Chicago race riot of 1919
Part of the Red Summer and the Nadir of American race relations | |
Date | July 27 – August 3, 1919 |
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Location | Chicago, United States |
Deaths | 38 |
Part of a series on the |
Nadir of American race relations |
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The Chicago race riot of 1919 was a violent
In early 1919, the sociopolitical atmosphere of Chicago around its rapidly growing black community was one of ethnic tension caused by long-standing racism, competition among new groups, an economic slump, and the social changes engendered by
The turmoil came to a boil during a summer heat wave with the murder of the 17-year-old Eugene Williams, an African-American teenager
After the riots, Lowden convened the Chicago Commission on Race Relations, a nonpartisan, interracial committee, to investigate the causes and to propose solutions to racial tensions.[4] Their conclusions were published by the University of Chicago Press as The Negro in Chicago: A Study of Race Relations and a Race Riot.[14] U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and the U.S. Congress attempted to promote legislation and organizations to decrease racial discord in America.[5] Governor Lowden took several actions at Thompson's request to quell the riot and promote greater harmony in its aftermath.[15][16] Sections of Chicago industry were shut down for several days during and after the riots to avoid interaction among the opposing groups.[15][17] Thompson drew on his association with the riot to influence later political elections.[18] One of the most lasting effects may have been decisions in both white and black communities to seek greater racial separation.[1]
Background
Unlike
The growing African-American population settling in the South Side bordered a neighborhood of Irish Americans existing since the mid-19th century, and the two groups competed for low-end jobs and housing,[20] alongside earlier waves of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. Ethnic groups were possessive of their neighborhoods, which their young men often patrolled against outsiders. Because of agricultural problems, Southern whites also migrated to the city, about 20,000 by this period.[9] The rapid influx of migrants caused overcrowding from a lack of low-cost housing.[5]
"Earlier in 1919, there were race riots in Memphis, Tenn.; Charleston, S.C.; and Philadelphia, so his editor sent [Carl] Sandburg to take the pulse of Chicago's impoverished areas. [¶] Walking its streets, Sandburg foresaw an inevitable clash between dreams and fears. Black Southerners had come to Chicago envisioning opportunities long denied them. "A door once inscribed, 'No hope,' now says, 'There is hope,'" he wrote. [¶] But where black people saw opportunity, white Chicagoans saw a threat. "Here and there, slowly and by degrees, the line of color discrimination breaks," Sandburg wrote shortly before the [Chicago] riots.
In 1917, two summers before the Chicago riot, large and deadly race riots broke out in the expanding cities of
In the post-war period, military veterans of all groups were looking to re-enter the work force despite the post-war economic slump. Some whites resented African-American veterans. At the same time, African-American veterans exhibited greater militancy and pride serving to protect their country, in units such as the Illinois 8th Infantry. They expected to be treated as full citizens after fighting for the nation.[5] Meanwhile, younger black men rejected the deference and passivity traditional in the South, and they promoted armed self-defense for control of their neighborhoods.[23]
In Chicago, the Irish-dominated social and athletic clubs were closely tied to the political structure of the city, some acting as enforcers for politicians. As the first major group of 19th-century European immigrants to settle in the city, the Irish had established formal and informal political strength.
Riot
Longstanding racial tensions between whites and blacks exploded in five days of violence that started on July 27, 1919. On that hot summer day, on an unofficially segregated Chicago beach, a white man threw stones at Eugene Williams when he crossed the unmarked and unofficial 'color line' between the white and black sections of the 29th Street beach. Williams drowned. Tensions escalated when a white police officer prevented a black police officer from arresting the white man responsible for Williams's death,[12] but arrested a black man instead. Objections by black observers were met with violence by whites.[25] Attacks between white and black mobs erupted swiftly. At one point, a white mob threatened Provident Hospital, many of whose patients were African American. The police successfully held them off.
There were also attempts by the ethnic Irish gangs to incite Southern and Eastern European immigrant communities to violence against blacks, although they had no history of such hostility. In one instance, members of the Irish Ragen's Colts donned blackface and set fire to Lithuanian and Polish homes in the Back of the Yards in an attempt to incite this community to join them against African Americans.[26] Contrary to the violence, some cooperation also occurred, with some whites seeking to help save Eugene Williams, reporting other whites to the police, denouncing the violence, and bringing food to black communities.[1][4]
The Chicago riot lasted almost a week, ending only after the Government of Illinois deployed nearly 6,000 Illinois Army National Guard troops around the Black Belt to prevent further white attacks. The majority of the rioting, murder, and arson was committed by white ethnic groups attacking the Black Belt on the South Side, while most of the casualties and property damage were suffered by black Chicagoans. Newspaper accounts noted numerous attempts at arson. For instance, on July 31, more than 30 arson fires were started in the Black Belt before noon, while rioters stretched cables across the streets to keep out fire trucks.[27] The Chicago mayor's office was informed of a plan to burn down the black area and run its residents out of town. There were also sporadic violent attacks in other parts of the city, including the Chicago Loop.[28] Because of the rioting, 38 people died (23 African American and 15 white),[3] and another 537 were injured, two-thirds of them African American; African-American patrolman John W. Simpson was the only policeman killed in the riot.[8][29] Approximately 1,000 residents were left homeless after the fires. Many African-American families left by train during the riot, returning to their families in the South.[30]
To help restore order, Chief of Police John J. Garrity closed "all places where men congregate for other than religious purposes". Illinois Governor
Once order was restored, Lowden was urged to create a state committee to study the cause of the riots. He proposed forming a committee to write a racial code of ethics and to draw up racial boundaries for activities within the city.[15]
-
A white gang looking for African Americans during the Chicago Race Riot of 1919. This and a subsequent picture at The Crisis Magazine 1919 Vol 18 No. 6 is part of a series of the Chicago race riots of 1919.
The first pictures of the white gang chasing a victim are at[32] and [33] -
White men and boys standing
in front of a vandalized house.
Coroner's inquest
The
The rioting escalated when a white police officer refused to arrest the man who threw the stone at Williams. He instead arrested an African American on a white man's complaint of some minor offense. Anger over the arrest, coupled with Williams's death and rumors among both communities, escalated into five days of rioting. Most casualties were African Americans and most of the property damage was inflicted in African-American neighborhoods.[36] Historians noted, "South Side youth gangs, including the Hamburg Athletic Club, were later found to have been among the primary instigators of the racial violence. For weeks, in the spring and summer of 1919, they had been anticipating, even eagerly awaiting, a race riot" and, "On several occasions, they themselves had endeavored to precipitate one, and now that racial violence threatened to become generalized and unrestrained throughout Chicago, they were set to exploit the chaos."[37]
Early reports detailed injuries to police officers and a
Ramifications
The rioting impacted
Richard J. Daley was a member, and years later was elected president, of the Hamburg Athletic Club in Bridgeport. Daley served as Chicago's mayor from 1955 to 1976. In his long political career, he never confirmed or denied involvement in the riots.[7]
In 1922, six whites and six African Americans were commissioned to discover the true roots of the riots. The commission claimed that returning soldiers from World War I not receiving their original jobs and homes instigated the riots.[3]
In 1930, Mayor
President
Commemorations
Float, a public art performance conducted by Jefferson Pinder in 2019, commemorated the death by stoning of Eugene Williams, the first victim at 29th Street Beach, who accidentally had floated into the racially segregated area of Lake Michigan. In it, an interracial group of participants were arranged on the water, floating near a Chicago beach.[43]
In 2019, Eve Ewing published a collection of poetry on the Chicago Race Riots of 1919, called 1919.[44][45]
A boulder at 29th Street near the lakefront, with a plaque installed in 2009, commemorates the Race Riots. (29th Street Beach no longer exists, as land reclamation has extended the lakeshore further into the lake)[46]
The Chicago Race Riots Commemoration Project (CRR19), launched in 2019, is working to install 38 markers around the South Side to pay tribute to the 38 lives that were lost.[47] CRR19 also hosts an annual bike tour in late July that explores the history of the Chicago race riots of 1919 and the city's legacy of residential segregation.[48]
In 2021, a grave marker was erected in Lincoln Cemetery at the previously unmarked grave of teenager Eugene Williams, the first victim at 29th Street Beach, whose death touched off the days of rioting.[49][50][51]
See also
- List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States
- List of race riot deaths and other homicides in Illinois
- Buffalo supermarket shooting (2022)
- Charleston church shooting (2015)
References
- ^ a b c d Lee, William (July 19, 2019). "'Ready to Explode': How a Black Boy's Drifting Raft Triggered a Deadly Week of Riots 100 Years Ago in Chicago". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
- ^ Essig, Steven (2005). "Race Riots". The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. Chicago Historical Society.
- ^ a b c d Sandburg, Carl (2005). "The Chicago Race Riots, July 1919". The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. Chicago Historical Society.
- ^ a b c d "Editorial: Chicago's race riots of 1919 and the epilogue that resonates today". Chicago Tribune. The Editorial Board. June 19, 2019. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ a b c d e f g h i "Chicago Race Riot of 1919". Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 2007. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
- ^ "Street Battles at -Night" (PDF). The New York Times. August 3, 1919. Retrieved May 9, 2008.
- ^ a b c d Cohen, Adam; Taylor, Elizabeth (2000). "Richard J. Daley: A Separate World (page 7), excerpt from American Pharaoh: Mayor Richard J. Daley – His Battle for Chicago and the Nation". Chicago History Information. chicagohistory.info. Archived from the original on August 11, 2007. Retrieved August 26, 2007.
- ^ a b c "Homicide in Chicago 1919: The Race Riot". Northwestern University School of Law. 2004. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f g h ""Chicago and Its Eight Reasons": Walter White Considers the Causes of the 1919 Chicago Race Riot". Crisis. History Matters. October 1919. Retrieved August 27, 2007.
- ^ Loerzel, Robert (August 1, 2019). "Searching for Eugene Williams". Chicago Magazine. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
- ISBN 978-0674064119.
- ^ a b Loerzel, Robert (July 23, 2019). "Blood in the Streets". Chicago Magazine. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
- ISBN 978-0-307-45429-4.
- ^ "The Negro in Chicago: a study of race relations and a race riot". Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1922.
- ^ a b c d "Troopers Restore Order in Chicago" (PDF). The New York Times. August 2, 1919. Retrieved May 8, 2008.
- ^ a b "Street Battles At Night" (PDF). The New York Times. July 29, 1919. Retrieved May 9, 2008.
- ^ a b "Rioters in Chicago Knife Militia Captain" (PDF). The New York Times. August 3, 1919. Retrieved May 9, 2008.
- ^ a b "Thompson v. McCormicks". Time. November 3, 1930. Archived from the original on June 5, 2008. Retrieved May 2, 2008.
- ^ "Race Divisions on Public Beaches (page 1)". The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. Chicago Historical Society. 2005.
- ^ Adam Cohen and Elizabeth Taylor, "Richard J. Daley: A Separate World" (page 7), excerpt from American Pharaoh: Mayor Richard J. Daley – His Battle for Chicago and the Nation, Chicago History Information Archived August 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, accessed August 26, 2007
- ^ Grossman, Ron (July 18, 2019). "Flashback: Before Chicago erupted into race riots in 1919, Carl Sandburg reported on the fissures". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
- ISBN 978-0-8027-1575-3.
- S2CID 162970487.
- ^ Chicago Daily Tribune. Archived from the originalon October 29, 2014. Retrieved May 7, 2008.
- ^ Greenberg, David (July 12, 2020). "What We've Learned from 101 Years of American Unrest". Politico.
- ^ "Racism, Ethnicity, and White Identity". www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org.
- ^ a b c "Soldiers Rescue Negroes in Clash With Chicago Mob" (PDF). The New York Times. August 1, 1919. Retrieved May 9, 2008.
- ^ a b "28 Dead, 500 Hurt In Three-Day Race Riots In Chicago" (PDF). The New York Times. July 30, 1919. Retrieved May 9, 2008.
- ^ "ODMP memorial". The Officer Down Memorial Page, Inc. Retrieved April 24, 2009.
- ^ Lewinnek, Elaine (July 30, 2014). "On the 95th anniversary of the Chicago Race Riots". Oxford University Press. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
- ^ "Order Prevails in Chicago" (PDF). The New York Times. August 3, 1919. Retrieved May 9, 2008.
- ^ a b "Vintage: Chicago's 1919 Race Riot". July 7, 2015. Archived from the original on October 2, 2023.
- ^ a b "Extraordinary Pictures of the Chicago Race Riots of 1919". July 27, 2019.
- ^ "The Arrival of the Police".
- ^ O'Brien, Ellen and Lyle Benedict (February 2006). "1919: Race Riots". Chicago Public Library. Archived from the original on March 30, 2008. Retrieved May 7, 2007.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4299-7293-2.
- ISBN 978-0-252-06586-6.
- ^ "Patrolman John W. Simpson". The Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP).
- ^ Homicide in Chicago 1870-1930
- ^ "The Negro in Chicago: a study of race relations and a race riot". Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1922. p. 666.
- ^ "White Union Protests Stock Yard Guards" (PDF). The New York Times. August 8, 1919. Retrieved May 8, 2008.
- ^ "Indict 17 Negro Rioters" (PDF). The New York Times. August 5, 1919. Retrieved May 9, 2008.
- ^ Schimke, Elise (August 9, 2019). "A moving memorial to the 1919 race riots". Chicago Reader. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
- ^ "1919: Poems by Eve L. Ewing". National WWI Museum and Memorial. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
- ^ "1919". Zinn Education Project. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
- ^ Issa, Nader (July 26, 2019). "1919 race riots: the seminal Chicago event that many know almost nothing about". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
- ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
- ^ "5th Annual Bike Tour in Bronzeville". The Chicago Race Riot of 2019 Commemoration Project. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
- ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
- ^ "Marker coming for Black teen whose 1919 death roiled Chicago". Associated Press. June 5, 2021. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
- ^ Palmer, J. Coyden (February 29, 2020). "Half of victims of 1919 Chicago Race Riot located in unmarked graves at Lincoln Cemetery". Chicago Crusader. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
Further reading
- Bates, Jennifer. "From the Rural South to the Urban North: The Influence of Interracial Relations in Black and Tans on the 1919 Chicago Race Riot." Footnotes: A Journal of History 3 (2019): 5-24. online
- The Chicago Commission on Race Relations. The Negro in Chicago. (Chicago; University of Chicago Press, 1922).
- Coit, Jonathan S., "'Our Changed Attitude': Armed Defense and the New Negro in the 1919 Chicago Race Riot", Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era 11 (April 2012), 225–56.
- Hartfield, Claire. A few red drops: The Chicago race riot of 1919 (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018).
- ISBN 978-0-307-45429-4.
- Sandburg, Carl. The Chicago Race Riots July 1919. (New York; Harcourt, Brace & World, 1919).
- Spear, Allan. Black Chicago: The Making of a Negro Ghetto 1890–1920. (Chicago; University of Chicago Press, 1967).
- Tuttle, William. Race Riot Chicago in the Red Summer of 1919. (Urbana, Illinois; University of Illinois Press, 1970).
- Waskow, Arthur I. From Race Riot to Sit-In, 1919 and the 1960s: A Study in the Connections Between Conflict and Violence. (New York, New York; Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1966).
External links
- Chicago 1919 Race Riots at the Chicago Public Library
- Chicago Race Riot of 1919 archive from "Jazz Age Chicago" website by Scott Newman, Ph.D.
- Armstrong, Ken. "The 1919 race riots". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
- Homicide in Chicago 1870–1930 database; 1919 race riot homicides listing
- "This Boy's Death Caused Race Riot", The Chicago Defender August 30, 1919 - newspaper article with photo