Elbert Williams Commemorative Memorial
Saturday, June 20, 2015 the Elbert Williams Memorial Committee will hold an event
starting at 9 am to commemorate the life and legacy of Elbert Williams. Dr. Cornell
William Brooks, National President of the NAACP will be the main speaker for this
occasion.
Elbert Williams was first known member of the NAACP to be killed for his civil rights
work. In her book, “Lift Every Voice: The NAACP and the Making of the Civil Rights
Movement”, Professor Patricia Sullivan, University of South Carolina, list Elbert Williams
as the first known official killed for his civil rights activities. In his eulogy at the funeral
of Medgar Evers in June of 1963, Roy Wilkins referenced Elbert Williams as one of the
early NAACP martyrs to lose his life.
For seventy-five years he has lain in an unmarked grave in Taylor Cemetery. The exact
location has been lost to time.
In early 1939 a brave group of African Americans organized a chapter of the NAACP, in
Brownsville, Tennessee for the purpose of securing access to the ballot box, which had
been denied them since 1888. On Christmas Eve of 1939 a terror campaign to destroy
the chapter began and by mid-June, 1940 all the officers had been run out of town.
On the afternoon of June 20, 1940, Elbert Williams was overheard planning a meeting
of the remaining NAACP members in his home. For this simple act, he was picked up
that night by members of the Brownsville police department and never seen alive
again.
Three days later on Sunday morning June 23, his wife was summoned to the banks of
the Hatchie River, six miles south of Brownsville. Prior to her arrival, the coroner had
ordered the immediate burial of his remains. He was buried that day without a funeral
or closure for his family.
Plans to hold a graveside memorial on the 1st Anniversary of his death in 1941 never
materialized. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December of that year, the United
States entered World War II and the memory and supreme sacrifice of this hero was
lost to time, along with the location of his grave.
The Elbert Williams Memorial Committee will hold a memorial on the 75th
Anniversary of his death on June 20, 2015 in Brownsville, Tennessee.
A state approved historical marker will be unveiled during the days events.
See website for details of days events: www.elbertwilliamsmemorial.com
Activities on weekend of June 19th thru 20th, will include:
Friday, June 19, 2015 Activities
6:00-8:00pm Reception, Friday Night, June 19th
at West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center, Exit 56
Saturday, June 20, 2015 Activities
7:00-8:30am Breakfast, Carver School
709 East Jefferson Street
9:00-10:30am Memorial Service at Haywood High School,
1175 East College Street
11:00-11:30am Dedication of Historical Marker, Corner of
East Main & Jackson Street
1:00-1:30pm Procession to Taylor Cemetery for Dedication of Plaque
Taylor Cemetery Road