John Wright (Rosewood Hero) Headstone
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We are raising money to benefit the (John Wright Headstone Fund) and any donation will help make an impact. Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to us.
You may be asking yourself who was John Wright, what is Rosewood?
1923 Rosewood Florida, a vibrant self-sufficient predominantly black community was thriving in North Central Florida, Rosewood had approximately 200+ citizens, they had three churches, some of the black residents owned their own homes, Rosewood had its own Masonic Hall, and two general stores.
On New year's Day a lie would cause several days violence against the citizens of Rosewood, which was brought fourth by white citizens of Sumner, eventually attracting as many of several hundred white people from surrounding communities even some out-of-state with sole purpose of total destruction of Rosewood, this included murder, violent beatings and even rape.
John Wright was a local white resident of Rosewood and owner of a general store within the town, he was known to have strong relations with the local black residents, even giving candy to their children as their parents shopped at his store. Mr. Wright allowed local black residences to hide in his own home to escape the carnage that was happening just outside his home. Many local residents escaped into the swamps surrounding Rosewood where they hid in constant fear of being discovered and killed. With no way for any of these people to escape a rescue plan had to be developed, John Wright was intermenstrual in organizing two brothers who owned their own train, to travel through the town of Rosewood early in the morning under the cover of darkness to pick up women and children, as they escaped the woods and swamps and into the safety of the train, and onwards to Gainesville, away from the bloodthirsty mob.
turned out that the women who claimed she was assaulted actually lied about the incident, she was just covering up a extra-marital affair with a local white man. After Rosewood John Wright remained at his home one of the only buildings left standing in the town of Rosewood, his wife died several years later, Mr. Wright slowly went bankrupt, White citizens would not shop at his store any longer, and he reportedly had a gun every room of his house, he was in constant fear of reprisals. John Wright lost everything eventually dying alone somewhere near Rosewood. John Wright was buried next to his wife in an unmarked grave and history almost forgot about him and his courageous acts, that saved countless generations a black Americans. In the late 80s his grave only had a wooden stick as a marker, sometime in the early 90s someone constructed a "makeshift" grave marker, which still stands today. Our goal is to replace that marker with a similar style headstone that adorns his wife's grave. I think we own him that much!
The story of Rosewood for over 60 years was silent, almost forgotten, except by those who lived it, and kept as a family secret. It took 70 years for the State of Florida to finally take responsibility and acknowledge Rosewood, through the Rosewood Commission. Below is an article which goes into more detail of the events of Rosewood, we strongly encourage you to do your own research.
https://timeline.com/all-black-town-rosewood-wiped-off-the-map-by-white-mob-73ca6630802b
You may be asking yourself who was John Wright, what is Rosewood?
1923 Rosewood Florida, a vibrant self-sufficient predominantly black community was thriving in North Central Florida, Rosewood had approximately 200+ citizens, they had three churches, some of the black residents owned their own homes, Rosewood had its own Masonic Hall, and two general stores.
On New year's Day a lie would cause several days violence against the citizens of Rosewood, which was brought fourth by white citizens of Sumner, eventually attracting as many of several hundred white people from surrounding communities even some out-of-state with sole purpose of total destruction of Rosewood, this included murder, violent beatings and even rape.
John Wright was a local white resident of Rosewood and owner of a general store within the town, he was known to have strong relations with the local black residents, even giving candy to their children as their parents shopped at his store. Mr. Wright allowed local black residences to hide in his own home to escape the carnage that was happening just outside his home. Many local residents escaped into the swamps surrounding Rosewood where they hid in constant fear of being discovered and killed. With no way for any of these people to escape a rescue plan had to be developed, John Wright was intermenstrual in organizing two brothers who owned their own train, to travel through the town of Rosewood early in the morning under the cover of darkness to pick up women and children, as they escaped the woods and swamps and into the safety of the train, and onwards to Gainesville, away from the bloodthirsty mob.
turned out that the women who claimed she was assaulted actually lied about the incident, she was just covering up a extra-marital affair with a local white man. After Rosewood John Wright remained at his home one of the only buildings left standing in the town of Rosewood, his wife died several years later, Mr. Wright slowly went bankrupt, White citizens would not shop at his store any longer, and he reportedly had a gun every room of his house, he was in constant fear of reprisals. John Wright lost everything eventually dying alone somewhere near Rosewood. John Wright was buried next to his wife in an unmarked grave and history almost forgot about him and his courageous acts, that saved countless generations a black Americans. In the late 80s his grave only had a wooden stick as a marker, sometime in the early 90s someone constructed a "makeshift" grave marker, which still stands today. Our goal is to replace that marker with a similar style headstone that adorns his wife's grave. I think we own him that much!
The story of Rosewood for over 60 years was silent, almost forgotten, except by those who lived it, and kept as a family secret. It took 70 years for the State of Florida to finally take responsibility and acknowledge Rosewood, through the Rosewood Commission. Below is an article which goes into more detail of the events of Rosewood, we strongly encourage you to do your own research.
https://timeline.com/all-black-town-rosewood-wiped-off-the-map-by-white-mob-73ca6630802b
Give $50 to help get this fundraiser to its goal
Fundraising team (2)
Michael Joyce
Organizer
Inverness, FL
Amy Joyce
Team member
