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In one of the most shameful episodes of Omaha history, William Brown was lynched on September 28, 1919. He was arrested for allegedly raping a white woman, and before he could have a trial he was dragged from the courthouse by a mob and killed. As someone who grew up in Omaha during the race riots of the 1960s, and still sees the inequality for women and people of color today, I would like to think we've grown beyond this but can't quite believe it. 

Until 2009 Brown's grave had no marker on it.  The Omaha World Herald had a story about a man from California who donated the money for the marker after seeing a documentary on Henry Fonda, but it's no longer on their site. Fonda remembered growing up in Omaha and talked about the lynching. It's ironic that a documentary on a popular actor has to bring to our attention a terrible injustice that happened over 100  years ago. It should have been taught in Omaha schools but I don't remember ever hearing about it. This town has a way of comfortably forgetting its past misdeeds, which is wrong. 

The photo below was taken by contributor to this site, after the ceremony where the grave marker was installed. I don't have her name but if she sees this, please email me so I can give you credit.