The Weakley County Reconciliation Project (WCRP), formerly known as the “Montgomery 9,” is working to claim the Weakley County lynching memorial monument from the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, and relocate it to Weakley County.
The National Memorial for Peace and Justice is home to 800 memorials with the names of victims of lynching listed along with their dates and locations. The memorial created two identical steel structures commemorating the victims: one for the national memorial and one for each county.
In order to obtain the Weakley County monument, the WCRP has to complete a set of guidelines established by the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI). According to UTM Communications professor and member of the WCRP, Henrietta Giles, the EJI is looking for a majority of the community to participate in bringing the monument home.
“We are trying to follow the steps to get ours here, and that will be a great day when we do,” Giles said.
During a trip to the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, as well as to the Legacy Museum in August of 2018, the Montgomery 9, made up of Weakley County community members, were inspired to start an educational movement in Weakley County in remembrance of the county’s five lynching victims. Both sites guide visitors through America’s history of slavery and acts of racially-driven violence.
The victims of lynching in Weakley County were Loab Sanders, July 29, 1892; Ira Dumas, June 7, 1893; Edgar Bell, July 27, 1893; Bob Hudson, Oct. 8, 1893; and Mallie Wilson, Sept. 4, 1915.
The WCRP is also planning to establish historical markers for the individual locations of each lynching, including the names and dates of their murders.
In order to achieve their goal, the city board would have to vote and pass the measure. As the group gains traction in the community, they hope to take their cause to the board to ask for a vote in the near future.
Since their trip to Montgomery, the WCRP began hosting public meetings to share their stories of racial and social injustices, and to educate the community on its history. The group’s goal is to start a conversation about race.
The latest meeting, Oct. 19, saw over 70 community members in attendance as speakers Robert Nunley, Melinda Meador, Alicia Donaldson, Danny Donaldson, Donna Massey, Brian Cladry and Mike Hinds shared their experiences and ideas about race and community.
Giles said that the stories that were shared were “the ones that bring you to tears.”
The WCRP will continue to host events in the future, including the annual Civil Rights Conference at UTM in February.
“A lot of people are going to object. Why are we bringing this up? It happened long ago. Why are you trying to make us feel guilty?” said Tim Hacker, an English professor at UTM. “When you learn this history you can’t unlearn it. You can’t turn your back on it. It’s really unresolved.”
According to the WCRP mission statement, “The Weakley County Reconciliation Project believes that conversations based on discovery and acknowledgment of our shared history, are critical to the success of our community and region. Our work is to learn who we are and how we can be better. The WCRP is a diverse, nonpartisan group of community members seeking to engage other members and organizations in an open dialogue on matters of race, racism, and social injustice in Weakley County.”
For more information, contact the WCRP at weakleyreconciliation@gmail.com.
Graphic Credit/ Abril Sosa
