Moore's Ford Memorial Committee

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One America - Moore's Ford Memorial Committee

Program:

Moore's Ford Memorial Committee, Bishop, GA

Contact(s):

Rich Rusk, Secretary: (706) 769-0988

Purpose:

To promote racial healing and harmony

On July 25, 1946, two young African American couples, George and Mae Murray Dorsey and Roger and Dorothy Malcolm, were killed by a lynch mob at the Moore's Ford Bridge in rural Georgia, east of Atlanta. The alleged murderers, estimated to have been about 15 white men, were never prosecuted and have since died. Although the lynching made national news, the incident has been all but forgotten in Oconee and Walton Counties, Ga. In 1997, the Moore's Ford Memorial Committee, a biracial group of Georgians, formed a nonprofit organization to commemorate the Dorseys and Malcolms. The memorial committee intends to honor the Dorseys, Malcolms and all other African Americans who had been lynched in Oconee and Walton counties by building a "living memorial" to promote justice and racial reconciliation.

Program Operations

Beginning in August 1997, community leaders, black and white citizens and prominent Georgians have responded to the call for healing. The memorial committee has located three of four missing grave sites belonging to African Americans who were lynched in Oconee and Walton Counties. Working together, memorial committee members are restoring two cemeteries by clearing brush, filling sunken graves and installing wooden crosses on unmarked graves and planting grass. The memorial committee has held biracial church services and "sing-a-longs," hosted an art exhibit dedicated to racial healing and sponsored community wide workdays featuring cemetery work, covered dish meals, gospel singing and inspiration.

Outcomes and Significant Accomplishments

As of Spring 1998, the memorial committee had established grave markers for the victims lynched, held a military service for George Dorsey and endowed scholarships named after the victims for area high school students.

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