Roswell to install historical marker remembering lynching victim Mack Henry Brown

The city of Roswell is installing a historical marker remembering Mack Henry Brown, an African-American man who was brutally killed in 1936.

The Roswell city council approved the installation of the historical marker at the Aug. 24 council meeting. 

Brown was last seen leaving his apartment the night of Nov. 13, 1936. According to witnesses at the time, he kissed the hand of a white woman who lived in an apartment complex where he worked. The woman told her husband, who then called the police. 

Brown was never seen alive again. 

His body was discovered in the Chattahoochee River near the Roswell Mill Dec. 23, 1936. His hands were handcuffed and his feet bound and he had bullet wounds through his heart and lungs. To this day, it is unknown where exactly Brown was killed.

"The approval of this marker is an important first step in Roswell acknowledging its full history," Mayor Lori Henry said. "As much as we love and enjoy what Roswell is today, we must acknowledge the contribution of generations of African-Americans to our community."

The push for a marker remembering Brown came from the Mack Henry Brown Historical Marker Committee, a part of The Fulton County Remembrance Coalition. The Coalition is affiliated with the Equal Justice Initiative based in Montgomery, Alabama. The Fulton Remembrance Committee works to collect "soil at the sites of Fulton County’s 36 documented racial terror lynchings, erect historical markers, claim our county’s monument from the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, and foster a lasting dialogue founded on truth and justice."

"The marker is a physical reminder for people to acknowledge, discuss and learn more about the area’s history of racial inequity and injustice," Mack Henry Brown Historical Marker Committee Co-Chair James Brown said. "When people do that, they can recognize the legacy of slavery and racial terrorism in current issues such as criminal justice, racism in housing and health care, and the racial wealth gap."

"The marker is a permanent record of racial terror violence that provides everyone in the community exposure to our shared history of racial injustice," Brown said.

Brown hopes that by bringing the marker to Roswell and starting a conversation, further action will be evoked. The Mack Henry Brown Historical Marker Committee is continuing to work with mayor on council on the Resolution Condemning Racism the city passed June 22. Henry is also creating ta task force she said will be comprised of local Black leaders as well as city leaders.

"To ensure that our present and future relationships, policies, and practices are equitable and inclusive, it is our responsibility to ensure that our approach to interpreting our history and presenting it to others is also equitable and inclusive," Henry said. "The recent national conversation about racial equity has given us an opportunity to reassess where we’ve come from, to build and strengthen relationships across our community, and to reaffirm our commitment to each other. Working together, we can make meaningful changes that will distinguish Roswell as a city of safety, inclusivity, and equity.”

"A segment of our community has been domestically terrorized and there has been no sensitivity to it outside of the affected community," Brown said. "That has to stop. Teaching the truth makes it possible to move beyond the hurt. A visual marker is a small gesture in reconciling a much larger issue."

The marker will be in Riverside Park along the biking and walking trail on the west side of the park.