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Historical marker dedicated to Indiana lynching victim

George Ward was lynched by a white mob in Terre Haute in 1901.

Credit: AP

Sylvester Edwards, president of the Greater Terre Haute NAACP branch, reads one side of the historical marker dedicated to George Ward during the dedication ceremony for it on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021 in Terre Haute, Ind. Ward was lynched by a mob in Terre Haute in 1901. (Joseph C. Garza/The Tribune-Star via AP)

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — A historical marker has been dedicated in western Indiana in remembrance of a Black man lynched about 120 years ago by a white mob.

The (Terre Haute) Tribune-Star reports that George Ward's descendants, Terre Haute residents and the mayor were among those at Sunday's ceremony in Fairbanks Park.

Credit: AP

Jacqueline Stewart and Ronald Cooper unveil the historical marker dedicated to the memory of George Ward during a ceremony on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021, in Terre Haute, Ind. Stewart and Cooper are great grandchildren of Ward, who was lynched by an angry mob in Terre Haute near the Wabash River in 1901. (Joseph C. Garza/The Tribune-Star via AP)

Ward was arrested in 1901 for the death of a white teacher.

Great-grandson Terry Ward said the mob took George from jail and struck him in the head with a sledgehammer. Terry said they dragged George along a bridge as bystanders pelted him with sticks. According to Terry, George then was hanged from a former wagon bridge.

George's body was later cut down and burned.