Name: As Dallas removes Confederate monument, there’s a new effort to memorialize the city’s last known lynching victim
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As Dallas removes Confederate monument, there’s a new effort to memorialize the city’s last known lynching victim

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1:54 PM on Jun 23, 2020 CDTAs monuments celebrating Confederacy leaders come down in Dallas and around the nation, a renewed effort memorializing Allen Brooks, Dallas’ last known lynching victim, is underway.Sally Dobbie, a lifelong Dallas-area resident, petitioned the Texas Historical Commission this month to place a historical marker at the Old Red Museum of Dallas County History &amp; Culture, noting Brooks’ life and the atrocity surrounding his death. She was assisted in researching Brooks’ 1910 lynching by Christopher J. Dowdy, vice president of academic affairs at Paul Quinn College.The petition comes at a critical time as local governments are how and why they honor historical figures and events — especially statues celebrating the Civil War’s losers.In cities all across the South, statues of Confederate leaders and soldiers considered symbols of white supremacy and a painful reminder of slavery are being torn down by protesters or removed by construction crews at the behest of governments. This week — after years of debates and legal drama — .Related:Dobbie, who began pursuing a marker last fall, had no idea her application would come at such a time of upheaval.“This is a long time coming,” Dobbie said. “And I will certainly admit I’m late to the party.”She added later: “I must say that having the Confederate memorial come down right now seems so prophetic.”Dobbie, who is white, said she learned about Brooks’ death after she began researching her family and uncovered that they were slave owners. Since then, she has devoted much of her time to learning about the struggles and oppression of black Americans and how she can help end racism.“My biggest job is listening and learning,” Dobbie said. “Hopefully, this will be a new opportunity for other people to learn.”In 1910, Brooks, a black laborer, was accused of raping the 2-year-old daughter of his employer, the Buvens family.Brooks, who was believed to be about 60, was standing trial for the crime when “a white mob overwhelmed the deputies that were protecting Brooks and threw him out of a second-floor window in the building’s southwestern corner,” Dobbie and Dowdy write in their application.Brooks was dragged a half mile to the corner of Main and Akard streets and hanged. An estimated 5,000 people watched, and the crowd was photographed for commemorative postcards. No one was ever charged with or convicted of the lynching.Rick Loessberg, the Dallas County’s planning and development director who oversees the county Historical Commission, helped usher the 13-page application through the process, including a vote by the county commissioners.Because the county owns Old Red, the court was required to give its permission to place a marker there. The five-member body gave the marker and application its unanimous approval.The application recounts in vivid detail how Brooks was killed. And it dives deeply into the history of lynching in Dallas and throughout the South.“It was critical to be as accurate and straightforward as possible,” Loessberg said. “The truth isn’t always pleasant, but it’s always important.”Drawing on research by Terry Baker and his book, Hangings and Lynchings in Dallas County, Texas 1853-1920, the application says there were at least 11 documented lynchings here during that time — six of black men and five of white men.There were more than 4,000 lynchings in 12 Southern states — 335 of them in Texas — between 1877 and 1950, according to research by the Equal Justice Initiative, a Montgomery, Ala.-based nonprofit that provides legal representation to prisoners who may have been wrongly convicted of crimes.Dowdy said he hoped the marker would help residents today understand the civil rights movement that we’re seeing unfold in the streets of downtown Dallas.“The more honest we are about how we got here, the more visible the violence that preserves the social order becomes,” Dowdy said. “We think it’s a way of understanding the social conflicts we’re living through right now.”This isn’t the first time a commemoration of Brooks has been considered.The city of Dallas previously looked into erecting a memorial. However, that work has been expanded to a larger project taking into account the entire period of Reconstruction and Jim Crow and violence against black Dallasites. The city has secured $100,000 from the water department to pursue that project.The public arts committee in August will begin reviewing artists who might be chosen to undertake the work.Jennifer Scripps, director of the city’s arts and culture department, said it is important for Dallas not just to remove hateful images but also to erect work that captures the full breadth of history. That work, she said, can serve multiple functions.“It’s so important to recognize history, the good and the bad, the bold and the ugly. We have so much history that has not been told in Dallas,” she said. “Part of this is a step toward atonement. It will never make up for it, but it’s a collective way of making space to acknowledge and saying never again.”This year, the state’s Historical Commission received 140 applications, 30 short of the total number of applications the commission could approve. However, a spokesman said for the commission said applications would still be scrutinized and must meet minimum standards.On the chance Dobbie’s application isn’t approved?“I’ll certainly reapply,” she said.Editor’s note: Take a look back into and read our Get email alerts on breaking news stories as soon as they happen.By signing up you agree to our

1:54 PM on Jun 23, 2020 CDTAs monuments celebrating Confederacy leaders come down in Dallas and around the nation, a renewed effort memorializing Allen Brooks, Dallas’ last known lynching victim, is underway.Sally Dobbie, a lifelong Dallas-area resident, petitioned the Texas Historical Commission this month to place a historical marker at the Old Red Museum of Dallas County History &amp; Culture, noting Brooks’ life and the atrocity surrounding his death. She was assisted in researching Brooks’ 1910 lynching by Christopher J. Dowdy, vice president of academic affairs at Paul Quinn...

As Dallas removes Confederate monument, there’s a new effort to memorialize the city’s last known lynching victim

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