ORLANDO, Fla. — Relatives of a Black man killed in a lynching in Orlando nearly 100 years ago were present Wednesday for the unveiling of a permanent historical marker honoring his life.
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The marker was the second dedicated in Orlando through the Equal Justice Initiative’s Community Historical Marker Project, which aims to document and install narrative historical markers at the sites of racially-motivated lynchings in America.
The Orlando-based Alliance for Truth and Justice also played a role in researching and bringing to light the story of Arthur Henry, an Orlando man killed in a lynching on Thanksgiving day in 1925.
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More than 40 current members of Henry’s family were in attendance for the historical marker dedication.
Henry had moved to Orlando from Lake City to work in the local citrus industry.
Just five years after the Election Day Massacre of 1920 in Ocoee, Henry was shot during an encounter with police in his home in the Parramore neighborhood.
Henry was taken from the room where he was recovering at Orange General Hospital by three armed white men. His body was found 12 days later in the Conway area. He had been shot multiple times.
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A coroner’s report would go on to say that Henry had died at the hands of “persons unknown.”
Henry was never charged with a crime himself, nor was anyone who participated in his kidnapping and murder. He was one of 319 people the Equal Justice Initiative has documented to have been lynched in Florida.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, State Senator Geraldine Thompson, and Daytona Beach Mayor Derek Henry- a distant relative of Arthur Henry himself- were all in attendance for the ceremony.
The marker is meant to share the story of Arthur Henry “as an effort to learn from the past to help create a more inclusive community for all,” a statement from the City or Orlando said.
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“100 years from now, it will be relevant. It will be remembered because the marker is there,” Arthur Henry relative Joanne Marie Terrell said after the ceremony. “The marker is there, and it’s not going anywhere.”
The marker is located at the Wells’ Built Museum of African American History and Culture on South Street in Orlando.
For more information about the Alliance for Truth and Justice, click here.
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