‘Days of Fear: A Lynching in St. Petersburg’ author Jon Wilson will discuss his book on Tuesday, Dec. 5, at the St. Petersburg Museum of History. Doors open at 6 p.m., with the program beginning at 6:30 p.m.
ST. PETERSBURG — Journalist, author, and historian Jon Wilson discusses his latest book, “Days of Fear: A Lynching in St. Petersburg,” on Tuesday, Dec. 5, at the St. Petersburg Museum of History. Doors open at 6 p.m., with the program beginning at 6:30 p.m.
On Feb. 23, 2021, the Community Remembrance Project Coalition and the Equal Justice Initiative unveiled the John Evans Lynching Memorial on Second Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Street.
Co-authored with Jane McNeil, “Days of Fear” is the story of the gruesome murder of photographer-turned-developer Frank Sherman in 1914 St. Petersburg and the days of terror that followed, leading to the calculated lynching of John Evans, a Black man accused of the murder.
The book chronicles the evening of Nov. 10, 1914, when a shotgun blast ended Sherman’s life, and his wife Mary was brutally assaulted. After Mary accused two Black men of the murder and assault, it didn’t take long for armed white residents to take to the streets, terrorizing African-American neighborhoods for three days while searching for the accused.
Wilson and McNeil describe St. Petersburg as it was over 100 years ago and detail the event that city leaders swept under the rug for decades.
The book signing is a special edition of “Happy Hour with the Historian,” presented by Southern Roots Realty. Copies of “Days of Fear” are available at the Museum of History.
Seating for the event is limited, and registration is required. Click here to register.
