To date, there has been no clear count of the commemorative responses to racially motivated violence between the years of 1876 and 1923. Three sites are treated as culture resources and tangible guides to the level of attention give to discussion “difficult” histories. This study will narrow the field of inter-ethnic conflict by selecting three case studies and the strategies particular cities have utilized to commemorate events. In the case of civil violence, the destruction of community supersedes the destruction of a building and serves as the nexus between meaning and interpretation.