PRICES CORNER – Roughly 200 community members braved Sunday’s inclement weather to stand beside Senator Darius Brown, members of the Delaware Legislative Black Caucus and other state leaders as they dedicated a historical maker to memorialize the only documented lynching in the First State.
Joined by Governor John Carney, Lt. Governor Bethany Hall-Long, and New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer, Sen. Brown and Sanford School senior Savannah Shepherd unveiled a new state historical marker commemorating the 1903 murder of laborer George White at the hands of an angry, white mob.
First installed by Delaware Public Archives in June at Shepherd’s urging, the original historical marker was stolen several weeks later, a theft still under investigation by the New Castle County Police Department.
“Today, we showed our state and our communities that we will not allow criminals to suppress African-American history, no matter how difficult and disturbing that past might be for some people,” said State Senator Darius Brown (D-Wilmington), chair of the DLBC. “Although uncomfortable, our goal in bringing this dark chapter to light is to confront racial injustices in our past so that we can begin to heal and move forward together. We will not allow those conversations to be silenced.”
Governor Carney called on those in attendance to use the re-dedication ceremony as an opportunity to re-dedicate themselves to “the cause of freedom and equality for every, single Delawarean.”
“It’s not how many times you get knocked down. It’s how many times you get up,” he said. “I’m lifted up, not withstanding the chill in the air and the rain falling all around us, by the opportunity to do that and for the example Savannah is showing all of us about what we must do here in the great state of Delaware.”
Lt. Governor Hall-Long noted that many would prefer to hide from history out of shame and embarrassment rather than apologize to those harmed by the past.
“Today, we are apologizing for a lack of social justice, a lack of what is right,” she said. “Moving forward from this day, you have our commitment to stand behind you and the George White family to ensure these injustices do not happen in our future.”
New Castle County Executive Meyer said Sunday’s event was about more than erecting a monument.
“The heinous act that brings us together today will only strengthen our resolve to ensure everyone knows about this tragic fact of American and Delaware history,” he said.
The new marker dedicated Sunday is an exact duplicate of the original that described how White was arrested for the murder of a white girl despite denying any involvement in the attack.
Following his arrest, white vigilantes twice tried and failed to remove White from prison, when a Presbyterian minister delivered a sermon that sparked a violent confrontation between White’s jailers and an angry mob. White eventually was dragged off and burned alive while pieces of his charred body were taken by the mob as souvenirs.
No one was ever convicted of any crimes related to his murder.
“Our church has called the lynching of Mr. White our darkest hour,” said Stated Clerk Bob Schminkey of New Castle Presbytery, who offered the invocation Sunday. “I want to apologize for our actions. An apology isn’t enough, but I offer it today in the hope it can be a step on the road to justice and reconciliation.”
Despite a documentary about White’s lynching and the story occasionally being referenced by historians and journalists, Mr. White’s lynching was largely forgotten by the public at large.
That began to change after Shepherd first learned about White’s murder after visiting the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama – the nation’s first memorial dedicated to the roughly 4,300 documented racial terror lynchings of African Americans between the end of the Civil War and the end of World War II.
The memorial is operated by the Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit founded by criminal justice reform pioneer and Milton, Delaware-native Bryan Stevenson, who is now the subject of an HBO documentary.
Shepherd founded the Delaware Social Justice Remembrance Coalition and worked to get a historical marker placed in the area where White was killed. She approached Sen. Brown, who agreed to cover the cost of the marker and advance her efforts, which led to the original marker being installed at Greenbank Park in late June.
The Delaware Public Archives ordered a replacement marker soon after the original was stolen. To help encourage community ownership of the memorial, generous donations also were accepted from private citizens and used to fund the purchase and installation of the new marker.
“The hatred that brewed in the people who stole the marker is not what brought us here,” Shepherd told the audience. “What brought us here is the love in all of our hearts and a desire to stand up for what is right. We should all be fighting for each other – fighting for our voices to be heard, fighting for us to be treated the same as our peers, and fighting for stories like Mr. White’s to never be forgotten.”
To view photos from the event, click here.
Cutlines are as follows:
MARKER 1: State Sen. Darius Brown listens to Gov. John Carney’s remarks during the Oct. 20 unveiling of a new historical marker memorializing the 1903 lynching of laborer George White.
MARKER 2: Savannah Shepherd, a senior at the Sanford School, addresses an audience of roughly 200 people at the Oct. 20 unveiling of a new historical marker memorializing the 1903 lynching of laborer George White.
MARKER 3: (From left) New Castle County Councilman Tim Sheldon, state Rep. Kim Williams, Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long, Gov. John Carney and New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer applaud during Oct. 20 unveiling of a new historical marker memorializing the 1903 lynching of laborer George White.
MARKER 4: The Shepherd family and members of the Delaware Legislative Black Caucus applaud after the Oct. 20 unveiling of a new historical marker memorializing the 1903 lynching of laborer George White.
MARKER 5: The Shepherd family and state officials pose for a photo in front of the new historical marker memorializing the 1903 lynching of laborer George White, following its unveiling on Oct. 20.
MARKER 6: State Rep. Sherry Dorsey Walker pores earth taken from the grounds near the new Lynching of George White historical marker into a jar during a soil collection ceremony following the marker’s unveiling on Oct. 20.
MARKER 7: (From left) State Sen. Elizabeth Lockman, State Rep. Kendra Johnson, State Sen. Darius Brown, State Rep. Sherry Dorsey Walker and State Rep. Franklin Cooke gather around Sanford School senior Savannah Shepherd following the unveiling of a new historical marker memorializing the 1903 lynching of laborer George White.
MARKER 8: Gov. John Carney stands next to a new historical marker memorializing the 1903 lynching of laborer George White, following its unveiling on Oct. 20.