The movie ”Rosewood” was released February, 21, 1997, directed by John Singleton.

An alleged sexual attack by a black man on a white woman, it was all a LIE. It shows Fanny Taylor being beaten by a white lover, and then claiming a black man had done it.

Rosewood is shown as a somewhat richer, than there nearby milltowns surrounding Sumner. The town’s county sheriff leads the massacre mob to Rosewood. The real leader was a self appointed vigilante named Poly Wilkerson.

The movie evokes the time and place powerfully decrypted in the town of Sumner Florida. It’s accurate in portraying Rosewood as an independent, self reliant community with some comforts. Black men in Rosewood Florida were doing economically better than a lot of backwoods whites.

The massacre started by the rumor of a white woman Fanny Taylor who said she was beaten and raped by a black man, when it was known this women was not only promiscuous but was really beaten by her white lover. This stirred what was already silent racial tension in the air. The attention from this rumor would spread like wild fire to whites near and far.

These white men who attacked Rosewood apparently considered themselves as righteous. Feeling legally constituted for the brutal violence, rapes, lynching, and killing of black men women and children. Lynchings were symbolic in these times; it killed not only the person but also the soul of those that would survive.

FOOTNOTE

THE NAMES OF THE SURVIVORS

“I changed my name, I was afraid that the whites might track me down and kill me!”  Lonnie Jefferson Carroll (1914 – 1997) The son of James and Emma Carrier, he changed his last name to Carroll after the Rosewood Massacre. At the time of the Rosewood hearings, he was in a nursing home in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, where he died. “We faced overwhelming odds!”  Mary Hall Daniels (1920-) The youngest child of Charles Bacchus and Mary Davis Hall’s nine children, she was three years old when Rosewood was attacked. She lives in Jacksonville, Florida. “Father forgive them, they know not what they do, I must not be bitter!”  Lee Ruth Bradley Davis (1915 -1993) One of the original two Rosewood bill claimants, along with Minnie Lee Mitchell Langley. Her parents were John Wesley and Virginia Carrier Bradley. She was seven years old at the time of the Rosewood attack. She died in 1993, as the second claims bill was taking shape. She lived in Miami, Florida. “They took my early education and everything that I should have had!”  Willie Evans (1907-) Born in Sanford, Florida, near Orlando. His mother died when he was four years old and he moved to Rosewood to live with his grand parents, Ransom and Julie Edwards. He turned sixteen a week before the Rosewood attack. He now lives in Sanford, Florida. “The Moon was shining just as bright as it could be.”  Arnett Turner Goins (1915-2002) At the age of eight, he was one of the children in their grandmother?s, Sara Robinson Carrier, house when she was killed. He and other children hid in the cold woods during the Rosewood Massacre. He testifies at the Rosewood hearings in Tallahassee, February, 1994. He resided in St. Petersburg, Florida. “God was all around us!”  Wilson Hall (1916 – 1998) One of Mary and Charles Bacchus Hall?s nine children, he was seven years old at the time of the Rosewood Massacre. He testified at the Rosewood hearings in Tallahassee, February, 1994. He lived in Hilliard, Florida. “Rosewood was not or rarely discussed outside of the family!”  Dorothy Goins Hosey (1919 – 2005) She was two years old at the time of the Rosewood Massacre. The daughter of Perry and Hattie Goins, she did not testify at the Rosewood hearings held in Tallahassee. She now lives in Tampa, Florida. “All of our people who died were innocent!”  Margie Hall Johnson (1909 -1998) Her parents were Mary and Charles Bacchus Hall. She is Wilson Hall’s and Mary Daniel?s sister. She had just turned fourteen years old at the time of the Rosewood “Rosewood was a great place to be a child.”  Minnie Lee Langley(1914-1995) Nine years old at the time of the attack, she live in Rosewood with her grandparents, James and Emma Carrier. She was one of the children inside Sara Carrier?s home when she was killed. Langley lived in Jacksonville, Florida, until her death in December, 1995. “Hate destroyed my peaceful hometown!”  Allenetta Robinson ?Robie? Mortin (1915 -) She was eight years old and raised in Rose wood by her grandmother, Polly Carter, and Uncle, Sam Carter. She was represented as a Rosewood bill claimant by Attorney Richard Ryles. She now lives in Riviera Beach, Florida.If you are a Rosewood Descendant let us here from you! 1-800-250-4245 rosewood@displaysforschools.com