The year 1919 was marked by widespread racial violence across the United States, a period now infamously known as the Red Summer. This era saw a horrifying pattern of white-on-black violence erupt in over three dozen cities and one rural county in Arkansas, leaving an indelible stain on American history. The term “Red Summer” was coined by civil rights activist and NAACP field secretary James Weldon Johnson, who observed the pervasive bloodshed and terror that made this one of the most violent periods targeting African Americans in the nation’s history.
From the small town of Elaine, Arkansas, to bustling metropolises like Washington, D.C., and Chicago, Illinois, hundreds of African American men, women, and children were brutalized, shot, hanged, or burned alive by white mobs. Thousands more witnessed their homes and businesses reduced to ashes, forcing many to flee and never return. This period was not an isolated incident but rather the culmination of deep-seated racial tensions that had festered for decades, exacerbated by significant social and economic shifts following World War I.
The Roots of Racial Animosity: Post-Reconstruction to the Great Migration
The groundwork for the Red Summer was laid during the collapse of Reconstruction in 1877, a period when the political and legal advancements achieved by African Americans were systematically dismantled. Voting rights were suppressed, and racial segregation was legalized, most notably by the 1896 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, which established the “separate but equal” doctrine. This legal framework of racial discrimination remained intact until the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision and the desegregation of the U.S. military after World War II.
The early 20th century witnessed the commencement of the Great Migration, a massive demographic shift where hundreds of thousands of African Americans moved from the rural South to the Northeast, Midwest, and West. This exodus was primarily driven by the relentless racial violence, including widespread lynching and targeted massacres, along with the pervasive oppression of Jim Crow laws and the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan. Figures like Ida B. Wells-Barnett emerged as courageous leaders in the fight against lynching, documenting these atrocities in works such as Southern Horrors and The Red Record. In 1909, Wells, alongside other activists including W.E.B. Du Bois and Mary Church Terrell, co-founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a pivotal organization dedicated to combating lynching, segregation, and all forms of racial injustice.
World War I, Economic Strife, and Igniting Tensions
World War I played a crucial role in intensifying these racial tensions. With European immigration curtailed and the mobilization of troops, industrial cities in the North and Midwest faced severe labor shortages. Northern manufacturers actively recruited African American workers from the South, accelerating the Great Migration. While many sought to escape poverty and discrimination, their arrival in northern cities often met with hostility from white communities, including newly arrived immigrants, who viewed them as competition for jobs and housing. African American workers, sometimes used as low-wage strikebreakers, or “scabs,” further fueled this resentment. The volatile atmosphere was worsened by the aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution, leading some officials to baselessly suspect black workers of being influenced by Bolsheviks and anarchists.
Following the war, the rapid demobilization of military personnel, coupled with the lack of a clear plan for veteran re-entry into the job market and the removal of price controls, led to unemployment and inflation. This economic instability drastically increased competition for jobs and housing, particularly impacting returning servicemen. Many white veterans resented their vacated jobs being filled, especially by African Americans, creating an explosive environment ready to ignite.
As Dr. George Edmund Haynes, director of Negro Economics for the U.S. Department of Labor, noted in 1919, “The return of the Negro soldier to civil life is one of the most delicate and difficult questions confronting the Nation, north and south.” African American soldiers, who had valiantly defended their country, often returned home only to face increased attacks, continued segregation, and profound discrimination, even within military housing.
A Chronicle of Terror: Key Events of the Red Summer of 1919
The violence of the Red Summer unfolded rapidly, leaving a trail of devastation across the nation.
Early Incidents and Activist Responses
- April 14, 1919 – Carswell Grove, Georgia: The first major race riot of the summer occurred near Millen. Six people, including two white officers and four Black men, were killed at a local Black church, which was subsequently burned down by a white mob.
- Late April, 1919 – University of Maine: Black students Roger and Samuel Courtney were brutalized by a mob of white university students, forced to tar and feather each other in a shocking display of racial hatred that went unpunished.
- May 2, 1919 – Mississippi: A large posse hunted down Benny Richards, a Black farmer, to deny him due process after he killed his ex-wife and wounded his sister-in-law.
Responding to the surge in lynchings and mob violence, NAACP leaders such as John R. Shillady, James Weldon Johnson, and Walter White organized the National Conference on Lynching in New York City on May 5-6, 1919. The conference aimed to pressure Congress to pass the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, a crucial initiative that ultimately faced strong opposition and filibustering from Southern politicians. As W.E.B. Du Bois, an NAACP official and editor of its magazine, declared in his powerful essay Returning Soldiers: “By the God of Heaven, we are cowards and jackasses if, now that the war is over, we do not marshal every ounce of our brain and brawn to fight a sterner, longer, more unbending battle against the forces of hell in our own land.”
May’s Escalation: Riots and Lynchings
- May 10, 1919 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: A riot erupted over housing issues, highlighting the increasing competition between races in northern cities.
- May 10, 1919 – Charleston, South Carolina: Over 1,000 white sailors, fueled by alcohol, went on a violent rampage, attacking Black citizens and businesses. The riot resulted in numerous injuries and three Black deaths, leading to martial law.
- May 15, 1919 – San Francisco, California: A minor riot between Black and white soldiers occurred at the Presidio, stemming from a dispute over segregated military housing, underscoring the discrimination faced by Black servicemen.
- May 15, 1919 – Vicksburg, Mississippi: Lloyd Clay was lynched and burned in the city center by 1,000 white rioters, sparked by false rumors of an attack on white women.
- May 24, 1919 – Milan, Georgia: Berry Washington was lynched by a mob led by a local Baptist minister after he protected Black teen girls from white sexual predators.
- May 29, 1919 – New London, Connecticut: A race riot involving sailors spread to New Haven, further demonstrating military racial tensions.
June’s Brutality and July’s Inferno
- June 9, 1919 – Ellisville, Mississippi: John Hartfield, accused of attacking a white woman, was hunted down, tortured, lynched, shot over 2,000 times, and his body burned before a crowd of 10,000 spectators.
- June 28, 1919 – Annapolis, Maryland: A riot between Black and white servicemen spread into the community, again triggered by perceived threats against women.
- Early July, 1919 – Longview, Texas: A white race riot resulted in at least four deaths and the destruction of the African American housing district.
- July 3, 1919 – Bisbee, Arizona: Members of the segregated 10th Cavalry Regiment, African American “Buffalo Soldiers,” were involved in a fight with a white policeman, further exposing racial friction even during celebrations of their wartime contributions.
- July 19-24, 1919 – Washington D.C.: A major riot erupted following an article alleging Black men attacked white women. White servicemen and civilians attacked Black neighborhoods, leading to four days of intense violence. Black residents fought back, leading to deaths and injuries on both sides before federal troops restored order.
- July 27 – August 3, 1919 – Chicago, Illinois: One of the most severe outbreaks began after a Black teenager, Eugene Williams, drowned in Lake Michigan after being struck by a rock thrown by a white man at a segregated beach. The white police officer’s refusal to arrest the white assailant sparked a week of widespread racial violence, resulting in 38 deaths (23 Black, 15 white), 537 injuries, and 1,000 Black families left homeless.
Later Outbreaks and the Elaine Massacre
- August 30, 1919 – Knoxville, Tennessee: A riot ignited after a white woman was murdered and a Black man was arrested. A white mob stormed the jail, and when the Black suspect was found elsewhere, they turned their rage on the Black community.
- September 28, 1919 – Omaha, Nebraska: A large mob attacked the city courthouse, lynched a Black man named Will Brown, and mutilated his body, also attempting to lynch the mayor.
- September 30 – October 1, 1919 – Elaine, Arkansas: One of the deadliest racial massacres in U.S. history occurred when white mobs, including federal troops, attacked Black sharecroppers who had organized to demand fair payments for their cotton crops. Estimates of the dead range from 100 to 200 or more African Americans, while only five white people were reported killed. This event, often suppressed from history, remains a grim testament to the violence of the Red Summer.
The Lingering Legacy of a Bloody Summer
The Red Summer of 1919, characterized by its widespread racial violence and bloodshed, served as a stark and brutal awakening for many African Americans and civil rights activists. It unequivocally demonstrated that the fight for equality and justice was far from over, even after World War I, where Black soldiers fought bravely for a nation that denied them basic human rights at home. The violence, often instigated by white mobs and rarely met with severe repercussions for the perpetrators, underscored the deep systemic racism embedded within American society.
This period, however, also galvanized the African American community and strengthened the resolve of organizations like the NAACP. The collective trauma and resistance of the Red Summer played a crucial role in shaping the civil rights movement of later decades. It highlighted the urgent need for legal protection, political representation, and an end to racial terror. The resilience shown by Black communities in the face of such overwhelming hatred became a cornerstone for future struggles, demonstrating a commitment to securing fundamental rights and dignity against seemingly insurmountable odds. The events of 1919 remain a critical, albeit painful, chapter in understanding the long and arduous journey toward racial justice in America.
