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Annapolis Apologizes for History of Lynchings

A civil rights exhibit at the Thomas Jefferson Building at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, includes a replica of the 1920 flag displayed by the NAACP when a lynching occurred in the United States
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A civil rights exhibit at the Thomas Jefferson Building at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, includes a replica of the 1920 flag displayed by the NAACP when a lynching occurred in the United States

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - The city council of Maryland's capital has apologized for the lynchings of five African-Americans more than a century ago, a step toward accepting a historic marker for public display.

The Equal Justice Initiative documented more than 4,000 lynchings in the United States between the Civil War and World War II. The initiative's National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, created markers and called on each county to install them as a public acknowledgment of their local history.

The Capital newspaper reported that county officials have not commented on this request.

The resolution approved Monday night notes these lynchings in Anne Arundel County and Annapolis, the county seat: John Simms in 1875, George Briscoe in 1884, Wright Smith in 1898, Henry Davis in 1906 and King Johnson in 1911.

Don Rush is the News Director at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.