Timeline of Violence

Colonial Times & Pre-Civil War America

San Miguel de Gualdape, 1526

“The country is marking the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans to the English colony of Jamestown.
But those ‘20 and odd Negroes’ were not the first enslaved Africans to set foot on the continental U.S. That happened 93 years earlier when Spanish explorers brought 100 slaves with them to a doomed settlement in what is now South Carolina or Georgia. Within weeks of their arrival, those enslaved Africans revolted. Then they vanished.”

Brockell, Gillian. “Before 1619, There Was 1526: The Mystery of the First Enslaved Africans in What Became the United States.” The Washington Post, September 7, 2019. https://washingtonpost.com/history/2019/09/07/before-there-was-mystery-first-enslaved-africans-what-became-us/

Gloucester County Conspiracy, 1663*

“One of the forgotten landmarks of civil rights history occurred 350 years ago…the first recorded instance of African slaves and European indentured servants standing together for justice against the ruling elite.”

Jealous, Benjamin. “Don’t forget 1663 slave revolt.” USA Today, September 1, 2013. https://usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/09/01/benjamin-todd-jealous-on-gloucester-rebellion/2730559/

“The…[c]onspiracy occurred during…transition…from a reliance on indentured labor to…enslaved labor. Whether the Gloucester rebels included enslaved Africans or Virginia Indians is unclear [*accounts differ], but when authorities in Westmoreland County uncovered a planned uprising in 1687, the culprits by then were only slaves.”

Wolfe, Brendan. “Gloucester Country Conspiracy.” Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved November 20, 2019. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/Gloucester_County_Conspiracy_1663

New York City Slave Uprising, 1712

“On the evening of April 6, the spark caught fire. That night, a group of approximately 23 slaves gathered in an orchard on Maiden Lane in the center of town. Armed with swords, knives, hatchets and guns, the group sought to inspire the city’s slaves to rise up against their masters by staging a dramatic revolt…”

Lewis, Danny. “The New York Slave Revolt of 1712 Was a Bloody Prelude to Decades of Hardship.” Smithsonian.com, April 6, 2016. https://smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-york-slave-revolt-1712-was-bloody-prelude-decades-hardship-180958665/

The Stono Rebellion, 1739

“On Sunday, September 9th, 1739 the British colony of South Carolina was shaken by a slave uprising that culminated with the death of sixty people. Led by an Angolan named Jemmy, a band of twenty slaves organized a rebellion on the banks of the Stono River. After breaking into Hutchinson’s store the band, now armed with guns, called for their liberty. As they marched, overseers were killed and reluctant slaves were forced to join the company. The band reached the Edisto River where white colonists descended upon them, killing most of the rebels. The survivors were sold off to the West Indies.”

Sutherland, Claudia. “Stono Rebellion.” Black Past, September 18, 2018. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/stono-rebellion-1739/

New York City Slave Conspiracy, 1741

“Between the months of March and April, ten fires blazed in the city, culminating with four fires on a single day in early April. A grand jury concluded that the fires were the work of black arsonists who had ties to a larger conspiracy to burn the city and murder all the white people. More than a hundred slaves were brought into the basement of the city hall on charges of burglary, arson and insurrection. Thirteen slaves were burned at the stake, and 70 others were sold into the backbreaking slavery of the Caribbean. Two white men and two white women were also hanged. Seven other whites were permanently expelled from New York City.”

Sutherland, Claudia. “New York Slave Conspiracy.” Black Past, March 6, 2007. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/new-york-slave-conspiracy-1741/

Haitian Revolution, 1791-1804

“The Haitian Revolution has often been described as the largest and most successful slave rebellion in the Western Hemisphere. Slaves initiated the rebellion in 1791 and by 1803 they had succeeded in ending not just slavery but French control over the colony. The Haitian Revolution, however, was much more complex, consisting of several revolutions going on simultaneously. These revolutions were influenced by the French Revolution of 1789, which would come to represent a new concept of human rights, universal citizenship, and participation in government.”

Sutherland, Claudia. “Haitian Revolution.” Black Past, July 16, 2007. https://blackpast.org/global-african-history/haitian-revolution-1791-1804/

Mina/Pointe Coupée Conspiracy, 1791/1795

“The fear of slave runaways and slave insurrections was constant throughout the colonial and antebellum periods in Louisiana, but never so great as during the 1792, when word reached Louisiana of the slave revolt and subsequent massacres in Saint Domingue. Pointe Coupée, Louisiana, was the scene of two slave conspiracies during that decade, one in 1791 and the other in 1795.”

Ricard, Ulysses S. “The Pointe Coupée Slave Conspiracy of 1791.” Proceedings of the Meeting of the French Colonial Historical Society 15 (1992): 116-29. jstor.org/stable/42952223

“In April 1795, a number of slaves were arrested at Pointe Coupée for planning a revolution. Their idea was to set fire to a shed on the Julien Poydras estate. Lying in wait, they would ambush the whites who came to extinguish the fire and then travel from plantation to plantation, killing their former masters and gathering other slaves to join the revolt.”

“Pointe Coupée, Louisiana.” Louisiana Slave Conspiracies, 2019. https://lsc.berkeley.edu/1795

Gabriel Prosser Revolt, 1800

“Prosser and the other revolt leaders were probably influenced by the American Revolution and more recently the French and Haitian Revolutions with their rhetoric of freedom, equality and brotherhood. In the months prior to the revolt Prosser recruited hundreds of supporters and organized them into military units. Although Virginia authorities never determined the extent of the revolt, they estimated that several thousand planned to participate including many who were to be armed with swords and pikes made from farm tools by slave blacksmiths.”

Reed, Wilson Edward. “Gabriel Prosser.” Black Past, February 12, 2007. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/prosser-gabriel-1775-1800/

Igbo Landing Mass Suicide, 1803

“The sequence of events that occurred next remains unclear. It is known only that the Igbo marched ashore, singing, led by their high chief. Then at his direction, they walked into the marshy waters of Dunbar Creek, committing mass suicide. Roswell King, a white overseer on the nearby Pierce Butler plantation, wrote the first account of the incident. He and another man identified only as Captain Patterson recovered many of the drowned bodies. Apparently only a subset of the 75 Igbo rebels drowned. Thirteen bodies were recovered, but others remained missing, and some may have survived the suicide episode, making the actual numbers of deaths uncertain.”

Momodu, Samuel. “Igbo Landing Mass Suicide.” Black Past, October 25, 2016. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/events-african-american-history/igbo-landing-mass-suicide-1803/

Chatham Manor Rebellion, 1805

“In the winter of 1805, the enslaved people at Chatham staged a revolt against their overseer, Mr. Starke. The overseer attempted to cut their Christmas holiday short and compel the slaves to return early to work. The community of slaves resisted, seized and bound the overseer, and proceeded to whip him. The overseer eventually escaped to nearby Falmouth where he enlisted the help of four other men to help him subdue the revolt. In the ensuing violence, one slave was wounded while another attempted to escape across the Rappahannock River, only to fall through the ice and drown. Later an enslaved man named Abraham was executed for ‘conspiracy and insurrection’, while two others, Robin and Cupid, were initially condemned to death and later sent further south, possibly to a slave colony in the Caribbean. Fitzhugh successfully petitioned the state of Virginia for compensation for his lost slaves, and was rewarded with $1400 for his lost investment.”

“Chatham Slave Revolt.” Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania. National Military Park Virginia. NPS, 2017. https://nps.gov/frsp/learn/historyculture/chatham-slave-revolt.htm

Andry’s Rebellion, 1811

“Andry’s Rebellion, also known as the German Coast Uprising, was a slave revolt that occurred in the Territory of Louisiana between January 8 and 10, 1811. The revolt, the largest servile uprising in United States history, was named after the owner of the plantation, Manual Andry, where the uprising originated. At its peak on January 10, it involved approximately 400 to 500 enslaved men and women along the east bank of the Mississippi River north of New Orleans. Led by a Saint-Domingue-(Haiti) born slave named Charles Deslondes, the uprising was inspired by the Haitian Revolution of 1791.
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By the end of the uprising, the rebels had murdered two whites but more than ninety-five rebels were killed during the uprising and in the retaliation, making the suppression of this revolt the bloodiest in the history of the country.”

Momodu, Samuel. “Andry’s Rebellion.” Black Past, March 12, 2007. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/andry-s-rebellion-1811/

George Boxley Rebellion, 1815

“George Boxley was an antislavery leader who allegedly conspired to help slaves revolt in 1816. Born in Spotsylvania County, he farmed and ran a general store and himself owned slaves. His motivations for turning against slavery in 1815 remain unclear, although speculation has included everything from personal grievances to religious delusions. Boxley’s plans were exposed, a number of slaves were arrested, and he turned himself in. What resulted was the largest prosecution for insurrection between Gabriel’s Conspiracy in 1800 and Nat Turner’s Revolt in 1831.”

Schwarz, Philip J. and the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. “George Boxley.” Encyclopedia Virginia, September 11, 2017. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/Boxley_George_ca_1780-1865

Denmark Vesey Conspiracy, 1822

“After one loyal slave told his master about a plot to seize the city of Charlestown, South Carolina and kill all the whites, local authorities exposed the most comprehensive slave plot in the history of the United States. More than 1,000 free and enslaved blacks intended to be a part of this uprising which was planned for sometime in July 1822. Denmark Vesey, a free black carpenter and Methodist leader, used his position to organize blacks, who were especially angry about the recent decision to suppress their African Church. South Carolina authorities moved swiftly once the plot was uncovered and Vesey and 36 of his co-conspirators were hanged after a dubious trial. Their executions were accompanied by a massive demonstration of support from defiant free and enslaved blacks that required local militia and Federal troops to restore order.”

Sutherland, Claudia. “Denmark Vesey Conspiracy of 1822.” Black Past, March 27, 2007. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/events-african-american-history/denmark-vesey-conspiracy-1822/

Cincinnati Riots, 1829

“Racism and economic tensions fulminated in Cincinnati, Ohio in August of 1829, resulting in white violence against African Americans over a two-week period in August 17-22. White mobs estimated at times at 200 to 300 led by Irish immigrants invaded the riverfront area where African Americans lived with the avowed intent to drive them all out of the city. The mob burned shelters and homes and assaulted a number of individuals. African Americans fought back but the attacks persuaded many in the black population to evacuate Cincinnati. A number of them emigrated to Canada to a community they named Wilberforce. Those who stayed behind attempted to rebuild their lives but experienced further white assaults in 1836 and beyond.”

Edelstein, Douglas. “Cincinnati Riots of 1829.” Black Past, December 4, 2017. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/cincinnati-riots-1829/

Nat Turner Revolt, 1831

“Nathaniel ‘Nat’ Turner was born in Southampton County, Virginia on October 2, 1800, the son of slaves owned by Benjamin Turner, a prosperous farmer. Taught to read by the son of his owner, Turner studied Christianity which he interpreted as condemning slavery.
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They were soon pursued by over 3,000 members of the state militia. Turner and his followers were confronted by militiamen. One was killed and the others were captured. The rebellion was over in 48 hours. Turner escaped and eluded Virginia authorities for two months but was finally captured and tried for insurrection and murder. He was executed six days after his trial on November 5, 1831. In retaliation for the abortive rebellion, nearly two hundred innocent slaves were killed.”

Reed, Wilson Edward. “Nat Turner.” Black Past, February 12, 2007. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/turner-nat-1800-1831/

Snow Riot, 1835

“The Snow Riot occurred in August of 1835 in Washington, D.C. The riot and lynch mob was an attack on free blacks in the city by whites. Anything during that time pertaining to blacks, whites wreaked havoc for days by robbing and destroying all of their establishments. The name of the riot comes from one of the first destinations the mob attacked, the restaurant owned by a free black man, Beverly Snow’s Epicurean Eating House. After attacking the restaurant, the mob destroyed the school Arthur Bowen went to because he was suspected of being taught the abolition of slavery there.”

Jones, Jae. “The Snow Riot: Riot and Lynch Mob Attack on Free Blacks in Washington DC.” Black Then, April 22, 2018. https://blackthen.com/snow-riot-riot-lynch-mob-attack-free-blacks-washington-dc/

Cincinnati Race Riots, 1836

“The riot was finally suppressed by organized local volunteers who for three nights patrolled the streets. No arrests were made despite numerous deaths. National reaction was strong. Abolitionists were outraged by the brutality of the riots; the movement in fact gained national traction as accounts of the violence spread. Harriett Beecher’s horror and revulsion as an eyewitness made its way into her future novel. Salmon Chase, later Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, was profoundly affected by the violence and it shaped his growing abolitionism.”

Edelstein, Douglas. “Cincinnati Race Riots.” Black Past, March 1, 2018. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/cincinnati-race-riots-1836/

The Pennsylvania Hall Fire, 1838

“The 1830s saw an unprecedented wave of mob violence in the Northern states. The Pennsylvania Hall fire is one such case of violence spurred by racial/gender tensions. The hall had several rooms and a large auditorium that seated three hundred people. A Board of Managers who ‘took pains to make it clear that the hall was not exclusively for the use of abolitionists’ managed the hall. This was possible since the hall had several rooms and was two stories high. A series of meetings took place in the hall; some dealt with the women’s suffrage movement, others concerned the abolitionist movement. The presence of women speaking at the podium and whites and African Americans advocating for the abolition of slavery as well as women’s suffrage was more than the enemies of equality and freedom could bear. On the night of May 17, 1838, a mob congregated outside the hall. A messenger was sent to ask for police protection; but no help was sent, and the hall was set ablaze.”

Rivera, Alicia. “Pennsylvania Hall Fire.” Black Past, February 12, 2007. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/pennsylvania-hall-fire-1838/

Amistad Mutiny, 1839

“Because the captives on the ship experienced harsh treatment by their captors, four days into the voyage on July 2, 1839, one of them, Joseph Cinqué (also known as Sengbe Pieh), freed himself. After freeing other captives and helping them find weapons, Cinqué led them to the upper deck where they killed the ship’s cook, Celestino. They then killed the ship’s captain, Ramon Ferrer, although in the attack two captives died as well. Two Amistad crew members escaped from the ship by boat. Ruiz and Montes were spared during the revolt on the promise that they would sail the Amistad back to Sierra Leone as captives demanded.”

Momodu, Samuel. “The Amistad Mutiny.” BlackPast, April 23, 2017. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/amistad-mutiny-1839/

Creole Case, 1841

“Madison Washington…and eighteen other male slaves rebelled, overwhelming the crew and killing John R. Hewell, one of the slave traders. The ship’s captain, Robert Ensor, along with several crew members, was wounded but survived. One of the slaves was badly wounded and later died.

The rebels took overseer William Merritt at his word that he would navigate for them. They first demanded that the ship be taken to Liberia. When Merritt told them that the voyage was impossible because of the shortage of food or water, another rebel, Ben Blacksmen, said they should be taken to the British West Indies…

The British took Washington and eighteen conspirators into custody under charges of mutiny, while the rest of the enslaved were allowed to live as free people. Five people, which included three women, a girl, and a boy, decided to stay aboard the Creole and sailed with the ship to New Orleans, returning to slavery. On April 16, 1842, the Admiralty Court in Nassau ordered the surviving seventeen mutineers to be released and freed including Washington. In total, 128 enslaved people gained their freedom, which made the Creole mutiny the most successful slave revolt in US history.”

Momodu, Samuel. “The Creole Case.” Black Past, August 5, 2018. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/creole-case-1841/

Cincinnati Riots, 1841

“The beginning of September of 1841 in Cincinnati, Ohio brought race riots that lasted for days. An altercation that happened in a candy store eventually led to a mob of 1,500 white men descending on Cincinnati’s black population of just over 2,000 citizens. The black men of the community fought back though, and upon seeing their resistance, the white men began firing iron shrapnel from a cannon into the homes and business of black citizens. Instead of arresting the white rioters, the police instead arrested every black man in the city. After all of the black men were in custody, the white mob attacked again, only this time they were attacking businesses and homes that were occupied only by unarmed women and children. The mob destroyed an abolitionist press, the Philanthropist, and threw it in the Ohio River. This time, with the help of militia, around 40 white men were arrested.”

R. Sarah Carson and Clio Admin. “The Cincinnati Race Riot of 1841.” Clio: Your Guide to History, March 24, 2018. https://theclio.com/entry/13933

Slave Revolt in the Cherokee Nation, 1842

“The Slave Revolt in the Cherokee Nation occurred in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) when a group of twenty-five enslaved blacks, mostly from the Joseph Vann plantation, attempted to escape to Mexico where slavery was abolished. The revolt began on November 15, 1842, when the Vann plantation fugitives gathered with slaves from other plantations near Webbers Falls in the Cherokee Nation.”

Momodu, Samuel. The Slave Revolt in the Cherokee Nation.” Black Past, January 18, 2018. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/slave-revolt-cherokee-nation-1842/

Christina (Pennsylvania) Riot, 1851

“Edward Gorsuch, a wealthy slaveholder, led a party of slave catchers into Lancaster County. Hearing that they were on the farm of William Parker, a free African American, they, with the help of US Marshals, attempted to forcefully enact the arrest warrants. When Gorsuch and his men arrived, Eliza, Parker’s wife, blew a horn which summoned sympathetic neighbors. Armed neighbors including former slaves as well as free black and white abolitionists converged on the Parker farm and confronted the Gorsuch party. Fighting broke out and the elder Gorsuch was killed and his son wounded. The US Marshals and the slave catchers retreated.

Later the Marshals returned with three detachments of US Marines. By that point, William Parker and his wife Eliza were already en route to Canada, helped along the way by Frederick Douglass and other abolitionists. Thirty-eight other men, however, were arrested including four white Quakers. They were all charged with treason.”

Anderson, John. “Christiana Riot of 1851.” BlackPast, November 19, 2013. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/christiana-riot-1851/

Harpers Ferry Raid, 1859

“Abolitionist John Brown leads a small group on a raid against a federal armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), in an attempt to start an armed slave revolt and destroy the institution of slavery.”

Editors, History.com “John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, November 13, 2009. https://history.com/this-day-in-history/john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry

“John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry.” Wikipedia. Retrieved November 19, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown%27s_raid_on_Harpers_Ferry#Further_reading

Civil War, Reconstruction, and Post-Reconstruction Era

Devil’s Punchbowl, 1863

“However, a dearth of information about these mostly postbellum camps indeed leaves significant leeway for conjecture, and a smattering of conclusions say those detained preferred the slightly greater freedom compared to brutality found on the plantations. Additional critics dispute Westbrook and Estes, and the number who died in the Natchez camps, saying the number is likely closer to just 1,000–but without methodical record-keeping, the figure is impossible to verify with certainty. Either way, this black eye on American history is still one of the largest and most brutal acts of state-sanctioned death this country has ever seen.”

Bernish, Claire. “Devil’s Punchbowl: An American Concentration Camp So Horrific It was Erased from History.” The Free Thought Project, March 4, 2017. https://thefreethoughtproject.com/devils-punchbowl-slaves-mississippi/

Detroit Race Riot, 1863

“On March 6, 1863, a white mob attacked Detroit, Michigan’s black population in the city’s first race riot. …

As in other Northern cities, many whites resented the government’s military draft and the blacks, largely from the South, who had arrived in town. The local Democratic newspaper, the Detroit Free Press, frequently ran articles accusing African Americans of causing various problems that mainly affected the city’s working-class whites. The newspaper promoted the idea that freedmen leaving the South would take jobs from white men which in turn contributed to heightened racial tension in the city.”

Rozen-Wheeler, Adam. “Detroit Race Riot.” Black Past, January 8, 2018. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/detroit-race-riot-1863/

New York City Draft Riots, 1863

“The New York City Draft Riots remain today the single largest urban civilian insurrection in United States history. By the start of the Civil War in April 1861, New York City, New York Mayor Fernando Wood called for the city to secede from the Union and join the Confederacy, but the response from most New Yorkers was unenthusiastic. Nonetheless, two years later when the U.S. government instituted the first military draft, anti-government sentiment particularly among the city’s large Irish-born population, grew quickly.
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There were many accounts in New York City newspapers of black individuals killed during the riot. Although there were an estimated 663 deaths, only 120 were reported to the police. Of those, however, 106 were African Americans.”

Nielsen, Euell A. “The New York City Draft Riots.” Black Past, November 10, 2017. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/new-york-city-draft-riots-1863/

Ebenezer Creek Massacre, 1864

“On Dec. 9, 1864, on the march to Savannah, hundreds or thousands of African American families who had just escaped from slavery were left to drown by Sherman’s Army. This is referred to as the Massacre at Ebenezer Creek.”

“Dec. 9, 1864: Ebenezer Creek Massacre.” Zinn Education Project. Retrieved, November 17, 2019. https://zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/ebenezer-creek-massacre/

Memphis Riot, 1866

“In the late afternoon of May 1, 1866, long broiling tensions between the residents of southern Memphis, Tennessee erupted into a three day riot known as the Memphis Riot of 1866. The riot began when a white police officer attempted to arrest a black ex-soldier and an estimated fifty blacks showed up to stop the police from jailing him. Accounts vary as to who began the shooting, but the altercation that ensued quickly involved more and more of the city. The victims initially were only black soldiers, but the violence quickly spread to other blacks living just south of Memphis who were attacked while their homes, schools, and churches were destroyed. White Northerners who worked as missionaries and school teachers in black schools were also targeted.
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By the end of May 3, Memphis’s black community had been devastated. Forty-six blacks had been killed. Two whites died in the conflict, one as the result of an accident and another, a policeman, because of a self-inflicted gunshot. There were five rapes and 285 people were injured. Over one hundred houses and buildings burned down as a result of the riot and the neglect of the firemen. No arrests were made.”

Lanum, Mackenzie. “Memphis Riot.” Black Past, November 20, 2011. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/memphis-riot-1866/

New Orleans Massacre, 1866

“The New Orleans Massacre, also known as the New Orleans Race Riot, occurred on July 30, 1866.
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As the firing continued some delegates attempted to flee or surrender. Some of those who surrendered, mostly blacks, were killed on the spot. Those who ran were chased as the killing spread over several blocks around the Institute. By this point both the rioters and victims included people who were never at the Institute. African Americans were shot on the street or pulled off of streetcars to be summarily beaten or killed. By the end of the massacre, at least 200 black Union war veterans were killed, including forty delegates at the Convention. Altogether 238 people were killed and 46 were wounded.”

Stolp-Smith, Michael. “New Orleans Massacre.” Black Past, April 7, 2011. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/new-orleans-massacre-1866/

Pulaski Race Riot, 1868

“The Pulaski Race Riot occurred in Pulaski, Tennessee on January 7, 1868, when local whites shot, and killed or wounded, six African American men. The origin of the riot was a conflict that began with two men with the same first name: Calvin Carter, black, and Calvin Lambeth (or Lamberth), white.”

Robinson, Marc Arsell. “Pulaski Race Riot.” Black Past, December 28, 2017. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/pulaski-race-riot-1868/

Opelousas Massacre, 1868

“The Opelousas Massacre occurred on September 28, 1868 in Opelousas, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. The event is also referred to as The Opelousas Riot by some historians. There is debate as to how many people were killed. Conservative estimates made by contemporary observers indicated about 30 people died from the political violence. Later historians have placed the total as closer to 150 or more.”

Stolp-Smith, Michael. “Opelousas Massacre.” Black Past, April 7, 2011. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/opelousas-massacre-1868/

Camillia Massacre, 1868

“The Camilla Massacre, which took place on September 19, 1868, was one of the more violent episodes in Reconstruction Georgia. Two months earlier, Georgia had fulfilled the requirements of Congress’s Radical Reconstruction plan and been readmitted to the Union. Yet, in early September, the state legislature expelled twenty-eight newly elected members because they were at least one-eighth black. Among those removed was southwest Georgia representative Philip Joiner. On September 19, Joiner, along with northerners Francis F. Putney and William P. Pierce, led a twenty-five-mile march of several hundred blacks and a few whites from Albany to Camilla, the Mitchell County seat, to attend a Republican political rally.

Mitchell County whites, however, were determined that no Republican rally would occur. As marchers entered the courthouse square in Camilla, whites stationed in various storefronts opened fire, killing about a dozen and wounding possibly thirty others.”

Formwalt, Lee W. “Camilla Massacre.” New Georgia Encyclopedia, September 6, 2018. https://georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/camilla-massacre

St. Bernard Parish Massacre, 1868

“Freedpeople were dragged from their homes and murdered in cold blood. The reported numbers of those killed varies from 35 to over 100. Many who escaped death did so by fleeing to the cane fields, where they hid for days.”

“Oct. 25, 1868: St. Bernard Parish Massacre.” Zinn Education Project. Retrieved, November 17, 2019. https://zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/st-bernard-parish-massacre

Eutaw Massacre, 1870

“In 1870, the town was the site of what has come to be known as the Eutaw Riot, in which a party of white men belonging to the Ku Klux Klan attacked a large gathering of disaffected black Republican voters, killing at least four. The terror inspired by the attack kept African American voters away from the polls and tipped the elections that year toward the Democratic Party.”

Wilson, Claire. “Eutaw.” Encyclopedia of Alabama, December 4 2009. http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-2501

Laurens County Riot, 1870

“The day after the election disturances occurred at Laurens Court-Huose between the Union Reformers and the negroes. The State Constabulary attempted to arrest a man named Johnson, a Tennesseean, who resisted Pistols were then drawn and a riot ensued, during which five white men and three negroes are reported to have been killed.”

“Riot at Columbia, SC: Several Persons Killed.” NEW YORK TRIBUNE, October 24, 1870. Retrieved from Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers, 2019. http://rarenewspapers.com/view/598486

Kirk-Holden War, 1870

“Two significant deaths took place in 1870 which serve as the catalyst for Holden to declare war on the Klan in the state. The first was Wyatt Outlaw, a Union veteran who became a pillar of the Black community. He was installed as constable and town commissioner in Graham. On the night of February 26, he was hanged with a message to freed Blacks and white supporters.

John W. Stephens was a white Republican who fought for the Confederacy. He had developed a rapport with the Black people of Caswell county but was eventually killed at the county courthouse on May 21.
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The Kirk-Holden War is one of those vague county conflicts where battles definitely took place, but very few details remain. Of note is when the Klan decided to retaliate against Kirk-Holden’s forces. Their goal was Pittsboro but they ran into Kirk’s men.”

Swift, M. “The Kirk-Holden War of 1870.” Black Then, June 20, 2018. https://blackthen.com/the-kirk-holden-war-of-1870/

The Meridian Race Riot, 1871

“The Meridian Race Riot occurred over three days in March 1871 in Meridian, Mississippi. It resulted in the murders of a white Republican judge and nearly thirty blacks by a mob of vigilante whites led by the Ku Klux Klan. The riot is the bloodiest day in the city’s history since the Civil War.”

Sanders, Sheren. “The Meridian Race Riot.” Black Post, January 11, 2018. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/meridian-race-riot-1871/

Chicot County Race War, 1871

“After the meeting, a Lake Village store owner, John W. Saunders, and two other men, Jasper Dugan and Curtis Garrett, became involved in an argument with Wynn who allegedly called Saunders a liar. In response, Saunders drew his pistol and killed Wynn. The local authorities arrested Saunders, Dugan, and Garrett and put them in the county jail
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Meanwhile, approximately three hundred African American men went to the jail; removed Saunders, Dugan, and Garrett; took them into the woods; and shot them dead.”

Momodu, Samuel. “Chicot County Race War of 1871.” Black Post. October 5, 2016. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/chicot-county-race-war-1871/

The Colfax Massacre, 1873

“The Colfax Massacre occurred on April 13, 1873. The battle-turned-massacre took place in the small town of Colfax, Louisiana as a clash between blacks and whites. Three whites and an estimated 150 blacks died in the conflict.”

Stolp-Smith, Michael. “The Colfax Massacre.” Black Post, April 7, 2011. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/colfax-massacre-1873/

Vicksburg Massacre, 1874

“On Dec. 7, 1874, the Reconstruction era ‘Vicksburg Massacre’ occurred in Mississippi, with estimates ranging from 75 to 300 African Americans killed. Whites attacked Black citizens who had organized to defend Peter Crosby. Formerly enslaved and a veteran of the Union army, Crosby had been forced to resign from his elected role sheriff.”

“Dec. 7, 1874: Vicksburg Massacre.” Zinn Education Project. Retrieved November 17, 2019. https://zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/vicksburg-massacre/

Battle of Liberty Place, 1874

“On December 14, 1874, what became known as the Battle of Liberty Place was fought between…the White League and Federalist forces led by the Municipal Police. … After the contested gubernatorial election of 1872, in which Democratic-Conservative John McEnery was defeated by the Republican ticket headed by US Senator William Pitt Kellogg, the White League planned on a military operation to replace Kellogg with McEnery. The main battle led to a 3-day period in which the White League controlled New Orleans. An angry President Grant ordered the US Army to force the League to surrender. Not wishing conflict with the federal government, three days after the League’s victory, it handed control of the city to federal troops, who in turn gave control back to Kellogg.”

Chadwick, Gordon. “Battle of Liberty Place.” New Orleans Historical. Retrieved November 17, 2019. https://neworleanshistorical.org/tours/show/8

Coushatta Massacre, 1874

“In August 1874, the White League murdered six white Republicans and as many as 20 black witnesses in Coushatta, Louisiana.”

Tunnell, Ted. “Coushatta Massacre.” 64 Parishes, January 6, 2011. https://64parishes.org/entry/coushatta-massacre

“The Southern Terror.” The New York Times, September 1, 1874. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1874/09/02/79080793.html?pageNumber=1

Clinton (Mississippi) Riot, 1875

“The Clinton Riot began on September 4, 1875, in the small town of Clinton, Mississippi at a Republican rally to introduce the party’s candidates who were running for political office in the upcoming November elections. The immediate death toll included five blacks and three white men. Over the next several days, an estimated fifty blacks were killed in the massacre that followed.”

Sanders, Sheren “The Clinton, Mississippi Riot.” Black Past, January 11, 2018. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/clinton-mississippi-riot-1875/

South Carolina, 1876

Hamburg Massacre, 1876

“On July 8, 1876, the small town of Hamburg, South Carolina erupted in violence as the community’s African American militia clashed with whites from the surrounding rural area. Hamburg was a small all-black community across the river from Augusta, Georgia. Like many African American communities in South Carolina, it was solidly Republican and with the GOP in charge in Columbia, some of its men were members of the South Carolina National Guard (the Militia).

… Seven men died that afternoon. Six were black militiamen or civilians and one was a white farmer killed in the attack on the armory.”

Stolp-Smith, Michael. “The Hamburg Massacre.” Black Past, April 7, 2011. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/hamburg-massacre-1876/

Charleston Riot, September 1876

“Matters came to a head in September 1876. On September 1 Democrats held a ward meeting, at which several blacks made fiery speeches denouncing the Republican Party. After the meeting, one of the speakers, a black porter named Isaac Rivers, was attacked. On September 6, fresh from their own ward meetings, black Republicans gathered at Archer’s Hall to hear speeches made by their Democratic opponents. J. R. Jenkins, a black Democrat, angered the Republicans with a verbal assault that impugned the intelligence of black women who encouraged black men to vote the Republican ticket. A group of black Republicans pursued the white and black Democrats to the Citadel green, where one white man, fearing attack, fired a pistol in the air to frighten the Republicans. Instead, the action drew hundreds of additional black men to the spot, and a riot ensued with the Democrats retreating and asking for protection from federal troops stationed at the Citadel. As the night progressed, more and more black men roamed the city, their anger increasing. A full-scale riot ensued with blacks beating any white men they encountered. ‘For the next few days, Charleston was in turmoil as blacks continued to attack whites randomly, making it unsafe for whites to venture out on the streets, particularly at night.’ White opposition to the violence was modest and ineffective. Federal troops did not intervene. One black and one white died in the riot, while six policemen, a handful of blacks, and at least fifty whites were injured.”

Graham, Glennon. “Charleston Riot.” South Carolina Encyclopedia, April 19, 2016. http://scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/charleston-riot-1876/

Ellenton Riot, September 1876

“The story of the death of Peter Williams…graphically told by Phillis Jackson. Harley’s little boy, on seeing Williams, said he was the man…Mr. Harley, without waiting to hear from his wife, struck Williams in the face three times, and Williams started to run. Then the party fired on him, and he fell. He was not dead but, mortally wounded. They threw him on a wagon, and as his legs were hanging over the sides one of the white men deliberately shot through one of his feet with his pistol. Soon after the wagon, with Peter Williams lying on it, was brought up..Mrs. Harley was called to see him. Mrs. Harley look at him and she said: ‘Oh, you have shot the wrong nigger…’ … Williams died in about a week.

The prosecution continued to show new horrors every day. … The witnesses continued to tell of declarations made by the white men that they intended to carry the election, if they had to wade in blood up to their saddle-girths.”

“The Southern Massacres.” The New York Times, May 25, 1877. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1877/05/25/94114465.html?pageNumber=2

“The human cost was high: at least two whites were dead, with three wounded, while estimates of the death toll among African Americans ranged from thirty to more than one hundred.”

Zuczek, Richard. “Ellenton Riot.” South Carolina Encyclopedia, May 17, 2016. http://scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/ellenton-riot/

Cainhoy Riot, October 1876

“A Republican political meeting was scheduled for October 16 at the Brick House, some thirty miles up the Cooper River from Charleston. With the experience of several serious collisions already behind them, African Americans came prepared, and hundreds of militiamen attended the meeting, though for reasons that remain a mystery, they stored their guns in nearby buildings. They became agitated when Charleston County Democratic gun clubs began to arrive by steamer from the city. Democrats demanded “equal time” to speak, a scuffle ensued, and shots rang out. Soon the African Americans were breaking out their rifles, while the outnumbered whites sent the steamer back to Charleston for reinforcements. They arrived to find the battle over, the combatants dispersed, and seven dead men–six whites and one African American. More than a dozen of both races lay wounded.” [Riot ensues: 1 dead, 12 wounded (whites); 1 dead, 10 wounded (blacks)]

Zuczek, Richard. “Cainhoy Riot.” South Carolina Encyclopedia, April 15, 2016. http://scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/cainhoy-riot/

Charleston Riot, November 1876

“…there was a disturbance…caused by the insolence of a negro to a white man. A squad of policemen were at once dispatched to the scene… Mr. … Mackey came down…to boast about the election… This provoked a discussion, which finally led to a quarrel during which a young man fired his pistol…in the air. A negro immediately rushed down to the ex deputy sheriffs at the court house… The crowd immediately…rushed down the street.”

“The Charleston Riot.” The Newberry Herald, November 16, 1876. Retrieved from https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/data/batches/scu_floydcouncil_ver01/data/sn84026909/00237287058/1876111501/0183.pdf

Danville Riot, 1883

“The so-called Danville Riot, which took place on November 3, 1883, in Danville, was a racially motivated street fight that ended in the gun deaths of at least five people. It came at a time of high tension in the rapidly growing, majority–African American city. The biracial Readjuster Party had taken control of the city council in 1882. Feeling threatened socially, politically, and economically, a number of white citizens signed their names to what became known as the Danville Circular in October 1883. It attacked Readjuster rule in general and African Americans in particular. On November 2, the chairman of the Pittsylvania County Readjuster Party denounced the Circular in a public speech in Danville, and the next day, an altercation on the street between a white man and two African American men escalated into violence. After several white men fired guns (testimony is inconsistent about whether any black men were armed), at least five people, including four African Americans, were killed, and Democrats used the bloodshed to force local African Americans out of power and to steer them away from the polls.”

Wolfe, Brendan. “Danville Riot.” Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities, June 29, 2015. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/Danville_Riot_1883

Carroll County Courthouse Massacre, 1886

“On February 12, 1886, Liddell confronted the Brown brothers… An argument ensued, but bystanders intervened before the confrontation became physical. Later that evening, Liddell confronted the brothers a second time after he heard they were talking negatively about him. This time, the argument ended with shots fired and all three men wounded, though not seriously.

Though no one knows who fired the first shot, the Brown brothers pressed charges against Liddell for attempted murder. The whites in Carrollton were not pleased that a black person would actually had the audacity to charge a white person with a crime.

On March 17, 1886, the day of the trial, over fifty armed white men stormed the courtroom and opened fire on the Brown brothers and the other blacks in attendance. Some blacks tried to escape by jumping out the second floor windows but were shot by armed white men waiting outside the courthouse. Both Brown brothers were killed along with twenty-one other blacks during the massacre. It is unknown how many others died later from bullet wounds. All victims of the Carroll County massacre were black; no whites were injured.”

Sanders, Sheren. “The Carroll County Courthouse Massacre.” Black Past, January 11, 2018. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/carroll-county-courthouse-massacre-1886/

The Thibodaux Massacre, 1887

“The planters persuaded Governor Samuel D. McEnery, a Democrat and former sugar planter, to unleash several units of the all-white state militia. Commanded by ex-Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard, the militia brought a .45 caliber Gatling gun while the paramilitary groups set up outside of the Thibodaux courthouse. Both the militia and white vigilantes went door to door shooting suspected strikers and those unlucky enough to cross their path.

The indiscriminate killing left approximately 60 people dead. The bodies of many of the strikers were dumped in unmarked graves. Those who survived hid in the woods and swamps as the killings spread to other plantations.”

Washington, KC. “The Thibodaux Massacre” Black Past, March 11, 2019. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/the-thibodaux-massacre-november-23-1887/

New Orleans Dockworkers’ Riot, 1894-1895

“The 1895 New Orleans Dockworkers Riot was a racially motivated attack on non-union black dockworkers by white dockworkers and their sympathizers. The riot occurred in New Orleans, Louisiana from March 9 through 12, 1895 and marked the end of nearly 15 years of bi-racial union cooperation and union power in New Orleans. The riot also left six black laborers dead and many other wounded.”

Mack, Will. “New Orleans Dockworkers Riot.” Black Past, December 17, 2017. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/1895-new-orleans-dockworkers-riot-1894-1895/

Polk County Massacre, 1896

“On Aug. 5, 1896, white workers attacked Black workers in Arkansas who were coming to work on the Kansas City, Pittsburg, and Gulf Railway.

As a result, three African Americans were killed and eight wounded. Although reports place some of the events near Horatio, accounts clearly stated that the purpose of the attack was to keep African Americans out of Polk County, and so it was generally referred to as the Polk County Race War.”

“Aug. 5, 1896: Polk County Massacre.” Zinn Education Project. Retrieved November 18, 2019. https://zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/polk-race-war/

Wilmington Race Riot, 1898

“A politically motivated attack by whites against the city’s leading African American citizens, the Wilmington Race Riot of 1898 documents the lengths to which Southern White Democrats went to regain political domination of the South after Reconstruction. The violence began on Thursday, November 10th in the predominantly African American city of Wilmington, North Carolina, at that time the state’s largest metropolis. Statewide election returns had recently signaled a shift in power with Democrats taking over the North Carolina State Legislature. The city of Wilmington, however, remained in Republican hands primarily because of its solid base of African American voters. On November 10th, Alfred Moore Waddell, a former Confederate officer and a white supremacist, led a group of townsmen to force the ouster of Wilmington’s city officials.

…at least 14 African Americans were slain that day.”

Johnson, Tekla Ali . “Wilmington Race Riot of 1898.” Black Past, January 11, 2008. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/wilmington-race-riot-1898/

Newburg, New York Race Riot, 1899

“On the evening of July 27, 1899 near the Freeman & Hammond brickyard in the town of Newburg, New York, a race riot between black and Arab brickyard workers broke out. Both groups were of equal size of approximately 80-100 men, armed with stones, knives, clubs and some pistols. The violence lasted for a few hours as the black group initially chased off the Arab rioters. Eventually they returned with more guns and fired multiple shots injuring two black men. Other reported injuries included cuts and bruises. Both groups left the area and, although it is not known if this was a pre-arranged battle, warrants were issued for the arrest of the leaders of both groups who police were unable to identify.”

Mack, Will. “Newburg, New York Race Riot.” Black Past, November 17, 2017. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/newburg-new-york-race-riot-1899/

Palmetto Mob and Samuel Hose Killings, 1899

“During six weeks of the months of March and April just past, twelve colored men were lynched in Georgia, the reign of outlawry culminating in the torture and hanging of the colored preacher, Elijah Strickland, and the burning alive of Samuel Wilkes, alias Hose, Sunday, April 23, 1899.”

Wells-Barnett, Ida B. Lynch Law in Georgia. Chicago Colored Citizens, June 20, 1899. Retrieved from Internet Archive, 2019. https://archive.org/details/lynchlawingeorgi00well

“Sam Hose: a farm laborer who was accused of killing his employer in Palmetto, Georgia, a town outside Atlanta. When captured by a mob, he was also accused of raping the employer’s wife; Hose confessed to the killing, after an argument over a debt, but denied having committed rape. He was publicly tortured and killed in April 1899 in a lynching observed by more than 2,000 people. Du Bois, then a professor at Atlanta University, was deeply affected by the episode. While on his way to deliver a letter protesting the lynching to the editorial office of the Atlanta Constitution, Du Bois was horrified to learn that Hose had been barbecued and dismembered; his burnt knuckles were on display in a store window downtown. In his 1940 autobiography Dusk of Dawn, Du Bois wrote that the episode taught him that ‘one could not be a calm, cool, and detached scientist while Negroes were lynched, murdered and starved’.”

Edwards, Brent Hayes. “Explanatory Notes, (77) Sam Hose.” The Souls of Black Folk. Oxford Press, 2007.

1900-1960

Robert Charles Riot (New Orleans), 1900

“In any law-abiding community Charles would have been justified in delivering himself up immediately to the properly constituted authorities and asking a trial by a jury of his peers. He could have been certain that in resisting an unwarranted arrest he had a right to defend his life, even to the point of taking one in that defense, but Charles knew that his arrest in New Orleans, even for defending his life, meant nothing short of a long term in the penitentiary, and still more probable death by lynching at the hands of a cowardly mob. He very bravely determined to protect his life as long as he had breath in his body and strength to draw a hair trigger on his would-be murderers.”

Wells-Barnett, Ida B. Mob Rule in New Orleans: Robert Charles and His Fight to Death. Chicago, 1900. Retrieved from Project Gutenberg, 2019. https://gutenberg.org/files/14976/14976-h/14976-h.htm

“The next day, a crowd of white New Orleans residents gathered at the location where the policemen were killed and called for the lynching of Charles. Numerous events of lawlessness and civil unrest as mobs of whites roamed the city to terrorize the city’s African-American community occurred over the next three days. On July 25, three African-Americans were killed, 11 others were hospitalized and over 50 were injured. Exacerbating the rioting were local newspapers reporting that African-Americans were to blame for the unrest. Also some African-Americans provided assistance to Charles while others were sympathetic because of the growing voting and civil rights restrictions in the city long known for its racial tolerance.

By week’s end, Charles had shot a total of 27 whites, killing seven, including four police officers. The rioting ended when New Orleans Mayor Paul Capdeville deputized 1,500 special police and asked for assistance from the state militia.”

Bernardo, Joseph. “Robert Charles Riots.” Black Past, Janurary, 2 2012. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/robert-charles-riots-1900/

New York City Race Riot, 1900

“…following an incident between Arthur J. Harris, a black man, and a white undercover police officer, Robert J. Thorpe…

…the day before Thorpe’s funeral, a fight broke out near Thorpe’s family’s home between a white man, Thomas J. Healy, and a black man, Spencer Walters. Walters was beaten to near death by a white mob that gathered. This assault touched off the riot.

On August 16, the riot subsided. … Approximately 35 people were arrested and 60 people injured during the riot, mostly black people. There were no reported deaths.

For more than a month after the riot, daily incidents of racial violence continued and police reported that blacks threw bricks, bottles, and garbage at them from the rooftops. No legal action was ever taken against the police involved in the riot despite pleas from the CPL and wide spread accusations of police brutality against black people in the New York City press.”

Mack, Will. “The New York City Race Riot.” Black Past, November 22, 2017. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/1900-new-york-city-race-riot-1900/

Atlanta Race Riot, 1906

“On the afternoon of Saturday, September 22, Atlanta newspapers reported four alleged assaults, none of which were ever substantiated… By early evening, the crowd had become a mob; from then until after midnight, they surged down… and throughout the central business district, assaulting hundreds of blacks. The mob attacked black-owned businesses, smashing the windows… The crowd also attacked streetcars, entering trolley cars and beating black men and women…

…accounts at the time and subsequent scholarly treatments of the riot vary widely on the number of casualties. Estimates range from twenty-five to forty African American deaths, although the city coroner issued only ten death certificates for black victims. Most accounts agree that only two whites were killed…”

Mixon, Gregory, and Clifford Kuhn. “Atlanta Race Riot of 1906.” New Georgia Encyclopedia. October, 29 2015. https://georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/atlanta-race-riot-1906

“… in 1906 I rushed back from Alabama to Atlanta where my wife and six-year old child were living. … I bought a Winchester double-barreled shotgun and two dozen rounds of shells filled with buckshot. If a white mob had stepped on the campus where I lived I would without hesitation have sprayed their guts over the grass. (p. 286)”

Du Bois, WEB. “My Character.” The Autobiography of W.E.B. DuBois. International Publishers, 1968. Retrieved from Internet Archive, Kahle/Austin Foundation, 2019. https://archive.org/details/autobiographyofw0000dubo

Springfield, Illinois Race Riot, 1908

“The Springfield, Illinois, mob rioted for two days, the militia of the entire state was called out, two men were lynched, hundreds of people driven from their homes, all because a white woman said a Negro assaulted her. A mad mob went to the jail, tried to lynch the victim of her charge and, not being able to find him, proceeded to pillage and burn the town and to lynch two innocent men. Later, after the police had found that the woman’s charge was false, she published a retraction, the indictment was dismissed and the intended victim discharged. But the lynched victims were dead. Hundreds were homeless and Illinois was disgraced. (p. 75-76)”

Wells-Barnett, Ida B. “Lynching Our National Crime.” Proceedings of the National Negro Conference. New York, May 31 and June 1, 1909. Retrieved from Clarence Darrow Digital Collection, University of Minnesota, 2019. http://moses.law.umn.edu/darrow/documents/Proceedings%20of%20the%20National%20Negro%20Conference%201909_%20New%20York_%20May%2031%20and%20June_1.pdf

“When the carnage finally ended six black people were shot and killed, two were lynched and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property destroyed. About two thousand black people were driven out of the city of Springfield as a result of the riot.”

Yu, Karlson. “Springfield Race Riot.” Black Past, June 29, 2008. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/springfield-race-riot-1908/

Jack Johnson Riots, 1910

“Independence Day, 1910, race riots ignited across America. Jack Johnson, a black boxer, had defeated the white Jim Jeffries in a heavyweight fight…

‘One man was shot in Arkansas, two negroes were killed at Lake Providence, La.; one negro was killed at Mounds, Ill., and a negro fatally wounded in Roundeye, Va. … ’

‘Charles Williams, a negro fight enthusiast, had his throat slashed from ear to ear on a streetcar by a white man, having announced too vociferously his appreciation of Jack Johnson’s victory in Reno.’

In Manhattan’s San Juan Hill neighborhood, a mob set fire to a black tenement, while blocking the doorway to prevent the occupants’ escape. In St. Louis, a black crowd marched the streets, pushing whites off the sidewalk and harassing them, before being clubbed and dispersed by police.

In Washington, two white men were fatally stabbed by black men, with 236 people arrested in that city alone. And in Omaha, a black man was smothered to death in a barber’s chair, while in Wheeling, West Virginia, a black man driving an expensive car–just as the playboyish Jack Johnson was famous for– was beset by a mob and hanged.”

Reinmann, Matt. “When a black fighter won ‘the fight of the century,’ race riots erupted across America.” Timeline, March 24, 2017. https://timeline.com/when-a-black-fighter-won-the-fight-of-the-century-race-riots-erupted-across-america-3730b8bf9c98

“Negro Enthusiast Killed.” The Democratic Banner. Mt. Vernon, July 5, 1910. Retrieved from Chronicling America. Library of Congress, 2019. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/data/batches/ohi_foxtrot_ver01/data/sn88078751/00237282632/1910070501/0438.pdf

“Sixteenth Round of Battle.” The Daily Gate City. Keokuk, July 5, 1910. Retrieved from Chronicling America. Library of Congress, 2019. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/data/batches/iahi_allison_ver01/data/sn83025182/00295877297/1910070501/0753.pdf

Slocum Massacre, July 1910

“The 1910 Slocum Massacre in East Texas officially saw between eight and 22 African Americans killed, and evidence suggests casualties were 10 times these amounts. Yet the massacre has become a dirty Lone Star secret, remarkable more for the inattention it has received than for its remembrance.”

Bills, ER. “Slocum Massacre: Genocide in East Texas.” Zinn Education Project, 2016. https://zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/slocum-massacre/

East St. Louis Race Riot, July 1917

“On Tuesday morning, July 3rd, 1917, the daily papers had big headlines announcing a riot which had been in progress in East St. Louis, Ill., for twenty-four hours previous. It stated that upwards of a hundred Negroes had been killed and that thousands had been driven from their homes; that more than sixty homes in Black Valley, the Negro district, had been burned and that nearly a half million dollars worth of property had been destroyed by fire.”

Wells-Barnett, Ida B. “Chapter 1: History of The East St. Louis, Illinois, Riot.” The East St. Louis Massacre: The Greatest Outrage of the Century. 1917. Retrieved from Northern Illinois University Digital Library, 2019. https://digital.lib.niu.edu/islandora/object/niu-gildedage%3A24051

1917 Race Riot Articles. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Retrieved November 19, 2019. https://siue.edu/artsandsciences/political-science/about/iur/projects/illinoistown/1917-Race-Riot.shtml.

Chester, Pennsylvania Race Riot, July 1917

“On the evening of July 24, a confrontation occurred between four black people, two men and two women, and one white man, William McKinney. Accounts varied as to what happened, but ultimately McKinney was stabbed to death by Arthur Thomas, one of the black men. Although Thomas and his associates were arrested on July 25, that evening gangs of white men began roaming the city to get revenge on any black person they saw. By the time the violence ended on the 25th, three men had been shot and hundreds injured.”

Mack, Will. “The Chester, Pennsylvania Race Riot.” Black Past, November 22, 2017. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/1917-race-riot-chester-pennsylvania-1917/

Houston Mutiny and Race Riot, August 1917

“At Camp Logan, men with the Third Battalion of the Twenty-fourth U.S. Infantry Regiment faced increasing harassment from Houston authorities. On August 23, 1917, a rumor reached the camp that Corporal Charles Baltimore had been killed for interfering with the detention and interrogation of a black woman by Houston police; in fact, Baltimore had been beaten but survived and was later released. Reacting to the rumor and to racial discrimination, about 150 black troops marched for two hours through Houston. As local whites armed themselves, a violent confrontation ensued that claimed the lives of four black soldiers and fifteen local residents, and wounded a dozen others.”

Leiker, James. “Houston Mutiny of 1917.” Black Past, January 24, 2007. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/events-african-american-history/houston-mutiny-1917/

“On Dec. 11, 1917, 13 African American soldiers were hanged just outside of San Antonio for alleged participation in the Houston Riot (or Mutiny) in August.”

“Dec. 11, 1917: Black Soldiers Executed for Houston Riot.” Zinn Education Project. Retrieved November 19, 2019. https://zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/black-soldiers-executed/

Houston Mutiny and Riot Records. Southern Texas College of Law Digital Collection. Retrieved November 19, 2019. https://cdm16035.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15568coll1/search

“The primary cause of the Houston riot was the habitual brutality of the white police officers of Houston in their treatment of colored people.”

Grueing, Martha. “Houston: An NAACP Investigation.” The Crisis, November 1917. https://books.google.com/books?id=O1oEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA3&lr&rview=1&pg=PA14#v=onepage&q&f=false

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Race Riot, 1918

“By July 30, the major rioting had subsided and only a few incidents were reported. Over the four days of rioting, 60 African Americans were arrested, compared to only three whites, although many witnesses, black and white, claimed that whites were the main instigators. Four people, three white and one black, were dead or would soon die and many more were injured.”

Mack, Will. “The Philadelphia Race Riot.” Black Past, November 27, 2017. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/1918-race-riot-philadelphia-pennsylvania-1918/

“Another Dies in Race Riots’ Marines Used.” Evening Public Ledger. Philadelphia, July 29, 1918. Retrieved from Chronicling America, Library of Congress, 2019. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045211/1918-07-29/ed-1/seq-1/

Red Summer, 1919

“A brief containing new information as to the extend of race clashes…accompanies this article. It shows that since the beginning of the year there have been since Jan. 1, 1919, thirty-eight race riots and clashes in cities and other communities in various parts of the country.

I. The Facts–1919

A. Race Riots

Washington, DC.: ‘Nation’s Capital at Mercy of the Mob’–…Washington Post…July 22, 1919. …July 19…July 23. Six persons were killed…50 servery wounded…hundred or more less seriously…

Chicago, Ill.: At least 36…killed…July 27…Aug. 1. According to unofficial reports, the number killed was much larger. Houses were wreaked and burned, mobs roamed…seven regiments of State militia [put] under arms.

Knoxville, Tenn: On Aug. 30 a mob of white persons stormed Knox County Jail firing on officers…liberating 16 white prisoners of whom several were convicted murderers…The mob then wrecked and looted shops and invaded the colored district. At least seven…were killed and twenty or more injured.

Longview, Texas.: Four or more…killed…in riot on the night of July 10, when a mob of white men invaded the negro residence district shooting and burning houses.

Norfolk, Va.: …July 21, in which six…shot…

Philadelphia, Penn.: …July 7; eight arrests made…one man…taken to a hospital…

Charleston, SC.: One or more killed and scores were shot or beaten…May 10.

Bisbee, Ariz.: …July 3 between local police and members of 10th…[US] Cavalry, (colored.) Five persons were shot.

There were in addition race clashes in the following cities: Tuscaloosa, Ala., July 9. Hosbson City, Ala., July 26. New London, Conn., June 13. Sylvester, Ga., May 10; one reported killed. Putnam County, Ga., May 29. M[i]llen, Ga., April 15; seven reported killed. Blankely, Ga., Feb. 8; four reported killed. Dublin, Ga., July 6; two reported killed. Ocmulgee, Ga., Aug. 29; one reported killed. Bloomington, Ill., July 31. New Orleans, La., July 23. Annapolis, Md., June 27. Baltimore, Md., July 11. Monticello, Miss., May 31. Macon, Miss., June 27. Hattlesburg, Miss., Aug 4. New York City, NY, Aug. 21. Syracuse, NY, July 31. Catesville, Penn., July 8. Philadelphia, Penn., July 31. Scranton, Penn., July 5. Darby, Penn., July 23. Newberry, SC, July 28. Bedford County, Tenn., Jan 22. Memphis, Tenn., March 14; one killed. Memphis, Tenn., June 13. Port Arthur, Texas, July 15. Texarkana, Texas, Aug. 6. Morgan County, W. Va., April 10.

B. Lynchings:

Forty-three negroes, four white men…Jan. 1 to Sept. 14.

Eight negroes burned at…stake, one…extensively announced beforehand in newspapers… exhibits with the brief. …sixteen were hanged. Others were shot. One was cut to pieces.

1889-1918. [2472] colored men, 50…women, 691 white men…11…women lynched.

1918. Five negro women, 58 negro men and 4 white men lynched. No member of any mob was convicted. In only two cases were trails held.”

“For Action on Race Riot Peril.” The New York Times, October 5, 1919. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1919/10/05/106999010.html?pageNumber=112

Red Summer, 1919 (cont’d)

Omaha Race Riot, 1919

“Beaten and bloody, he was taken downstairs and handed over to the waiting horde, anxious to hang him from the traffic tower at Eighteenth and Harney. Several men pulled Brown’s body into the air as the crowd cheered. The swaying body became a target for gunfire. Lowered after twenty minutes, Brown’s remains were tied to the end of a police car that the mob had seized, and dragged to Seventeenth and Dodge streets. There he was burned on a pyre fueled with oil from the red signal lanterns used for street repair. Brown’s charred remains were then dragged behind an automobile through downtown streets.”

Menard, Orville D. “Lest We Forget: The Lynching of Will Brown, Omaha’s 1919 Race Riot,” Nebraska History 91 (2010): 152-165. Retrieved from History Nebraska, 2019. https://history.nebraska.gov/sites/history.nebraska.gov/files/doc/publications/NH2010Lynching.pdf

Note from a contemporary psychologists, generally, regarding lynchings of this sort:

“Dr. A. A. Brill, neurologist, assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Post Graduate Medical School says:

‘The torture which is an accompaniment of modern lynchings shows…an act of perversion… Lynching is a distinct menace to the community. It allows primitive brutality to assert itself and thus destroys the strongest fabric of civilization. Any one taking part in or witnessing a lynching cannot remain a civilized person.’”

“For Action on Race Riot Peril.” The New York Times, October 5, 1919. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1919/10/05/106999010.html?pageNumber=112

Elaine, Arkansas Riot, 1919

“One of the last of the major riots of the “Red Summer” of 1919, the so-called race riot in Elaine, Arkansas was in fact a racial massacre. Though exact numbers are unknown, it is estimated that over 200 African Americans were killed, along with five whites, during the white hysteria of a pending insurrection of black sharecroppers. The violence, terror, and concerted effort to drive African Americans out of Phillips County, Arkansas was so jarring that Ida B. Wells, a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), published a short book on the riot in 1920. It was also widely reported in African American newspapers like the Chicago Defender and generated several public campaigns to address the fallout.”

Cooper, Weston W. “Elaine, Arkansas Riot.” Black Past, September 30, 2018. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/elaine-arkansas-riot-1919/

Wells-Barnett, Ida B. The Arkansas Race Riot. Chicago, 1919. Retrieved from Internet Archive, 2019. https://archive.org/details/TheArkansasRaceRiot

Ocoee Massacre, 1920

“In response to an attempt by African Americans to exercise their legal and democratic right to vote, at least 50 African Americans were murdered in a brutal massacre in Ocoee, Florida on Nov. 2, 1920 in what is now called the Ocoee Massacre.”

“Nov. 2, 1920: The Ocoee Massacre.” Zinn Education Project. Retrieved November 19, 2019. https://zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/ocoee-massacre/

“More than twenty buildings in the negro settlement were burned. Reports from Ococee tonight said that explosions of considerable amounts of ammunition occurred as the flames swept the buildings… Some reports said five negroes died in the flames.

The battle was precipitated by the attempt of…July Perry, a negro, to vote…He returned later, armed with a shotgun…

Perry himself apparently was captured and later taken by a mob and lynched. … Details of his capture were lacking.”

“Kill Two Whites an Six Negroes in Florida Riot.” The New York Times, November 4, 1920. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1920/11/04/102985154.html?pageNumber=1

Tulsa Race Riot, 1921

“A mob destroyed 35-square-blocks…during the evening of May 31, through the after noon of June1, 1921. (p. iv)”

“Tulsa Race Riot.” Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, February 28, 2001. Retrieved from Oklahoma Historical Society, 2019. https://okhistory.org/research/forms/freport.pdf

“The number of dead is…conjecture. Some knowing ones estimate…as high as 300… The bodies were hurriedly rushed to burial, and the records of many burials are not to be found.

Property losses including household goods will easily reach the four million mark. This must be a conservative figure in view of the fact that the law suits covering claims of over $4,000,000 [$57,507,486.03 in 2019] were filed up to the July 30th (p. 4).”

Willows, Maurice. “Disaster Relief Report Riot 1921.” Tulsa Historical Society & Museum. American Red Cross, December 31, 1921. Retrieved from Tulsa History, 2019. https://tulsahistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/1921-Red-Cross-Report-December-30th.pdf

Inflation Calculator. US Inflation Calculator, 2019. https://usinflationcalculator.com/

Catcher Race Riot, 1923

“The December 28, 1923, assault and murder of a white woman in the Catcher community in Crawford County quickly ignited a firestorm of racial hatred that, within the span of a few days, exploded into the murder of an innocent black man, charges of night riding being leveled against eleven African Americans, and the exodus of all black families from Catcher, numbering at least forty. Two African-American men were sentenced to death and executed in relation to the murder, while a third was given life in prison, following trials that included dubious evidence offered by the prosecution.”

“Catcher Race Riot of 1923.” Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved November 19, 2019. https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/catcher-race-riot-of-1923-5885/

Rosewood Massacre, 1923

“The next day the white mob burned the Carrier home before joining with a group of 200 men from surrounding towns who had heard erroneously that a black man had killed two white men. As night descended the mob attacked the town, slaughtering animals and burning buildings. An official report claims six blacks killed along with two whites. Other accounts suggest a larger total. At the end of the carnage only two buildings remained standing, a house and the town general store.”

Goodloe, Trevor. Rosewood Massacre.” Black Past, March 23, 2008. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/rosewood-massacre-1923/

Moore, Gary. “Rosewood.” St. Petersburg Times, July 25, 1982. https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4496244/Rosewood1982.pdf

“Report on Rosewood .” 60 Minutes. CBS, December 11, 1983. Retrieved from Cyper Ave, “Rosewood”, YouTube, 2015, on November 19, 2019. https://youtube.com/watch?v=7scd7wwwsAc

Harlem Race Riot, 1935

“The rioting ended the next day when New York Governor Herbert Lehman announced to Harlem’s white shop owners that city officials had the situation under control. Overall, three African Americans were killed and nearly sixty were injured. Seventy five people, mostly blacks, were arrested by the police. The riot caused over $200 million in property damage.”

Wang, Tabitha. “Harlem Race Riot.” Black Past, June 17, 2008. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/events-african-american-history/harlem-riot-1935/

“…public…indifferent to the plight of 350,000 Negroes segregated in one district. … loyal…to America’s causes…looked upon as aliens without any given rights or privileges.”

Jacksen, Malcolm Aage. “The Harlem Riots.” Letters to the Editor. The New York Times, March 21 1935. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1935/03/23/93681422.pdf

Mobile ADDSCO Riot, 1943

“In 1942, Roosevelt’s Fair Employment Practices Committee issued directives to elevate some African Americans to skilled positions, but ADDSCO officials were slow to meet this requirement. As late as May 1943, management maintained completely segregated facilities. Their efforts failed, however, and 12 African Americans were upgraded to welders and added to all-white crews. On May 24, 1943, a race riot erupted at ADDSCO during the night shift. All of the African American employees were driven from the yard, and the National Guard was called in to restore order. Several weeks passed before African American workers could safely return to work.”

Kirkland, Scotty E. “Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company (ADDSCO).” Encyclopedia of Alabama, February 19, 2008. http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1475

“Newspaper Clipping Relating to the Disturbance at the Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Co. between White and Negro Employees.” Retrieved from National Archives and Records Administration, November 20, 2019. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/281532

Beaumont Race Riot, 1943

“Nonetheless, on the evening of June 15, about 2,000 shipyard workers and an additional 1,000 bystanders marched on City Hall when they learned that a suspect had been jailed. The number of people eventually reached 4,000 as the mob approached City Hall. Once there, the mob splintered into smaller groups and began to break into stores and destroy property located in the black neighborhoods near downtown Beaumont. Black citizens were assaulted while whites looted and burned black stores and restaurants. More than 100 homes of black Beaumont residents were ransacked. …

The declaration of martial law was lifted on June 20. During the five day period 21 people were killed. Also 206 people were arrested and tried in court on June 20. Of those arrested, only 29 were actually charged with specific crimes, mostly assault and battery, unlawful assembly, and arson. The rest of those arrested were released. No one was specifically held responsible for the deaths during the riot. Although black and white workers returned to the Pennsylvania Shipyard, war production in the area was slowed for months.”

Wang, Tabitha. “Beaumont Race Riot.” Black Past, July 3, 2008. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/beaumont-race-riot-1943/

Burran, James A. (1976) “Violence in an ‘Arsenal of Democracy’: the Beaumont Race Riot, 1943.” East Texas Historical Journal: Vol.14: Iss. 1, Article 8. Available at: http://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/ethj/vol14/iss1/8

Detroit Race Riot, 1943

“The violence ended only after President Franklin Roosevelt, at the request of Detroit Mayor Edward Jeffries, Jr., ordered 6,000 federal troops into the city. Twenty-five blacks and nine whites were killed in the violence. Of the 25 African Americans who died, 17 were killed by the police. The police claimed that these shootings were justified since the victims were engaged in looting stores on Hastings Street. Of the nine whites who died, none were killed by the police. The city suffered an estimated $2 million in property damages.”

Wang, Tabitha. “Detroit Race Riot.” Black Past, July 3, 2008. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/detroit-race-riot-1943/

AP. “Army Patrols End Detroit Rioting; Death Toll at 29.” The New York Times, June 23, 1943. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1943/06/23/88547327.html?pageNumber=1

Harlem Race Riot, 1943

“The Harlem riot was incited by a rumor of police brutality against an African-American man, Robert Bandy, a World War II veteran, who inquired about the arrest of a Black woman, Margie Polite, for disorderly conduct at Hotel Braddock. Bandy sought to have Polite released, but it was incorrectly rumored that he had been killed in a confrontation with police.

The ensuing riots flared from Aug. 1 to Aug. 2 at three different locations.

During that riot, three people died, hundreds were wounded and an estimated $2 million in damages were sustained to property throughout the district.”

Riley, Ricky. “8 Facts You May Not Know About The Harlem Riot of 1943.” Atlanta Black Star, August 2, 2014. https://atlantablackstar.com/2014/08/02/8-facts-may-know-harlem-riot-1943/

“Convicted in Riot Case; Women Whose Attack Started Harlem Disorders in Court.” The New York Times, August 31, 1943. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1943/08/31/85078936.html?pageNumber=19

“1943 Harlem Riot Killed 5, Hurt 500.” The New York Times. July 19, 1964. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1964/07/19/119436581.html?pageNumber=54

1960-2000

Freedom Rides Riots, 1961

“Just after one of modern history’s pivotal moments, Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. came to Montgomery, Alabama, to honor the ‘Freedom Riders,’ an organized assemblage of activists and citizens that traveled aboard interstate buses through terminals in the South. The original intent was to ride from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans in thirteen days in May 1961. Bus terminals and vehicles were segregated and the ‘Freedom Riders’ hoped to challenge the culture at each stop. The bus was besieged by mob violence in Alabama, so U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy and the Justice Department sent a representative escort. They arrived in Montgomery shortly after.”

Turk, Dave. “An Emergency Call to Montgomery.” US Marshals Service. Retrieved November 20, 2019. https://usmarshals.gov/history/mlk.htm

“WSB-TV Newsfilm Clip of a Press Conference during Which Alabama Governor John Patterson Condemns the Freedom Riders for Instigating Racial Trouble and Demands That the Freedom Riders and Martin Luther King, Jr. Leave the State, Montgomery, Alabama, 1961 May 23.” Atlanta , Georgia : WSB-TV, May 23, 1961. Retrieved from Civil Rights Digital Library, 2019. http://crdl.usg.edu/cgi/crdl?action=retrieve;rset=001;recno=1;format=_video

University of Georgia Desegregation Riot, 1961

“On January 9, 1961 two black students, Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter, entered the University of Georgia campus to register for classes. Their registration was the end of a long court battle to integrate the university that began a decade earlier when another student, Horace Ward, tried to gain admission into the law school. Holmes and Hunter were represented by an NAACP law team as was Ward who earned his law degree from a different university.

On January 9 as the new students walked through the all-white school, they were met by mobs of people yelling racial slurs. On their third night in school, another mob of student headed towards the residence hall where Holmes and Hunter lived. The rioters threw bricks and bottles at the building before the Athens, Georgia police ended the riot.”

Besel, Peter. “University of Georgia Desegregation Riot.” Black Past, March 11, 2018. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/university-georgia-desegregation-riot-1961/

“WSB-TV newsfilm clip of the arrival of Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes, the first African American students at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, 1961 January 9.” Atlanta, Georgia : WSB-TV, January 9, 1961. Retrieved from Civil Rights Digital Library, 2019. http://crdl.usg.edu/cgi/crdl?format=_video;query=id:ugabma_wsbn_4308

Ole Miss Riot, 1962

“James Meredith, an African American man, attempted to enroll at the all-white University of Mississippi in 1962. Chaos soon broke out on the Ole Miss campus, with riots ending in two dead, hundreds wounded and many others arrested, after the Kennedy administration called out some 31,000 National Guardsmen and other federal forces to enforce order.”

History.com Editors. “James Meredith at Ole Miss.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, February 2, 2010. https://history.com/topics/black-history/ole-miss-integration

“Meredith Enrolls at Ole Miss Under Bayonets; Riots Renewed; Two killed; 112 arrested.” The Birmingham News, October 1, 1962. Retrieved from Digital History, November 20, 2019. http://digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=8&psid=4186&filepath=http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/primarysources_upload/images/Meredith_Enrolls_at_Ole_Miss_LG.jpg

Birmingham Riot, 1963

“From May 2 to May 10, 1963, the nation bore witness as police in Birmingham, Ala., aimed high-powered hoses and sicced snarling dogs on black men, women and even children who wanted just one thing–to be treated the same as white Americans.

There would be more violence in Birmingham. That September, four young black girls were killed when a bomb ripped apart the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church.”

Siemaszko, Corky. “Birmingham Erupted into Chaos in 1963 as Battle for Civil Rights Exploded in South.” New York Daily News, May 3, 2012. https://nydailynews.com/news/national/birmingham-erupted-chaos-1963-battle-civil-rights-exploded-south-article-1.1071793

“From Delmar to Bombingham (5) – THE BOMBING.” HungryBlues, June 28, 2004. https://minorjive.typepad.com/hungryblues/2004/06/from_delmar_to_.html

“Thousands Clash After Bombings; Blasts Rip Home of Negro, Motel; Nearly 50 Hurt.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 13, 1963. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=gL9scSG3K_gC&dat=19630513&printsec=frontpage&hl=en

UPI. “Six Dead After Church Bombing; Blast Kills Four Children; Riots Follow; Two Youths Slain; State Reinforces Birmingham Police.” The Washington Post, September 16, 1963. https://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/churches/archives1.htm

Whitmore, Greg. “Unseen Photographs of Civil Rights Conflict in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, May 12, 2018. https://theguardian.com/us-news/gallery/2018/may/12/unseen-photographs-of-civil-rights-conflict-in-birmingham-alabama-1963

Cambridge, Maryland Riot, 1963

“The violence between African Americans and whites continued throughout the summer of 1963 throughout Cambridge. In July, Gov. Tawes sent the National Guard back in for a period of two years, the longest occupation of any American community since the Civil War. Activists who were found responsible for protests during the occupation were sent to the Pikesville, Maryland Armory for ‘protective custody.’”

White, Davon. “Cambridge, Maryland Riot.” Black Past, January 4, 2018. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/cambridge-maryland-riot-1963/

Smith, Hendrik. “Martial Law Is Imposed In Cambridge, Md., Riots; Two Marches Halted Stopped by General ‘Freedom Walk’ Staged CAMBRIDGE RULED BY MARTIAL LAW Governor Regretful Racial Strife Fills Maryland City as National Guard Is Called Out .” The New York Times. July 13, 1963. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1963/07/13/86713064.html?pageNumber=1

The Harlem Race Riot, 1964

“The 1964 Harlem Riot was one of a number of race-based uprisings/ protests that took place in multiple cities across the United States during the 1960s. As elsewhere Harlem blacks reacted to racial discrimination, segregation, police brutality and social injustices that dominated their lives. They resorted to violence to express their disgust with the system.

The Harlem uprising began on July 16, 1964 when 15-year-old James Powell was shot and killed by white off-duty police Lieutenant Thomas Gilligan. The Harlem community was infuriated by the murder which it viewed as an unnecessary example of police brutality.”

Stultz, Spencer. “The Harlem ‘Race Riot’ of 1964” Black Past, December 4, 2017. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/harlem-race-riot-1964/

“‘Hot Summer’; Race Riots in North.” The New York Times, July 26, 1964. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1964/07/26/118533301.html?pageNumber=99

Rochester Rebellion, 1964

“By 9:00 a.m. on July 25, the uprising was officially called a “riot” and a state of emergency was declared by New York governor Nelson Rockefeller. While the rioting calmed during the day on Saturday, by 10:00 p.m. Saturday night it resumed. By that point one white man had died. By Sunday night when the riot ended, approximately 250 stores were looted; five white people died (four men died in a helicopter crash blamed on the riot), and nearly 350 people were injured. The police had arrested more than 900 people in connection with the uprising, the majority were employed black men between 20 and 40 years old with no prior records of violence. Only 15 percent of those arrested were white.”

Campbell, Rachel. “Rochester Rebellion.” Black Past, December 4, 2017. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/rochester-rebellion-july-1964

“ROCHESTER BESET BY NEW RIOTING; WHITE MAN DEAD; 4 Policemen Hurt as Negro Bands Defy City Curfew—Scores Are Arrested; TEAR GAS USED ON MOBS; Stores Looted and Smashed by Marauders in Cars—Mayor Appears on TV.” The New York Times, July 26, 1964. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1964/07/26/118532832.html?pageNumber=1

1964 Rochester Riot Photographs. New York Heritage Digital Collections. Retrieved November 20, 2019. https://cdm16694.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/search/searchterm/YQR001/field/all/mode/all/conn/and/cosuppress/

Jersey City Uprising, 1964

“By the evening of August 4, over 400 police officers attempted to stop the rioting. At the same time, local clergymen drove through neighborhoods asking for an end to the violence and letting people know that one of the demands by the protesters had been met, two local parks were going to be re-opened.

Rioting ended on August 5. At least 46 people were reported injured, 52 people were arrested and 71 stores and businesses were damaged.”

Mack, Will. “The Jersey City Uprising” Black Past, November 27, 2017. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/1964-jersey-city-uprising-1964/

“Jersey City’s Riots.” The New York Times, August 5, 1964. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1964/08/05/118672372.html?pageNumber=32

Paterson, New Jersey Uprising, 1964

“Throughout the four days of the uprising, groups of African Americans attacked passing cars with Molotov cocktails, rocks, and other projectiles. City officials estimated that between 300 and 500 people had participated in the rioting in small groups of 20-25 people which precipitated the need for the increased police presence. But the press estimated a lower figure: closer to 100 people in total were involved. This uprising was smaller than the uprisings that preceded it in other cities but it had parallels to those localities. For example, 43 African Americans and three white people were arrested. Fortunately, there were fewer than 10 injuries reported and no deaths.”

Mack, Will. “Paterson, New Jersey Uprising.” Black Past, December 13, 2017. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/1964-paterson-new-jersey-uprising-1964/.

Powledge, Fred. “Paterson, Elizabeth Hit by New Violence.” The New York Times, August 13, 1964. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1964/08/13/118673198.html?pageNumber=1

Elizabeth, New Jersey Uprising, 1964

“The Elizabeth uprising began on the night of August 11 when three or four carloads of African American youths began throwing Molotov cocktails and other projectiles at stores and businesses in the waterfront area along the Hudson River setting off fires. The violence lasted for approximately an hour and Elizabeth city officials believed that this incident was not necessarily racially motivated. One man was arrested and another was injured. Three buildings were set on fire by Molotov cocktails and two other nearby buildings were damaged as the flames spread.

The following night violence erupted again as approximately 700 African Americans took to the streets. This time there were battles between rioters and city police with the rioters using Molotov cocktails, bricks, stones, and other projectiles. The violence finally subsided by 3:00 a.m. on August 13. Over the rest of the day there were sporadic mostly minor incidents but the worst of the violence had subsided. By the end of August 13, 18 people had been arrested.”

Mack, Will. “Elizabeth, New Jersey Uprising.” BlackPast, December 17, 2017. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/elizabeth-new-jersey-uprising-1964/.

Powledge, Fred. “PATERSON GANGS RENEW VIOLENCE; Negroes Throw Stones and Fire Bombs–Police Curb Flare-Ups in Elizabeth.” The New York Times, August 14, 1964. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1964/08/14/118674002.html?pageNumber=1

Chicago (Dixmoor) Riots, 1964

“By the morning of August 17 when the violence finally ended, over 225 officers from the Cook County Sheriff’s Department, the Chicago Police Department and the Illinois State Troopers were in Dixmoor. The conflict involved approximately 1,000 people including 37 Dixmoor protesters and rioters who were seriously injured and 25 people who were arrested. Local civil rights leaders claimed that most of the injuries stemmed from the violence of the CPD against black rioters. While smaller than most black-police confrontations in 1964 and the ones that followed during the rest of the decade, the Dixmoor riot was a reminder that many blacks all across the nation would—peacefully if possible, but violently if necessary—challenge the racial order in the United States.”

Pratt, Shontoria. “Chicago Riots.” BlackPast, November 27, 2017. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/1964-chicago-riots-august-1964/.

Currivan, Gene. “Rioting Resumes in Chicago Area.” The New York Times, August 18, 1964. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1964/08/18/97411891.html?pageNumber=28

Philadelphia Race Riot, 1964

“By the second and third nights, police presence swelled to 1,800 officers. Commissioner Howard Leary (1912-94) instructed police to use minimal force. On Saturday, Mayor James H. J. Tate (1910-83) imposed a curfew in the riot area. By Monday morning, the Columbia Avenue Riot was over. Hundreds had been arrested and injured, and two died. Seven hundred twenty-six buildings had been affected. Property damage and police overtime pay totaled $3.2 million.”

Elkins, Alex. “Columbia Avenue Riot.” Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Retrieved November 21, 2019. https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/archive/columbia-avenue-riot/.

Lelyveld, Joseph. “1,500 POLICEMEN BAR NEW RIOTING IN PHILADELPHIA.” The New York Times, August 30, 1964. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1964/08/30/119440013.html?pageNumber=1

Watts Rebellion (Los Angeles), 1965

“The Watts Riots, also known as the Watts Rebellion, was a large series of riots that broke out August 11, 1965, in the predominantly black neighborhood of Watts in Los Angeles. The Watts Riots lasted for six days, resulting in 34 deaths, 1,032 injuries and 4,000 arrests, involving 34,000 people and ending in the destruction of 1,000 buildings, totaling $40 million in damages.”

History.com Editors. “Watts Riots.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, September 28, 2017. https://history.com/topics/1960s/watts-riots

Staff, LA Times. “How the LA Times covered the 1965 Watts Riots.” Los Angeles Times, Retrieved November 21, 2019. https://documents.latimes.com/1965-watts-riots/

Chicago, Illinois Uprising, 1966

“The 1966 Chicago, Illinois uprising, also known as the West Side Riot, began on July 12 after police and African American youth clashed over the youth opening fire hydrants and playing in the water.

On July 14, day three of the riot, six policemen were shot along with an undetermined number of civilians. By midnight at least 118 people had been arrested as police armed themselves with machine guns, shotguns, rifles and tear gas. The Chicago Transit Authority was forced to shut down El trains on the West Side as snipers fired at random targets from rooftops. Police also claimed that a mysterious “paramilitary” group of African Americans was planning to wage guerrilla warfare in the streets and arrested 21 alleged members of this group.

The next day, July 15, Mayor Daley contacted Illinois Governor Otto Kerner Jr. who ordered 1,500 National Guardsmen to patrol a 140-block area of Chicago’s West Side with orders to shot looters on sight. With their presence the violence subsided. Over 30 people were reported injured during the uprising, including six firemen and six policemen. Two people were killed by stray bullets, a 14-year-old pregnant girl and a 28-year-old man. Two hundred people were arrested the night of July 14 alone bringing the total number of those arrested during the uprising to 244.”

Mack, Will. “Chicago, Illinois Uprising.” Black Past, December 17, 2017. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/1966-chicago-illinois-uprising-1966/.

“The campaigns had gained momentum through demonstrations and marches, when race riots erupted on Chicago’s West Side in July 1966. During a march through an all-white neighborhood on 5 August, black demonstrators were met with racially fueled hostility. Bottles and bricks were thrown at them, and King was struck by a rock. Afterward he noted: ‘I have seen many demonstrations in the south but I have never seen anything so hostile and so hateful as I’ve seen here today.’”

“Chicago Campaign.” The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute. Stanford, May 21, 2018. https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/chicago-campaign.

Roberts, Gene. “ROCK HITS DR. KING AS WHITES ATTACK MARCH IN CHICAGO.” The New York Times, August 6, 1966. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1966/08/06/82504345.html?pageNumber=1

Cleveland’s Hough Riots, 1966

“The economically depressed and predominantly black Hough neighborhood in Cleveland was a powder keg of racial tension the summer of 1966, and it finally exploded the evening of July 18 when an African American man was denied a glass of water at the white-owned Seventy-Niners Cafe at Hough Ave. and E. 79th St. The police proved unable to handle the rioting and violence that ensued, and on July 19 Cleveland City Mayor Ralph Locher asked Ohio Governor James Rhodes to send in the National Guard. The National Guard arrived later that evening and into the next morning to restore order.

By July 25th, the rioting had ceased but the toll it took on the neighborhood was enormous. Four people were killed, about 30 people were injured, and close to 300 people were arrested. The vandalism, looting, and arson from the riots caused more than a million dollars of property damage, and many businesses, as well as residents who could afford to, left the neighborhood for good.”

“The Hough Riots.” The Cleveland Memory Project. Retrieved November 21, 2019. http://clevelandmemory.org/houghriots/index.html.

The Dayton, Ohio Uprising, 1966

“The drive-by shooting of a black man in front of his home kicked off one of the city’s worst race riots on Sept. 1, 1966. The killing was the final spark for west Dayton, which was seething with frustration over issues related to race and segregation.”

Sweigart, Josh, and Ty Greenlees. Lasting Scars: The 1966 west Dayton riot. Dayton Daily News. Retrieved November 22, 2019. https://daytondailynews.com/data/special-projects/lasting-scars/.

DAYTON OHIO RIOTS (1966). Historic Films. Retrieved November 21, 2019. https://historicfilms.com/tapes/9343.

Hunter’s Point, San Francisco Uprising, 1966

“The quick and overwhelming presence of police and troops managed to keep the damage and violence to a minimum in comparison to other uprisings occurring in other cities during that period. The uprising lasted officially 128 hours, 146 people were arrested, two police officers were hurt, and 42 African Americans were injured, 10 with gunshot wounds.”

Mack, Will. “Hunter’s Point, San Francisco Uprising.” Black Past, December 19, 2017. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/hunter-s-point-san-francisco-uprising-1966/.

Carlsson, Chris. “Hunters Point Uprising.” FoundSF. Retrieved November 22, 2019. http://foundsf.org/index.php?title=Hunters_Point_Uprising.

San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection Search: Folder S F Riots 1966. SF Public Library. Retrieved November 22, 2019. http://sflib1.sfpl.org:82/search?/dFolder:+S.F.+Riots-1966.

Race Riots (Long, Hot Summer), 1967

“More than 100 cities of the U. S. have been hit by Negro violence this year. At least 177 persons have been killed, thousands injured. Property damage has approached 1 billion dollars.

This year’s riot season began April 7. Here, in chronological order, are cities that have been hit by violence so far in 1967, as reported by United Press International and the Associated Press:

IN APRIL:

Omaha, Nebr., April 1—About 200 Negro youths smashed windows, looted stores, damaged police cars; 21 arrested.

Nashville, Tenn., April 8-10—Negro college students rioted three successive nights after a speech by “black power” leader Stokely Carmichael. Several were injured and nearly 100 arrested.

Louisville, Ky., April 11 to mid-June—Negro demonstrations for open housing drew harassment from whites who threw rocks and bottles. Nearly 700 whites and Negroes were arrested in weeks of repeated disorders. National Guardsmen protected the Kentucky Derby.

Cleveland, April 16—Negro youths smashed windows and looted stores in Hough area, scene of 1966 rioting.

Massillon, Ohio, April 17—A battle between Negro and white teenagers caused 17 arrests.

IN MAY:

Wichita, Kans., May 2 and 3—Negro high-school youths battled white students. July 31—Negroes fire-bombed two stores, stoned police and motorists. August 4—Renewed violence; Negroes marched on police station and courthouse.

Jackson, Miss., May 12—National Guardsmen restored order after two nights of rioting near predominantly Negro college. One killed, several injured.

San Francisco, May 14—Negroes rioted at amusement park; 14 injured, 29 arrested. May 15—Negroes looted downtown jewelry store. July 27, 28—Two nights of hit-and-run violence; white youth shot by Negroes.

Houston, Tex., May 17—One policeman killed, four persons were rounded in rioting on Negro-college campus. Nearly 500 students arrested. July 23—Negroes roamed streets in gangs, set three fires with fire bombs.

Vallejo, Calif., May 21—Negroes stoned cars, snipers battled police after a drag race was broken up.

San Diego, Calif., May 21— Police arrested 38 in breaking up riot at a rock-and-roll concert.

Chicago, May 21—Ten persons, including three policemen, injured in melee at “Black Nationalist” ceremony. May 30—Police arrested 37 in racial battle. Beginning July 26—several nights of vandalism, arson, looting.

IN JUNE:

Boston, June 2 through 5—In four days of violence, 100 were injured, 73 arrested. Damage estimated at 2 million dollars. National Guard restored order.

Clearwater, Fla., June 3—Negroes attacked police; 10 persons arrested.

Tampa, Fla., June 11 through 14—national guard was used to quell rioting in which one Negro and a white policeman died. More than 100 arrested, damage 2 million dollars.

Prattville, Ala., June 11—national guard sent in after Negro gunman battled police following the arrest of Stokely Carmichael. Four wounded. 10 arrested.

Cincinnati—Three separate outbreaks—June 12 through 19, July 3, 4 and 5, and July 27—caused one death,many injuries, upward of 3 million dollars in damages and 400 arrests. It took National Guardsmen to quell first uprising.

Los Angeles, June 13 and July 6—Negroes pelted firemen rocks and bottles in and near the Watts area, scene of a massive riot in 1965

Philadelphia, June 13—Four policemen hurt, 25 arrests, in rock and bottle-throwing over 12-block area. On July 27, after new outbreak of vandalism, mayor declared a state of “limited emergency.”

Montgomery, Ala., June 12—National Guardsmen turned back Negroes marching on State Capitol in a protest against the jailing of Stokely Carmichael in nearby Prattville.

Maywood, Ill., June 14—Negro youngsters broke store windows in riot demanding a swimming pool.

Dayton, Ohio, June 14 through 17—An outburst of window smashing, fire-setting and looting followed a speech by Habert G. (“Rap”) Brown, head of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

Middletown, Ohio, June 14—Negro youths threw rocks at cars, stores and homes. Four arrested

Lansing, Mich., June 16—Three hurt, two arrested as Negro gangs hurled rocks and bottles at police.

Atlanta, Ga., June 17 through 20—Four days of disorder followed arrest of Stokely Carmichael. One killed, three injured.

Roanoke, Va., June 23—A near-riot in Negro business section injured several. Nine arrested.

Buffalo, N.Y., June 27, 28 and 29—About 100 were injured, 200 arrested,damage was estimated at $250,000 in three nights of vandalism, arson and looting.

IN JULY:

Des Moines, Ia., July 2—Negro gangs threw rocks and bottles. Six arrested. July 16—Recurring violence.

Kansas City, Mo., July 9—Tear gas dispersed Negroes who broke windows, attacked police cars. One hurt, 11 arrested.

Waterloo, Ia., July 9 and 10—Five hurt in two nights of minor disturbances.

Newark, N.J., July 12 through 16—Five days of fire-bombing, looting and sniping left 27 dead, more than 1,100 injured, more than 1,300 under arrest, with damage estimated above 15 million dollars. National Guard and State police helped local police quell the rioting.

Plainfield, Irvington, Orange, East Orange, Montclair, Asbury Park, New Brunswick, Elizabeth, Paterson, Jersey City—In wake of Newark rioting, violence spread into all these nearby New Jersey cities. In Plainfield, rioting Negroes kicked and shot a white policeman to death, looted 90 stores; National Guardsmen were used. In Jersey City, violence ended quickly after mayor took a tough stand.

Hartford, Conn., July 14—Eleven policemen were hurt, 20 Negroes arrested as gangs threw bricks and fire bombs.

Erie, Pa., July 14, 18 and 31—There were repeated outbursts of arson and brick-throwing.

Fresno, Calif., July 16—An antipoverty worker was wounded by gunshot. Bombs caused 23 fires.

Greensboro, N.C., July 17—Negroes and whites battled with rocks after police charged five whites with terrorizing a Negro minister in his home.

Nyack, N.Y., July 19—Police marched in a phalanx through the streets to break up bands of Negro marauders.

Minneapolis, July 19 through 24—National Guardsmen were sent in to quell an outbreak of violence. Fire damage was estimated at about 1 million dollars.

Cairo, Ill., July 19—National Guardsmen went in after repeated vandalism, arson and looting.

Durham, N.C., July 19—Two Negroes were wounded by gunshots from passing car. National Guard stood watch over Negro protest march. One hurt, windows broken, bricks tossed at motorists by Negroes and whites.

Lakeland, Fla., July 20—Negro youths hurled fire bombs into white-owned grocery stores.

Bridgeton, N.J., July 21—A window-breaking spree followed the arrest of a Negro.

Hattiesburg, Miss., July 22—Police arrested 27 Negroes for disturbing peace in a boycott of stores.

Wadesboro, N.C., July 22—Negroes went on rock-throwing rampage after a Negro was shot and run over by a car.

Youngstown, Ohio, July 22—Negroes threw dynamite and fire bombs, harassed police and firemen.

Detroit, July 23 through 28—Costliest riot in U. S. history left 41 dead, nearly 2,000 injured. Some 1,600 fires were set, 1,700 stores looted. Estimates of property damage range from 250 to 500 million dollars. More than 4,000 were arrested, U.S. Army troops and National Guardsmen went in to aid local police.

Grand Rapids, Mich., July 23 through 25—National Guardsmen and State police were sent in as fire-bombing and looting went on for several days,

Pontiac, Mich., July 23—Two Negroes were killed, one by a State legislator protecting his store; 25 Negroes arrested; 40 fires set; gun shops looted.

Flint, Kalamazoo, Mount Clemens, Muskegon, Benton Harbor, Saginaw and Albion—In the week of Detroit riots, all these Michigan cities had outbreaks of Negro violence.

New York City, July 22, 23 and 24—Two were killed in repeated riots in “Spanish Harlem.” July 26—Negroes smashed windows and looted shops on Fifth Avenue. July 29 and 30—Negro violence broke out in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant section; 32 arrested.

Toledo, Ohio, July 23—Negro rampage brought in National Guard with orders to shoot to kill. More than 80 were arrested.

Birmingham, Ala., July 23—National Guardsmen helped police quell rioting; 11 hurt, more than 70 arrested.

New Britain, Conn., July 23—Police sealed a Negro area after attack on a white motorist.

Rochester, N.Y., July 23 and 24—Violence spread outside Negro areas as white and Negro gangs raided each other’s neighborhoods. Two Negroes killed; $60,000 damage.

Englewood, N.J., July 22 through 24—Several nights of violence. At one point 100 policemen were pinned down by sniper cross fire.

Tucson and Phoenix, Ariz., July 23, 24 and 26—Negroes fought police two nights in Tucson, then in Phoenix.

Lima, Ohio, July 23—Police arrested 21 Negro youths after window-breaking rampage.

Waukegan, Ill., July 24 and 25—Police rushed in from neighboring cities to help quell two days of vandalism.

Cambridge, Md., July 24—National Guardsmen were sent in after night of rioting and shooting in which a Negro section was gutted by fire. Outbreak followed a speech by SNCC leader “Rap” Brown, who was later arrested, charged with inciting to riot.

Mount Vernon, N.Y., July 26—Rock-throwing, looting.

South Bend, Ind., July 26—National Guard was sent in after roving Negro gangs fought police, looted stores.

Marin City, Calif., July 26 and 27—Negroes set fires, shot at firemen. Three persons wounded.

Sacramento, Calif., July 26 and 27—Store windows were smashed, fire bombs thrown. A school was set on fire.

Alton, Ill., July 27—A cab driver was wounded and two police cars were pelted with buckshot by a gang of Negroes. Supermarket windows were broken.

New Rochelle, N.Y., July 27—Negro youths returning from a community-action program threw rocks through windows and looted stores.

Lorain, Ohio, July 27—National Guardsmen were sent in after a wave of vandalism and fire-bombing.

Albany, Poughkeepsie and Peekskill, July 27—Vandalism spread in upstate New York.

East St. Louis, Ill., July 27 and 28—Two nights of window-smashing and fire-bombing brought 23 arrests.

Passaic, N.J., July 27—Vandalism hit this city which had escaped the earlier wave of violence in New Jersey.

Waterbury, Conn., July 27—At least 11 persons were hurt, including two shot, in outburst of rock-throwing and looting. Police used tear gas.

Seattle, Wash., July 27—Vandals set at least one fire, tossed rocks and bottles.

Memphis, Tenn., July 27—Violence subsided quickly when National Guard moved into the Memphis area.

Springfield, Ohio, July 27—Five persons were arrested after rock-throwing and fire-bombing.

New Castle, Pa., July 28 and 30—Roving bands of Negro teen-agers threw fire bombs, smashed windows with rocks.

Pasadena, Long Beach, San Bernardino—In late July, violence hit suburbs of Los Angeles. Police used a new aerosol tear-gas gun, called the Chemical Mace, and credited it with averting serious trouble.

Wilmington, Del., July 28 and 29—City council passed emergency riot-control measures as Negro gangs rampaged.

Newburgh, N.Y., July 29—A neo-Nazi rally touched off a night of smashing, burning and looting by Negroes. Police here also said they were helped in controlling crowd by using the Chemical Mace.

Elgin, Ill., July 29—Police sealed of five blocks of downtown Elgin after gangs of Negroes began tossing fire bombs, bricks and bottles.

Rockford, Ill., July 29 and 30—Two nights of disorders caused 11 injuries, 44 arrests.

Portland, Oreg., July 30 and 31—National Guard was put on alert as gangs of Negroes roamed through 30 square blocks throwing rocks, smashing store windows.

Riviera Beach, Fla., July 30 and 31—Police fired tear gas to break up a Negro rampage. National Guardsmen were called up, but not used.

East Palo Alto, Calif., July 30 and 31—Rocks and bottles flew until a patrol of Negro volunteers calmed the situation.

Milwaukee, July 30 into early August—National Guardsmen went in to halt Negro rioting that left four persons dead, scores injured. An around-the-clock curfew was imposed, shutting up the city tight.

West Palm Beach, Fla., July 31—Police used tear gas to break up a mob of 400 Negroes. A $350,000 fire led to arrest of 46 under Florida’s tough new antiriot law.

Denver, Colo., July 31—Police arrested a dozen youths a crowd of about 100 Negroes bombarded police with rocks and bottles after breaking shopping center windows.

Providence, R.I., July 31 and Aug. 1—Riot squads battled snipers and routed rival gangs of whites and Negroes in two days of violence; 23 hurt, 14 arrested.

IN AUGUST:

Washington, D.C., Aug. 1—The nation’s capital, near two-thirds Negro in population, appeared heading for a riot when bands of Negro youths went on a midnight rampage, tossing bottles and bricks, smashing dozens of store windows, setting a dozen small fires. Police, moving in quickly but quietly, restored order before dawn.

Wyandanch, N.Y., Aug. 1—Beginning several nights of violence, Negroes roamed business areas, hurling rocks at store windows and police, setting several fires.

Peoria, Ill., Aug. 2—Police sealed off a Negro housing project when snipers fired at police directing traffic around a fire started by a fire bomb.

Sandusky, Ohio, Aug. 2—Negro teen-agers smashed windows and tossed fire bombs at two shopping centers after a Negro home was fire-bombed and several other Negro homes vandalized by four whites.

RACE TROUBLES – STATE BY STATE

Here are the numbers of cities hit by racial violence this year, by States: New Jersey, 14 cities; Michigan 11, California 11, New York 11, Ohio 10, Illinois 9, Florida 5, Alabama 3, Connecticut 3, North Carolina 3, Pennsylvania 3, Arizona 2, Iowa 2, Mississippi 2, Tennessee 2, and one in each of the following States: Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. In 18 States: no race violence reported.”

“Race Troubles: 109 U.S. Cities Faced Violence in 1967.” US News & World Report, July 12, 2017. Originally appeared in the August 14, 1967, edition of US News and World Report. https://usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2017-07-12/race-troubles-109-us-cities-faced-violence-in-1967

“Released 50 years ago, the infamous report found that poverty and institutional racism were driving inner-city violence…

‘White society,’ the presidentially appointed panel reported, ‘is deeply implicated in the ghetto. White institutions created it, white institutions maintain it, and white society condones it.’ The nation, the Kerner Commission warned, was so divided that the United States was poised to fracture into two radically unequal societies—one black, one white.”

George, Alice. “The 1968 Kerner Commission Got It Right, But Nobody Listened.” Smithsonian.com. Smithsonian Institution, March 1, 2018. https://smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/1968-kerner-commission-got-it-right-nobody-listened-180968318/

Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders: Summary of the Report. Homeland Security Digital Library. US GPO, 1968. https://hsdl.org/?abstract&did=35837

Orangeburg Massacre, 1968

“On the night of February 8th, 1968, three students – Samuel Hammond, Henry Smith, and Delano Middleton, who was still in high school – were killed by police gunfire on the South Carolina State College (now University) campus in Orangeburg. Twenty-eight others were wounded. None of the students were armed and almost all were shot in their backs, buttocks, sides, or the soles of their feet.”

“The 1968 Orangeburg Massacre in South Carolina.” SCIWAY. Retrieved November 21, 2019. https://sciway.net/afam/orangeburg-massacre.html

Bass, Jack (Fall 2003). “Documenting the Orangeburg Massacre.” Nieman Reports. Harvard University. 57 (3): 8–11. http://nieman.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/pod-assets/pdf/Nieman%20Reports/backissues/03fall.pdf

The King Assassination Riots, 1968

“White America killed Dr. King last night. She made a whole lot easier for a whole lot of black people today. There no longer needs to be intellectual discussions, black people know that they have to get guns. White America will live to cry that she killed Dr. King last night. It would have been better if she had killed Rap Brown and/or Stokley Carmichael, but when she killed Dr. King, she lost.”

“Stokely Carmichael warns of retaliation in the streets for murder of Dr. Martin Luther King.” AP Archive. Retrieved November 20, 2019. http://aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/61d894631db5c1587f776d70149dc306

“Despite King’s father expressing the family’s preference for nonviolence, in the 10 days following King’s death, nearly 200 cities experienced looting, arson or sniper fire, and 54 of those cities saw more than $100,000 in property damage. As Peter Levy writes in The Great Uprising: Race Riots in Urban America During the 1960s, “During Holy Week 1968, the United States experienced its greatest wave of social unrest since the Civil War.” Around 3,500 people were injured, 43 were killed and 27,000 arrested. Local and state governments, and President Lyndon Johnson, would deploy a collective total of 58,000 National Guardsmen and Army troops to assist law enforcement officers in quelling the violence.”

Boissoneault, Lorraine. “Martin Luther King Jr.’s Assassination Sparked Uprisings in Cities Across America.” Smithsonian Institution, April 4, 2018. https://smithsonianmag.com/history/martin-luther-king-jrs-assassination-sparked-uprisings-cities-across-america-180968665/

Washington, DC, 1968

“President Johnson ordered 4,000…troops into the nation’s capital tonight to try to end riotous looting, burglarizing and burning by roving bands of Negro youths. The arson and looting began yesterday after the murder of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis.”

Franklin, Ben A. “Army Troops In Capital as Negroes Riot.” The New York Times, April 6, 1968. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1968/04/06/88935658.html?pageNumber=1

“Washington exploded in massive riots that lasted four days. When it was over, 13 people were dead, over 1,000 were injured, and hundreds of buildings were burned or damaged.”

Brimelow, Ben. “Photos Show Present-Day Washington, DC Compared with the Explosive 1968 Riots That Followed Martin Luther King Jr.’s Death 50 Years Ago Today.” Business Insider, April 4, 2018. https://businessinsider.com/martin-luther-king-death-1968-riots-photos-washington-dc-compared-2018-4

Chicago, 1968

“In the first two days of rioting, police reported numerous civilian deaths but were unable to determine whether they were caused by the riots or other crimes. No official death toll was given for the tragedy, although published accounts say nine to 11 people died during the rioting. Three hundred fifty people were arrested for looting, and 162 buildings were destroyed by arson. Bulldozers moved in to clean up after the rioters, leaving behind vacant lots that remained empty three decades later.”

Coates, James. “Riots Follow Killing of Martin Luther King Jr.” Chicago Tribune, May 14, 2019. https://chicagotribune.com/nation-world/chi-chicagodays-kingriots-story-story.html.

“RAGE, RIOTS, RUIN.” Chicago Tribune, August 16, 2018. http://graphics.chicagotribune.com/riots-chicago-1968-mlk/index.html.

Baltimore, 1968

“Summary: Insurers estimate Baltimore losses at $8-10 million. Chicago reports losses of $15 million. During four days of looting, 288 liquor-related establishments were burned or looted, and 190 food stores vandalized. About 500 of more than 5,700 persons arrested remain to be tried on various charges, mostly for curfew violations. The loss of life totals six—three by fire, one in an auto accident, and two of gunshot wounds in suspected lootings. Only one person is killed by a policeman. Baltimore accounts for a quarter of all national arrests and about a seventh of all post-assassination riot deaths.”

“Baltimore ‘68 Events Timeline.” Baltimore ‘68: Riots and Rebirth. The Special Collections Department – Robert L. Bogomolny Library, University of Baltimore. Retrieved November 20, 2019. https://archives.ubalt.edu/bsr/timeline/timeline.html

“1968 Baltimore Riot Reel.” Atlanta, Georgia : WJZ-TV, April, 1968. Retrieved from Archive.org, University of Baltimore Special Collections & Archives, 2019. https://archive.org/details/68riotsTBDreel

Kansas City, 1968.

“By midnight the death toll had mounted to five, all Negroes who died of gunshot wounds.

While fires and reports of snipers came from scattered parts of the city, nearly all in the Negro district, the most severe trouble was in an area bounded roughly by Twenty-seventh and Thirty-ninth streets, extending about eight blocks in both directions from Prospect avenue.

Four Negroes were reported killed in the Thirtieth street and Prospect area, and the fifth at Thirty-first street and Park avenue.

Two guardsmen were wounded, both apparently by snipers. Two firemen and one Kansas City police officer were also reported to have been wounded by snipers. Five other persons were reported to have suffered gunshot wounds.”

Vendel, Christine, and John Shultz. “RIOTING IN CITY TAKES FIVE LIVES.” The Kansas City Star, September 18, 2005. Originally appeared Thursday, April 11, 1968, in The Kansas City Times. https://kansascity.com/latest-news/article295381/RIOTING-IN-CITY-TAKES-FIVE-LIVES.html

Detroit, 1968

“A serious disturbance was reported on Detroit’s 12th St. shortly after 1 p.m. today. Large gangs were reported on the street, stoning cares and breaking windows. Detroit police were put on an alert at 1:10 p.m. The area, the heart of Detroit’s ghetto, was the centre of last July’s burning and rioting which took the lives of 43 persons. Violence brunt out in cities across the US in the wake of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as bands of Negroes smashed windows looted stores, threw firebombs and attacked police with guns, stones, and bottles.”

McCall, Walter. “12th Street Erupts: Ghettoes react to King’s death.” The Windsor Star, April 5, 1968. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=SAguW2jnL4UC&dat=19680405&printsec=frontpage&hl=en

New York City, 1968

“Over the following few days, more than 100 cities would experience significant civil disturbance. In many cases it took National Guard troops to bring peace, and in three—Baltimore, Chicago, and Washington—it took thousands of active Army and Marine units. Strangely, however, New York City almost completely avoided violence, despite widespread expectation during the previous year that the city was due for a massive riot. This is the story of how the city avoided conflagration on that first, tense night.”

Risen, Clay. “The Night New York Avoided a Riot.” The Morning News, January 16, 2009. https://themorningnews.org/article/the-night-new-york-avoided-a-riot.

Pittsburgh, 1968

“In the days after the Rev. King’s death, demonstrators had set 505 fires, mostly in the Hill. Police made 929 arrests. Property damage surpassed $600,000.”

Mellon, Steve, and Julian Routh. “The Week the Hill Rose up: Pittsburgh Post.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 2, 2018. https://newsinteractive.post-gazette.com/the-week-the-hill-rose-up/

Cincinnati, 1968

“Violence erupted in Avondale shortly after 6:00 p.m., as a neighborhood memorial service for King was concluding. Next, Mrs. Hattie Johnson, a 36-year-old black woman, was accidentally shot by her friend, who was protecting a store from looters. Rumors spread that she had been shot by a white policeman. Fire bombings and looting spread, quickly enveloping Avondale. By 7:00 p.m., the National Guard had been called. Later that evening, Hattie Johnson died.

The second fatality was Noel Wright, a 30-year-old white graduate student at the University of Cincinnati. He was dragged from his car at Dorchester and Auburn Avenues, and beaten and stabbed to death. Lois Wright, his wife, was also beaten, but survived. Black ministers denounced the violence and immediately established a reward to find Wright’s murderers.

The city declared an immediate curfew, and police arrested 220 people that evening. By early morning of the next day, the center of the riot, Rockdale and Reading Roads, lay in ruins. Lomark Drug Store, destroyed by fire in riots the summer before, had been set ablaze again. Segal Furniture Store on Reading Road was a complete loss (Cincinnati Post, April 9, 1968, p. 4).”

Tenkotte, Paul A. “Our Rich History 1968: Riots Erupt in Cincinnati Following Assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.” NKyTribune RSS, April 11, 2018. https://nkytribune.com/2018/04/our-rich-history-1968-riots-erupt-in-cincinnati-following-assassination-of-rev-martin-luther-king-jr/

Trenton, 1968

“…African Americans were angry about being funneled into ghettos and inferior schools, about being denied jobs in a city brimming with factories and about the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., a leader they hoped would bring them salvation. Their rage spilled into the streets like blood from an open artery.

Buildings were burned and looted, stores were damaged, dozens of residents, officers and firefighters were injured and 108 people were arrested – 37 of them juveniles. And one 19-year-old black college student [Harlan “Bruce” Joseph] lay dead.”

Shea, Kevin. “50 Years Later, Has Trenton Shed the Scars of the MLK Riots?” nj, April 9, 2018. https://nj.com/mercer/2018/04/50_years_later_is_trenton_moving_past_mlk_riots.html

Wilmington, 1968

“Last April 8, black anger at the murder of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. resulted in the rioting in the slum of streets of this city. Every night since the, heavily armed patrols of white National Guardsmen have roamed in jeeps…on a mission of urban pacification.”

Franklin, Ben A. “Armed Guardsmen Still Patrol in Wilmington’s Slums, 7 Months After Riot.” The New York Times, November 17, 1968. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1968/11/17/317669852.html?pageNumber=80

Louisville, 1968

“A few weeks after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, riots broke out in cities across America. There were also riots in Louisville, but they were sparked in the aftermath of a police brutality case as well as racial tensions.

‘You saw large masses of people, they argued and they were upset and they were just basically lashing out at whatever came by,’ Young added.

Businesses suffered tremendous loss. Perhaps no one lost more, though, than Fannie Groves, whose son James was killed by police during the riots. Groves believes police mistook her 14-year-old son for someone else.

‘I heard the shots. When they shot him, I heard him scream, the last words were mama,’ she said.

James Groves, Jr. was one of two teens killed during the riots. His mother’s public plea for peace prevented, many believe, even greater loss.

‘My heart was just about gone and I said, ‘“Lord if somebody don’t try to curb these riots, it’s going to be many more mothers feeling like I’m feeling.”’

The violence did stop. But it had already prompted a trend from which the Parkland Neighborhood seemingly never recovered. Many businesses never returned to the once thriving area.”

Rose, Derrick, Lena Moore, and Andrea Ash . “50 Years after ’68 Riots, Parkland, West End Still Feel Effects.” WHAS11, May 23, 2018. https://whas11.com/article/news/local/50-years-after-68-riots-parkland-west-end-still-feel-effects/557670679

Hartford, 1969

“The most destructive of the riots Hartford would face started up on September 1st. The black community joined in the civil unrest with the Puerto Ricans when a 16 year old black teen, Dennis Jones, was shot and killed by a West Hartford police officer on August 29. Chaos ensued. The North End was destroyed as fires were ablaze, buildings looted, and shots fired in the North End. Between 8 a.m. on Tuesday and 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday, 50 people had been injured and 50 fires were set. By 8 a.m, on Wednesday, the number of people arrested had climbed to 266. By Friday, September 5, arrests had reached 500 and the Hartford jail could no longer handle these numbers. The jail in Haddam was used for the overflow. Many stores were looted several times over the first two days of riots. One liquor store was wiped clean of all alcohol and reports of snipers occurred for the first time, It was not until Monday, September 8 that Mayor Uccello lifted the state of emergency.”

Cyr, Jared. “Hartford: A Hotbed of Racism.” Hartford through Time, June 29, 2018. http://scholarscollaborative.org/Hartford/ethnic/hartford-race-riots/

Asbury Park Race Riot, 1970

“Violence broke out anew this afternoon in the streets of this resort city, which has already been shaken by two nights of rioting in the predominantly black West Side ghetto.

The state police, augmented by city forces, drove the crowd from the downtown business section with gunfire and tear gas. In an hour and a half of sporadic disturbances at least 63 persons were hurt.

Just this morning, Mayor F. Mattice had said: ‘We’re very, very fortunate it occurred where it did. It didn’t affect our business area.’”

Montgomery, Paul L. “46 SHOT IN RIOTING AT ASBURY PARK.” The New York Times, July 8, 1970. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1970/07/08/80492020.html?pageNumber=1

Jackson State Killings, 1970

“The Jackson State Killings took place at Jackson State College (now Jackson State University) on May 15, 1970, in Jackson, Mississippi. Around midnight on May 14, city and state police confronted a group of students and opened fire on them, killing two students and injuring twelve. The Jackson State Killings occurred eleven days after the more widely publicized Kent State University Shootings in Kent, Ohio eleven days earlier.”

“Jackson Police Fire on Students.” The New York Times, May 15, 1970. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1970/05/15/78127678.html?pageNumber=1

Camden, New Jersey Riots, 1969 and 1971

“The city of Camden, New Jersey was the setting for two deadly race-related riots on September 2nd, 1969, and August 20th, 1971. Both riots were in response to alleged police brutality or murder, the victims being an unidentified young black girl, who was beaten by a white police officer in 1969, and Rafael Rodriguez Gonzales, a Puerto Rican motorist who was beaten and killed by other white officers in 1971. Protesters called for the punishment of the officers responsible; however, in both instances, those responsible never faced full justice.”

Iaroslavtsev, Nicholas. “Camden, New Jersey Riots.” Black Past, July 1, 2018. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/camden-new-jersey-riots-1969-and-1971/.

“Two persons, a Negro woman and a policeman, were killed by gunfire last night as violence flared for a second night in the Negro section of this industrial city.

Early today, the Camden police department called in its Task Force, a special unity trained specifically for duty…

The police said that the shooting had apparently been the work of a sniper.”

“2 Killed in Camden Rioting; Sniper Fire Blamed.” The New York Times, September 3, 1969. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1969/09/03/88860803.html?pageNumber=1

Narvaez, Alfnozo. “1 KILLED, 2 SHOT IN CAMDEN RIOTS; Mayor Declares Emergency After 2d Night of Violence.” The New York Times, August 22, 1971. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1971/08/22/90687442.html?pageNumber=22

Attica Prison Riot, 1971

“The five-day rebellion by prisoners at the Attica Correctional Facility has been crushed, but at a terrible price. This gloomy, gray-walled prison near Buffalo will forever carry the stain of yesterday’s gruesome mass tragedy in which nine hostages and 28 convicts were killed.”

“Massacre at Attica.” The New York Times, September 14, 1971. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1971/09/14/90691410.html?pageNumber=40

“For her new book Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy, Heather Ann Thompson tracked down long-hidden files related to the tragedy at Attica — some of which have since disappeared — to tell the saga in its full horror.

The book’s many revelations include how police had removed their identification prior to the raid and how prisoners were misled into believing negotiations were ongoing at the time. Thompson reveals that the state took its actions knowing its own employees, then being held hostage, would likely be killed. She lays out how officials as high up as President Richard Nixon supported many of these actions and how in the years following the riots, the state went to extraordinary lengths to try to obscure facts and protect offenders.

The Attica riot was the culmination of a growing frustration at the time with conditions in America’s prisons, including severe overcrowding, virtual starvation, and an often complete absence of medical care.”

Getlen, Larry. “The True Story of the Attica Prison Riot.” New York Post, August 20, 2016. https://nypost.com/2016/08/20/the-true-story-of-the-attica-prison-riot/

“Unrest had been building within Attica’s walls for some time, as it was inside prisons across the country. Physical brutality, lack of access to medical treatment and poor sanitation were but a few bullet points on a long list of grievances. Pushed past the boiling point by the killing of Black Panther leader George Jackson at San Quentin Prison in late August, Attica’s inmates were driven to revolt that September morning, attempting to gain some ground from which to negotiate their demands. In order to release the hostages—whom they had taken in a burst of violence—they would require not only that their demands be met but that they receive amnesty for revolting in the first place.”

Berman, Eliza. “Attica Prison Riots: A Photographer Remembers the Chaos.” Time, September 9, 2015. https://time.com/4018635/john-shearer-attica-prison-riots/

Miami (Liberty City) Riot, 1980

“The Liberty City disturbances began last May 17, shortly after an all-white jury in Tampa acquitted four white police officers charged with beating to death Arthur McDuffie, a black insurance executive. As news of the acquittal spread, angry blacks massed in the main streets of Liberty City, burned and looted white-owned stores and attacked whites driving through the area.

The riot lasted three days, left 18 persons killed and destroyed some $80 million in property. In the 1960’s riots, the study said, the beatings and killings of whites by blacks ”occurred always as a byproduct of the disorder, not as its sole object.” In 1,893 individual racial disorders from 1964 to 1969, the study says, there was not one report of blacks rising up spontaneously to beat and kill whites as they did in Miami.

Although ‘probably as many blacks saved whites from harm as did the harming,’ the study said, the crucial factor was ‘not in the numbers but in the general air of approval that pervaded the scenes of violence.’”

Thomas, Jo. “Study Finds Miami Riot was Unlike Those of 60’s.” The New York Times, May 17, 1981. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1981/05/17/122095.html?pageNumber=28

“The Day Miami Was Rocked by Riot after Cops Cleared in McDuffie Beating.” Miami Herald, May 15, 2016. https://miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article77769522.html.

Crown Heights (Brooklyn) New York Riot, 1991

“Hasidim and blacks clashed in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn through the day and into the night yesterday as the two communities, separately and bitterly, each mourned a member killed, one in a traffic accident on Monday night and the other stabbed in the racial melee that followed. Bottles, rocks and ethnic slurs were hurled as hundreds of police officers struggled to separate the screaming, taunting groups near the headquarters of the Lubavitcher sect, at 770 Eastern Parkway.”

Kifner, John. “A Boy’s Death Ignites Clashes in Crown Heights.” The New York Times, August 21, 1991. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1991/08/21/592391.html?pageNumber=27

Rodney King (LA) Riot, 1992

“On the afternoon of April 29, 1992, a jury in Ventura County acquitted four LAPD officers of beating Rodney G. King. The incident, caught on amateur videotape, had sparked national debate about police brutality and racial injustice. The verdict stunned Los Angeles, where angry crowds gathered on street corners across the city. The flash point was a single intersection in South L.A., but it was a scene eerily repeated in many parts of the city in the hours that followed.”

Staff, LA Times. “The L.A. Riots: 25 Years Later.” Los Angeles Times, 2017. https://timelines.latimes.com/los-angeles-riots/

Chandler, Jenna, Adrian Glick Kudler, and Bianca Barragan. “Mapping the 1992 LA Uprising.” Curbed LA, April 30, 2019. https://la.curbed.com/maps/1992-los-angeles-riots-rodney-king-map

“More than 60 people [2, Asian; 28 black; 19 Latino; 14 white] lost their lives amid the looting and fires that ravaged the city over five days starting April 29, 1992. Ten were shot to death by law enforcement officials. An additional 44 people died in other homicides or incidents tied to the rioting. By year’s end, Los Angeles had 1,096 homicides, a record. 1992 remains L.A.’s deadliest year.

*Solved: Cases in which there has been an arrest or criminal filing. In two of the cases, police concluded their investigation without an arrest. Of the 36 riot-related homicides, 23 remain unsolved.”

Staff, LA Times. “Deaths during the L.A. Riots.” Los Angeles Times, April 25, 2012. https://spreadsheets.latimes.com/la-riots-deaths/

“Photographer Bart Bartholomew was on a police ride-along…word came that the Rodney King verdict was about to be announced, his escorts quickly took him back to a police station. There, Bartholomew pulled a bulletproof jacket from the trunk of his car and put it on as he heard a cop on the station’s roof yell, ‘That’s a really good idea today.’ Asked where police believed trouble might start, the officer replied, ‘A liquor store.’”

Rogers, John. “Witnesses Reflect on LA’s Rodney King Riot 25 Years Later.” AP NEWS. Associated Press, April 26, 2017. https://apnews.com/d651b334cd7f4bc582f08dc89964619e/those-caught-1992-la-riot-reflect-causes-changes

“Accusing the city government of acting like a dysfunctional family during the riots this spring, a special commission today recommended an overhaul in the way government agencies share power and a return to basics in the police department.”

Mydans, Seth. “Failures of City Blamed for Riot In Los Angeles.” The New York Times, October 22, 1992. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1992/10/22/041192.html

Mydans, Seth. “AFTER THE RIOTS; Reliving Riot Flash Point, Los Angeles Lieutenant Fights Chief.” The New York Times, May 22, 1992. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1992/05/22/269792.html?pageNumber=20

Rodney King (West Las Vegas) Riot

“A few miles and a world away from the blazing neon and flashing billboards where tourists stroll, this city’s black neighborhoods have been wracked by mob violence almost every night since the riots began in Los Angeles.

Violence has erupted on 16 of the 18 nights since April 30, as the police have battled crowds that have burned and looted buildings, shot at police cars and pulled a man from a car and beat him.

The fires have caused $6 million in damage. Among the buildings burned was the local headquarters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. One police officer was wounded by gunfire, and a man suspected of looting a burning building died in the flames.”

Johnson, Dirk. “AFTER THE RIOTS; Mob Violence Continues in Las Vegas.” The New York Times, May 19, 1992. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1992/05/19/335792.html?pageNumber=18

St. Petersburg, Florida Riot, 1996

“The fatal shooting of a motorist during a routine police traffic stop Thursday night sparked a bottle and rock-throwing riot by an estimated 200 people who set fires to businesses and vehicles, police said. Riot police armed with shields and tear gas moved into the area to protect firefighters who were forced to retreat from burning vehicles and buildings when they were confronted by the rioters. Police said the driver was shot about 5:45 p.m. EDT when his car lurched forward during a traffic stop and officers believed he was attempting to run them over. He was pronounced dead at Bayfront Medical Center. Initial reports indicate several police officers were injured in the melee in the southern, predominantly black section of the city where the shooting occurred. At least one was shot in the arm but none of the injuries was critical, police said. In the first major racial riots in St. Petersburg in decades, at least one police car was set ablaze.”

“Riots Erupt in St. Petersburg.” UPI, October 24, 1996. https://upi.com/Archives/1996/10/24/Riots-erupt-in-St-Petersburg/2607846129600/

21st Century

Cincinnati Riot, 2001

“Two days of violent protests over a Cincinnati police shooting subsided Wednesday after a night of fires and looting. Rioters looted buildings and set fire to a market in a historic area of Cincinnati late Tuesday, threw rocks and bottles at police and attacked motorists, police said. The unrest stemmed from the Saturday killing of an unarmed black man by police — the fifth African-American killed by Cincinnati police in seven months.”

“Cincinnati Riots Subside after Night of Fires, Looting.” CNN, April 11, 2001. https://cnn.com/2001/US/04/11/cincinnati.riots/index.html

Oscar Grant Oakland Protests, 2009-2011

“The shooting on New Year’s of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old black man from Oakland, California, sparked major protests against excessive deadly force used by the police. These protests began less than a week after Grant had been shot and killed by Johannes Mehserle, a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police officer. The incident had been caught on camera by four different observers, and had gone viral on YouTube. As a result, the black community in Oakland reacted swiftly. While demonstrations began peacefully, tensions would build on both sides with the police eventually resorting to tear gas and non-lethal weapons.”

Greenlaw, Marshall. “The Oscar Grant (Oakland) Protests.” Black Past, December 24, 2017. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/oscar-grant-oakland-protests-2009-2011/

Voynovskaya, Nastia. “After Oscar Grant, Oakland Artists Inspired a New Generation of Activists.” KQED, January 2, 2019. https://kqed.org/arts/13847704/after-oscar-grant-oakland-artists-inspired-a-new-generation-of-activists

Ferguson Riot and Ferguson Unrest, 2014-2015

“On August 9, 2014 Michael Brown, an 18-year old unarmed African American man, was fatally shot by a white Police Officer, Darren Wilson, in Ferguson, Missouri. Brown’s death set off protests which, as of this publication, are ongoing, as well as a long-overdue conversation on race, policing and justice. The events in Ferguson have also raised a range of human rights concerns, including the right to life, the use of lethal force by law enforcement, the right to freedom from discrimination, and the rights to freedom of expression and assembly.”

“On the Streets of America: Human Rights Abuses in Ferguson.” Amnesty International, October 23, 2014. https://amnestyusa.org/reports/on-the-streets-of-america-human-rights-abuses-in-ferguson/

Michael Brown. AP NEWS. Retrieved November 21, 2019. https://apnews.com/MichaelBrown.

“Six deaths, all involving men with connections to protests in Ferguson, Missouri, drew attention on social media and speculation in the activist community that something sinister was at play.

Deandre Joshua’s body was found inside a burned car blocks from the protest. The 20-year-old was shot in the head before the car was torched.

Darren Seals, shown on video comforting Brown’s mother that same night, met an almost identical fate two years later. The 29-year-old’s bullet-riddled body was found inside a burning car in September 2016.

Four others also died, three of them ruled suicides.

— MarShawn McCarrel of Columbus, Ohio, shot himself in February 2016 outside the front door of the Ohio Statehouse, police said. He had been active in Ferguson.

— Edward Crawford Jr., 27, fatally shot himself in May 2017 after telling acquaintances he had been distraught over personal issues, police said. A photo of Crawford firing a tear gas canister back at police during a Ferguson protest was part of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage.

— In October, 24-year-old Danye Jones was found hanging from a tree in the yard of his north St. Louis County home. His mother, Melissa McKinnies, was active in Ferguson and posted on Facebook after her son’s death, “They lynched my baby.” But the death was ruled a suicide.

— Bassem Masri, a 31-year-old Palestinian American who frequently livestreamed video of Ferguson demonstrations, was found unresponsive on a bus in November and couldn’t be revived. Toxicology results released in February showed he died of an overdose of fentanyl.”

“Clarification: Ferguson Activists-Deaths story.” AP NEWS, March 21, 2019. https://apnews.com/436251b8a58c470eb4f69099f43f2231

Baltimore Protests and Riots, 2015

“The U.S. Justice Department is looking into the case of Freddie Gray, who arrested on April 12 and died days later in a hospital after slipping into a coma, a spokeswoman said. A preliminary autopsy showed Gray died from a spinal injury. Baltimore police have identified six officers suspended over the death, which sparked outrage in the largely black city and renewed concern about U.S. law enforcement’s treatment of minorities.”

Simpson, Ian. “Crowds Protest Death of Man after Arrest by Baltimore Police.” Reuters, April 21, 2015. https://reuters.com/article/us-usa-police-baltimore/crowds-protest-death-of-man-after-arrest-by-baltimore-police-idUSKBN0NC1MC20150421.

Taylor, Alan. “Images of the Unrest in Baltimore.” The Atlantic, April 27, 2015. https://theatlantic.com/photo/2015/04/baltimore-riots-photos/391613/.

Charleston Church Massacre, 2015

“A white gunman opened fire Wednesday night at a historic black church in downtown Charleston, S.C., killing nine people before fleeing and setting off an overnight manhunt, the police said.

Eight people died at the scene, Chief Mullen said. Two people were taken to the Medical University of South Carolina, and one of them died on the way.”

Horowitz, Jason, Nick Corasaniti, and Ashley Southall. “Nine Killed in Shooting at Black Church in Charleston.” The New York Times, June 18, 2015. https://nytimes.com/2015/06/18/us/church-attacked-in-charleston-south-carolina.html.

“Six weeks after he shot and killed nine people at a Charleston church, Dylann Roof lamented in a jailhouse journal that he could no longer go to the movies or eat good food. But he still felt the massacre was ‘worth it’ because of what he perceived as the wrongs perpetrated by the black community.”

Zapotosky, Matt. “Charleston Church Shooter: ‘I Would like to Make It Crystal Clear, I Do Not Regret What I Did’.” The Washington Post, January 4, 2017. https://washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/charleston-church-shooter-i-would-like-to-make-it-crystal-clear-i-do-not-regret-what-i-did/2017/01/04/05b0061e-d1da-11e6-a783-cd3fa950f2fd_story.html.

Milwaukee Riot, 2016

“Police Chief Edward Flynn told reporters Sunday that 23-year-old Sylville Smith had been pulled over around 3:30 p.m. while driving a car that drew an officer’s suspicion. Smith and another man fled in different directions from the vehicle, which turned out to be a rental car, and the officer chased Smith. About 25 seconds passed before the officer caught up to Smith, who turned toward the officer and was holding a gun, according to Flynn. The officer then fatally shot him in the chest and arm.

More than a hundred protesters gathered near the scene of the shooting Saturday evening. Violence erupted as the night went on; six businesses were burned, and seven squad cars were damaged, Flynn said. Four officers were injured, as was a 16-year-old girl who was hit by what Flynn thought was crossfire, and 17 people were arrested—most for civil disobedience, but four for burglary.”

Patterson, Brandon E. “Riots Erupted in Milwaukee This Weekend. Here’s Why.” Mother Jones, November 9, 2017. https://motherjones.com/politics/2016/08/milwaukee-update-sylville-smith-shooting-protests/.

Charlotte Riot, 2016

“Protests turned violent for a second night in Charlotte after Tuesday’s fatal police shooting of a black man. Late Wednesday, Gov. Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency for the city and deployed the National Guard and State Highway Patrol troopers to assist local police.

One person was shot at the protest and was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, Medic said. The city initially reported that he died, but later retracted that, saying he was on life-support.

City leaders appealed for calm and promised a thorough investigation of the shooting that triggered hours of violent protest and shut down Interstate 85 on Tuesday.”

Bell, Adam, and Katherine Peralta. “Charlotte Police Protests: Governor Declares State of Emergency as Violence Erupts for Second Night.” Charlotte Observer, September 21, 2016. https://charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article103175292.html.

George Flyod Protests, 2020

“Protests first erupted Tuesday, a day after Floyd’s death in a confrontation with police captured on widely seen citizen video. On the video, Floyd can be seen pleading as Officer Derek Chauvin presses his knee against him. As minutes pass, Floyd slowly stops talking and moving. The 3rd Precinct covers the portion of south Minneapolis where Floyd was arrested.”

Sullivan, Tim and Amy Forliti. “Minneapolis Police Station Torched Amid George Floyd Protest.” ABC News, May 29, 2020. https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/george-floyd-protesters-set-minneapolis-police-station-afire-70944352.

More on Lynch Law

“EJI has documented 4084 racial terror lynchings in twelve Southern states between the end of Reconstruction in 1877 and 1950, which is at least 800 more lynchings in these states than previously reported. EJI has also documented more than 300 racial terror lynchings in other states during this time period.

Lynching in America was a form of terrorism that has contributed to a legacy of racial inequality that our nation must address more directly and concretely than we have to date. The trauma and anguish that lynching and racial violence created in this country continues to haunt us and to contaminate race relations and our criminal justice system in too many places across this country. Important work can and must be done to speak truthfully about this difficult history so that recovery and reconciliation can be achieved. We can address our painful past by acknowledging it and embracing monuments, memorials, and markers that are designed to facilitate important conversations. Education must be accompanied by acts of reconciliation, which are needed to create communities where devastating acts of racial bigotry and legacies of racial injustice can be overcome.”

Equal Justice Initiative, Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror (3d Ed., 2017). https://lynchinginamerica.eji.org/report/

Lynching in America. Equal Justice Initiative, 2017. https://lynchinginamerica.eji.org/

“1882-1968…Black…3,446”

“Lynchings: By State and Race, 1882-1968.” Originally provided by the Archives at Tuskegee Institute. Retrieved from UMKC School of Law, November 24, 2019. http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/shipp/lynchingsstate.html

“Do you know that the United States is the Only Land on Earth where human beings are BURNED AT THE STAKE?

In Four Years, 1918-1921, Twenty-Eight People Were Publicly BURNED BY AMERICAN MOBS”

“The Shame of America.” NAACP, 1922. Retrieved from History Matters, November 24, 2019. http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6786/

Also, see Ida B. Wells-Barnett’s Lynch Law in Georgia and Lynching Our National Crime above under Palmetto and Sam Hose Killings, 1899 and Springfield, Illinois Race Riot, 1908.

Wells-Barnett, Ida B. The Red Record: Tabulated Statistics and Alleged Causes of Lynching in the United States. 1895. https://gutenberg.org/files/14977/14977-h/14977-h.htm

Below see:

“Major Lynchings.” Lynchings in The United States Since 1865. Black Past. Retrieved November 24, 2019. https://blackpast.org/special-features/lynchings-united-states-1865/

The Lynching of Joe Coe, 1891

“Lynchers Under Arrest.” The New York Times, October 11, 1891. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1891/10/11/103341238.html?pageNumber=5

“Smith Died of Freight.” The New York Times, October 20, 1891. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1891/10/20/103343634.html?pageNumber=1

Henry Smith, 1893

“ANOTHER NEGRO BURNED; HENRY SMITH DIES AT THE STAKE.” The New York Times, February 2, 1893. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1893/02/02/109261243.html?pageNumber=1

Lynching of Julia and Frazier Baker, 1898

THE LAKE CITY LYNCHING. The New York Times, April 8, 1899. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1899/04/08/100438060.html?pageNumber=1

Joseph Martin Lynching, 1904

“Vengeance is Swift.” Laramie, Wyoming, August 30, 1904. https://newspapers.com/clip/1658315/lynching_1904/

Allen Brooks, 1910

Dowdy, Christopher J. “THE LYNCHING OF ALLEN BROOKS AND THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE ELKS ARCH,” Dallas Untold, 2015. https://blog.smu.edu/untolddallas/dallas1910/

Jesse Washington, 1916

Kurt Terry, “Jesse Washington Lynching,” Waco History. Retrieved November 24, 2019, https://wacohistory.org/items/show/55.

Mary Turner Lynching, 1918

AP. “Negro and Wife Lynched by Mob.” The Spokesman Review, May 20, 1918. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=TKZVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jOADAAAAIBAJ&dq=mary+turner+lynching&pg=3683,4843464&hl=en

Williams, Phillip. “Mary Turner and the Lynching Rampage of 1918 Reexamined.” MA History. MLIS, May,18 2018. https://sites.google.com/view/wiregrassrdhp/mary-turner

The Omaha Courthouse Lynching, 1919

See above, Omaha Race Riot, 1919.

Duluth Lynchings, 1920

“Duluth Lynchings Online Resources.” Minnesota Historical Society, 2003. http://mnhs.org/duluthlynchings/

Marion, Indiana Lynching, 1930

Kaplan, Fran. “An Iconic Lyncing in the North.” America’s Black Holocaust Museum. Retrieved November 24, 2019. https://abhmuseum.org/an-iconic-lynching-in-the-north/

Eyewitness to Terror, 1931

“MOB LYNCHES NEGRO IN COURT HOUSE YARD.” The New York Times, April 19, 1931. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1931/04/19/107571499.html?pageNumber=22

The Moore’s Ford Lynching, 1946

Brumback, Kate. “Court Upholds Order to Unseal Records in Brazen Lynching.” Associated Press, February 11, 2019. https://apnews.com/a60487cfe88a42f59fd5254c78f11819.

Moore’s Ford lynching GBI investigative File. Retrieved November 24, 2019. https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4359004/GBI-Moore-s-Ford-File.pdf

Emmett Till, 1955

Emmett Till Archives. Retrieved November 22, 2019. http://guides.lib.fsu.edu/Till

Charles Mack Parker, 1959

“FBI Re-Opens Mack Charles Parker Lynching.” Picayune Item, May 10, 2009. https://picayuneitem.com/2009/05/fbi-re-opens-mack-charles-parker-lynching/.

James Byrd Jr., 1998

Cardona, Claire, and AP. “Racist Killer Executed Decades after Dragging James Byrd Jr. to His Death near Jasper.” Dallas News, August 23, 2019. https://dallasnews.com/news/crime/2019/04/25/racist-killer-executed-decades-after-dragging-james-byrd-jr-to-his-death-near-jasper/.

Also, see:

Patterson, William L. “The Evidence.” We Charge Genocide: The Crime of Government Against the Negro People. Civil Rights Congress, 1951. International Publishers, 1970. Retrieved from Internet Archive, https://ia801206.us.archive.org/18/items/We-Charge-Genocide-1970/We-Charge-Genocide-1970.pdf