Photos: Chattanooga soil will be part of memorial to lynching victims

October 16, 2017 at 1:00 a.m. | Updated October 16, 2017 at 4:10 a.m.

by Staff Report , Tim Barber

Dozens of attendees gather outside the Hamilton County Jail in remembrance of lynchings that occurred following the Civil War. Two men, Alfred Blount and Ed Johnson were lynched at the Walnut Street Bridge.
Dozens of attendees gather outside the Hamilton County Jail in remembrance of lynchings that occurred following the Civil War. Two men, Alfred Blount and Ed Johnson were lynched at the Walnut Street Bridge.

Hamilton County residents collected soil Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017, and put it in jars in remembrance of the people lynched.

The jars will be transported to Montgomery, Ala., for display in the national memorial to Peace and Justice, along with soil collections representing lynchings from across the United States.

photo Chattanooga Christian School students, followed by Lafrederick Thirkill, top center, and dozens more, march to the Walnut Street Bridge on Sunday with dirt from various Hamilton County locations in remembrance of lynchings that occurred following the Civil War. Two men, Alfred Blount and Ed Johnson were lynched at the Walnut Street Bridge.
photo Near the south entrance to the Walnut Street Bridge, Chattanooga Christian School student Deion Lewis scoops dirt into a jar Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017, in remembrance of lynchings that occurred following the Civil War. Two men, Alfred Blount and Ed Johnson were lynched at the bridge.

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