Delaware legislators and around a hundred community leaders were on hand for the unveiling of a historical marker to mark the lynching of George White in 1903.
The Wilmington News Journal reports that White was accused of killing Helen Bishop on June 16th after her throat was cut three times.
The paper reports that local residents impatient after two confrontations with authorities dragged White from the hands of the jailers and burned alive with parts of his charred body taken by the mob as souvenirs.
The incident caught national attention with then President Teddy Roosevelt denouncing the lynching
On hand for the ceremony was Senator Chris Coons who called the lynching shocking and warned of the dangers of nationalism that has arisen recently in the U.S.
Student Activiist
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - A high school student's activism has persuaded Delaware to install a historical marker commemorating the state's only documented lynching.
The News Journal of Wilmington reports rising senior Savannah Shepherd was instrumental in getting the marker put up Sunday.
Shepherd learned about the lynching at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Alabama, the nation's first memorial dedicated to the racial terror of African Americans during slavery and its aftermath.
She approached Sen. Darius Brown, who agreed to cover the marker's cost. He said public acknowledgment of the lynching is overdue.
