“Elegy for Mary Turner”
“Elegy for Mary Turner” by Rachel Marie-Crane Williams was published in Meridians 19.1. Below is an audio recording of Williams performing this moving piece.
Williams has used many forms of media to memorialize Mary Turner. In 2017, Williams worked with Dawn Harbor, Christopher-Rasheem McMillan, and the Englert Theater to hold a multimedia exhibition that told Turner’s story through sculpture, dance, prints, and poetry. Williams also produced a graphic novel called Elegy for Mary Turner: An Illustrated Account of a Lynching, which details the 1918 lynching and the NAACP’s attempt to investigate the deaths. That graphic novel can now be purchased from Penguin Random House. More information on Williams’ process and the historical context of this piece can be found on Williams’ website (linked below).
Elegy for Mary Turner
An elegy for Mary Turner aims to encourage dialogue about race and violence
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/667398/elegy-for-mary-turner-by-rachel-marie-crane-williams/
http://rachelwilliams.squarespace.com/magpie-musings/2016/10/31/mary-turner-and-the-lynching-rampage