In January 1923 the Town of Rosewood, Florida was destroyed
Between January 1, 1923 and January 8, 1923 the town of Rosewood, a black community in Levy County, Florida was ransacked and burned. The entire black community was displaced and seven people were confirmed killed, three black men, two black women and two white men. Many on both sides were injured or wounded. The entire incident was predicated on one white woman's claim that she was assaulted by a black Rosewood man. No evidence of such an act was ever found. The white woman, Fannie Taylor of Sumner, Florida was not assaulted in Rosewood.
The Real Rosewood Foundation
The Real Rosewood Foundation was created by Lizzie Jenkins to help tell the story of Rosewood and keep its history and its people alive. The Foundation will work toward educating others so the actions that led to the Rosewood murders and destruction of an innocent town will never again happen in the United States.
To meet these goals the Foundation is dedicated to building museum in memory of Rosewood site and is sponsoring a scholarship in honor of Mahulda Gussie Brown Carrier the third teacher employed by the Rosewood school and the first and only Black female principal employed in Levy County. The Foundation is sponsoring the writing of a play "Rosewood on my Mind" and is working to produce a documentary. The President of the Foundation, Lizzie Jenkins, is writing her life story of how she unlocked the mystery of Rosewood. The Foundation is also producing the songs, "Rosewood, Florida" and "Rosewood No More". To help the foundation in its mission donations are accepted and encouraged. Please help the foundation so Rosewood, its people, and the lessons learned at Rosewood are not forgotten.
Rosewood Reparations
The state of Florida on May 4, 1994 signed into law a reparations bill to compensate the survivors of the Rosewood massacre and their descendants. When signing the law, then Governor Chiles states that this was the states way of apologizing for a "blind act of bigotry".
On Tuesday May 4, 2004 an historical marker was dedicated at the location of Rosewood. Only a single house survives to this day from a community of almost a thousand people with homes, stores and churches. Numerous attempts to remove the marker have been made by unknown individuals, but it remains to this day.