{"id":38166,"date":"2021-09-19T16:21:56","date_gmt":"2021-09-19T20:21:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=38166"},"modified":"2021-10-07T12:20:23","modified_gmt":"2021-10-07T16:20:23","slug":"chattanooga-dedicates-a-place-of-remembrance-reconciliation-at-walnut-street-bridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2021\/09\/chattanooga-dedicates-a-place-of-remembrance-reconciliation-at-walnut-street-bridge\/","title":{"rendered":"Chattanooga dedicates a place of remembrance, reconciliation at Walnut Street Bridge"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Artist Jerome Meadows stands within the sculpture he created as part of the Ed Johnson Memorial.<\/p><\/div>\n

Event chair\u00a0Donivan\u00a0Brown declared persistent rain to be \u201ctears of joy from heaven\u201d at Sunday\u2019s Ed Johnson\u00a0Memorial dedication in downtown Chattanooga.<\/p>\n

A crowd of more than 200 was on hand for the ceremonial unveiling of bronze sculptures honoring Johnson, falsely accused of rape and lynched from the Walnut Street Bridge in 1906, and his Black attorneys, Noah Parden and Styles Hutchins, who appealed his case to the Supreme Court after white lawyers refused.<\/p>\n

Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly read a proclamation of apology from the city for the miscarriage of\u00a0justice against Johnson. Keynote speaker\u00a0Eddie\u00a0Glaude, Jr., chair of the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University, acknowledged the rarity of communities coming together to recognize, \u201cA profound wrong, a wrong that haunts.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Over 100 years later though it may be,\u201d\u00a0Glaude\u00a0said to those gathered at the south end of the bridge,\u00a0\u201cThis act to remember Ed Johnson, what happened on that fateful day, helps clear the path for a different way of being together here in Chattanooga.”<\/p>\n

Artist\u00a0Jerome Meadows\u00a0created the\u00a0statues\u00a0of Johnson, Parden\u00a0and\u00a0Hutchins,\u00a0and\u00a0he revealed them\u00a0with the help of Howard High School students.<\/p>\n

Among the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga\u2019s multiple connections to the memorial events is LaFrederick Thirkill, a longtime Hamilton County educator, 1997 UTC graduate and a leading advocate for telling Johnson\u2019s story. While some memorials are designed to evoke emotion, Thirkill said, the Ed Johnson memorial\u00a0is\u00a0intended to educate.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing Ed Johnson walking away from the noose and being set free\u2014or being just beyond the reach of the justice system\u2014is beautifully illustrated in this memorial,\u201d\u00a0Thirkill said. \u201cI know there are going to be people who might be upset about it,\u00a0be\u00a0it\u00a0Black people who are upset that it happened or white people who are upset that it\u2019s acknowledged; but those conversations are healthy because then you can examine why you have those feelings, and when conversations happen, it gives you the opportunity to see it from a different perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chattanooga native and UTC Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Engagement Stacy Lightfoot was involved in conversations from the start of planning for the Johnson memorial and, in spring, 12 UTC Honors College students captured Johnson\u2019s story in a five-part serial podcast as part of a semester-long course, Storytelling Through Podcasts, led by instructor Will Davis. Organizers with the Ed Johnson Project shared plans for the commemoration with listeners of WUTC-FM\u2019s\u00a0Scenic Roots<\/em>\u00a0with Ray Bassett.<\/p>\n

Extensive support also has come from the UTC Department of History and Africana Studies\u00a0program, associate professors Michael Thompson and Susan Eckelmann\u00a0Berghel\u00a0and students of both who have served as interns with the Ed Johnson Project over the years.<\/p>\n

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