Historical Marker

In these fragile societal times, truthful, meaningful conversations about race, justice, and accountability are critically necessary to maintaining safety and peace. As the 20th century progressed, the American public, scholars, and others invested in our country's future have stepped up to reposition the narratives habitually told surrounding this country's history. This requires, at times, the re-inclusion of erased narratives. When it comes to the history of lynching in our country, there are many who would prefer we just "move on." The National Memorial for Peace and Justice has provided the country with a way to address this under-told part of our country's history through a framework of both intellectual and emotional pathways. In keeping with its mission, we believe it is important to make note of past under-reported lynchings such as that of Eatontown NJ's Samuel “Mingo Jack” Johnson. This is a way of reminding ourselves that this atrocity happened throughout this country and not merely in the South - and it continues to happen today. To this end, our project is to report and contextualize the lynching of Samuel Johnson to encourage both consciousness and healing in the community (Eatontown), the state (New Jersey), and in the country (USA) as a whole.