The events and depiction of the 1997 film Rosewood
are cinematic but unlike most of what Hollywood produces, the events that fateful town actually happened.
Recently, the remains of the historic Rosewood Masonic lodge has been discovered amidst items during exploratory dig at site of 1923 massacre.
Marvin Dunn, a retired Florida International University professor and Florida historian, and three others took part in a day of exploratory dig finding the evidence just below the surface.
From the Ocala:
“After some digging, they uncovered pieces of, what they believe to be, a ceremonial sword and a knife from the Rosewood Masonic Lodge, also known as Magnolia Lodge. One of the men helping Dunn was a Mason, and “he knew immediately what they were.” Dunn said finding the artifacts finally gives researchers an idea of the location of the pivotal building.”
From Wikipedia on the Rosewood Masacre:
Rosewood was a quiet, primarily black, self-sufficient whistle stop on the Seaboard Air Line Railway. Spurred by unsupported accusations that a white woman in nearby Sumner had been beaten and possibly raped by a black drifter, white men from nearby towns lynched a Rosewood resident. When black citizens defended themselves against further attack, several hundred whites combed the countryside hunting for black people, and burned almost every structure in Rosewood. Survivors hid for several days in nearby swamps and were evacuated by train and car to larger towns. Although state and local authorities were aware of the violence, they made no arrests for the activities in Rosewood. The town was abandoned by black residents during the attacks. None ever returned.
As depicted in the film, the Masonic lodge was the central building in the community that served many functions. Its also believed that many of the men living in the Rosewood community were Masons, making the find an exciting one on several levels.
Please be advised the lodge that was burned down during the “Rosewood Massacre” was Rosewood Lodge no. 148. I did a presentation on the Rosewood massacre many years back at a Phylaxis Society convention. Rosewood Lodge No. 148 was the ONLY lodge located in Rosewood under the MW Union GL of Florida. This was per the rolls of the MW Union GL of Florida where the names of Sam Carter,Aaron Carrier, and Sylvester Carrier were listed as members under Rosewood Lodge No. 148.
The University of Florida did a in depth research on the matter:http://www.displaysforschools.com/rosewoodrp.html
Let’s make the corrections for the record…..
How very, very, tragic ! I write this as a MM, living in South Africa, on the day of the penultimate game of the highly successful 2010 FIFA World Cup Competition. We have also experienced our share of the pain of racism, – some
say, we still do. “We must .. combat ignorance by education, bigotry by tolerance, and tyranny by teaching true liberty” (Bro’s Knight & Lomas).
The Magnolia Lodge #148, Free and Accepted Masons, was located in Westville, Holmes County, FL, not Levy County. There was no Masonic Lodge in Rosewood even though William A. Sauls and his wife sold one acre of land for a lodge. Evidently the lodge was never built.
Behold how beautiful and pleasent it is for brethern to dwell together in unity!!!
I just finished watching Rosewood on tv for the hundredth time and stilll we have people in the world that stll haven’t leaned to stop the hating. The struggle continues.
(Brother Aaron Hodge Sr. 32 of CTL #589 PHA)