A living history lesson.

On the evening of June 15, 1920, an angry lynch mob estimated at 5,000 to 10,000 people broke into the Duluth, Minnesota, city jail and dragged out three young black circus workers who had been accused of rape. The trio--Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson, and Isaac McGhie--were hung from nearby light posts. Little evidence would ever be found to corroborate the accusations made against the men, and an examination of the alleged victim by her family physician showed no physical signs of rape or assault.

The incident entered history as a tragic example of what happens when the passions of the mob triumph over the rule of law.

In 2003 citizens of Duluth decided to make amends for the 83-year-old injustice by forming a committee to erect a memorial to the three victims of mob rule. The city of Duluth provided $71,000 for the memorial, and the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial Committee engaged in various fund-raising activities, including ice cream socials, to raise the funds necessary to complete the three-quarter-of-a-million-dollar monument. The Commemoration Committee enlisted sculptor Carla Stetson and writer Anthony Peyton Porter to design the monument, which would feature three larger-than-life bronze figures representing Clayton, Jackson, and McGhie.

This past January, snowstorms in Minnesota buried the monument, and due to disagreement about exactly whose responsibility clearing away the snow was, it remained covered with snow for longer than some people thought was appropriate.

One public-spirited citizen, however, decided to take on the responsibility himself: Mark Debe, a 30-year-old father of three children who has a snow removal and lawn-care business in Duluth.

"People thought I was crazy going down there by myself," Debe said in an interview with the Duluth Budgeteer News. "But I have some black friends who have had a hard time, and I wanted to respect that."

"I thought that shoveling out the memorial was something that my father would've done. I wanted to show citizenship and show that I'm getting my life straightened out," explained Debe, a convicted felon who had served prison time. "I bring my children to the memorial and teach them some history," Debe said. "This is my way of teaching them how to be a good person with morals, like my father taught me."

Duluth Mayor Herb Bergson told the newspaper after meeting Debe: "People make their own chances, good and bad. And Mark is working to change his life."

In response to Debe's volunteerism, Lynn Goert, co-chair of the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial Board, said that her group would assume responsibility for the memorial's maintenance in the future. She said the board would also seek the support of community groups to help with that volunteer effort. Goert told the Budgeteer News: "The city of Duluth does not have the capacity to keep up with all of the maintenance for all of the memorials in addition to their other duties, but groups like ours are extremely invested in the up-keep, and we are willing to have it be part of our ongoing work."