On June 8, 2020, a historical marker recognizing two victims of a lynching in 1889 was put in place on Main Street across from City Hall. The Montevallo Community Remembrance Project Coalition, a citizen's group, had worked in partnership with EJI and the city of Montevallo to plan a dedication ceremony for April 2. It had to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. When it became clear that the public health emergency would be with us for a while, it was decided to quietly install the marker without the usual unveiling ceremony. Friends of the marker were encouraged to visit the site in small groups maintaining appropriate social distances.
The CRP coalition emerged not long after the opening of the EJI's National Memorial for Peace and Justice in April 2018. Several Montevallo citizens, powerfully moved by their experience at the lynching memorial, privately communicated to Mayor Hollie Cost their desire to see a historical marker erected in Montevallo. (The gut-wrenching effect of the sight of soil collected from the Montevallo lynching site in the Legacy Museum is not easily forgotten.) It seemed crucial to memorialize the two men, names unknown, who were lynched on Main Street on August 31, 1889.
14 May, Mayor Cost brought together three citizens to discuss a pathway for bringing an EJI marker to Montevallo. These citizens brought connections with the University of Montevallo, Parnell Memorial Library, the local ministerial association, and the Shelby County NAACP. With the mayor's encouragement they decided to support formation of a citizen's coalition to partner with EJI in a Community Remembrance Project. The coalition would be led by three co-leaders: Kathy King, longtime Montevallo resident and retired professor of English; Paul Mahaffey, specialist in African-American studies and Chair of the UM English Dept, and Sierra Turner, instructor in Spanish and African American Studies and UM's Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer. The coalition received EJI approval in November. In the months to come the Montevallo CRP/EJI partnership acquired the strong support of a number of community organizations, including the Shelby County NAACP, Montevallo Area Ministerial Association, Montevallo Progressive Alliance, Hometown Action, American Association of University Women, and, crucially, the Montevallo Historical Commission.
Members of the coalition continued to research the history of lynching in Shelby County and to organize activities designed to educate the community about the history and terrors of racial injustice in our area. As interest in and support for a commemorative marker grew, the coalition began to focus its efforts on crafting text for the marker and securing approval for its placement on city property. (The lynching had occurred on property that is now an asphalt parking lot owned by the city.) This meant getting approval from the City Council.
Armed with an endorsement from the Montevallo Historical Commission, the coalition took a proposal for installation of the marker to the Council on August 26th. It was approved, just days before the 130th anniversary of Main Street lynching. Montevallo became one of the first towns in Alabama to acknowledge a community-sanctioned act of racial terror on its soil.
26-27 April Opening of National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery
14 May Meeting in City Hall. Lauren Bartell, Kenny Dukes, and Kathy King discuss formation of the citizen’s coalition to partner with EJI in a Community Remembrance Project
8 Aug Kathy King, Paul Mahaffey, and Sierra Turner agree to act as co-leaders of the CRP coalition
Mid-Aug Parnell Memorial Library board votes to join CRP coalition
16 Oct CRP coalition Statement of Interest submitted to EJI
12 Nov EJI approves Montevallo CRP
16 Jan EJI presentation at Parnell Memorial Library
21 Jan Presentation of NAACP memorial wreath at MLK Day March
12 Feb AAUW-sponsored Community Remembrance Panel at Carmichael Library
5 Mar CRP presentation to Montevallo Historical Commission
April-May Crafting of marker language based on local historical and EJI research. Submit request to City Council for approval of location and language of the marker.
August-Jan 202 Local HS Racial Justice Essay Competition (sponsored by EJI)
8 June Lynching Marker was installed in Montevallo, AL on Main Street.
31 Aug 131st anniversary of the Main Street lynching.