A mob estimated at 3,000 people gathered near this spot on the night of July 22, 1893, with the intent of breaking into the Shelby County Jail and seizing Lee Walker, a black prisoner accused of attempting to rape a young white woman. Four days earlier, Mollie McCadden had reported…
In the spring of 1892, one of the most violent public events in Nashville’s history occurred at this site. On April 24, 1892, two black men were accused of assaulting two white women near Goodlettsville. Henry Grizzard and Ephraim Grizzard, brothers, were arrested on suspicion, along with three other black…
Thomas Moss, Calvin McDowell, and Will Stewart, all African-Americans and co-owners of People’s Grocery (located at this site), were arrested in connection with a disturbance near their store. Rather than being brought to trial, they were lynched on March 9, 1892. Moss’ dying words were, “Tell my people to go…
In March of 1892, business partners Thomas Moss, Calvin McDowell and William Henry Stewart were arrested for defending an attack on their store, The People’s Grocery. The white competitor and the deputy sheriffs he hired were met with gunfire. Several deputies were wounded but survived. Nevertheless, Moss, McDowell, and Stewart…
Between 1877 and 1950, there were at least 237 lynchings in the state of Tennessee. These were acts of terrorism against the African American community. In Madison County on August 16, 1886, Eliza Woods, a black domestic worker, was accused of poisoning her white employer. That night, a mob stormed…
On the night of August 16, 1899, a white mob lynched an elderly African American man named Tom Keith after he was accused of falling asleep in the same room as white children. Mr. Keith, who was described in news reports as “old and trusted,” lived in the home of…