article from the florida independent alligator

Author seeks to dispel `Rosewood’ errors

By Paul Ghiotto

Alligator Writer

Hollywood has once again become the bane of the historian.The Rosewood massacre of 1923 has been in the public eye recently, but not the correct history, said Liz Jenkins in a speech at the Matheson Historical Center Sunday.Jenkins, a retired Alachua County schoolteacher, decided to write a detailed history of the massacre of the predominantly African-American town in 1923 using the personal reflections of her aunt and a lifetime of oral history. Rosewood lies southwest of Gainesville.

“I am consumed by Rosewood,” Jenkins said. “We should share our history, no matter how ugly.”

Jenkins’ book, I, too, Lived Rosewood , due out later this year, describes the history of the town and her aunt, Mahilda Carrier, one of the few survivors.

After viewing John Singleton’s movie “Rosewood,” Jenkins said many inaccuracies need to be corrected.

“There are eight living survivors that could have been consulted, but weren’t,” Jenkins said. “(Singleton) didn’t consult the people he should have.”

The events of January 1923 were told to Jenkins by her mother, who is now 94. Jenkins decided to begin writing a year ago.

“Sometimes I just have to stop when I’m writing,” Jenkins said of the emotions that sometimes overcome her.

The history of the movie “could have been educational,” but the actual events were exploited for Hollywood purposes, Jenkins said.

She said several errors existed in the movie, such as a mass grave, and the untruthful portrayal of men such as Jim Wright, a store owner who helped, not hurt, many of blacks involved in the massacre. The movie’s message is very important, Jenkins said, and she wants her book to become part of a healing process among people of all colors.

Merca Berry-Covert, a UF graduate, said she understands Jenkins’ reasons for writing her history.

Berry-Covert said she’ll take her 13-year-old daughter to see the movie.

“We always talk about the adverse affect (of violence) on our kids,” Berry-Covert said. “This was part of our history, and black kids need to know about their history.”

There will be a free “Rosewood” showing 7:20 p.m. Thursday at Litchfield’s Butler Plaza Cinemas.