A historical marker telling the story of a Black man lynched in 1902 after being accused of killing a white man was unveiled in Leesburg, Virginia, Wednesday.
Thousands of cars travel through the intersection of Catoctin Circle and East Market Street; now, when they drive through that stretch, they’ll be able to see the marker telling the story of Charles Craven, who was lynched there more than 100 years ago.
It’s part of a state and local effort to educate the public about the lynchings of Black Americans across the commonwealth.
“Until the lion learns to write, the story will always glorify the hunter,” NAACP Loudoun Branch President Michelle Thomas said. “And so in this sense, the African American community is beginning to write, whether it is codifying our stories in DHR (Department of Historic Resources) markers, which you can’t easily tear down.”
Craven was a Black man about 25 years old when he was accused of murder. He was being held inside the Leesburg jail when a mob of about 300-500 people showed up to take him.
Expecting some type of violence, the sheriff asked the governor for military troops at the jail, but they didn’t make it in time.
The mob took Craven from the jail to about half a mile away, where they beat him severely, hung him, then shot him multiple times.
Despite several eyewitnesses and arrests, no one was ever tried and convicted for his murder.
“Lynchings were done as part of a terrorist operation,” former NAACP Loudoun Branch President Phillip Thompson said. “They were designed to terrorize the community into doing whatever it is that the greater community wanted.”
For years, the NAACP Loudoun Branch along with some other local and state agencies worked to erect the historical marker. They hope to bring more markers to the area and throughout the state.
“I’m pleased to report that DHR has just received funding from the General Assembly to research and place an additional 15 highway markers at or near other lynchings over the next two years,” said DHR Deputy Director of Preservation Programs Roger Kirchen.
Leesburg, the DHR and the NAACP are working to add historical markers for Page Wallace and Orion Anderson, who were lynched in Leesburg in the 1880s.
“A healed community where you see Blacks and whites, where you see sons and daughters of the enslaved with sons and daughters of the enslavers, working hand-in-hand, standing hand-to-hand to mirror and actually manifest ‘We shall overcome,’” Thomas said.
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