'Very powerful': Duluth lynching anniversary draws crowd to memorial

In the morning, before a couple hundred people showed up downtown for a barbecue near the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and his family quietly took a tour of the site.

Carl Crawford, Duluth's human rights officer who guides the walk from the former police station to the site of the 1920 lynchings a few times a year, asked the governor to find a quote on the memorial wall that resonates with him and to spend time looking into the eyes of the bronze sculptures representing the three circus workers.

"Very powerful," Walz said to a member of his team afterward, then later tweeted: "We can never forget this shameful, tragic event in Minnesota’s history."

Monday marked the 100th anniversary of the public deaths of Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie — three African American men accused of raping a white West Duluth woman, although a family doctor indicated that it did not happen. An estimated 10,000 people were in the mob that dragged the men from the jail, up the avenue and hanged them from a light post.

The Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial Committee intended to draw another 10,000 people — and Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative — to the site for the 100th anniversary, but the plans were pushed to 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There was still plenty of activity on First Street between First and Second avenues east: the early visit by Walz and his crew, a news conference with Attorney General Keith Ellison and other players involved with last week's pardon of Max Mason , and lunch from Duluth Grill — chicken, pork, grits, coleslaw and pork rinds, enough to feed 700 people.

All with a soundtrack of feel-good reggae music playing from speakers.

"We've had this day on our calendar for a long time," said Otis Zanders, president and CEO of Ujamaa Place, a Twin Cities nonprofit that works with young adult African American men. "Ujamaa" means "extended family" in Swahili.

Zanders was part of a van-load of men who had originally planned to be a part of the anniversary events. Instead, in light of the postponement, they canceled their hotel reservations and instead made it a day trip. Zanders said he wanted to bring the journey and energy back to his organization.

"It's very spiritual for us, we feel connected with what has happened 100 years ago," Zanders said. "We realize that this particular event that took place in that time period brings us current, with what is happening today."

There were free masks available and bottled water. At one point, the line for the Duluth Grill buffet extended beyond The Encounter, the skate park on the next block. Meanwhile, flowers were placed at the statues and photographs were taken in front of it.

Ellison's visit to the memorial, too, was a bit of a surprise.

"Here we all stand in this sacred ground where 100 years ago, 10,003 people gathered," he said, adding it wasn't in peace or in love. "They gathered to murder three people."

Ellison called racism a "social disease buried deep in our society." Much of what he said centered on Mason, who served time in prison for the falsified rape. This past Friday, Mason received the state's first posthumous pardon from the Minnesota Board of Pardons.

It was a ruling that was still on the mind of Kim Green, co-chair of the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial.

Green said she is seeing a lot of solidarity — and a movement that is boosted by young people.

"I've never seen anything like this in my life," she said. "I feel hopeful. I think people got their heads on straighter."

Abdul Hussein helped to serve food. He's among a group of people that gathers as the site of the memorial on weeknights, which includes talking, marching and honoring George Floyd with nine minutes of silence.

"I don't want to come, but I have to come because I am a black man," he said.

He's created a brand called Foreign and on Monday he wore a shirt with the word across his chest. He feels connected to the definition: strange, unfamiliar. That's how he sees himself and that's how he tells his story, Hussein said.

"In a town where I don't see another me," he said.

1/14: Joli Shamblott pauses for a moment after placing flowers at the feet of the statues of Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie on Monday, the 100th anniversary of their public lynchings. Shamblott, who is originally from Duluth, worked for the memorial for four years, and drove from Minneapolis to visit the memorial and the gravesite on the anniversary. (Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com) free

2/14: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (center) visits the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial in Duluth on Monday morning with his daughter, Hope (left), and wife, Gwen, on the 100th anniversary of the public lynching of Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie. (Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com) free

3/14: Community members listen to speakers at the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial Monday, June 15, 2020, on the 100th anniversary of the public lynchings of Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie. (Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com) free

4/14: Duluth resident Roger Gregoire speaks at the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial Monday, June 15, 2020 on the 100th anniversary of the public lynchings of Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie. (Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com) free

5/14: People take in the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial Monday, June 15, 2020, before an event to honor Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie on the 100th anniversary of their public lynchings. (Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com) free

6/14: Flowers sit on the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial Monday, June 15, 2020, the 100th anniversary of the lynchings of Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie. (Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com) free

7/14: Desmond Scott holds a copy of the first edition of "The Lynchings in Duluth" by Michael Fedo while asking a question during the 100th anniversary event to honor Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie on Monday, June 15, 2020. Scott posed a question about the book and why people's identities were originally concealed. (Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com) free

8/14: Mayor Emily Larson speaks at the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial on Monday, June 15, 2020, the 100th anniversary of the public lynchings of Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie. (Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com) free

9/14: From left: Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison explains the Duluth lynchings that took place in 1920 and the recent pardoning of Max Mason to Abdulahi Hussein, Tawny Worsley and Kirsten Kelly at the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial Monday, June 15, 2020. (Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com) free

10/14: Tim Davis (left) serves OMC barbecue during an event to honor Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie on Monday, June 15, 2020, the 100th anniversary of their lynchings in Duluth. (Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com) free

11/14: Community members converse and enjoy OMC barbecue on East First Street near the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial Monday, June 15, 2020, during an event to honor Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie on the 100th anniversary of their public lynchings in Duluth. (Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com) free

12/14: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and his daughter, Hope (left), and wife, Gwen (right), pass a sign that reads "#GeorgeFloyd" on their way to the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial in Duluth on Monday on the 100th anniversary of the public lynching of Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie. (Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com) free

13/14: From left: Hope Walz, Gwen Walz and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz talk with Duluth Human Rights Officer Carl Crawford at the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial in Duluth on Monday, June 15 — the 100th anniversary of the public lynching of Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie. (Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com) free

14/14: People keep social distance while wearing masks and holding signs during an event to honor Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie Monday, June 15, 2020, the 100th anniversary of their public lynchings in Duluth. (Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com)