The lynching of Townsend Cook took place on the early morning hours of June 2nd 1880. 136 years ago, a group of white men broke into the jail and took Mr. Cook by force to an oak tree 1 ½ miles sound of Westminster and lynched him. It was written that “half of the town” of Westminster traveled to the lynching scene.
On the evening of June 2, 2021 over 100 people gathered outside the old jail on North Court Street in Westminster to remember lynching victim Townsend Cook. To view the Gathering of Remembrance for Townsend Cook organized by the Carroll County Coalition of the Maryland Lynching Memorial Project, please see the video below.
May those of us of European-descent, be brave enough in this place and time to face the truth of Townsend’s lynching and the racial terror perpetrated by the hands of our white ancestors. Truth-telling will begin the task of binding what is broken and repairing what we destroyed. We are called to be witnesses for justice and bearers of light in places where racism and prejudice hide within our society, our systems & structures, and within ourselves.
We remember Townsend Cook because we need to know and speak the truth. It’s imperative that we all do so in a society where the trauma of racism continues to do harm. We remember our connection to Townsend Cook, to victims of racial terror in all times and places, to black and brown bodies imprisoned unjustly yesterday and today. We remember because we are inextricably bound together in our humanity. None of us are well or whole, when some of us are harmed.
To learn more visit:
https://eji.org/racial-justice/
https://msa.maryland.gov/lynching-truth-reconciliation/
Submitted by CCRE and Carroll County Coalition of the MD Lynching Memorial Project member, Erin Snell