28-05-2025
Dallas police investigate damage to historical marker
Dallas police are investigating after a historical marker describing the 1910 lynching of a Black handyman was taken from its downtown Dallas location and vandalized.
Why it matters: Allen Brooks was killed by a racist mob in downtown Dallas at a time when streetcars, parks and the State Fair were segregated.
The historical marker, installed in 2021, was the first permanent recognition of Dallas' history of racial violence, per the Texas State Historical Association.
Context: Brooks was accused, "without proof," of assaulting a child, the historical marker says.
A large crowd gathered on the day of his arraignment, breaking through extra security and into a locked room where he was being held, per SMU research.
Thousands of men gathered as Brooks was dragged, beaten and lynched March 3, 1910, at the intersection of Main and Akard streets.
The latest: The metal sign reportedly went missing last week and was found Friday evening.
The sign appears to be vandalized, per a Tuesday statement from Dallas Park and Recreation.
The department says it will work with the nonprofit Remembering Black Dallas to decide whether the sign should be repaired or replaced.
Flashback: The Dallas County Justice Initiative and Equal Justice Initiative partnered in 2021 to install a marker honoring Brooks at the corner of Akard and Main streets.
"This is an effort [of] historical activism in which we need to make sure that we reach back in history so we don't repeat it," Dallas County Justice Initiative president Ed Gray said at the marker's unveiling.
The state recognized the mob attack and killing with a separate historical marker in 2023.
Between the lines: The NAACP describes lynchings as "violent public acts that white people used to terrorize and control Black people."
Over 3,000 Black people were lynched in the U.S. from 1882 to 1968, per NAACP research.
