Fort Worth Heritage Trails - Racial Terrorism: The Abduction of Mr. Fred Rouse - Fort Worth, TX
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QuesterMark
N 32° 45.329 W 097° 19.736
14S E 656542 N 3625415
This brown marker is mounted with a slant on a post at the northeast corner of the Maddox-Muse Building at the intersection of Jones Street and East 4th Street.
Waymark Code: WM164RK
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 05/05/2022
Views: 0
The text on the marker reads,
On Tuesday, December 6, 1921, Mr. Fred Rouse, an African-American husband, father of three, and non-union butcher for Swift & Co., was attacked by white union strikers and agitators in the Niles City Stockyards (now part of Fort Worth).
Mr. Rouse sustained stab wounds and broken bones. His skull was fractured in two places. He was then brought here to the basement Negro
Ward of the former city & county hospital. At 11pm on Sunday, December 11, 1921, a mob of ~30 white men arrived at the hospital, forced their way past the superintendent, surgeon, and night nurse, entered the Negro Ward, and tore Mr. Rouse from his corner cot. When the nurse called their attention to the fact that he had no clothes, they jokingly replied that "He would not need any." The mob abducted Mr.
Rouse from the hospital "almost in a run." They forced him into a car and drove north on Samuels Ave. to meet another group of white men at the corner of NE 12th St. There Mr. Rouse was hanged from a hackberry tree. His body was riddled with bullets. A bloody pistol was left under his feet. Three white men were charged in the murder of Mr. Rouse, including the acting Niles City police chief and another officer. No one was ever convicted. Our community memorializes Mr. Fred Rouse as a call to remain vigilant in the pursuit of racial justice.
Sponsored by:
The Rouse Family
Tarrant County Coalition for Peace and Justice
Performing Arts Fort Worth, Inc.
Heritage Trails 2021
Group that erected the marker: Fort Worth Heritage Trails/City of Fort Worth
URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link]
Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary:
Intersection of East 4th Street and Jones Street
Fort Worth, TX United States
76102
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