A photo of lynching victim Ed Johnson was found recently in the April 7, 1906, edition of The Topeka Daily Herald. (Photo courtesy of Sam Hall, David Moon and Mariann Martin)Chattanooga attorneys Curtis Bowe III and W. Neil Thomas III have formed a committee of attorneys working to endow a scholarship in memory of Ed Johnson, a black man lynched by a mob from Chattanooga's Walnut Street Bridge in 1906.
The scholarship, in existence since 2006 and housed at the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga, is designed to benefit deserving college sophomores, juniors or seniors pursuing majors in criminal justice.
"It seems only fitting for the legal community to demonstrate its commitment to justice by getting behind the Ed Johnson Memorial Scholarship," Bowe said.
Thomas said the attorneys who defended Ed Johnson "were thwarted by the biased criminal justice system that existed in Chattanooga at that time. We want to play our part in making sure history doesn't repeat itself."
The Legal Gifts Committee plans to raise the targeted amount through appeals to law firms and professional legal associations.
Organizers say a fully endowed scholarship fund should be able to award 2-4 $1,000 scholarships per year.