Salisbury unveiled a sign marking the deaths of three black men in Wicomico County. In 1931 Matthew Williams was lynched in downtown Salisbury; another
Memorial to three lynching victims unveiled Saturday in 'Silent No More' event Salisbury capitalgazette.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from capitalgazette.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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May 23, 2021
SALISBURY, Md. – A spot where a controversial plaque dedicated to the memory of a Confederate General once stood, and the place where violent racial lynching’s took place is now home to a much different type of remembrance.
Over 90 years ago next to the Wicomico County Courthouse, a black man was lynched. On Saturday, his life and the life of the other victims of lynching in Salisbury were memorialized in a ceremony.
Community members, county officials, family members and activists gathered at Tidalhealth Saturday afternoon. They began their walk on the same path some of the victims took, as they were dragged to their violent deaths. However, descendants of the lynching victims tell us, this is more than just a horrific event being memorialized. “It is healing to see the community come together, all races all ages to acknowledge what happened,” says Jeannie Jones, a descendant of lynching victim Matthew Williams.
May 9, 2021
Governor Larry Hogan issued a full posthumous pardon for 34 victims of racial lynching in Maryland between 1854 and 1933, on the basis that these extrajudicial killings violated fundamental rights to due process and equal protection of law. It is the first time in history that a governor has issued a blanket pardon for the victims of racial lynchings.
“The State of Maryland has long been on the forefront of civil rights, dating back to Justice Thurgood Marshall’s legal battle to integrate schools and throughout our national reckoning on race,” said Governor Hogan. “Today, we are once again leading the way as we continue the work to build a more perfect union. My hope is that this action will at least in some way help to right these horrific wrongs and perhaps bring a measure of peace to the memories of these individuals, and to their descendants and loved ones.”