The city of Dallas Park and Recreation Department, Remembering Black Dallas and Dallas County Justice Initiative will unveil two Texas Historical Markers to memorialize Dallas victims of 19th-century racially motivated violence.
One marker remembers Jane Elkins, the first enslaved person to be purchased in Dallas County and the first woman to be legally hanged in Texas.
The second is dedicated to “The Fire & Lynchings of 1860.” Three Dallas slaves falsely accused of starting a destructive fire in downtown Dallas — Sam Smith, Patrick Jennings and “Old Cato — were hanged on newly built gallows at what is now Martyrs Park.
Martyrs Park, less than an acre in size, is a newly renovated downtown park that includes new landscaping with crepe myrtles lining a newly installed walking path, irises planted on newly built berms and shrubs gracing the park entrance. Refurbished pedestrian tunnel at the Triple Underpass off Dealey Plaza makes getting to park more accessible. In March, the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture dedicated a public art sculpture at the park titled “Shadow Lines” to victims of racial violence lynched between 1853 and 1920.
Martyrs Park is at 379 Commerce St. The unveiling of the markers takes place on Saturday, June 22 at 10 a.m. Free parking is available at Founders Plaza Garage, 500 Elm St.
— David Taffet