Subject

African Americans
Legislative hearings
Massacres
Reparation (Criminal justice)

Geographic Term

Leon County
Levy County
Rosewood
Tallahassee

Description

House Bill 591 is presented to the Florida House of Representatives. Four amendments are debated. Amendment 1 and Amendment 2 are adopted. Amendment 3, known as the Thomas Amendment, and Amendment 4, known as the Albright Amendment, are not adopted. House Bill 591 is passed, as amended.

General Note

In 1923, a racially-motivated mob of white people murdered residents and destroyed the black community of Rosewood, Florida in Levy County.

In 1993, survivors from Rosewood sought compensation from the State of Florida for damages. The State Legislature of Florida created a Special Masters Committee to investigate the massacre in Rosewood and present their findings to the Legislature. The Rosewood survivors were represented by the law firm Holland and Knight, while the state of Florida was represented by James Peters, Assistant Attorney General for the state of Florida.

As a result, the Legislature approved 2.1 million dollars in compensation to the Rosewood claimants. This bill was signed into law by Governor Lawton Chiles on May 4th, 1993.