ORLANDO, Fla. — Thanksgiving 2023 will mark the 98th anniversary of a very painful part of Orlando’s past — a series of events that led to the lynching of a Black man, that for many years, not many people talked about.
However, Arthur Henry’s story will soon be enshrined in a historical marker in Orlando’s Parramore community.
Harry Coverston has been on a journey to bring to light what happened to Henry, a 30-year-old Black man from Lake City who came to Orlando to work in the citrus industry.
“This man was just erased from history, which is one of the reasons why I feel so strongly about remembering him. Bringing him back because this was a human life and what happened to him was just horrendous,” said Coverston.
Coverston, a former public defender, began researching Henry’s lynching for the Equal Justice Initiative and the Alliance for Truth and Justice. He said police responded after a group of white men started shooting their way through Henry’s Parramore neighborhood on Thanksgiving 1925, which led to a shootout that left two detectives and Henry injured. But it’s still unclear to this day what led to that shooting.
“In terms of the actual shooting, the details of that are not clear at all as to how that happened,” said Coverston.
Police had taken Henry into custody despite not being charged with anything. According to Coverston’s findings, a group of white men later kidnapped Henry from his hospital bed at Orlando’s Orange General Hospital. His body was found 12 days later, dumped in the Conway area. No one ever faced charges.
“His life had been taken by ‘unknown persons,’” said Coverston. “That’s the trope used by lynching juries all across the South — this was a common explanation. What makes that really cynical is that everybody probably knew who it was.”
Coverston said law enforcement and local leaders at the time didn’t want details of what happened documented.
“The police report and the sheriff’s report and the coroner jury’s report have been taken from the books,” said Coverston. “The other days are there — those days are missing.”
However, Coverston said Orlando’s first Black physician, Dr. William Monroe Wells, left some records of what happened.
“He’s the one who signed the death certificate and thus filed it with the state, which is why we have all the details of what happened here,” said Coverston.
“The more I found, the more I got into it, and I began to realize this was my calling. I needed to do this. And I felt the presence of this man around me the whole time I’ve been doing this,” said Coverston. “And I think he’s happy we’re finally telling his story because it needs to be told.”
A memorial marker will be dedicated to Henry outside Dr. Wells’ old home in Parramore.
The Equal Justice Initiative will dedicate the memorial marker at the Wells’ Built Museum on 511 W. South St. in Parramore. That ceremony is from 10 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, Dec. 6.
Coverston said some of Henry’s extended relatives plan on attending the ceremony.