A weekend of un-forgetting

Racial Reconciliation Task Force will co-host a commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of the Vicksburg Massacres this December

by Ellen Morris Prewitt and Ray Hume

The labyrinth of Becoming Beloved Community teaches us our journey into love starts with Telling the Truth. Truth-telling provides the foundation that enables us to circle toward Proclaiming the Dream, Practicing Jesus’ Way of Healing Love, and Repairing the Breach. With our eyes fixed on this model, the Racial Reconciliation Task Force will co-host this December a commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of the Vicksburg Massacres.

Members of the Beloved Community have been working with Diocesan Missioner for Becoming Beloved Communities the Rev. Andy Andrews on the commemoration, including Ray Hume, the Rev. Deacon Josie Williams, Theo Williams, and Ellen Morris Prewitt. Even though Ray is a life-long educator and native of Vicksburg, he was unfamiliar with the massacres before his involvement in the commemoration. Unfortunately, Ellen was aware of the massacres because her ancestor was involved.

The massacres were not unknown at the time. A Congressional investigation was held on the 1874-1875 Reconstruction-era killings. When white mobs attacked Warren County’s duly-elected African American Sheriff, Peter Crosby, a fight ensued between those defending Crosby and the attackers. Afterwards, white militias rampaged through the county for weeks, killing many Black citizens. In the time since the massacres, effort was made to bury and forget the events. Today, if you mention the massacres, many will respond, “The Vicksburg what?” The commemoration weekend will continue to grow the remembering happening in Vicksburg, beginning with truth-telling on the massacres.

The truth-telling will be led by Dr. Beth Kruse, the Andrew Mellon Fellow partnering in research with the National Park Service, and Dr. Albert Dorsey, Jr., Assistant Professor of History at Jackson Statue University and author of the upcoming book, Vicksburg’s Massacre: The Complexities and Consequences of Black Participation in the Body Politic and land Ownership in the Age of Redeemer Violence. Drs. Dorsey and Kruse will offer a deeper understanding of why these events occurred and the impact they had for years to come. On Saturday, the National Park Service will lead a wreath-laying at the Shirley House in Vicksburg National Park near the sites of much of the violence.

A time of lamentation is being created for the weekend under the leadership of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church communicant Robyn Gordon and Holy Trinity Episcopal Church communicant Tosin Sekoni. Guided by Rev. Williams, the Rev. Beth Palmer, and Rev. Andrews, the lamentation will acknowledge the pain and suffering and death from the massacres and remembering those killed, as well as those whom violence forced to flee Vicksburg. The weekend will also offer an opportunity to turn toward the future in recognizing successful efforts to erect a Mississippi Historical Marker at the Warren County Courthouse honoring Sheriff Peter Crosby.

The weekend events are part of larger offerings commemorating Sheriff Peter Crosby that will continue to grow the remembering in Vicksburg through its 2025 Bicentennial Celebration.

Please join us as for the weekend as we work to bring into the light that which has been buried in much forgetting. Together, we can tell the truth and move into proclaiming the dream, practicing Jesus’ way of healing love and, ultimately, repairing the breach.