Lynching in America / Lynching in Coos County

Marker Text: On September 18, 1902, a white mob lynched Alonzo Tucker, a Black man in Coos Bay, then called Marshfield. The day prior, Mr. Tucker had been arrested and placed in jail after being accused of assaulting a white woman near the 7th Street Marshfield Bridge. As news of his arrest spread, a white lynch mob formed. In this era, accusations of Black-on-white assault required no evidence to arouse mobs, and Black men could be lynched for merely interacting with white women, even in consensual relationships. During transport away from the mob, Mr. Tucker fled and spent the night hiding under docks by the bay as the armed mob searched for him. The next day, Mr. Tucker was found and shot twice. The mob put a noose around his neck and carried him to the site of the alleged assault, but Mr. Tucker died from his wounds on the way. The unmasked mob still hanged his body from a light pole on the bridge in broad daylight before 300 spectators. His body hanged for several hours, prompting Black families to flee Coos Bay. Though racial hostility and lynching were prevalent in the South, Oregon was no exception to the anti-Black racism that fueled this era. Founded with a state constitution that banned all Black people by law until 1926, Oregon accommodated mob violence against Mr. Tucker, and no one was held accountable for his lynching. We remember Alonzo Tucker, and all unknown victims of lynching, as we pursue truth, justice and reconciliation.