• In 2006 Prof. Margaret Vandiver, Retired Professor of Criminology at the University of Memphis, published a book based on her major research on lynchings in West Tennessee entitled Lethal Punishment.
  • Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, spoke in Memphis on Nov. 2, 2015, and challenged over 700 Memphians to memorialize the victims of the thirty-plus lynchings in Shelby County.
  • A group of people, spearheaded by Rev. Randall Mullins and Sharon Pavelda decided to accept his challenge for Shelby County, and with about 20 other people began forming an organization that would become The Lynching Sites Project.  
  • David Waters wrote a number of articles for the Commercial Appeal that touched many people.  
  • On Dec. 10, 2015, 150 people attended an Interfaith Prayer Service held in downtown Memphis in which all the names of known victims of Shelby County lynchings were read as part of the service.
  • A Research Committee began work in early 2016 with Prof. Tom Carlson as Convener and Prof. Margaret Vandiver a member.
  • The creation of a public, interactive website on lynchings in Shelby County began under the direction of Anthony Siracusa, Laryn Kragt-Bakker, Prof. Margaret Vandiver, and Prof. Tom Carlson. The Benjamin Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis agreed to be a permanent home for this website.
  • Sharon Pavelda was interviewed about LSP on "Here and Now", broadcast nationally on NPR in Dec. 2015. 
  • Martha Park wrote and the Memphis Flyer published (2/4/16 issue) a major article on the Ell Persons Lynching of 1917.
  • Four sites of known lynchings in Shelby County were specifically identified and visited.  
  • Meetings were held with Facing History and Ourselves to explore collaboration with local high school teachers and students.  
  • Conversations with city officials began about converting the former Columbus Park downtown at BB King and Adams into a place of prayer and a memorial to victims of racial violence.  
  • An estimated 120 people attended a public Interfaith Prayer Service on May 22, 2016, near the Ell Persons lynching site on the 99th Anniversary of the lynching.
  • Partnership with the Wolf River Conservancy began regarding developing the lynching site of Ell Persons in concert with the opening of a new leg of the Wolf River Trail in 2019.  
  • LSP brought two people on as the first paid staff members:  John Ashworth, now executive director, and Jessica Orians, Media Specialist.  
  • In February 2017 the LSP hosted a visit of 100 pastors, members of the Memphis Christian Pastors Network), to the site of the lynching of Ell Persons.
  • In February 2017 the LSP hosted the visit of British photojournalist Oliver Clasper to Memphis and the South to document lynching sites and record testimonies of people living near the sites. His work, The Spaces We Inherit, appears in the online version of the New York Times in March 2018.
  • In March 2017 about 20 LSP members attended an evening led by local high school students organized by Facing History and Ourselves which engaged about 200 students and adults in small group conversations led by students on the topic of lynchings and issues of race.
  • The LSP collaborated with Central High School in organizing a school-wide assembly with Rev. Dr. Andre Johnson as speaker on the story of the Memphis lynching of Ell Persons.
  • On March 12, 2017, the 125th anniversary of the Peoples Grocery Lynching was commemorated with a prayer service and soil collection at the site of the lynching of Thomas Moss, William Stewart and Calvin McDowell (1018 N. 2nd Street).
  • In April 2017, LSP partnered with Hatiloo Theatre, the Memphis Symphony and Memphis Ballet on the production of Strange Fruit.  
  • Over 500 people attended the Centennial Prayer Service on May 21, 2017, to commemorate the lynching of Ell Persons; about half black and half white, representing Muslim, Jewish, Christian and other faiths with over 35 Memphis-area congregations represented.
  • The Pink Palace Museum created an exhibit to coincide with the Ell Persons centennial.
  • In September 2017, LSP participated in a public forum after the play Elephant's Graveyard, by Taylor St. John.
  • In November 2017 The short film “An Accidental Drowning,” the story of the 1939 lynching of Jesse Lee Bond, was produced by Tom Carlson and Matteo Servente and was awarded first place in the MLK50 category at the Memphis Independent Film Festival.
  • In January 2018 John Ashworth became the LSP’s first Executive Director.
  • In February of 2018, LSP presented to Thistle and Bee at Calvary Episcopal Church as well as the history classes at East High School, and the entire junior and senior classes at Kirby High School.
  • A group of students on Spring Break, visiting from Denver, CO, and Shreveport, LA, joined an LSP meeting.
  • The Lynching Sites Project in keeping with its commitment to interfaith partnerships had a booth at the MusliMemFest in 2017, 2018, 2019.
  • In April 2018, LSP presented to a group of about 25 ministers at the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the UMC.  
  • On April 28, 2018, a prayer service was held in the main square in Arlington, Tennessee to commemorate the 79th anniversary of the lynching of Jesse Lee Bond.  About 70 people attended this prayer service, including family members of Jesse Lee Bond.  
  • In April 2018 ten members of the Lynching Sites Project traveled to Montgomery, Alabama to attend the grand opening of the Memorial for Peace and Justice at the Equal Justice Institute honoring over 4,000 known lynching victims in the United States from the end of the Civil War to 1950.
  • On May 20, 2018 members of the Lynching Sites Project held an interfaith prayer service to commemorate the 101st anniversary of Ell Persons at the site where he was lynched in 1917.  
  • In June of 2018, LSP was included in the national publication of The Cultural Landscape Foundation's Grounds for Democracy.  
  • LSP members participated in a screening of The Yard in Orlando, FL in June of 2018, with approximately 120 in attendance.  

  • On July 22, 2018, LSP held an Interfaith Prayer Service at the site of the lynching of Lee Walker and erected a monument at the site. 

  • In January of 2019, LSP participated in a public forum on racial terrorism at the Art, Race, and Violence, A Collaborative Response by the University of Memphis Art Department. 

  • During May of 2019, LSP began a partnership with Playback Memphis, as a Community Matters Partner.  LSP was the featured Non-Profit in October 2019.  

  • In 2019, LSP began working with several organizations to bring the duplicate lynching column to Memphis from the Equal Justice Initiative.

  • LSP began a partnership with StoryCorps during September and October of 2019, and several members gave interviews in the Mobile Storytelling Unit.  

  • On October 19, 2019, LSP held a marker dedication and courageous conversation to commemorate the lynchings of Wash Henley and 1851 Name Unknown at the historic Collins Chapel.  

  • In December of 2019, LSP gained status as a 501c3 NonProfit Organization.  

  • In January of 2020, LSP submitted a proposal to the Equal Justice Initiative to bring the duplicate maker back to Shelby County.  This proposal will be used by EJI a model for all other interested groups wishing to bring their duplicate monument back to their county.  

  • Partnerships with other organizations continue to increase, and research yields new, important information.