A memorial honoring Fred Rouse, a Black man who was lynched in Fort Worth, is one step closer to being completed after the city council approved a contribution of over $200,000 toward its construction on Tuesday.

The memorial is planned to be installed at 1000 NE 12th St., at the corner of Samuels Avenue, and will be opened to the public as "a place of remembrance and reflection," according to the city.

"This is an important partnership with the Tarrant County Coalition for Peace and Justice and the City of Fort Worth to acknowledge and reflect on our painful history," District 9 Councilmember Elizabeth Beck said, in whose district the memorial will be located. "This is vital to creating a healthy and inclusionary place to call home."

The city council approved the $232,377 contribution, which will come from the Community Partnerships Program. The program supports local projects that have "broad community impact," city officials said in a news release. The funds will provide a plan for long-term maintenance of the memorial. 

Rouse was attacked and killed in 1921

In 1921, Rouse was a butcher for Swift & Company in the Stockyards. As a strikebreaker, he crossed both union and racial lines. Leaving work one day, he was attacked, stabbed and left for dead by a group of strike agitators.

After police discovered Rouse was still alive, they brought him to the hospital. Five days later, a mob of angry white men barged in and kidnapped him.

They drove north to what had become known as the "Death Tree," located at the corner of NE 28th and Samuels Avenue in Fort Worth.

"Twenty minutes later, he was hanged from a hackberry tree and his body was riddled with bullets," Fred Rouse III, the grandson of Rouse, told CBS News Texas in a 2021 interview, when the memorial was announced on the 100th anniversary of Rouse's death.

North Texas organizations, including the Rainwater Foundation, the Episcopal Diocese and the Mellon Foundation, had pledged about 85% of the project's cost. The city of Fort Worth's contribution will help close the remaining funding gap for the memorial.

The city said the Tarrant County Coalition for Peace and Justice will merge with the nonprofit Transform 1012 in early 2026 and will oversee the Rouse memorial, handling its upkeep and operating costs.