Annapolis Lynching Remembered A Century Later In Effort To Heal, Teach

By Hamil R. Harris

**Citizens and community leaders hold vigil in memory of Henry Davis gathered at the Foot Soldiers Memorial in Annapolis, Md.**

An American flag atop a pole is the only common thing between the rows of marbled graves in the Annapolis National Cemetery and the scruffy patch of head stones and cement vaults that rest in nearby Brewer Hill Cemetery.

In the early 1900’s Brewer Hill was a potter’s field for poor blacks in Annapolis, Md. buried in unmarked graves. Brewer Hill also became the final resting place for Mr. Henry Davis who, on Dec. 21, 1906, was tortured, hung and shot (over 100 times) as the target of the last known lynching in city of Annapolis.

**Citizens and activists gathered for the remembrance service in the Annapolis City Council chamber.**

On Dec. 21, 112 years later, elected officials and community leaders gathered in the chambers of the Annapolis City Council to remember the Davis lynching in an effort to teach a new generation about the importance of racial tolerance at a time when race-related incidents in Anne Arundel County have increased over recent years.

The event was entitled “Henry Davis Lynching Remembrance: A Path To Reconciliation,” was organized by a multi-racial coalition of groups who are “Confronting the truth about history for recovery, reconciliation, and justice for all,” according to their statement.

“The importance of having this remembrance was to remind people of this dark period in American history,” said Carl O. Snowden, a former member of the Annapolis City Council who is part of a coalition. “A noose or a swastika conjures up a period of hatred that cannot be allowed to flourish again.”

The Anne Arundel County Council Chamber was packed during the remembrance service as County Executive Stuart Pittman, Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley gathered with clergy and other community leaders who spoke on the importance of fostering racial reconciliation.

The event coincided with a candle light vigil on the corner of Calvert and Clay Street, which is across from the Arundel Center which used to be the location for the county jail where Davis was hauled away and lynched two blocks away near St. John’s College, according to historians.

“We want to remember and keep the conversation going about racial terror due to the fact that there is an increase in people targeted by incidents,” said Monica Lindsey, founder of Connecting the Dots, a group who helped to organize the remembrance. “Our goal is to go beyond just having a steel column dedicated to someone lynched from Annapolis, we want to create an education center.”

Connecting the Dots is working with the Maryland Lynching Memorial Project, documenting the history of lynchings in the state. The group’s goal is to advocate for public recognition of the lynchings and the lives of those killed.

What Happened?

Henry Davis was arrested after being accused of sexually assaulting Annie Reid, a white woman and the wife of Crownsville shopkeeper John Reid. And angry mob was determined to carry out its own violent brand of law and order. The mob broke into the jail, over powered four police officers and dragged Davis outside where they took him to College Creek, attempting to hang him.

But the tree limb snapped and Davis, believed to still be alive, fell to the ground. He was then shot more than 100 times. His body was then paraded through Annapolis’ black community and finally buried in an unmarked grave at Brewer Hill Cemetery.

Snowden visited Brewer Hill Cemetery before Christmas where there is now a plaque for Davis and John Snowden, (no relation), a separate case of a black man who was convicted and hanged in 1919 for murdering a pregnant white woman despite doubts of his guilt.

In 2001, former Maryland Governor Parris Glendening commuted Snowden’s conviction posthumously after it was learned that someone else committed the crime.

"The search for justice has no statute of limitations," Glendening said in a story reported by The Washington Post. "When faced with the possible miscarriage of justice, even one from the distant past, our values compel us to take a second look."

While photographs of Davis’ mutilated body were sold as souvenirs at the time, none of his attackers were ever brought to justice and to this day neither Davis’ descendants nor descendants of people who were involved in incident have never come forward.

A Difficult History But Working For A Better Future

Davis is one of more than 4,400 African Americans who died by lynching during the most disturbing chapters in US history. There were about 46 lynchings across Maryland but a marker in Brewer Hill Cemetery Records 10 names, ranging from Asbury Green of Centerville on May 13, 1891 to Davis on Dec. 22, 1906.

The Annapolis groups are working in partnership with the Equal Justice Initiative ("EJI") the Montgomery Ala. group that founded the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, which highlights lynchings across the country.

EJI has memorialized the legacy of the back people, through construction of the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. EJI constructed the memorial, which opened in 2018. Organizers said the monument is “a step towards recovery and reconciliation by confronting America’s history of racial violence.”

The Caucus of African American Leaders, The Anne Arundel County Branch of the NAACP and several other groups took part in the program including: Anne Arundel County Indivisible, Showing Up for Racial Justice, Maryland Lynching Memorial Project, Action Annapolis, March On Maryland and We Persist-Women of Greater Anne Arundel.

At the intersection of Calvert and Clay Streets, across from where the jail once stood, is a monument for the “foot soldiers,” who took part in the 1863 March on Washington. Snowden, founder of the Caucus of African American Leaders, said teaching a new generation the story of Henry Davis is part of preserving a bigger legacy.

Standing in front of a marble monument dedicated to “Foot Soldiers,” Snowden said many people have no idea the streets of Annapolis are part of a racial battlefield where innocent people died in cold blood.

“They need to know that they are standing on the shoulders of courageous men and women who made it possible for some of the opportunities that they have today,” Snowden said. “These men and women did remarkable things when there were [fewer] opportunities.”

Snowden and others hope that the spirit of social justice transfers to young people such as Jennifer Haber, co- organizer of the Henry Davis Lynching Remembrance.

“While a memorial is important our goal is to also create an education center and to develop curricula for our school system so that students can learn from our history to find true racial reconciliation. [Then] we can all live in an equitable and safe community,” Haber said.