Forty-seven lives lost to racial violence were honored Wednesday at the Matheson History Museum.
Community members created eight quilts in memory of the victims who were lynched in Alachua County in the 19th and 20th centuries, with a purpose of educating residents about the county’s violent history and advocate for peace and reconciliation.
County staff and community volunteers created the quilts over the course of several years. County Commissioner Charles Chestnut leads the group, called the Alachua County Community Remembrance Project, and he has worked to educate the public through remembrance programs.
A lynching is the public killing of an individual who has not received any due process. According to the NAACP, 4,743 lynchings occurred in the U.S. between the years of 1882 and 1968. Nearly 50 of those deaths came from Alachua County.
The Alabama-based Equal Justice Initiative played a key role in the memorial projects Alachua County has done.
“One of the most important things that EJI told us is that we need to do something community-driven, not politically driven,” Chestnut said. “It has been a community-driven endeavor. I am very proud of all of the people who have been involved in making this come to fruition.”
“We could not have done this without (Chestnut),” Alachua Vice Mayor Shirley Green Brown said. “When I was a little girl, my mom’s sisters did quilting, and as I grew up, every year for Christmas they gave me a quilt. When I look at them, it just warms my heart, and I still have them today. I say that to let you know how special those quilts are, and when you see the exhibit, it's going to warm your heart.”
The Alachua County Remembrance Project has created historical markers in different parts of the county to commemorate those lost. Candlelight memorial services and essay contests have been held in past years.
Carl Smart, Alachua County’s executive liaison for public safety and community relations, said the quilts go above and beyond anything the county has done in the past.
“Someone came up with the idea of doing quilts to commemorate the victims,” he said. “We had eight sub-commitees and each one put together a quilt that memorializes people lynched in their area. Each one has its own message.”
Every quilt is different with its own style, each conveying an important time in history. Dawn Beachy, chair of the Memorial Quilt Committee, was the quilting expert who brought the idea to life. She led the group and worked with each of the sub-committees to complete their quilts.
Committee member and friend of Beachy, Jessica Elkins, said “we would go over to her house, and she had a big set up to do the quilts. I’m not much of a sewer but she taught me,” Elkins said. She said it took four years to finish them all, and she contributed to each quilt in some way. The exhibit was the first time all eight quilts were brought together to be viewed in one location.
The quilts evoked a range of emotion among those who took part in their creation. “It was a lot of emotions,” said Micanopy Mayor Jiana Williams. “It was some anger, some pride, some love – a little bit of everything. It's hard not to feel multiple emotions when doing this work, but what has stood out to me most is the opportunity the quilts created to actually sit down and have conversations with neighbors. It transcended gender, it transcended age and it transcended race.”
The quilt exhibit touched many hearts and will continue to do so beyond its time being displayed at the Matheson Museum. The exhibit will be available to see during regular museum hours, Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., through May 2026.
Together the community honors the memories stitched into the squares of each quilt and preserves the history that they represent.
Gerie Crawford, co-chair of the Archer subcommittee, said their quilt was centered on the importance of discussing this history.
“If we don't talk about and recognize that this type of situation took place,” she said, “it gets buried and it's betraying those that died and the families who suffered that trauma.”
Crawford also explained how each quilt also has a Sankofa, an African bird, to represent that “we all have to look back to know where we're going.”
Zoe Kahn contributed reporting.
