Black History Month: Rosewood Massacre of 1923

The Rosewood massacre was a racially motivated attack on African Americans and their neighborhood committed by a white mob in Florida during January 1–7, 1923. At least six African Americans and two whites were reported as killed in the ensuing violence but the general belief of the people who were there is that it was many more. The town of Rosewood, a majority-black community, was abandoned and destroyed in what contemporary news reports characterized as a race riot (with the implication blacks had broken out in violence), but the fact tell a completely different story.

Lizzie Polly Robinson Brown Jenkins, our guest on this broadcast was born October 25, 1938, in Archer, Florida and earned a BS Degree in Education from Florida Memorial University and a Master’s from Nova University. She taught in the Alachua County Public School System for thirty-three years.  Jenkins has amassed more than twenty years of Rosewood research authenticating, documenting, and positioning a legacy for a new generation. "For unless we remember, neither we, nor future generations will understand" states Jenkins.