On Oct. 10, 1908, a mob of angry, white residents captured and killed three African American men near Good Hope Church Road, south of Hickory. Dee Dawkins, Frank Johnson and William Fielder were associates of Shep Jones, a black man accused of killing a wealthy white resident. Dawkins and Johnson were discovered along the road, shot to death. Fielder, who was related to Jones, had been tortured and hung from a tree near his home.
On Saturday, descendants of Dawkins, Johnson and Fielder gathered along Good Hope Church Road to pay respects to their ancestors and gather soil from the ground where they were killed. Family members, young and old, came from across the United States to be a part of the ceremony and remember the hardships their families had been through because of the color of their skin.
Dr. Darrell Fielder, great-great grandson of William Fielder, described the context of the south in the early 1900s, when an accusation against a black person could cause their death at the hands of a mob.
“The three family members we are recognizing today lived during this turbulent period in our country,” he said. “The trials and tribulations of Dee Dawkins, Frank Johnson and William Fiedler mirror those of many African Americans who struggle to preserve their humanity against a crushing sea of injustice. 111 years later, it is entirely appropriate we honor them today and pass vital information to the next generation.”
Saturday’s ceremony was held in partnership with the Equal Justice Initiative, a non-profit group based in Alabama. During the ceremony, descendants of the three victims filled large jars with soil from the ground their ancestors were killed, which will join soil from other lynching sites across the south at the EJI museum in Montgomery, AL.
Joyce Salter Johnson, a descendant of Frank Johnson and historian, said her ancestor was one of more than 5,000 victims of racially motivated murders and lynchings that took place across the south from 1877 to 1950.
“I am, we are, the Johnsons, and we are here today to ask that you join us in recognizing and confronting our nations history of racial injustices and honor the members of our family ancestor Frank Johnson and the thousands of others,” Johnson said. “We ask that you go forward from this place to your workplace, to your church, to your government and to your family, to publicly address these grotesque injustices and honor the memory of Frank Johnson, Dee Dawkins and William Fielder and any other resident who suffered such fate.”
In the future, Johnson said, plans are being made to erect a historical marker at the site of the murders, ensuring the generations to come remember their past and continue to make progress toward equality for all.
A full video of Saturday’s Soil Collection ceremony can be viewed here:
