Local organization remembers lynching victims in Madison County

These bars are what’s left of the Madison County jail that Eliza Woods and John Brown sat in before they were lynched.

Eliza Woods and John Brown were only two of the many African Americans lynched in Tennessee.

Woods and Brown were lynched on the east side of the Madison County court house in the late 1800’s.

“The lynchings for Eliza Woods and John Brown happened right here almost exactly in this area right here where we are standing", says director of the Jackson Madison County Community Remembrance Project, Cindy Boyles.

The Jackson Madison county Remembrance Project worked for over a year to get a historical marker to memorialize Woods and Brown.

Now that it is in place they hope the community can take a step toward more equality.

“So this marker that we have been able to get put here in this court house yard, is saying we can not totally bring justice to them, but we are bringing some bit of justice to them to recognize what happened and to say its wrong, its not right", adds Boyles.

Both Woods and Brown were accused of crimes, put in jail, dragged out, and lynched, with no trial or due process.

That is the past that members of the project want to recognize and learn from.

“To know that here in Jackson, we’ve kind of ripped the scab off and said we’re going to face the truth of what happened", says Boyles.

Members of the Remembrance Project are still searching for relatives of Eliza Woods to let them know about this historical marker. Imani Williams, for 39 News, in Jackson.