Fort Worth officials have announced plans to allocate $232,377 to support the construction of the Mr. Fred Rouse Memorial, which will honor the city’s only recorded Black lynching victim. The memorial will be located at 1000 NE 12th St. and is expected to be completed by early December to mark the 104th anniversary of Rouse’s death.
Community Support and Funding for the Memorial
Fred Rouse III, the grandson of Fred Rouse, expressed gratitude for the remaining funds needed to move forward with the memorial after years of work by community leaders.
Several organizations, including the Rainwater Charitable Foundation, the Episcopal Diocese, and the Mellon Foundation, have contributed nearly $1.3 million to make the project a reality.
Carlos Gonzalez-Jaime, executive director of Transform 1012, which is managing the Fred Rouse Center for Arts and Healing, said the city’s funding represents a vital step in acknowledging Rouse’s tragic story and in supporting efforts toward truth-telling and reconciliation in Fort Worth.
Fred Rouse: A Victim of Racial Violence
Fred Rouse was a Black non-union butcher in the Stockyards who was lynched on December 11, 1921. He had been involved in a clash with white strikers and, after injuring two of them, was attacked by a mob.
Although he was still alive when discovered, Rouse was taken to the City & County Hospital but was kidnapped from the hospital and lynched five days later. His murder remains the only recorded lynching of a Black American in Tarrant County.
Memorial Park to Promote Racial Reconciliation
The planned memorial park will feature a botanical garden, a monument wall dedicated to Rouse, and a timeline of events leading up to his lynching.
The space is designed not only to remember Rouse’s life but also to serve as a commitment to building a more just and equitable future. The memorial will be managed by Transform 1012, which is also developing a healing center at the former Ku Klux Klan auditorium on North Main Street.
The city’s contribution is part of the Fort Worth Community Partnerships program, which focuses on community investment and addressing neighborhood needs. Council member Elizabeth Beck expressed her excitement about the project’s progress, noting that it had been one of her first initiatives on the council.
