1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,040 Speaker 1: Hey, everyone, technically you're getting two days in History today 2 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:05,920 Speaker 1: because we're running two episodes from the History Vault. I 3 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:12,479 Speaker 1: hope you enjoy. Hi, Um Eves, Welcome to this Day 4 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:15,400 Speaker 1: in History Class, a show that reveals a little bit 5 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:24,640 Speaker 1: more about history day by day. The day was May tenth, 6 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:29,200 Speaker 1: eighteen forty nine, in New York City, in front of 7 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 1: the Astor Opera House. A theatrical rivalry and class tensions 8 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:35,960 Speaker 1: sparked a riot that resulted in the death of more 9 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:40,120 Speaker 1: than twenty people in the injury of many more. At 10 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:43,880 Speaker 1: the time, theaters were popular hangouts and star actors were 11 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:47,880 Speaker 1: comparable to today's celebrities. Theaters often got pretty rowdy in 12 00:00:47,920 --> 00:00:52,080 Speaker 1: New York and riots were not uncommon. American actor Edwin 13 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:55,960 Speaker 1: Forest an English actor William Charles McCready had an intense 14 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:01,160 Speaker 1: professional rivalry. Forest once called McCready's portrayal of Hamlet a 15 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 1: quote desecration of the scene, and McCready made sure that 16 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 1: Forest got lukewarm press coverage when he went overseas, and 17 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:13,480 Speaker 1: their supporters hyped up the controversy. But what amplified the 18 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:18,240 Speaker 1: rivalry even more was the class division. Many Americans denounced 19 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:21,920 Speaker 1: immigrants like the Irish, whom they disliked for bringing down 20 00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:26,440 Speaker 1: wages in the US and supposedly ruining neighborhoods. And working 21 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:29,880 Speaker 1: class New Yorkers despised the English and their haughtiness as 22 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:33,800 Speaker 1: they flaunted their wealth and status. Stifled by the richest 23 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: people in New York City and the influx of immigrants, 24 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:42,960 Speaker 1: working class American born folks felt politically disenfranchised. That frustration 25 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:47,640 Speaker 1: manifested through rampant nativism and derision of the English upper crust. 26 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:51,720 Speaker 1: The Bowery, where Forest had seen a lot of success 27 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:54,760 Speaker 1: early on in New York, was a favorite for working 28 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:59,440 Speaker 1: class people or Bowery Hites. The astor Placed Opera House 29 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 1: was on the snobby side, more welcoming to aristocratic types 30 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:06,480 Speaker 1: and the so called upper ten or the wealthiest ten 31 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:10,960 Speaker 1: thousand residents of New York City. All these factors went 32 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:13,839 Speaker 1: into the conflict that went down on May seven, when 33 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:18,280 Speaker 1: Forest and McCready each appeared in separate productions of Shakespeare's Macbeth. 34 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: They were just blocks apart, McCready at the astor Placed 35 00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:26,120 Speaker 1: Opera House and Forest at the Broadway Theater, but a 36 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:29,440 Speaker 1: bunch of working class people had bought tickets to McCready 37 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:33,360 Speaker 1: show at astor Place, the audience booed the actor and 38 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:37,400 Speaker 1: threw rotten eggs and pennies at him. McCready proceeded to 39 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:41,520 Speaker 1: pantomime to play, but once the audience started throwing chairs 40 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 1: into the orchestra and onto the stage, people began to leave, 41 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 1: and eventually the performance was called off. McCready was ready 42 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:52,799 Speaker 1: to leave America, but his supporters talked him out of it. 43 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:57,400 Speaker 1: More than forty prominent New Yorkers, like writers Washington Irving 44 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:00,960 Speaker 1: and Herman Melville, wrote a letter to mccread asking him 45 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:03,919 Speaker 1: to perform on May tenth, saying that they would make 46 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:06,679 Speaker 1: sure the show went smoothly and that he was protected. 47 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:11,800 Speaker 1: So McCready rescheduled his performance of Macbeth. Newly elected Mayor 48 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:15,600 Speaker 1: Caleb S. Woodhoul assigned the seventh Regiment of the state's 49 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:19,400 Speaker 1: militia to be stationed at Washington Square Park, fearing a 50 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:23,359 Speaker 1: riot that the police force could not handle. The seventh 51 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:26,760 Speaker 1: Regiment was previously the twenty seventh Regiment, which had been 52 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 1: deployed at the anti abolitionist riots and Flower Riot in 53 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:34,120 Speaker 1: the eighteen thirties, and on May tenth, McCready's show at 54 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:37,800 Speaker 1: Astor Place was protected by about two hundred citizens soldiers 55 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:42,320 Speaker 1: and hundreds of police. There were mounted troops and light artillery. 56 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:44,920 Speaker 1: The windows of the opera house had been boarded up 57 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:48,880 Speaker 1: in anticipation of the commotion. By the time the doors 58 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:52,120 Speaker 1: opened at seven that evening, thousands of people were gathered 59 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:56,400 Speaker 1: at Astor Place. McCready supporters had special identifying marks on 60 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:59,360 Speaker 1: the back of their tickets, but the house was oversold 61 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:03,000 Speaker 1: and people are being turned away. People trying to bombard 62 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:06,080 Speaker 1: the entrances were beaten by police, and by eight pm 63 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: the crowd was about ten thousand strong. Inside the play 64 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:14,760 Speaker 1: had started, but rowdy Boweryites had caused the actors to 65 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:18,760 Speaker 1: go into pantomime. People threw stones through the upper window 66 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:23,880 Speaker 1: from outside, smashing the chandelier. As the commotion escalated, the 67 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:27,760 Speaker 1: militia was called to the scene. McCready finished his performance 68 00:04:27,839 --> 00:04:29,719 Speaker 1: then dipped out of the back of the building in 69 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:33,839 Speaker 1: a disguise, eventually leaving the city for Boston. But the 70 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:37,120 Speaker 1: mob outside of Astra Place had gotten violent, and around 71 00:04:37,279 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 1: nine o'clock the troops fired into the crowd. Somewhere around 72 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:45,240 Speaker 1: twenty two people died during the riots and later from 73 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 1: wounds More than one hundred and fifty people were injured, 74 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 1: and about one and seventeen, mostly working class people were arrested, 75 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:56,599 Speaker 1: and the damaged opera house declined. In the wake of 76 00:04:56,640 --> 00:05:00,559 Speaker 1: the bad publicity. The next day, there was a rally 77 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:04,320 Speaker 1: in City Hall Park to protest the malicious actions. Tammany Hall. 78 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:09,679 Speaker 1: Political organizer Isaiah Renders set the following about the shootings. 79 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:13,040 Speaker 1: For what then, was it done to please the aristocracy 80 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:15,600 Speaker 1: of the city at the expense of the lives of 81 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:19,920 Speaker 1: the inoffending citizens. To please an aristocratic Englishmen backed by 82 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:23,800 Speaker 1: a few sycophantic Americans, they would shoot down their brethren 83 00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:27,160 Speaker 1: and fellow citizens rather than be deprived of the pleasure 84 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:30,880 Speaker 1: of seeing him perform. As a result of the riot, 85 00:05:31,279 --> 00:05:33,960 Speaker 1: class division in New York City had been brought to light. 86 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:37,920 Speaker 1: I'm Eve Jeff Coote, and hopefully you know a little 87 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:41,840 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. If there 88 00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:44,599 Speaker 1: are any upcoming days in history that you'd really like 89 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:46,839 Speaker 1: me to cover on the show, give us a shower 90 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:51,680 Speaker 1: on social media at t D I h C Podcast. 91 00:05:52,480 --> 00:06:01,839 Speaker 1: We'll see you here in the same place tomorrow. Hey, y'all, 92 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:04,719 Speaker 1: I'm Eves and welcome to this stand History Class, a 93 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:15,800 Speaker 1: podcast that always has history on the brain. The day 94 00:06:15,839 --> 00:06:19,960 Speaker 1: was May tenth, nineteen nineteen. A riot began when white 95 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:24,919 Speaker 1: sailors began attacking black people in Charleston, South Carolina. The 96 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:28,240 Speaker 1: Charleston Riot took place during the Red Summer, a term 97 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:32,279 Speaker 1: coined by author and activist James Weldon Johnson. The Red 98 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:34,839 Speaker 1: Summer was the period from spring to fall of nineteen 99 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:41,640 Speaker 1: nineteen when white supremacists perpetrated lynchings, riots, and massacres. During 100 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 1: World War One, thousands of black people in the rural 101 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:48,800 Speaker 1: south United States moved to cities in the North as 102 00:06:48,839 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: people who served in the military returned to their homes. 103 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:55,440 Speaker 1: After the war, tension between white and black people erupted 104 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:58,520 Speaker 1: into violence. That was on top of the fact that 105 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:02,960 Speaker 1: racism and anti violence was already alive and well in 106 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:06,400 Speaker 1: the US before the war, and labor unrest was at 107 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:10,040 Speaker 1: a high beyond the resentment that was based purely on race. 108 00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:13,239 Speaker 1: White people were resent full toward black people who worked 109 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:16,440 Speaker 1: as strike breakers while they went on strike, and since 110 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:19,280 Speaker 1: the First Red Scare was at its height, some people 111 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:23,120 Speaker 1: accused black people of being Bolshevists and anarchists for their 112 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:28,000 Speaker 1: advocacy of racial equality and involvement in social and political agitation. 113 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:31,680 Speaker 1: At the same time, black leaders like W. E. B. 114 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:36,440 Speaker 1: Du Bois encouraged black veterans to quote return fighting when 115 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:40,200 Speaker 1: they returned from fighting. As he said in an essay, 116 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:43,880 Speaker 1: the white people incited riots throughout the Red Summer, black 117 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:48,200 Speaker 1: people did arm and defend themselves. One of the early 118 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:51,400 Speaker 1: riots in the Red Summer took place in Jenkins County, Georgia, 119 00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:55,640 Speaker 1: in April. A month later, a riot broke out in Charleston, 120 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:59,480 Speaker 1: Sports City in South Carolina. The city was home to 121 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:02,840 Speaker 1: the Charles the Navy Yard. When the First World War began, 122 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:06,960 Speaker 1: the facilities and workforce at the naval yard expanded. This 123 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:11,360 Speaker 1: invigorated Charleston's economy, but when the war ended in nineteen eighteen, 124 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:15,480 Speaker 1: employment at the naval yard steadily declined. Many of the 125 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 1: sailors returning from the war passed through the naval yard. 126 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:23,360 Speaker 1: Black people made up a considerable percentage of the city's population, 127 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:27,200 Speaker 1: but that percentage was declining as they moved north in 128 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:31,240 Speaker 1: the Great Migration. The true origin of the riot is unclear, 129 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:34,600 Speaker 1: but it began on the evening of May tenth, nineteen nineteen, 130 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:38,800 Speaker 1: near the intersection of Beaufain and Charles Streets. Some accounts 131 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:41,640 Speaker 1: reported that a sailor was unhappy with whiskey he bought 132 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:44,600 Speaker 1: from a black man, while others reported that a black 133 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:47,520 Speaker 1: man had shot a white sailor, but the riot was 134 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:50,599 Speaker 1: likely sparked by a dispute between two white sailors and 135 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:53,839 Speaker 1: a black man. The sailors had passed the black man 136 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:56,720 Speaker 1: on a sidewalk, but the man did not step aside 137 00:08:56,760 --> 00:09:00,280 Speaker 1: for them, and the ensuing dispute escalated when someone fired 138 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:03,880 Speaker 1: shots in the air. As rumors spread across the city 139 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:06,440 Speaker 1: that a black man had shot a white sailor, people 140 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:09,000 Speaker 1: grabbed pool cues and balls from a pool room to 141 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:13,040 Speaker 1: use his weapons. White sailors also rated shooting galleries and 142 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:17,800 Speaker 1: grabbed rifles, pistols, and ammunition and began shooting indiscriminately at 143 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:22,119 Speaker 1: black people. Soon there was a mob of soldiers, sailors, 144 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:26,000 Speaker 1: and civilians hunting down black people. Many black people fought 145 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:30,880 Speaker 1: back against the mob. Police, provost guards and marines were 146 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:33,840 Speaker 1: sent in to quail the rioting. Though the marines did 147 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:36,040 Speaker 1: help put an end to the chaos, they did have 148 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:39,720 Speaker 1: a hand in the violence. For instance, some marines shot 149 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:43,040 Speaker 1: and stabbed Isaac Moses for not obeying their order to 150 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:46,880 Speaker 1: stop running. By the morning of May eleventh, the riot 151 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:49,960 Speaker 1: had ended. Three men died from injuries they got during 152 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:53,440 Speaker 1: the riot, and many others were seriously injured or admitted 153 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:57,920 Speaker 1: to the hospital. Mayor Tristram Hyde called for an investigation 154 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:01,000 Speaker 1: into the causes of the riot, and the Navy suspended 155 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:04,880 Speaker 1: leave for unmarried personnel. Black men were arrested for carrying 156 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:08,680 Speaker 1: concealed weapons, a few white sailors were arrested for inciting 157 00:10:08,679 --> 00:10:12,559 Speaker 1: a riot, and one white civilian was arrested in a 158 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:16,320 Speaker 1: Navy investigation into the riot. Privates Jacob Cohen and George 159 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:20,080 Speaker 1: Holliday were tried and acquitted for manslaughter, but they were 160 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:22,600 Speaker 1: found guilty of writing and both served a one year 161 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:26,839 Speaker 1: sentence in Ennaval brig Others charged were acquitted of any wrongdoing. 162 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:30,600 Speaker 1: Black man who had been injured and the Charleston Bridge 163 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:33,280 Speaker 1: of the n double a CP petitioned the Navy for 164 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:36,319 Speaker 1: compensation for the harm that had been done. The Navy 165 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:39,559 Speaker 1: refused to compensate them, though Mayor Hyde did agree to 166 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:44,080 Speaker 1: setting up some protections against future mobs. I'm Eve, Jeff Cope, 167 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:46,880 Speaker 1: and hopefully you know a little more about history today 168 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:50,439 Speaker 1: than you did yesterday. And if you have any comments 169 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:53,080 Speaker 1: are suggestions for future episodes, you can send them to 170 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:55,720 Speaker 1: us at this day at i heeart media dot com. 171 00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:58,120 Speaker 1: You can also hit us up on social media where 172 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:01,600 Speaker 1: at t d i h E Podcast on Facebook, Twitter, 173 00:11:01,640 --> 00:11:04,280 Speaker 1: and Instagram. Thanks again for listening to the show and 174 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:14,040 Speaker 1: we'll see you tomorrow. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, 175 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:16,680 Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 176 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:17,960 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.