Remembering Ed Johnson 1906-2006
Please join us
As we remember the life of
g u e s t s p e a k e r s
The public is invited.
Program sponsored in part by both |
The Peace Walk In Memory of Ed Johnson
Come join us as we
The Walk will start at the Bessie Smith Hall
and end at the Walnut Street Bridge.
Churches, civic groups, schools and organizations are encouraged to wear items/colors that represent your groups, etc.
We hope to see you there!
The event is sponsored by
For more information call 423. 400.9948 |
Dead Innocent: the Ed Johnson Story a play by LaFrederick Thirkill
based on newspaper articles,
Co-sponsored by the BSLA
April 14-16
Chattanooga State |
grave marker in Pleasant Garden Cemetery, Ridgeside (Chattanooga) of Ed Johnson, a Black man unjustly accused of raping a White woman, hung and shot to death by a White mob in Chattanooga off the second span of the "county bridge" (now called the Walnut Street Bridge) on 19 march 1906.
Hamilton County sheriff Shipp of Chattanooga, in whose custody Johnson was placed, blamed the lynching on the US Supreme Court.
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(the last sentence ["Blessed ..."] is in reverse italic [left slant].)
The marker in the northeast corner of Pleasant Garden Cemetery is
(as of november 2005) lying horizontal on the ground, face up,
with the plinth (base) nearby. Thanks to LaFrederick Thirkill
for showing us the location of Johnson's marker and
telling us more about the history of the place and events.
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("foundation sacrifice" - on the use of human sacrifice as baptismal offering to new civic projects like bridges.)__________________________________________________________________These days there's no more lynching of young Black men in Tennessee (Texas is different).
But some consider there to be a modern variant: death in police custody.
also at the Pleasant Garden cemetery ... The alleged Scottsboro Boys' incident occurred on March 25, 1931, when several black youths were accused of raping two white girls on a train from Chattanooga to Huntsville, Ala. They were convicted but many blacks thought they had been wrongly convicted and were victims of racial prejudice. ... Many historians believe the Scottsboro case was the start of the modern civil rights movement. ... Andrew and Leroy Wright, two of the four Chattanoogans accused in the case, are buried at Pleasant Gardens Cemetery by Missionary Ridge. - chattanoogan.com
LEROY R
WRIGHT
TENNESSEE
PVT
9202 TECH SVC UNIT
WORLD WAR II
OCTOBER 27 1916
AUGUST 16 1959
listing of other Pleasant Garden Cemetery grave markers, Ridgeside (Chattanooga)
Friends of Pleasant Garden will be cleaning up the cemetery on all four saturdays, 9am-4pm, in february 2006. The public is invited to join in the efforts. Contact LaFrederick Thirkill (lathirk⁄at\bellsouth.net) for more information.
"Events honor man lynched 100 years ago" CTFP 29jan06
maps
tpk/19nov05/28jan06/mar06