ROSEWOOD: The Historic Centennial of the Rosewood Massacre of January 1923 is set for Commemoration from January 1-7, 2023
AGN.News Team
January 1, 2023
GAINESVILLE, Fla (AGN.News) – Rosewood was a small community of African Americans located in north Central Florida, nine miles east of Cedar Key near the Gulf of Mexico. This small community of American citizens was located in Levy County.
For about a week, from January 1, 1923 through January 7, 1923, one of the most horrific events of racial hatred in America’s history took place.
The historic town of Rosewood
Rosewood was a town of around 200 Black Americans and a lone white family, the Wrights. Rosewood was the home of John Wright and his family who owned the last remaining store in town. Rosewood was a growing town of over 200 Black landowners who lived on and worked around 300 acres each.
Many of these residents built two-story homes with many amenities. Many homes were built around sitting parlors with pianos for entertaining sitting on acres of land they owned.
Many Black professionals lived and worked in or near Rosewood. Musicians, farmers, and teachers called Rosewood home.
This charming community was not valued by all people in the Jim Crow era. Many whites were very envious of the people of Rosewood. Their visible wealth including pianos, land, cars and trucks were in the crosshairs of the less prosperous workers in the company-town of Summer, Florida three miles away.
Start of massacre on January 1, 1923
A 22 year old white woman name Frances “Fannie” Taylor who was married to James Taylor, a 30 year old millwright employed by Cummer & Sons in Summer. His job required him to leave home in the early morning hours each day leaving his wife and two children at home.
Fannie Taylor allegedly and secretly kept company with a local white man in the area while her husband worked at the saw mill in Sumner.
On January 1, 1923, one of her neighbors heard a scream coming from the Taylor’s house. She claimed she was assaulted by an “unidentified Black man”. She claimed that a Black man had come through the back door and assaulted her. She said he beat her about the face but did not rape her.
Rumors of her being both robbed and raped spread fast around Sumner. The lady next door, a neighbor, reportedly said there was no one else, except the baby, in the house when she arrived within seconds. Non the less, whites in Sumner believed she was raped and robbed by a Black man.
The neighbor who initially came to the house did not see the laundry lady because it was near noon and she had already left. An African American woman who did the laundry for the Taylor family was present that morning with her granddaughter.
The granddaughter later reported a white man got into a fight with Fannie Taylor and he beat her and left by exiting the back door. Those were the injuries on her face. The “unidentified Black man” was never found.
The Rosewood Massacre of January 1923
James Taylor, her husband, and a group of angry white men, believing the story, armed themselves and went directly to Rosewood in search of the “unidentified Black man”. Without any evidence of guilt, the mob violently attacked and lynched Aaron Carrier by dragging him behind a car and left for dead on a dirt road.
Moving on, the mob went to a house providing refuge for children – there they shot Sarah Carrier dead on her doorstep. Her son Sylvester fought back in self defense, gunning down two white men. The angry mob murdered him and burned their home to the ground.
After the mob retreated, they called for more white men, including the Ku Klux Klan, from neighboring cities and counties to come and help kill and terrorize this community of Black residents in Rosewood.
As the Black residents fled the town, the all-white mob was shooting and killing every Black person in site. This violence forced the remaining residents – men, women, children, and the elderly – to flee into the woods and swamps to stay alive as they were being hunted and killed.
The mob turned to another weapon of terror, rape! They proceeded to rape women and girls. Rape, as a weapon, was used to extract confessions and information.
The mob found the school teacher
The mob found Mahulda Gussie Brown Carrier (1894-1948), a Levy County school teacher. This violent mob wanted her to help them find other Black residents.
When she refused they repeatedly beat her and violently raped her. This morally-corrupt mob resorted to rape as a weapon in search of their next victims to murder. After they finished violently raping her they abandoned her to suffer with her injuries. She passed away at an early age, 25 years later in 1948.
Who was Mahulda Gussie Brown Carrier? She was the first African American licensed as a school principal in the state of Florida.
She was honored by the Florida Department of State with the title of ‘Great Floridian’ in 2000. This program honored deceased individuals who made “significant contributions in the history and culture” of Florida.
As the days came and went, the lust for blood kept growing without an end. The mob kept hunting and killing every Black person they found. Some Blacks were saved by white residents who found them along the roads. White residents of Sumner protected some Rosewood residents and smuggled them out of town.
The Bryce Brothers, John and William, knew the residents of Rosewood and had done business with them. They owned the local railroad train which stopped in Rosewood. They picked up women and children (no men) and safely transported them to Gainesville via the Seaboard Air Line Railway to safety. John Wright, the store owner, protected some Blacks by letting them safely shelter in his home.
Levy County sheriff, Robert “Bob” Walker protected many victims and led some to safety. He found and took possession of the shotgun used by Sylvester to kill the two white men trying to break into his home after killing his mother on the porch.
A grand jury investigated the Rosewood Massacre and found no evidence to indict anyone. No one was ever arrested nor charged for all of destruction and murders committed in Rosewood.
The centennial of January 1, 1923
January 1, 2023 marks tne centennial (hundred years ago) of these crimes committed by a violent white mob who attacked this small Florida community with murder and mayhem on their minds.
These events are called the Rosewood Massacre of 1923. Peaceful African Americans were violently attacked and murdered in their homes or on their farms by this racist white mob.
The entire town of Rosewood was burned to the ground with one exception, John Wright’s home. It still stands today. He was the only white resident of Rosewood. The exact number of dead is unknown. However, survivors reported a number of much higher than the few officially reported to be six Blacks and 2 whites.
Reparations for the descendants of Rosewood
In 1994, the Florida Legislature passed House Bill 591, which acknowledge the destruction of the town of Rosewood. The Bill highlighted the failure of law enforcement to protect the residents. The lack of help from other government officials to investigate the crimes and to secure the town from further attacks was a monumental failure of government to protect the citizens of Rosewood.
Government officials are required to take an oath prior to assuming office. There is a well-known phrase from the United States Declaration of Independence that says all citizens should be entitled to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The phrase gives three examples of the unalienable rights which the Declaration says have been given to all humans by their Creator, and which governments are created to protect. The rights of the citizens of Rosewood were not protected by government officials.
Florida help mend Rosewood wounds
The survivors and descendants of Rosewood were awarded $2.1 million dollars. This is the only time in U.S. legislative history that African Americans were awarded reparations from a state government.
In addition to monetary reparations, The Florida Department of Education set up Rosewood Family Scholarship Fund for Rosewood descendants. This is a funded scholarship program for descendants of the Rosewood massacre.
Rosewood centennial commemoration
On January 8-14, 2023, the University of Florida will play host to the Remembering Rosewood Centennial commemoration. This centennial anniversary will honor the legacy of bravery, determination, and perseverance of the direct descendants of Rosewood survivors.
The extended families of Rosewood survivors
There are many descendants who are directly or indirectly impacted by the Rosewood Massacre of 1923. Included in this category are the many families of the Rosewood survivors who are brothers, sisters, cousins, and the many in-laws of the survivors.
This massacre brought hurt and unending pain to untold number of people including the Brown family and the spouses of the Browns like Queenie Brown who married Lloyd, one of the brothers of Mahulda Gussie Brown Carrier.
The Rosewood Massacre and the legacy of the survivors will go on for many generations. Honoring the legacy of these people is and will always be a special privilege for future generations of Americans.
The media honored their legacy
Seventy-two years after the massacre in 1995, under the guidance of the late director John Singleton, a dramatic film called Rosewood was set to begin filming in a rural area outside of the Florida city of Deland. The film was released in 1997.
This recreation of the towns of Rosewood and Sumner were the set for one of the most dramatic films ever made. While the movie did not intend to represent an accurate history of actual events, it gave viewers a close up picture of fictional events relating to the terror Black Americans have faced throughout history.
Some of the most dramatic moments were the escape by train of women and children. The community-level of help provided the victims and the role of ordinary people who wanted to help. Some people remarked while watching the movie being made remarked, “Imagine what Rosewood would be today if the mob had come over to help build a bigger and better city in Levy County? That could have been their home also!”
Florida groups honors survivors
Many Rosewood descendants formed the Rosewood Heritage Foundation to educate people in Florida and around the world about what happened in 1923. There is a traveling exhibit that tours internationally and is housed in the library of Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona.
The Real Rosewood Foundation presents a variety of humanitarian awards to people in Florida who help to preserve the history of Rosewood. It presented an Unsung Heroes Award to the descendants of Sheriff Robert Walker, John Bryce, and William Bryce who helped to save the lives of the victims of Rosewood.
How America can honor their legacy
Among the many ways to honor their legacy is for America to make sure such an event never happens again. Help for every American who wants to have “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Protecting the rights of every Americans is a core mandate guaranteed under the United States Constitution. As we, as a nation, commit to these rights, America will be a nation of justice, laws, unity, and an inspiration for generations to come.
#GoldOverBlack
COVID-19 PREVENTION
STOP THE SPREAD! GET VACCINATED!
VACCINES ARE AVAILABLE FOR FREE!
Everyone is being urged by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC.gov) to get vaccinated, wear masks, practice social distancing, and wash hands as a way to cut down on the transmission rate.
For more information on local responses to the novel coronavirus also called … COVID-19, contact your local healthcare provider, visit coronavirus.gov or visit cdc.gov for the United States response to the coronavirus.
News you can use! Enjoy the best of news from your community by Alphabet Global News.
ALPHABET GLOBAL NEWS
Reliable. Trusted. Local. News.
On Mobile … Fast!
Written by
AGN.News Team
Disclaimer: This post does not represent the views or viewpoint of the owner of AlpLocal.com, AGN News or its representatives or reporters. Any content which references any person, entity or group with similar names, descriptions, or business interest in any geographical location or similar businesses is merely a coincidence and not directed at said business. AGN News is compiled from submissions by contributors or other sources. We are not responsible for information found on external links. Those clicking on these type of links bear sole responsibility for visiting these sites.
