As part of Black History Month, on Thursday, February 26th, the Bessie Smith Cultural Center will be presenting an event that reflects, remembers, and honors the lives lost to Chattanooga’s racial terror lynchings that happened in Hamilton County between 1877 and 1950.
The event is titled “Unveiling the Past: Chattanooga’s Lynchings" and will begin on the lawn of the Bessie Smith Cultural Center with an unveiling of a new historical marker that is meant to honor and remember the lives affected by lynchings in the city.
Following the unveiling of the new historical marker, there will be a reception and a fireside chat with local historians about the history of documented lynchings and the ongoing work being put into preserving these stories and their impact on the community.
The event is free to the public with registration required and is an incredible opportunity to honor those lynched and the lives impacted by these horrific lynchings while fostering a community that is steeped in honest reflection of our city's racial animus and history.
Key to the evening will be a discussion of the lynching of Ed Johnson in 1906, which happened 120 years ago this year and is one of the most notorious cases of racial terror lynchings in the history of the United States, especially known for its broader legal implications. Ed Johnson was wrongfully convicted of assaulting a woman and declared guilty by an all-white jury before being sentenced to death.
The U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan would grant a stay of execution shortly thereafter, protecting Ed while they could review the case. Despite that grant of stay, Ed was abducted from the Hamilton County jail by a white mob, marched down to the Walnut Street Bridge, and hanged from the bridge.
The horrific lynching would later lead to the groundbreaking case U.S. vs. Shipp, wherein the Supreme Court did something unprecedented at the time, charging local officials with contempt of court for failing to protect Johnson. The trial is the only criminal trial ever to be held by the Supreme Court itself, and the case ultimately established that the federal courts can hold local officials accountable, and the states cannot ignore federal court authority.
In speaking with the vice president of operations at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center, Elijah Cameron, he detailed what people can expect from the event itself and how the legacy of Ed Johnson and all those lives lost to racial terror lynchings will be remembered.
“The unveiling of the marker will take place on our front lawn with local dignitaries, the Equal Justice Initiative, Then Unity Group, and others making a few remarks. We will come inside for a brief reception and then the fireside chat. The installation of the marker is about remembrance; the chat or conversation is about helping us to accept responsibility for memory, not for assigning guilt to the present. Our goal is not resolution but reflections so that the legacy of Ed Johnson is not forgotten and so that the injustices of the past are neither denied nor repeated.
Elijah went on to discuss that he hopes people leave the event with a deeper understanding of who Ed Johnson was, the history of how racial violence functioned in Chattanooga, and to walk away with a sense of responsibility to teach others the history that shapes our present.
“We hope attendees leave with a clearer understanding of who Ed Johnson was, not just as a victim of racial terror but as a person whose life and wrongful death reveal the consequences of injustice and the importance of due process and the rule of law. We want participants to gain context about how racial violence functioned in Chattanooga, how the community responded at the time, and why these events matter today.
We hope attendees walk away with a sense of responsibility to teach others and to engage more thoughtfully with the history that continues to shape our present. This is not just about learning history; it is about understanding how remembrance can be a step toward healing and a more just future.”
The event itself is also an opportunity to come together in solidarity and solemnity, with Elijah suggesting that by naming what happened and remembering and honoring Ed, the community can begin to try to heal.
This event contributes to community healing by creating a shared, public space to acknowledge a painful chapter of Chattanooga’s history too long ignored or minimized. Healing does not come from forgetting, but from honest recognition and collective remembrance. By naming what happened, honoring Ed Johnson, and placing this history in the public landscape, the event invites dialogue rooted in truth rather than silence.
It brings together residents, leaders, historians, and institutions to engage with the past in a respectful way, helping foster understanding across generations and communities. While one event cannot resolve racial injustice, it can open doors to constructive conversations, deepen empathy, and affirm that Chattanooga is willing to confront its history as part of building a more just and inclusive future.”
Unveiling the Past: Chattanooga's Lynchings
- 6 p.m. February 26.
- Free.
- Bessie Smith Cultural Center, 200 E MLK Blvd. Chattanooga
- bessiesmithcc.org/bhm