A documentary 13 years in the making, ‘Welcome to Jay’, by filmmaker Jeffrey Morgan, is set to be shown at the Tallahassee Film Festival on Saturday, Aug. 31, and follows the apparent racist past of the town of Jay, Fla., beginning with the story of two allegedly racially-motivated murders about 90 years apart. The three-minute trailer can be found online under ‘Welcome to Jay’.
The trailer referred to Jay as a ‘sundown town’, where all black people had to be out of town by dark, the film follows the history of alleged racism in the town. The trailer starts with the story of an argument over a stalk cutter in 1922 in Jay that led to the death of Sam Echols, a white farmer who was shot and killed by a black farmer, Albert Thompson. Thompson had to be moved to the Navy base to prevent his being lynched, according to Pensacola historian Tom Garner, who did research for the film.
A mass exodus of blacks in and around the Jay area following that incident is reflected in the 1930 census, as evident in the absence of black families. According to research for the documentary, there were about 175 members of the black community in Jay prior to the census, which may have led to the town’s reputation.
Morgan’s film shows footage from the trial of Robert Floyd, a 21-year-old white man from Jay, for the death of 18-year-old Gus Benjamin, a black male from Brewton, Ala., in 2010, almost 90 years later. Benjamin and a friend, who was also black, attended an outdoor party he was invited to at Floyd’s house. When the two were asked to leave, one of the men showed a gun and Floyd got a rifle and fired at the men’s vehicle as they attempted to drive away, fatally wounding Benjamin. At the trial, Floyd claimed self-defense but was convicted of second degree murder and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
The film received The Better Angels Society Lavine Fellowship, one of five films selected that are historically significant and tell stories about American history that are underrepresented. Morgan said he considers it an honor for his film to be recognized. The Alaskan native said the documentary includes interviews, case files, archival new clips, crime scene photos and newspaper articles and pictures and there is a lot of aerial drone footage of the town in the film. He said he hopes in the future to show the film in Santa Rosa County, but for now it can be seen in Tallahassee Aug. 31 and updates, screenings and information can be found on Instagram at @Jay Documentary.
“The killing of Gus Benjamin began a decade long journey for me to tell the story of this American tragedy through documentary film,” said Morgan. “Jay, Florida is similar to so many small towns across this country that have never come to terms or reckoned with their history of racial injustices. All too often the past is buried and in many cases forgotten. I made ‘Welcome to Jay’ in the hopes that shining a light on what happened in the past and present will bring about acknowledgement and much needed change.”
