What happened to Fred Rouse was so dark and unthinkable that for nearly a century, his family never spoke about it.
Fred Rouse was a Black butcher at Swift & Company in Fort Worth when he was killed by a White mob in 1921. He is now being remembered by his grandson Fred Rouse III and the Tarrant County Coalition for Peace and Justice. The organization recognizes victims of racial terror and violence. A historical marker was unveiled at the site of the lynching, according to CBS DFW.
Rouse was a strikebreaker, a person who works in place of others who are on strike. Most of those on strike were white. As a result, workers were against him because of his race and his job.
From CBS DFW:
Leaving work one day, he was attacked, stabbed and left for dead by a group of strike agitators.
After police discovered Rouse was still alive, they brought him to the hospital. Five days later, a mob of angry white men barged in and kidnapped him.
They drove north to what had become known as the “Death Tree.”
“Twenty minutes later, he was hanged from a hackberry tree and his body was riddled with bullets,” Rouse III said. “100 years ago, just yesterday, blood-soaked these grounds, and then for 100 years later to the day, to have his family – his blood relatives here – touching this ground again, it’s like everything came full circle. It’s bittersweet.”
Rouse III did not know about the lynching of his grandfather until he was 46-years-old.
“It was being hidden from everybody, and I think by bringing this out, it really shows the true past of Fort Worth and all the things that happened,” said Rouse III per the report from CBS DFW.
A historical marker will also be made at the hospital where Rouse III was kidnapped in 1921 as reported by CBS DFW.