Memoried and Storied:

There is a racial healing moment happening in America today. Collectively, as a people, American activists will never stop fighting for justice, peace, and security for all. And yet we stand at a crossroads where once again white supremacists are attempting to wipe Black history out of the public record.

“Memoried and Storied” tells the story of four lynchings in the southern United States from 1878 to 1918. It is the story of the lives of four people before they were captured and terrorized. And it is the story of their current day community members who choose to honor their memory and mourn the mob violence that took them from their families.

Communities across our country are remembering history in a renewed and more inclusive way. This means researching and learning the true facts of the racial violence that occurred before during and after the Civil War. This book tells the story of the lynching of Charlotte Harris in Harrisonburg, Virginia in 1878. It explains what happened when a mob murdered John Henry James in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1898. The journey of Frazier Baker from prominent Black US postmaster to lynching victim is described. It was Mr. Baker’s lynching in 1898 in Lake City, South Carolina that captivated the attention of antilynching crusader Ida B. Wells as she bravely led the crusade for change and filled newspapers and books with the facts on lynching at the turn of the century. The story of Allie Thompson in Culpeper Virginia in 1918 on the eve of his joining the U.S. army is detailed and brought into the present day activism of his descendants and community friends.

Again, in our current period of history, teachers and citizens will not stand idly by while our neighbors are terrorized and killed. These stories, and our remembrance of them, can serve to sustain a new legacy of hopes triumph over human suffering.