Why It Matters
Kentucky communities are increasingly confronting documented episodes of racial violence from their past, joining a national movement to formally acknowledge historical injustices. Lexington’s latest effort honors a man whose story spans continents, multiple professions, and a pivotal moment in the post-Reconstruction struggle for Black civil rights.
What Happened
The city of Lexington recently unveiled a historical marker commemorating Robert Charles O’Hara Benjamin, a journalist, lawyer, minister, poet, and activist who was shot in the back and killed on October 2, 1900, while helping Black residents register to vote. He was 45 years old.
Benjamin was shot by Mike Moynahan, a white precinct worker who had been challenging Black residents attempting to register. An argument preceded the shooting at the corner of Spring and Water Streets. A subsequent inquest ruled the killing a justifiable homicide — a finding that stood without further legal consequence.
The marker was unveiled at Gatton Park during a Soulfest and Juneteenth event. As part of the ceremony, two jars of soil were collected from the site of Benjamin’s death. One jar will be held at the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama; the other at the Lexington History Museum.
DeBraun Thomas, who spent roughly a decade working to bring the marker to fruition, visited Benjamin’s grave at African Cemetery #2 the morning of the unveiling. “He’s been an unsung hero for so long,” Thomas said. “This has been so much work and I’m so grateful.”
Who Was Benjamin
Benjamin was born on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts and built a remarkable record across multiple fields before his death. He served as editor of the Lexington Standard and as minister at Pleasant Green Missionary Baptist Church. He was among the first Black lawyers admitted to practice in Virginia, Alabama, and California, and held the distinction of being the first Black lawyer to appear before California courts.
While living in California, Benjamin published a pamphlet titled Southern Outrageous documenting lynchings across the South. A copy of that pamphlet is preserved at the University of California at Berkeley. The University Press of Kentucky published a 400-page biography of Benjamin authored by historian George Wright, whose earlier 1996 work, Racial Violence In Kentucky 1865–1940, laid foundational scholarship on the subject.
Wright emphasized the broader importance of formal remembrance efforts. “The concept of remembrance is an important step to reconciliation,” he said. “You’ve got to remember the horrors.”
By the Numbers
- October 2, 1900: Date of Benjamin’s killing
- 10 years: Duration DeBraun Thomas worked on the marker project; collaborator Russell Allen joined him in 2016
- 4,400+: Lynchings across the United States documented at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama
- 5: Kentucky cities now carrying Equal Justice Initiative Community Remembrance Project markers — Lexington joins Shelbyville, Frankfort, Mount Sterling, and Owensboro
- 43: People pardoned by Governor Andy Beshear who had been imprisoned for assisting enslaved individuals escaping via the Underground Railroad
Zoom Out
The marker is part of the Equal Justice Initiative’s Community Remembrance Project, a national effort founded by attorney Bryan Stevenson. The EJI also operates the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, which together document more than 400 years of American racial history and memorialize thousands of lynching victims by name.
Kentucky’s engagement with this history extends beyond the marker program. Governor Beshear has declared Juneteenth an executive branch holiday and issued pardons to dozens of people whose 19th-century convictions stemmed from aiding escaped enslaved people — actions that reflect a broader state-level reckoning with historical legal and racial injustice.
What’s Next
The soil collection ceremony and marker installation mark the public culmination of Thomas and Allen’s decade-long effort, though community organizations and historians are expected to continue building public awareness around Benjamin’s legacy. Wright’s newly published biography is likely to expand scholarly and public understanding of Benjamin’s life and the racial violence context in which he was killed.