ST. PETERSBURG — A coalition of scholars, activists, and civic leaders are working to install the first lynching memorial marker in St. Petersburg, designed to document the history of racial violence in the city.
The initiative is led by the Pinellas County Community Remembrance Project Coalition, whose mission is to “bear witness to the legacy of racial terror, epitomized by lynchings in America.”
The Coalition members include representatives from USF St. Petersburg, the Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church, the Florida State Senate, the NAACP and many others.
“His body was left hanging there for quite some time after as a reminder to the black community,” said Julie Armstrong, professor of English at USF St. Petersburg, who is part of the coalition’s research team and drafting the text for the historical marker.
Along with installing a marker on the site of the 1914 lynching, which is being donated by the City of St. Petersburg, the coalition is researching and uncovering other potential lynchings that occurred in the region, gathering soil samples, organizing an essay contest and encouraging public conversations around these issues.
