber industry; the name Rosewood refers to the reddish color of cut cedar wood. The sexual lust of the brutal white mobbists satisfied, the women were strangled. Here is a part of U.S. history you may not have heard of yet and if you have, kudos to you. [5], Aaron Carrier was held in jail for several months in early 1923; he died in 1965. While mob lynchings of black people around the same time tended to be spontaneous and quickly concluded, the incident at Rosewood was prolonged over a period of several days. The survivors were so terrified that they fled to other towns in Florida and never came back. The day before her accusation there was a Klan rally held in Gainesville with over 100 Klansmen. [22][note 1] The charge of rape of a white woman by a black man was inflammatory in the South: the day before, the Klan had held a parade and rally of over 100 hooded Klansmen 50 miles (80 km) away in Gainesville under a burning cross and a banner reading, "First and Always Protect Womanhood". During the ensuing gunfire Sarah Carrier was shot and killed. That be just like throwing gasoline on fire ... to tell a bunch of white people that." Gainesville's black community took in many of Rosewood's evacuees, waiting for them at the train station and greeting survivors as they disembarked, covered in sheets. Taylor was screaming that someone needed to get her baby. “We're afraid somebody will destroy the house to try to prevent the exposure of the information,” Gregory Dichtas said. [40] A few editorials appeared in Florida newspapers summarizing the event. Details about the armed standoff were particularly explosive. [12] Although these were quickly overturned, and black citizens enjoyed a brief period of improved social standing, by the late 19th century black political influence was virtually nil. [62], After hearing all the evidence, the Special Master Richard Hixson, who presided over the testimony for the Florida Legislature, declared that the state had a "moral obligation" to make restitution to the former residents of Rosewood. African American History: Research Guides & Websites, Global African History: Research Guides & Websites, African Americans and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Alma Stephenson Dever Page on Afro-britons, With Pride: Uplifting LGBTQ History On Blackpast, Preserving Martin Luther King County’s African American History, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Envoys, Diplomatic Ministers, & Ambassadors, African American Newspapers, Magazines, and Journals, http://www.displaysforschools.com/rosewoodrp.html. Moore, Gary (March 7, 1993). Extrajudicial violence against black residents was so common that it seldom was covered by newspapers. Her nine-year-old niece at the house, Minnie Lee Langley, had witnessed Aaron Carrier taken from his house three days earlier. "Ku Klux Klan in Gainesville Gave New Year Parade". Mr. Parham testified that after the news of Mrs. Taylor’s assault on January 1, 1923 spread, tension was very high in Sumner. . Survivors and other eye witnesses from the event claimed a death toll of up to 150 people. She said she plans to move closer to her daughter and son-in-law once the property is sold. [3] Several eyewitnesses claim to have seen a mass grave filled with black people; one remembers a plow brought from Cedar Key that covered 26 bodies. ", "You know, I don't know that I necessarily have a good reason for that. [38][39], By the end of the week, Rosewood no longer made the front pages of major white newspapers. A group of white men approached the house and called for Sarah Carrier to come out. Eva Braun and Adolf Hitler: Genocide and a Love Affair, African American Towns of the American West, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22183439, https://www.floridamemory.com/PhotographicCollection/, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosewood_massacre. They knew that helping the black citizens of Rosewood hide or escape could lead to their own deaths. Parham said he had never spoken of the incident because he was never asked. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. They liked the house for its appearance and quiet surroundings, but knew nothing of its history. He lived in it and acted as an emissary between the county and the survivors. John Wright and his wife, Mary, bought that big, white house with stained-glass windows in 1900. “They came by hollering “niggas go home” and other slants that they said.”. But as she got older, she said, the adventures became too much to handle. At about this time word reached Sumner from Levy County Sheriff Robert Elias Walker that a black convict named Jesse Hunter had escaped from a work crew doing road construction near Otter Creek. Mr. Parham specifically remembered that deputy Williams was discussing the ongoing events and stated that “All hell’s breaking out in Rosewood.” There is nothing in the record to indicate the whereabouts of Sheriff Walker on that night. I think most everyone was shocked. They crossed dirt roads one at a time, then hid under brush until they had all gathered away from Rosewood. On January 29, 1923 the Governor ordered that a special grand jury investigate the violence at Rosewood. All donations are tax deductible. She said a gang of motorcycles also once circled the bus to intimidate the group. [21] Carrier's grandson and Philomena's brother, Arnett Goins, sometimes went with them; he had seen the white man before. Florida had an especially high number of lynchings of black men in the years before the massacre,[2] including a well-publicized incident in December 1922. Later that evening, Mr. Parham closed the store and noticed that deputy sheriff Williams, who had walked to Rosewood, had left his car parked outside. [32], News of the armed standoff at the Carrier house attracted white men from all over the state to take part. John Wright House is said to have hidden blacks fleeing racial terrorism in 1923.

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