Franklin County Community Remembrance Project (FCCRP)


The Text of our Franklin County Remembrance Project Historical Marker

Lynching in America
Thousands of Black people were the victims of racial terror lynching in the United States between 1865 and 1950. The lynching of African Americans during this era was a form of racial terrorism intended to intimidate Black people and enforce racial hierarchy and segregation. After the Civil War, violent resistance to equal rights for African Americans and an ideology of white supremacy led to fatal violence against Black women, men, and children. Many African Americans were lynched following accusations of violating social customs, engaging in interracial relationships, or committing crimes, even when there was no evidence tying the accused to any offense. It was not uncommon for lynch mobs to seize their victims from jails, prisons, courtrooms, or out of police hands, often without fear of any legal repercussions. Though armed and legally required to protect the men and women in their custody, police rarely used force to resist white mobs intent on killing Black people and, sometimes even participated in lynchings. Racial terror lynchings often included burnings and mutilation, sometimes in front of crowds numbering in the thousands. Many names of those whose lives were claimed by these acts of racially motivated violence were not recorded and will never be known, but at least 60 racial terror lynchings have been documented in Missouri.
EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE
2022

LYNCHING OF ERASTUS BROWN
JULY 10, 1897
In the pre-dawn hours of July 10, 1897, an armed mob of white men brutally lynched Erastus Brown, a Black husband and father of two, near the Bourbeuse River Bridge in Union, Missouri. Mr. Brown was no more than 20 years old at the time of his death. On July 2, Mr. Brown left his home to retrieve medicine for his sick infant child. While on this journey, he was accused of hitting a white woman with a rock. Mr. Brown was arrested shortly after the accusation, with no evidence tying him to the alleged crime, and placed in the Union County Jail. On July 10, an armed lynch mob of approximately forty prominent white farmers traveled to Union on horseback. The mob stormed the jail, with no resistance from the officers on duty, dragged Mr. Brown to the bridge, and hanged him from a nearby willow tree. Though several community members in Union, including the county prosecutor, either saw or interacted with the mob, no one was willing to identify members of the mob to local authorities after the lynching of Mr.
Brown. The local sheriff stated that there was "no use" in investigating the lynching.
Like nearly all lynching victims, Mr. Brown was killed without legal intervention or protection from a white mob that was not held accountable for his death. Tragically, Mr. Brown's infant child died two days after his lynching,
FRANKLIN COUNTY REMEMBRANCE PROJECT COALITION
EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE
2022


For information, email: erastusbrown@klinedinst.com


The Franklin County Community Remembrance Coalition meets every month as part of the Neighbors United - Undoing Racism meeting. You are welcome to join us; for ZOOM info go to: https://www.facebook.com/neighborsunitedmissouri

2023 07 10 Remembrance Gathering at the Historical Marker

              Lloyd Pamela Bobbie Eleanor

HM Ceremony Flyer



Click on this line to go to all files regarding the Historical Marker Unveiling Ceremony

ERASTUS BROWN

ANNUAL REMEMBRANCE DAY

JULY 10, 2021

East Central College, Parking Lot by

Track Intended Future Site of a Memorial Garden

The Erastus Brown Annual Remembrance Day Program for July 10, 2021 at 6pm at ECC, Memorial Garden Site

(1964 Prairie Dell Road, Union, MO 63084, you will see where we are as soon as you enter the campus grounds, to your left…)


    1 Intro by Patricia Bowers    5’

    2 Prayer by Pastor Aimee Appell 5’

    3 Words of Remembrance by Richard (RL) Brown, descendent of Erastus Brown 5’-15’

    4 Any other words from those assembled 5’-15’

    5 Closing Prayer by Pastor Aimee Appell 5’

    6 Patricia Bowers concludes and adjourns. 5’

Consider bringing your own seating and refreshments, if needed.


Overview Topic: The Racial Justice Essay Awards Celebration Zoom Meeting

Time: May 1, 2021 02:50 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8319857241?pwd=V2NYTGZkSHVRYU5EbzYrSTZxZzJadz09
Meeting ID: 831 985 7241
Passcode: essay
*for mobile access scroll down a bit

Program outline for Sat, May 1, 3-4 pm
    1 FCCRP Intro by Pat Bowers 5’
    2 Prayer by Rev Nathan Jordan 5’
    3 EJI Intro 5’

    4 A Million Dreams (Pink version) by Michelle Kiehne 5’
    5 Awards - winning essay is read, all winners may say a brief word 35’
    6 Closing Prayer by Pastor Aimee Appell 3’
    7 Patricia Bowers concludes and adjourns. 2’

EJI and Franklin County Remembrance Project Racial Justice Essay Contest *One tap mobile
+13017158592,,8319857241#,,,,*558409# US (Washington DC)
 +13126266799,,8319857241#,,,,*558409# US (Chicago)
Dial by your location
        +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
        +1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
        +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
        +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
        +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
        +1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
 Meeting ID: 831 985 7241
 Passcode: 558409

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbd4PRdfRD
end of body text

IF you wish to download a poster advertising and giving information about entering the contest, click here.

IF you intend to enter this contest, please do us the favor of sending an email to erastusbrown@klinedinst.com

THE CONTEST BEGAN  JANUARY 24, 2021 !!!

For information, besides at this website, go to https://sites.google.com/eji.org/eji-franklin-county-contest/

At this site you might consider opening a submission form which you may submit upon completion of your essay. This form is at:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfRqujg8but3yCOGK2j3FcUxRl64si0b0QyMtTq5L41EDExjQ/viewform

Send any and all inquiries to erastusbrown@klinedinst.com

The Equal Justice Initiative in partnership with the The Franklin County Community Remembrance Project Coalition is pleased to announce an upcoming scholarship contest open to 9th – 12th grade students attending public high school in FRANKLIN County, where prizes totaling at least $5,000 will be awarded to winning participants.

Students are asked to examine the history of a topic of racial injustice and to discuss its legacy today. Essays should explain the contest topic using this specific historical event, explore how the injustice persists, and imagine solutions for a future free from racial injustice. Students are encouraged to reflect on how the topic impacts their own lives and communities

Return to this page to check on updates, especially after the contest begins on January 24, 2021during the 2021 ZOOM MLK Celebration - We've Come This Far.

In addition to the material resources listed above, these Personal Resources are provided.
    1. These scheduled ZOOM workshops will provide information on researching, composing and writing your essay. Any questions you have will also be addressed.
    Feb 1, Mar 1, April 5
    2. An email with questions or for support to erastusbrown@klinedinst.com will be answered within 24 hours.

Overview

September 11, 2019 - GOOD NEWS !!!

FEATURE ARTICLE

on

The Franklin County Community Remembrance Project

Click here to read http://fccrp.klinedinst.com/ArticlePhotos&Captions.htm

General Information about The Franklin County Community Remembrance Project

Franklin County Community Remembrance Project Information & Invitation

A 4 sided 2 page information sheet and invitation to participate in this Franklin County project.

What Is The Franklin County Community Remembrance Project (FCCRP)? - A Presentation

- just click on the webpage to advance to the next slide




Community Remembrance Project Information & Invitation

ERASTUS BROWN

MONTH - WEEK - DAY

JULY - 8-14 - 10

EBstele

This Year's Franklin County Community Remembrance Project Key events have

concluded

(see bottom of this page for comments and image&video clips from the events)

1

CREATIVE DREAM EXHIBITION

The Exhibition dates and Performance works dates and locations are: Grand Exhibition Opening: July 2, 2019 at Washington Public Library, 410 Lafayette St, Washington, MO 63090, USA from 6-8 pm. Non-performance works will be on display during library hours from July 2-28.

2

July 10 10 am - Wednesday Soil Collection Ceremonial Event - 122nd anniversary of the lynching of Erastus Brown – Attendance by Request to ErastusBrown@klinedinst.com

3

July 14 Sunday:

2:30 pm Erastus Brown Memorial Procession from the Old Franklin County Courthouse, Church & Main, pausing at the Bourbeuse River Access, ending at ECC. Procession car by Request to ErastusBrown@klinedinst.com

3 pm

East Central College, Training Center, Audrey Lane, Union, MO for words of memorial recognition and community gathering

Erastus Brown Page

About Equal Justice Initiative and the Franklin County Community Remembrance Project

[see https://eji.org/community-remembrance-project and https://eji.org/reports/community-remembrance-project ]
    Equal Justice Initiative - EJI's Community Remembrance Project is part of a campaign to recognize the victims of lynching by collecting soil from lynching sites, erecting historical markers, and creating a national memorial that acknowledges the horrors of racial injustice.
    The Franklin County Community Remembrance Project is our participation in this national project to raise public awareness of and provide public education on the history of racial and economic injustice and inequality in America and its particular legacy of racial terrorism.
    In the words of EJI, "As more communities join in this effort to concretize the experience of racial terror through discourse, memorials, markers, and other acts of truth-telling, more are overcoming the shadows cast by these grievous events."
    We Franklin County citizens hope to recognize clearly our historical and current shadows. By so doing we hope, while still accepting them, to move beyond them into a clear day when Franklin County will be a place for equal justice and opportunity for all.
    Four main milestones mark the Community Remembrance Project.
1. Forming and Developing a Community Remembrance Coalition
2. Conducting a Soil Collections Project
3. Installing a Historical Marker denoting the Erastus Brown Lynching
4. Installing our own Franklin County National Memorial for Peace and Justice Monument weathered steel column representing a lynching in Franklin County

THE FOUR MAIN PHASES OF FCCRP - EXPANDED

1    Forming and Developing a Community Remembrance Coalition - [Done and Ongoing]

        EAST CENTRAL COLLEGE VISIT TO National Memorial for Peace and Justice April 12-14, 2019

2    Conducting a Soil Collections Project [ Ongoing ]

Erastus Brown Week July 8-14, 2019

    July 2 Tuesday The Performance Arts Display portion of The 'CREATIVE DREAM EXHIBITION’
COMPLETED
    July 10 Wednesday Soil Collection Ceremonial Event - 122nd anniversary of the lynching of Erastus Brown

COMPLETED


July 14 Sunday : Erastus Brown Memorial Procession from the Old Franklin County Courthouse, Church & Main, pausing at the Bourbeuse River Access, ending at East Central College for words of memorial recognition and community gathering

COMPLETED

3 Historical Marker denoting the Erastus Brown Lynching [ To Begin in August 2019 ]

4    Installing our own Franklin County National Memorial for Peace and Justice Monument weathered steel column representing a lynching in Franklin County [ To Begin in 2020]

Archives about The Franklin County Community Remembrance Project

CREATIVE DREAM EXHIBITION

The Exhibition works are on display during library hours from July 2-28
at Washington Public Library, 410 Lafayette St, Washington, MO 63090, USA

----------

Erastus Brown Page


Here you will find much information about the required topic to feature: the ERASTUS BROWN LYNCHING ON JULY 10, 1897.
Some photos from the July 2 Grand Opening:
                    
               Exhibition in Waiting                                                        Grand Opening Night                                                          Susan Cunningham Review


The Three Entries

Healing Words
 No Rope Shall Hold Him

OBSERVATIONS ON ONE OF AMERICA’S ORIGINAL SINS

Microsoft Word - OBSERVATIONS ON ONE OF AMERICA.docx


The Ten Banners

click here to see



SOIL COLLECTION

one image and fourteen video clips from the July 10 Soil Collection
Video clips run from 8" to 2'10". They may stop and start as loading while watching - Can run smoothly on 2nd playback. Click HERE to view.

StillLife


ERASTUS BROWN MEMORIAL SERVICE

twenty-one images and thirteen video clips from the July 14 Memorial Service

Video clips run from 18" to 9'15". They may stop and start as loading while watching - You may (and I suggest you) download them for smoother playing on your device. Click HERE to view/download.

***BLACK HISTORY MONTH ***BLACK HISTORY MONTH ***BLACK HISTORY MONTH ***

Click here to access and download Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) Posters for Black History Month