Forsyth Descendants Scholarship Aims to Support 1912 Expulsion Victims' Descendants

The Forsyth Descendants Scholarship provides college aid of up to $10,000 per year for four years to students who can document direct descent from Black families expelled from Forsyth County in 1912, organizers and local media reported in February 2026. The scholarship committee says awards beyond the first year are contingent on annual fundraising, and the program’s website carries a 2024 copyright for the FDSF Scholarship Committee.

Organizers say the fund grew from conversations among local church leaders, including retired North Point Ministries pastor Durwood Snead, and outreach to African American community leaders and descendants. Marchfoundation reported Snead helped launch the effort in February alongside 12 other church leaders and the Forsyth County Ministerial Association, and that Browns Bridge Church hosted a recipient celebration on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022, where nine scholarship recipients were honored.

The scholarship is explicitly framed by its organizers as religiously motivated and not reparations. The scholarship website states, "This scholarship is not meant to be a repayment, a reckoning, or reparations but simply an act of love that will be helpful to some descendants whose families have suffered. Is it enough? Of course not. But it is a step. This is an act of love for a few that we wish we could do for all." The site also says, "We feel Jesus compels us to acknowledge this difficult history and take action. We want Jesus to get all the credit."

The program is tied to the county’s 1912 history of racial violence that removed Black residents. Sources differ on some details, but multiple accounts cite the 1910 U.S. census figure of 1,098 Black people living in Forsyth County before the expulsions. Marchfoundation quotes Snead saying, "Because in the 1910 census, there were 1,098 Black people in Forsyth County. Two years later, we surmised there were more than that, a little more than 1,100. But every single one of those people were expelled from this county." Reporting by 11Alive and CBS describes a campaign of terror that began with the lynching of Rob Edwards or Robert Edwards, the burning of homes and churches, and threats from horseback "Night Riders" that forced families to leave land and property behind. CBS also recounts accusations involving Mae Crow of Oscarville and says the Night Riders "violently forced families out."

Application rules published and reported by 11Alive and Marchfoundation require applicants to be accepted into an accredited college or university, to have maintained at least a 2.5 GPA in high school or to hold a GED, and to provide proof of direct descent such as a family tree diagram, birth certificates, or the 1910 census. Marchfoundation reported applicants who applied between February and April submitted ancestry proof and an essay about their family’s connection to Forsyth County. The scholarship website offers limited genealogical assistance for applicants who need help tracing family trees.

NCF Georgia and local donors provided early funding support, NCF Giving reported, and organizers told 11Alive that award amounts going forward will depend on funds raised each year. Recipient names and the program’s total funds raised have not been disclosed in the materials released so far. Organizers say the scholarship aims to honor affected families and "lead us all toward more dialogue, understanding, and healing in our county.