Soil collected from the site of the 1896 lynching of Thomas Washington near Center Cross in Essex County will serve as a memorial of one of Essex’s darkest days. The soil collection took place on Saturday, Dec. 18, 2021 as a part of the unveiling and dedication of a historic highway marker about the lynching. The ceremony was at the marker site at 31428 Tidewater Trail, Center Cross (adjacent to the fire station).
Gallon-sized glass jars were filled with soil for permanent placement in the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Ala., and in the Essex County Museum and Historical Society. The soil collection effort is a part of Equal Justice Initiative’s Community Remembrance Project and includes samples from lynching sites around the country. The project seeks to document roughly 4,400 African-American victims of racial terror lynchings from 1877 until 1950. It helps locales come to terms with their own histories of lynching and to engage in the process of recovery and reconciliation.
For information, email mpaaghs.va@gmail.com or call 804-651-8753.
