BRAZIL, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)– In 1880, George Scott was lynched in Brazil after being accused of a crime. And now, one historian is leading a push to have a marker placed in the city to spread his story.
Local historian Dr. Crystal Reynolds said she became aware of Scott’s story about a year ago. He was killed by a mob of over 100 people outside the Clay County Courthouse. Reynolds said she thinks it’s an important part of the city’s history– and history that should be known around the area.
“There has been no justice for him,” she said. “There was no due process,and there was nobody ever held accountable for his brutal murder.”
It follows on the heels of a similar project Reynolds completed in Terre Haute– having markers placed to tell the story of George Ward, a man lynched in 1901. Terry Ward, who was involved in that project, said he thinks these projects can help communities heal.
“When we talk about the past, we have an opportunity to rectify the past, whether it be right or wrong. Whether it’s something celebratory or something painful, if we can rectify those things in some kind of way, it lifts the community,” he said.
Reynolds has been working alongside local officials to try and make the project a reality, but she’s still looking for support on the project. She said history should focus on significant events– both positive and negative.
“I’ve always admired the fact that they have a monument to Charles T. Hall, who is a Tuskegee Airman, who did amazing things in World War II, shot down a Nazi plane, and they have acknowledged him prominently,” she said. “History has to recognize the good, the bad and the ugly. Unfortunately, this man’s life mattered, and nothing has ever been done to recognize him and to remember him.”
But Reynolds wants that to change– even if she’s not yet sure exactly what that marker will look like.
“I was hoping that we could do a marker or a memorial or some commemoration to recognize that his life mattered, that he was never given any due process, that justice was denied,” she said.
