Rosewood, Florida, Race Riot of 1923

Rebecca Hayes

Over the course of 6 days in January of 1923, the predominantly Black town of Rosewood, Florida, was mobbed by Whites from surrounding areas, and the entire town was burned to the ground. In February of that year a grand jury found insufficient evidence to prosecute, and the truth behind this atrocity lay dormant for decades. Finally, in the early 1990s there was an attempt to retrieve the truth. Many of the recorded stories are conflicting; the anecdotal accounts of White individuals differ from the accounts of Black individuals, but some facts have been established. In 1994, Florida Governor Lawton Chiles signed legislation that would compensate Black victims and their families for past racial violence. This entry examines the history of the incident at Rosewood, and then, Rosewood's renewed significance in a more recent public policy decision in the state of Florida. Rosewood in 1923 was a relatively small community ...

Users without subscription are not able to see the full content on this title. Please, subscribe or login to access all content on this website.