Racial Terrorism: The Abduction of Mr. Fred Rouse

Marker Text: On Tuesday, December 6, 1921, Mr. Fred Rouse, an African-American husband, father of three, and non-union butcher for Swift & Co., was attacked by white union strikers and agitators in the Niles City Stockyards (now part of Fort Worth). Mr. Rouse sustained stab wounds and broken bones. His skull was fractured in two places. He was then brought here to the basement Negro Ward of the former city & county hospital. At 11pm on Sunday, December 11, 1921, a mob of ~30 white men arrived at the hospital, forced their way past the superintendent, surgeon, and night nurse, entered the Negro Ward, and tore Mr. Rouse from his corner cot. When the nurse called their attention to the fact that he had no clothes, they jokingly replied that “He would not need any.” The mob abducted Mr. Rouse from the hospital “almost in a run.” They forced him into a car and drove north on Samuels Ave. to meet another group of white men at the corner of NE 12th St. There Mr. Rouse was hanged from a hackberry tree. His body was riddled with bullets. A bloody pistol was left under his feet. Three white men were charged in the murder of Mr. Rouse, including the acting Niles City police chief and another officer. No one was ever convicted. Our community memorializes Mr. Fred Rouse as a call to remain vigilant in the pursuit of racial justice.