The Lee County Remembrance Project was started by Ashley Brown and Olivia Nichols, two doctoral students at Auburn University. Both visited the Legacy Museum; From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration & The National Memorial for Peace and Justice and wanted to learn more about the four Black men who were recorded victims of racial terror lynchings in Lee county.  

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In the summer of 2018, Olivia and then undergraduate student, Monique Napier, began researching newspaper articles and census records to start piecing together the narratives and experiences of John Moss, George Hart, Charles Humphries and Samuel Harris. They first shared their emerging research at a diversity symposium for the College of Liberal Arts where they met and joined forces with Ashley. Over the next year, they met with community organizations and began building a coalition of community volunteers and leaders interested in progressing the research into opportunities for education and commemoration. By the fall of 2019, the LCRP application was accepted to become an official Community Remembrance Project through the Equal Justice Initiative.

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"Olivia and I are so thankful for all those who have supported this project in various ways and those who have been by our sides to help us reach our goals. We would not be in the position that we are in now if it was not for you all. We thank each of you for your continued support." - Ashley Brown