The Equal Justice Initiative, an Alabama non-profit based in Montgomery, Alabama, will be installing a historical marker outside the Orange County Regional History Center in Heritage Square in June memorializing "one of the bloodiest days in American political history" which took place in downtown Orlando - the 1920 Ocoee Massacre.
According to Equal Justice Initiative's research, somewhere between six to over thirty African Americans were killed; twenty-five black homes, two black churches, and a masonic lodge were burned; and an African American man named July Perry was beaten, shot, and lynched in Orlando. The full story is shown below and will be displayed on the historical marker.
According to writer Jason Byrne, after the horrific tragedy, "not a single African-American dared live in Ocoee for sixty years until 1981. The city didn’t hire its first black worker until 1986. And for 18 years following the 1920 massacre, not a single black vote was cast in all of Orange County." (Source)
The EJI is solely responsible for the cost of installation and maintenance of the Marker for the next 25 years.
