1 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:05,800 Speaker 1: You're listening to American Shadows, a production of I Heart 2 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:21,200 Speaker 1: Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey. All they 3 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:27,080 Speaker 1: wanted to do was finished work. On September fourteen year 4 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:29,920 Speaker 1: old Henry and his father, both white, had their dinner 5 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:33,240 Speaker 1: and then drove downtown to their small, family owned printing business, 6 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:37,600 Speaker 1: which overlooked the Omaha Courthouse. After finishing up, they shot 7 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:39,720 Speaker 1: off the lights and were ready to leave when a 8 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:43,879 Speaker 1: commotion outside caught their attention. Father and son stood by 9 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:46,960 Speaker 1: the window on the street below. A large mob had 10 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:50,680 Speaker 1: gathered on the courthouse steps. More kept coming until there 11 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:54,560 Speaker 1: was little room to stand. Some shouted, and some gathered 12 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:58,840 Speaker 1: bricks and stones. It didn't take being in the printing 13 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:01,720 Speaker 1: business to know why the crowd had gathered. Word had 14 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:05,960 Speaker 1: traveled like fire. Inside the courthouse, a jail cell held 15 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 1: a black man named Will Brown. Due to the nature 16 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:11,759 Speaker 1: of the crime had been accused of. The angry mob 17 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:14,440 Speaker 1: had no intention of waiting for what the system called 18 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:19,600 Speaker 1: a fair trial. The crowd wanted their own justice. Three 19 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:23,080 Speaker 1: days earlier, Agnes low Back and her disabled boyfriend, Milton, 20 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:25,720 Speaker 1: both white, had been on their way home after a 21 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:28,760 Speaker 1: late movie. A man had stepped out of the Shadows 22 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:31,360 Speaker 1: and held them at gunpoint. They had robbed the couple, 23 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:34,759 Speaker 1: taking Milton's watch and money, as well as Agnes's ruby rang. 24 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:38,480 Speaker 1: Then the attacker dragged nineteen year old Agnes by the 25 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:41,720 Speaker 1: hair to an area inaccessible to Milton and dessaulted her. 26 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:45,320 Speaker 1: Both Milton and Actus told the police that this assailant 27 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 1: was black. The morning after the attack, Henry's dad had 28 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:53,360 Speaker 1: read the derogatory an inciting headline in the Omaha be 29 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 1: Fueled by the story, several members within the community began 30 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 1: looking for the suspect. A resident told police about a 31 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:03,360 Speaker 1: suspicious black man living near the scene of the attack, 32 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:07,120 Speaker 1: although it isn't clear why the informant thought the man 33 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:10,040 Speaker 1: was suspicious. Police went to the house and found a 34 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:13,880 Speaker 1: man hiding under a bed. They brought him to Agnes 35 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:17,239 Speaker 1: and Milton's home, where both identified forty one year old 36 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:20,560 Speaker 1: William Brown as the man who had attacked them. Brown 37 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 1: was arrested and taken to the jail at the county courthouse. 38 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: In the days that followed, the already brewing race war 39 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:30,480 Speaker 1: between black and white stockyard workers had reached a fever 40 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:34,760 Speaker 1: pitch after a strike for higher wages and a safer environment. 41 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:37,959 Speaker 1: The company had filled the positions with black day workers 42 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:41,200 Speaker 1: who accepted lower pay and didn't ask for better conditions. 43 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:45,880 Speaker 1: The Omaha Bee continued to publish articles that inflamed the 44 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:50,519 Speaker 1: rising tensions. Headlines that fueled emotions sold more papers after all, 45 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 1: and no emotion worked better than anger. From his family 46 00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:58,760 Speaker 1: print shop, Henry watched the crowd grow larger by the minute. 47 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:02,520 Speaker 1: By seven p m. Over five thousand people had gathered 48 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:06,640 Speaker 1: on the courthouse steps demanding Brown. Police who tried to 49 00:03:06,639 --> 00:03:11,120 Speaker 1: disband the group were assaulted greatly outnumbered, the officers eventually 50 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:14,959 Speaker 1: retreated back into the courthouse. The mayor stepped outside to 51 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:18,280 Speaker 1: try to calm the crowd down. It didn't work. They 52 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:20,560 Speaker 1: dragged him to the lampost that intended to use to 53 00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:24,400 Speaker 1: lynch Brown and hung him up instead. A rescuer cut 54 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:26,640 Speaker 1: him down just in time, and he was rushed to 55 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:30,880 Speaker 1: the hospital, where he later fully recovered, nearly killing. The 56 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: mayor did more to give the riders confidence than scare them. 57 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:38,160 Speaker 1: They used bricks and stones to break the windows. Several 58 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:41,200 Speaker 1: men climbed in through the shattered glass, saturated the floor 59 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:44,240 Speaker 1: with gasoline, and then set the building ablaze to flush 60 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 1: out the officers and Brown. Firefighters called to the scene 61 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: found the streets so thick with riders they had trouble 62 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:55,520 Speaker 1: getting to the building. Police exchanged gunfire with a sixteen 63 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:59,800 Speaker 1: year old, killing the team. Inside the building, Brown insisted 64 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 1: he was innocent to anyone who would listen. By eleven PM, 65 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:07,760 Speaker 1: the crowd had broken into the jail, overwhelmed the deputies, 66 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:11,680 Speaker 1: and dragged Brown out into the street. Henry's father knew 67 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 1: what was about to happen before he did, and the 68 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:17,719 Speaker 1: still in the dark second floor office, his father told 69 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 1: him that what he was about to witness was the 70 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 1: true horror of what people could do to one another, 71 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: that taking justice into their own hands wasn't justice at all. 72 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:31,880 Speaker 1: Henry stood riveted in place, sweating fists tight, and watched 73 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:35,919 Speaker 1: the crowd hang will Brown, and then came the gunfire. 74 00:04:36,839 --> 00:04:40,919 Speaker 1: If the news hadn't killed him, the bullets had before 75 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:43,640 Speaker 1: cutting his body down, The crowd spun him around, showing 76 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:47,160 Speaker 1: off what they'd done. Afterward, the mob cheered as they 77 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 1: dragged Brown's body behind a car. Fortunately, young Henry, now sobbing, 78 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:55,679 Speaker 1: didn't see what happened next as the riders set Brown's 79 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:58,600 Speaker 1: body on fire and dragged him through the streets once more, 80 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:03,279 Speaker 1: sick to his stomach and still weeping. Young Henry would 81 00:05:03,279 --> 00:05:06,720 Speaker 1: never forget that night and vowed he'd do something about it. 82 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:09,839 Speaker 1: He went on to serve in World War Two, and 83 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:13,680 Speaker 1: after that became an actor, winning awards for anti racism 84 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:16,960 Speaker 1: films such as Young Mr. Lincoln and Twelve Angry Men. 85 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 1: He became active in the civil rights movement, and in 86 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:23,560 Speaker 1: his later years, an interviewer asked him about that night 87 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:26,880 Speaker 1: in Omaha. The memory of it brought him to tears 88 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:30,919 Speaker 1: on national television. All those years later, the lynching of 89 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:34,680 Speaker 1: Will Brown remained the most horrendous act against humanity that 90 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:41,440 Speaker 1: Henry Fonda had ever witnessed. I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. Welcome to 91 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:56,680 Speaker 1: American Shadows. Tulsa's population seemed to grow overnight. Formerly known 92 00:05:56,720 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 1: as Indian Territory, settlers flocked to the area of the 93 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,479 Speaker 1: discovery of oil there in nineteen o one. Over the 94 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 1: next nineteen years, the population swelled to a hundred and 95 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:10,600 Speaker 1: forty thousand by nineteen twenty, when the Native American communities 96 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:14,800 Speaker 1: were removed and relocated once more. Jobs brought both white 97 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:19,159 Speaker 1: and black citizens seeking a better life, while some of 98 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:22,120 Speaker 1: the black population found employment in the stockyards or other 99 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:26,520 Speaker 1: day labor jobs. An increasing number found successes lawyers, skilled 100 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 1: labor in preachers. A wealthy Black landowner by the name 101 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:33,560 Speaker 1: of O. W. Gurley bought forty acres, which he sold 102 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:38,440 Speaker 1: only to other Black citizens. Another successful Black entrepreneur believed 103 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 1: that poorer African Americans had the best chance of success 104 00:06:41,839 --> 00:06:45,640 Speaker 1: if they pooled their resources. With an abundance of work, 105 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:49,160 Speaker 1: black citizens agreed and banded together to set up businesses 106 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:52,919 Speaker 1: and build homes in the Greenwood district. The area boasted 107 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:56,680 Speaker 1: culture and entertainment. It had its own schools, churches, and 108 00:06:56,760 --> 00:07:01,400 Speaker 1: a library. Hotels, nightclubs, movie theaters, and newspapers began to 109 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:05,720 Speaker 1: crop up in Greenwood. Many compared the construction and refinement 110 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:09,520 Speaker 1: of Greenwood Avenue to those of Chicago State Street. With 111 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:12,720 Speaker 1: such a prominent and vital community, the citizens who called 112 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:16,040 Speaker 1: at home had hopes that their numbers, success and contribution 113 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:18,920 Speaker 1: of goods and services to the city of Tulsa offered 114 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:24,520 Speaker 1: some protection against Jim Crow laws. By nineteen ten, thousand 115 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:28,800 Speaker 1: black residents lived and thrived in Greenwood, with black owned banks, 116 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 1: doctor's offices, and grocery stores. The prosperous area became known 117 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 1: as Black Wall Street. All the good fortune intimidated some 118 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:40,559 Speaker 1: of the white population. Letters filled with hate often found 119 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:44,920 Speaker 1: their way to the most successful Greenwood businesses. Racial divide 120 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:47,960 Speaker 1: had been building in Tulsa and around the nation for years. 121 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:51,280 Speaker 1: In nineteen nineteen, an iron worker was shot in the 122 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 1: back during a robbery. Before he died in the hospital 123 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:57,120 Speaker 1: twelve hours later, he told officers that the two men 124 00:07:57,160 --> 00:08:00,800 Speaker 1: who shot him were black. The shoot made headlines in 125 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:04,680 Speaker 1: the local paper the following morning. That day, three suspects 126 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:08,840 Speaker 1: were taken into custody in Greenwood. Rumors spread that vigilantes 127 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:12,640 Speaker 1: wanted the men lynched. Fifteen black men drove to the 128 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:16,160 Speaker 1: jail to check on the suspect's safety. Convinced the men 129 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 1: were well guarded, they left a few days later, on 130 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:22,840 Speaker 1: March twenty two, three black police officers were robbed and 131 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:26,680 Speaker 1: shot by two white men. The suspects were quickly captured. 132 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:31,560 Speaker 1: The arrests didn't ease tensions much. Brazen criminals shooting and 133 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:34,800 Speaker 1: robbing lawman didn't make the citizens feel any safer either. 134 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:41,040 Speaker 1: With the growing population, violent crime increased across demographics. In 135 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:45,120 Speaker 1: August of nine, Homer Nita, a white taxi driver, stopped 136 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:47,480 Speaker 1: to collect money owed to him at a local gas station. 137 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:50,920 Speaker 1: His passengers, two men and a woman, all white, beat 138 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:54,280 Speaker 1: Nita with a pistol and robbed him. They drove to 139 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:58,040 Speaker 1: an isolated location, held Nita gunpoint and forced him to 140 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:01,600 Speaker 1: beg for his life. Then they shot him and left 141 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:05,240 Speaker 1: him for dead. A passerby heard the gunshot and rushed 142 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:08,120 Speaker 1: the taxi driver to the hospital, where he later died 143 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:12,559 Speaker 1: from his injuries. The robbery and murder made the headlines, 144 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:15,640 Speaker 1: and a witness stepped forward to identify one of the suspects. 145 00:09:16,520 --> 00:09:19,640 Speaker 1: Police tracked down the woman, and before long all three 146 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:24,080 Speaker 1: passengers were arrested and pleaded not guilty. An angry mob 147 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:26,880 Speaker 1: of fifty people arrived at the jail demanding the suspects. 148 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:30,280 Speaker 1: When the sheriff refused, the group disarmed him, holding him 149 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:34,120 Speaker 1: hostage in exchange for Roy Belton, one of the accused perpetrators. 150 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:39,040 Speaker 1: The mob forced Belton into Anita's stolen taxi. They drove 151 00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:41,080 Speaker 1: to the location of the shooting and waited for the 152 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:44,559 Speaker 1: rest of the mob to arrive. Belton continued to deny 153 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:48,440 Speaker 1: any involvement. By the time they strung him up over 154 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:52,760 Speaker 1: a thousand spectators had arrived. For eleven minutes, Belton fought 155 00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:56,839 Speaker 1: for air. Finally, when he was still the mob cut 156 00:09:56,920 --> 00:10:00,920 Speaker 1: him down. No charges were pressed, leaving the people of 157 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:06,920 Speaker 1: Tulsa to believe their actions were acceptable and justified. In May, 158 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:11,600 Speaker 1: of the growing crime rate, vigilanteism and racial divide were 159 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:16,319 Speaker 1: set to collide. Dick Rowland, black, nineteen year old, liked 160 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:20,079 Speaker 1: flashy clothing and fancy dance moves, often besting his friends 161 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:22,880 Speaker 1: around town. He was also a bit of a rebel 162 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:25,679 Speaker 1: and got into trouble now and then. He dropped out 163 00:10:25,679 --> 00:10:28,880 Speaker 1: of high school in a senior year. By that year, 164 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:32,319 Speaker 1: Tulsa had become the oil capital of the world, and 165 00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:34,400 Speaker 1: with more wealth than they often knew what to do 166 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:38,560 Speaker 1: with that money got around the way Roland probably saw it. 167 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:40,960 Speaker 1: He could take advantage of the latest oil boom while 168 00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:44,360 Speaker 1: it lasted. He took up work shining shoes, and the 169 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:48,960 Speaker 1: wealthy men tipped him generously. On he took a break 170 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:53,160 Speaker 1: between clients. Bathrooms were segregated, and the nearest available black 171 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:56,240 Speaker 1: bathroom was on the top floor of the nearby Drexel building. 172 00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:00,000 Speaker 1: He entered the elevator operated by White seventeen year old 173 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:03,720 Speaker 1: Sarah Page. That's when a clerk working at a clothing 174 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:07,480 Speaker 1: store heard a woman's scream. He hurried toward the elevator 175 00:11:07,559 --> 00:11:11,720 Speaker 1: as Roland ran past him. The clerk said Page looked distressed, 176 00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:15,680 Speaker 1: assuming that Roland had attempted to assault her, he summoned 177 00:11:15,679 --> 00:11:20,400 Speaker 1: the police. The police never questioned Page. They filed a 178 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:23,200 Speaker 1: report based solely on the clerk's retelling of the events, 179 00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:26,400 Speaker 1: and left Page's name out of it. Instead of Page 180 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:31,319 Speaker 1: a statement. They interviewed potential witnesses. It soon became clear 181 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:34,000 Speaker 1: that Roland and Page knew each other. It wasn't the 182 00:11:34,040 --> 00:11:36,520 Speaker 1: first time Rowland had had to use the restroom after all. 183 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:39,959 Speaker 1: Some said the teens were friends and that Roland would 184 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:43,360 Speaker 1: never have attempted to assault her. Others suggested the two 185 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:47,680 Speaker 1: were potentially more intimate. In the end, the police determined 186 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:50,760 Speaker 1: that whatever had happened in the elevator had not been assault. 187 00:11:51,559 --> 00:11:54,360 Speaker 1: They speculated that there might have been some horseplay, or 188 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:58,120 Speaker 1: that Roland had tripped and fallen into Page, but that's 189 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:01,120 Speaker 1: not how the press report of it, despite no evidence 190 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:04,040 Speaker 1: to back it up. The headline suggested he attacked her. 191 00:12:05,280 --> 00:12:08,040 Speaker 1: The morning paper claimed Page had noticed him looking to 192 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:11,079 Speaker 1: see if anyone else was around before stepping onto the elevator. 193 00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:14,880 Speaker 1: During the attack, he scratched her face, arms, and tore 194 00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:18,520 Speaker 1: her clothing before she fought him off. She screamed, bringing 195 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:24,040 Speaker 1: the store clerk, who scared Roland away. Two officers, one 196 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:27,040 Speaker 1: white and the other black, arrested Roland at his mother's 197 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:30,640 Speaker 1: home the next day. While he admitted placing his hand 198 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:33,400 Speaker 1: on Page's arm, he insisted that he never harmed her 199 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:39,200 Speaker 1: in any way. Many white citizens became furious. Assaulting a 200 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:41,720 Speaker 1: white woman had been bad enough, but there had also 201 00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 1: been allegations of a relationship between the two. The Tribune, 202 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:50,120 Speaker 1: known for sensationalism, ran a headline one with a dangerous rumor. 203 00:12:51,520 --> 00:13:05,640 Speaker 1: According to the paper, a lynching had been planned. The 204 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:09,400 Speaker 1: officers ushered Dick Roland to his cell. If any of 205 00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:12,480 Speaker 1: the deputies had been superstitious, they might not have put 206 00:13:12,559 --> 00:13:14,920 Speaker 1: him in the same cell Roy Belton had occupied a 207 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:17,800 Speaker 1: year before. But none of the men were aware that 208 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:20,960 Speaker 1: the afternoon edition of the Tribune had started firestorm until 209 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:23,840 Speaker 1: an hour later, when the first phone call came in 210 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:26,200 Speaker 1: informing them that the paper had spurred talk on the 211 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:30,520 Speaker 1: street about a hanging. The talk was more than rumor, 212 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:33,520 Speaker 1: both the police and fire commissioner had heard that a 213 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:37,720 Speaker 1: lynch mob was forming. By six pm that night, they 214 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:41,360 Speaker 1: were proven right. A crowd had gathered outside the court house. 215 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:44,720 Speaker 1: An hour and a half later, the small crowd grew 216 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:48,640 Speaker 1: to over three hundred. Three men entered the court house 217 00:13:48,679 --> 00:13:53,120 Speaker 1: demanding to see Roland. The newly elected sheriff, Willard McCullough, 218 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:55,680 Speaker 1: told them that there would not be a lynching and 219 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:59,520 Speaker 1: promptly ordered the men to leave. They went back outside, 220 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:02,240 Speaker 1: and he all of them to strongly encourage the rest 221 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:07,439 Speaker 1: of the crowd to go home. No one left. Outnumbered 222 00:14:07,559 --> 00:14:10,800 Speaker 1: three hundred to one, the sheriff stepped back inside and 223 00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:14,640 Speaker 1: locked the doors. Determined to prevent what had happened to 224 00:14:14,679 --> 00:14:17,559 Speaker 1: Belton from happening to Roland, he sent the elevator to 225 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:20,000 Speaker 1: the top floor, making it unable to return to the 226 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:23,040 Speaker 1: first floor. Then he ordered his men to take up 227 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:27,600 Speaker 1: defensive positions around Roland. By now several hundred people had 228 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:31,160 Speaker 1: joined the mob outside, all demanding the sheriff turned Roland 229 00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:35,440 Speaker 1: over to them for justice. The growing lynch mob hadn't 230 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:39,400 Speaker 1: gone unnoticed. In Greenwood, fifty armed black men drove to 231 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:43,400 Speaker 1: the courthouse to offer assistance to the sheriff. Some reports 232 00:14:43,400 --> 00:14:47,200 Speaker 1: state that the sheriff had asked for their help. McCullough, 233 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:50,640 Speaker 1: though denied requesting assistance from the black community, thinking it 234 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:54,280 Speaker 1: would probably do more harm than good. A witness said 235 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:56,920 Speaker 1: he warned the sheriff that car loads of armed black 236 00:14:56,920 --> 00:15:00,000 Speaker 1: men would cause more trouble and to do something about it, 237 00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:05,000 Speaker 1: and McCullough did. Instead of force, he met with the men, 238 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:08,440 Speaker 1: telling them to go home. Then he turned back to 239 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:12,480 Speaker 1: the white mob, telling them the same. One angry white 240 00:15:12,520 --> 00:15:15,040 Speaker 1: man shouted that the sheriff had asked for help from 241 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:18,920 Speaker 1: the Greenwood residence. After watching the sheriff talked with the 242 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:22,280 Speaker 1: black men, hundreds of angry but yet unarmed white men 243 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:26,000 Speaker 1: headed to the nearby armory to them. If the sheriff 244 00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:29,280 Speaker 1: was talking to the black residents, then the conspiracy had 245 00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:32,640 Speaker 1: to be real. Those who were already armed stayed at 246 00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:37,600 Speaker 1: the courthouse. Major James Bell of the hundred and eighth 247 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:41,560 Speaker 1: Infantry heard about the crowd intent on stealing weapons. He 248 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:44,720 Speaker 1: called commanders in the National Guard, who in turn ordered 249 00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:49,240 Speaker 1: every available member to report at the armory. They arrived 250 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:52,680 Speaker 1: moments after the riders converged. Some of them already tugging 251 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:56,640 Speaker 1: at the bars over the windows, Bell stepped outside and 252 00:15:56,760 --> 00:15:59,800 Speaker 1: calmly informed the riders that anyone attempting to enter the 253 00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:03,360 Speaker 1: bill holding would be shot. Seeing the major in the 254 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:06,800 Speaker 1: National Guard with their weapons drawn encouraged the men to leave. 255 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:10,160 Speaker 1: The riders returned to the court house, where the crowd 256 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:14,400 Speaker 1: exceeded two thousand people. Reverends and the chief of police 257 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:18,480 Speaker 1: all tried to talk the crowd down. Instead of seeing 258 00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:21,400 Speaker 1: the men's gestures as an attempt at peace, the enraged 259 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:24,200 Speaker 1: crowd believed the reverends and the chief were taking every 260 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:28,200 Speaker 1: effort to defend and support Roland. From there, some of 261 00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:30,880 Speaker 1: the white men shouted that their leaders were showing allegiance 262 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:33,880 Speaker 1: to the black community over the welfare and concern of 263 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:38,440 Speaker 1: white citizens. Shouts of an uprising rang out along with 264 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:43,080 Speaker 1: gunfire in Greenwood. Rumors spread that white people had already 265 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:47,080 Speaker 1: stormed the courthouse. Another larger group of armed black men 266 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:51,280 Speaker 1: arrived once again, offering to help the sheriff. Their presence 267 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:54,920 Speaker 1: and continued discussions with the authorities only fueled the already 268 00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:59,160 Speaker 1: out of control white mobs conspiracies. The sheriff declined the 269 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:03,560 Speaker 1: men's help once more. Around ten thirty that night, the 270 00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:06,639 Speaker 1: Tulsa Chief of Police notified the governor but the situation 271 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:11,880 Speaker 1: was under control. But he was wrong. A rioter demanded 272 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:14,040 Speaker 1: that a black man standing near him drop his weapon, 273 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:19,240 Speaker 1: and when the man refused, a shot rang out. Although 274 00:17:19,320 --> 00:17:21,800 Speaker 1: it's speculated that the shot was fired as a warning 275 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:24,600 Speaker 1: from one or the other of the two men, it 276 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:28,080 Speaker 1: incited white rioters to open fire on the black crowd. 277 00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:32,280 Speaker 1: The two groups exchanged gunfire, and in under two minutes, 278 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:36,960 Speaker 1: ten white and two black men lay dead. Some reports 279 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:40,639 Speaker 1: speculate that some white men were deputized to hunt and 280 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:44,359 Speaker 1: kill black people. It remains unclear what official would have 281 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:48,600 Speaker 1: authorized such an order. Sheriff McCullough and his deputies were 282 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:52,359 Speaker 1: still barricaded inside the building. The reports show county police 283 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:55,879 Speaker 1: were also present. The black men retreated to their cars 284 00:17:55,920 --> 00:17:59,360 Speaker 1: and sped off toward Greenwood. Members of the white mob 285 00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:03,360 Speaker 1: chased after them, each side shooting at the other. By 286 00:18:03,359 --> 00:18:06,159 Speaker 1: eleven that night, the National Guard organized a plan to 287 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:09,720 Speaker 1: end the rioting. Guardsmen were stationed at the courthouse and 288 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:13,800 Speaker 1: police station. Since the riders now numbered in the thousands, 289 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:16,520 Speaker 1: The local chapter of the American Legion joined the rest 290 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:19,359 Speaker 1: of the Guard in patrolling the streets. Though they stayed 291 00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:22,280 Speaker 1: in the white neighborhoods, they didn't have any orders to 292 00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:26,119 Speaker 1: go into Greenwood. Black men found in or near the 293 00:18:26,119 --> 00:18:29,280 Speaker 1: white neighborhoods were taken to the Convention Hall, which acted 294 00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:33,280 Speaker 1: as a temporary detention center, while several white men remained 295 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:36,439 Speaker 1: on the courthouse steps and called for Roland's lynching. No 296 00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:39,720 Speaker 1: one stormed the courthouse and no other violence occurred there. 297 00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:44,400 Speaker 1: That can't be said of Greenwood, though just after one 298 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:47,600 Speaker 1: in the morning, riders set the first building on fire. 299 00:18:56,240 --> 00:19:00,240 Speaker 1: Everything was on fire on the southern edge of Greenwood. 300 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:04,000 Speaker 1: White mobs broke windows and tossed lit, oil soaked rags 301 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:08,199 Speaker 1: into the businesses on Archer Street, intent on burning the 302 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:11,800 Speaker 1: buildings to the ground. Riders with shotguns met fire trucks 303 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:14,959 Speaker 1: arriving at the scene and forced the engines to turn around. 304 00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:19,320 Speaker 1: Firefighters who attempted to turn on a hose were shot at, 305 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:23,800 Speaker 1: but none were injured. Other riders and cars randomly fired 306 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:26,520 Speaker 1: into businesses and homes as they sped along the streets. 307 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:30,639 Speaker 1: At one point, train passengers arriving in a nearby station 308 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:33,439 Speaker 1: had to take cover on the floor. The train cars 309 00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:37,720 Speaker 1: were riddled with bullets on both sides. More riders took 310 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:41,040 Speaker 1: to the wealthy white neighborhoods, going door to door and demanding, 311 00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:45,040 Speaker 1: often at gunpoint, that any black servants be handed over immediately. 312 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:49,879 Speaker 1: Those who refused were beaten and their property vandalized. At 313 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:52,800 Speaker 1: five in the morning, riders mistook a train whistle as 314 00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:56,399 Speaker 1: a signal to go deeper into Greenwood. They converged on 315 00:19:56,440 --> 00:20:00,240 Speaker 1: Greenwood by any means possible, on foot or car. A 316 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:03,640 Speaker 1: sniper took out one of the riders in the end, 317 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:07,560 Speaker 1: though the number of white rioters overwhelmed the black community, 318 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:10,879 Speaker 1: they swarmed the streets, taking aim at every man, woman 319 00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:15,679 Speaker 1: and child. As the black community fled, riders looted homes 320 00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:19,320 Speaker 1: and ordered any remaining residents out into the streets. Many 321 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:21,879 Speaker 1: were shot or made to walk to Pulsa and the 322 00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:26,160 Speaker 1: detention center. Rumors spread among the riders that the black 323 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:29,240 Speaker 1: residents had used a church to store weapons in caskets. 324 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:32,560 Speaker 1: They converged on the church and ransacked it, but no 325 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:37,399 Speaker 1: weapons were found. Eldris Ector's mother knew the men would 326 00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:40,159 Speaker 1: come for them next. She shouted for her daughter to 327 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:44,920 Speaker 1: wake up. Doing as her panicked mother asked, Eldoras dressed quickly. 328 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:49,080 Speaker 1: Then hand in hand, they raced out the door. People 329 00:20:49,119 --> 00:20:52,199 Speaker 1: were running and shouting. Smoke from the fire stained the 330 00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:58,399 Speaker 1: pink dawn sky. Then the planes arrived. Eldris stopped to 331 00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:01,760 Speaker 1: stare at them. Should never seen planes fly over Greenwood. 332 00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:04,880 Speaker 1: Before the sound of gunfire got her and her mother 333 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:08,040 Speaker 1: moving again. The men in the planes, what looked like 334 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:12,040 Speaker 1: a dozen or more, were shooting at them. Young and 335 00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:14,800 Speaker 1: old fell dead in the street. His families ran for 336 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:19,160 Speaker 1: their lives. Eldor saw a young girl, apparently now an orphan, 337 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:22,879 Speaker 1: run past her. Tears streamed down the small child's face. 338 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:26,080 Speaker 1: In her arms, she clutched what was probably all she 339 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:30,199 Speaker 1: had left in the world. A small dog. Riders had 340 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:34,280 Speaker 1: taken privately owned planes to fly over Greenwood. Law enforcement 341 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:36,640 Speaker 1: would later claim they had been sent out a reconnaissance 342 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:40,080 Speaker 1: mission to prevent a black uprising. El Doris heard the 343 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:44,440 Speaker 1: planes turn. They swooped around again, firing another round into 344 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:48,120 Speaker 1: the fleeing people below. Cries of grief filled the air 345 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:52,240 Speaker 1: as loved ones were gunned down. Survivors, still wearing their 346 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:55,040 Speaker 1: pajamas and robes, dropped to the ground over the bodies. 347 00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:58,760 Speaker 1: Others kept running for fear of being gunned down as well. 348 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:03,479 Speaker 1: Now separated from her parents in the chaos, Eldorus ran 349 00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:06,760 Speaker 1: for shelter in a chicken coop. She told herself this 350 00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:09,840 Speaker 1: was Judgment Day, just like she had learned in Sunday School. 351 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:13,560 Speaker 1: She also told herself that Jesus would appear at any 352 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:18,399 Speaker 1: moment and save them. Certainly, Jesus would be there any minute. 353 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:22,840 Speaker 1: Her father's arm pulled at her, dragging her from the coop. 354 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:26,520 Speaker 1: The family resumed running, joining a sea of other residents 355 00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:29,760 Speaker 1: fleeing Greenwood. Her family was one of the lucky ones. 356 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:33,760 Speaker 1: They would survive, but the scars would remain all their lives. 357 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:38,320 Speaker 1: A black doctor was shot and killed after surrendering to 358 00:22:38,359 --> 00:22:40,760 Speaker 1: a white mob who told him they were simply taking 359 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:44,159 Speaker 1: him to the detention center. A white residence standing on 360 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:48,200 Speaker 1: her porch was gunned down riders mistook a dark skinned 361 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:52,040 Speaker 1: white man for black inn shot him. During the confusion, 362 00:22:52,119 --> 00:22:54,320 Speaker 1: Sheriff mc cull and his deputies managed to get out 363 00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:57,400 Speaker 1: of the court house, taking Roland with them. They safely 364 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:02,240 Speaker 1: left town by eight a m. General Barrett finally got 365 00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:04,960 Speaker 1: official approval to send the National Guard into Greenwood. At 366 00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:08,880 Speaker 1: nine am, they exchanged gunfire with black snipers who shot 367 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:12,120 Speaker 1: at them from the church rooftop. White rioters also shot 368 00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:15,840 Speaker 1: at them. By noon, though the guardsmen had managed to 369 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:19,800 Speaker 1: stop most of the unrest and provoked any special deputy privileges. 370 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:24,880 Speaker 1: Rioters claimed to have over four thousand Greenwood residents were 371 00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:29,200 Speaker 1: taken into custody. The convention hall, theater, and baseball stadium 372 00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:33,600 Speaker 1: had been converted into detention centers to hold them. Martial 373 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:37,720 Speaker 1: law remained in effect through June three. At first, sixty 374 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:40,520 Speaker 1: eight black people and nine white people were reported to 375 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:43,959 Speaker 1: have died during the massacre, though newspapers across the country 376 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:49,159 Speaker 1: printed different totals ranging from sixty five. Later, a police 377 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:51,800 Speaker 1: officer stated that a hundred and seventy five people had died, 378 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:56,000 Speaker 1: but only five from fire. Modern estimates now put the 379 00:23:56,000 --> 00:24:00,040 Speaker 1: death toll as high as three hundred. Another hundred and 380 00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:03,680 Speaker 1: eighty three people had been seriously injured. The only black 381 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:06,760 Speaker 1: hospital had been burned down, so black patients were sent 382 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:10,520 Speaker 1: to Morningside Hospital, a white facility, and treated in the basement. 383 00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:15,840 Speaker 1: After the massacre, Pulsa established a public safety committee made 384 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:19,360 Speaker 1: up of two hundred and fifty men white men. Their 385 00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:22,919 Speaker 1: role was to protect the city from further violence. That 386 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:25,320 Speaker 1: same day, the National guards shot and killed a white 387 00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:29,280 Speaker 1: man who tried to start trouble. All told, over a 388 00:24:29,359 --> 00:24:32,040 Speaker 1: hundred and ninety businesses were destroyed, as well as a 389 00:24:32,119 --> 00:24:36,000 Speaker 1: school and several churches. Riders had looted and estimated two 390 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:39,679 Speaker 1: hundred and fifteen homes and destroyed one thousand, two hundred 391 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:45,000 Speaker 1: more ten thousand people were left on house losses exceeded 392 00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:49,240 Speaker 1: one point five million dollars over thirty two million today. 393 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:52,720 Speaker 1: The governor ordered an inquiry into the events, and a 394 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:56,960 Speaker 1: grand jury convened on June nine. The court heard testimony 395 00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:59,639 Speaker 1: from black and white witnesses for the next twelve days. 396 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:03,280 Speaker 1: In the end, the all white jury determined that the 397 00:25:03,280 --> 00:25:06,000 Speaker 1: black mobs had started the incident at that the sheriff's 398 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:10,399 Speaker 1: department was negligent in preventing it. Though eighty five people 399 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:16,440 Speaker 1: were indicted, none were ever convicted. Pulse's former mayor gave 400 00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:19,280 Speaker 1: a speech claiming the real citizens wept over such an 401 00:25:19,359 --> 00:25:22,399 Speaker 1: unspeakable crime and that the city would make good on 402 00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:27,040 Speaker 1: the damage. That winter, many of the black families still 403 00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:31,640 Speaker 1: unhoused slept in tents while they rebuilt their homes. Wealthy 404 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:35,280 Speaker 1: white developers persuaded political powers to prohibit black residents from 405 00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:39,680 Speaker 1: rebuilding in Greenwood. Their intentions were clear to force the 406 00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:42,960 Speaker 1: black community further away from white neighborhoods and take over 407 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:47,280 Speaker 1: the land for their own development. Fortunately, the Supreme Court 408 00:25:47,359 --> 00:25:51,800 Speaker 1: found the ordinance unconstitutional, but although the city had promised 409 00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:54,920 Speaker 1: to help them rebuild, most residents of Greenwood were left 410 00:25:55,000 --> 00:26:08,560 Speaker 1: with a bitter reality. The money never came. It never 411 00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:13,560 Speaker 1: seemed to end. Carlos Heard, a reporter for the Post Dispatch, 412 00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:17,720 Speaker 1: watched one horrific scene after another for an hour and 413 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:22,000 Speaker 1: a half. In July nineteen chaos ruled the town of 414 00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:26,520 Speaker 1: East St. Louis, Illinois. White rioters chased after black residence, 415 00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:30,679 Speaker 1: beating and killing them. A group of men ganged up 416 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:34,560 Speaker 1: on a lone black man. After rendering him unconscious, they've 417 00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:37,919 Speaker 1: left for their next target. A few moments later, the 418 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:41,920 Speaker 1: badly injured man came too, and, still dazed and confused, 419 00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:45,240 Speaker 1: he didn't see the well dressed white man standing behind 420 00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:49,520 Speaker 1: him holding a large stone. As the black man sat upright, 421 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:52,959 Speaker 1: the white man hurled the rock at him. Shocked by 422 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:58,080 Speaker 1: the indifferent cruelty, Heard felt helpless. Unable to stop the violence, 423 00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:01,840 Speaker 1: he used his skills to document how casually the white 424 00:27:01,840 --> 00:27:05,520 Speaker 1: men assaulted their victims. The man in the street hadn't 425 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:09,679 Speaker 1: been the only one stoned to death. Others injured and 426 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:13,280 Speaker 1: beaten begged for their lives, but there please went unheard. 427 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:17,239 Speaker 1: The white women laughed and scorned the black women who 428 00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:20,720 Speaker 1: begged for some sense of compassion as they too were 429 00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:25,720 Speaker 1: stoned and beaten. I can't imagine how Heard got through 430 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:30,479 Speaker 1: watching such atrocity, such barbaric and gut wrenching violence against 431 00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:35,120 Speaker 1: other human beings. The complete breakdown of empathy and decency 432 00:27:35,520 --> 00:27:37,600 Speaker 1: had to be a nightmare he carried for the rest 433 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:41,480 Speaker 1: of his life, and it's hard to understand why so 434 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:45,159 Speaker 1: many people could be so devoid of even the tiniest 435 00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:51,359 Speaker 1: scrap of humanity. Yet, from nineteen seventeen to ninety three, 436 00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:56,240 Speaker 1: horrific scenes like this played out across the nation. Anti 437 00:27:56,280 --> 00:28:02,480 Speaker 1: black riots and massacres occurred in Houston, Chicago, Pulsa, Charleston, Washington, 438 00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:07,160 Speaker 1: d C. At least twenty six different cities. In Florida, 439 00:28:07,359 --> 00:28:10,920 Speaker 1: the entire town of Rosewood was destroyed over racial divide 440 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:15,359 Speaker 1: during a period called the Red Summer. Nearly a hundred 441 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:19,159 Speaker 1: lynchings were recorded Black homes and businesses were reduced to ash. 442 00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:23,240 Speaker 1: Thousands were killed, tens of thousands more left un housed. 443 00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:27,640 Speaker 1: Some scholars say that the riots served as nothing more 444 00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:31,280 Speaker 1: than a cover to maim, steel and kill with impunity, 445 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:35,280 Speaker 1: A terrible thought on its own, though. The Red Summer 446 00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:38,560 Speaker 1: also had the unfortunate timing of taking place during the 447 00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:42,959 Speaker 1: KKK resurgence and the Great Migration, when African Americans were 448 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:46,760 Speaker 1: moving from poor economic locations to cities that they felt 449 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:50,520 Speaker 1: might be safer than where they had left. It also 450 00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:53,320 Speaker 1: coincided with white servicemen who had had to leave their 451 00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:56,160 Speaker 1: jobs to serve in the military, returning to find those 452 00:28:56,240 --> 00:29:00,400 Speaker 1: jobs filled by Black Americans. Drunken servicemen in d C 453 00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:05,880 Speaker 1: assaulted and lynched black citizens without provocation. Armed with rifles, 454 00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:09,520 Speaker 1: Black servicemen took to community rooftops to thwart lynch bobs 455 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:13,920 Speaker 1: from descending onto their communities. With black presidents challenging Jim 456 00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:17,480 Speaker 1: Crow laws, some white servicemen returned home, believing it was 457 00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:20,560 Speaker 1: their duty to fight a new war, but with the 458 00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:24,880 Speaker 1: industrial boom, striking union workers were often replaced with cheaper 459 00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:29,440 Speaker 1: Black American laborers. Fear over job and housing competition caused 460 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:33,240 Speaker 1: many white employees to blame the black day laborers instead 461 00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:38,920 Speaker 1: of the corporations looking to profit over everyone. Politicians didn't help. 462 00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:43,320 Speaker 1: The government sent clear messages on equality as well. When 463 00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:46,440 Speaker 1: black enlisted men returned from war, they didn't get the 464 00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:51,840 Speaker 1: same compensation or acknowledgement as their white military counterparts. The 465 00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:55,560 Speaker 1: nation became a powder keg. In each city. It took 466 00:29:55,600 --> 00:29:59,160 Speaker 1: just one death or crime committed or allegation among people 467 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:02,360 Speaker 1: of different skin colors to set off a spate of violence. 468 00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:07,000 Speaker 1: Over time, citizens felt that repeated violent crimes against them 469 00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:12,960 Speaker 1: went unnoticed and happened with impunity. White instigators believed that 470 00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:15,960 Speaker 1: the more violently they acted against the black community, the 471 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:19,320 Speaker 1: more fear they had instilled, the fear that would keep 472 00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:23,880 Speaker 1: the black community submissive, they thought. But the opposite proved true, 473 00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:29,080 Speaker 1: and history repeated itself. The suppressed and the oppressed valued 474 00:30:29,120 --> 00:30:34,200 Speaker 1: themselves even when others did not. The atrocities of the 475 00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:36,880 Speaker 1: Red Summer went on to fuel the Civil rights movement. 476 00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:53,920 Speaker 1: Change was coming. There's more to this story. Stick around 477 00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:56,200 Speaker 1: after this brief sponsor break to hear all about it. 478 00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:05,400 Speaker 1: The iconic Central Park nestled between the Upper East and 479 00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:09,240 Speaker 1: Upper West sides of Manhattan, The famous urban park spans 480 00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:12,640 Speaker 1: over a hundred and forty acres. It's the most filmed 481 00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:16,000 Speaker 1: and visited park in the United States. But in the 482 00:31:16,040 --> 00:31:20,880 Speaker 1: early eighteen hundreds, the area was called something else. Seneca Village, 483 00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:25,560 Speaker 1: White farmer's John and Elizabeth Whitehead sold three lots to 484 00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:28,360 Speaker 1: a twenty five year old shoeshiner in eighteen twenty five. 485 00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:33,040 Speaker 1: A store clerk soon purchased twelve lots. Once the African 486 00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:36,840 Speaker 1: Methodist Episcopal Zion Church was built, more African Americans bought 487 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:40,800 Speaker 1: land from the farming couple. Soon ten homes dotted the 488 00:31:40,880 --> 00:31:45,840 Speaker 1: rolling landscape, and a community was born. The area housed 489 00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:48,880 Speaker 1: the most looked down upon groups at the time, Irish 490 00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:52,600 Speaker 1: and African Americans, when two thirds were Black, one third 491 00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:56,400 Speaker 1: was Irish, and a smattering were of German scent. By 492 00:31:56,480 --> 00:32:00,280 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty, Seneca Village was a thriving community where most 493 00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:03,440 Speaker 1: of the residents owned their own homes. The nearby Hudson 494 00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:06,920 Speaker 1: Rivers supplied fresh water and fishing, and many residents kept 495 00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:11,440 Speaker 1: gardens and livestock. The majority of homes were small, roughly 496 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:15,200 Speaker 1: built the shanties. Still, it was a haven of sorts, 497 00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:18,320 Speaker 1: a place to call their own. The area was safer 498 00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:21,160 Speaker 1: than others for the residents who were told their kind 499 00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:25,560 Speaker 1: weren't welcome in other parts of Manhattan, and while other 500 00:32:25,600 --> 00:32:29,360 Speaker 1: communities were divided by race, the three groups lived in harmony. 501 00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:33,720 Speaker 1: Though multiple generations often shared a home and living conditions 502 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:36,400 Speaker 1: were tight, they were better than those in the poorer 503 00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:41,880 Speaker 1: sections of the already overcrowded city. As New York's population grew, 504 00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:45,040 Speaker 1: so did the need for more land. In the early 505 00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:48,040 Speaker 1: eighteen fifties, the city decided that a municipal park would 506 00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:52,320 Speaker 1: provide a designated area for recreation among the ever increasing buildings. 507 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:56,600 Speaker 1: People in cramped living conditions could enjoy green grass, trees, 508 00:32:56,880 --> 00:33:02,000 Speaker 1: open space, and fresh air. By eighteen fifty three, purchasing 509 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:04,800 Speaker 1: the land from the current owners had come to be difficult, 510 00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:09,280 Speaker 1: so the city used a special power, eminent domain. It 511 00:33:09,360 --> 00:33:12,160 Speaker 1: had been a tactic New York had used many times before. 512 00:33:12,800 --> 00:33:15,040 Speaker 1: It allowed the city to set what they considered a 513 00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:19,800 Speaker 1: fair price, often below market value, and then force the sale. 514 00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:24,560 Speaker 1: Though residents complained bitterly, the city refused to budge. By 515 00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:27,880 Speaker 1: the end of eighteen fifty seven, every resident had to leave. 516 00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:32,280 Speaker 1: Those who refused were evicted. The city provided no support 517 00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:36,280 Speaker 1: or assistance in relocating. Of the one thousand, six hundred 518 00:33:36,320 --> 00:33:41,680 Speaker 1: people evicted, two hundred and seventy were black. By eighteen sixty, 519 00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:46,520 Speaker 1: burial grounds were relocated, homes and businesses leveled. No trace 520 00:33:46,680 --> 00:33:52,080 Speaker 1: of Seneca Village remained except for one, the All Angels Church. 521 00:33:52,680 --> 00:33:56,480 Speaker 1: The congregation had once been multicultural, with Black, German and 522 00:33:56,560 --> 00:34:01,960 Speaker 1: Irish believers all worshiping side by side with its walls, Baptisms, weddings, 523 00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:07,560 Speaker 1: and funerals were held. Now a new congregation gathered. It's 524 00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:12,080 Speaker 1: not clear where the residents relocated or what became of them. 525 00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:14,759 Speaker 1: All that's left as an information board in Central Park 526 00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:17,200 Speaker 1: with a short description of what happened to the village, 527 00:34:17,920 --> 00:34:20,719 Speaker 1: but little is known or written about those who lived there. 528 00:34:21,640 --> 00:34:23,759 Speaker 1: The residents had lived in the sort of community where 529 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:27,600 Speaker 1: race and background brought people together rather than pushing them apart. 530 00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:33,040 Speaker 1: Today it's all but forgotten. It's often said that those 531 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:36,840 Speaker 1: who forget the past are doomed to repeat it, which 532 00:34:36,920 --> 00:34:39,680 Speaker 1: means that each of us can keep it alive by 533 00:34:39,800 --> 00:34:52,520 Speaker 1: doing something very important by remembering. American Shadows is hosted 534 00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:56,440 Speaker 1: by Lauren Vogelbaum. This episode was written by Michelle Muto, 535 00:34:56,960 --> 00:35:00,320 Speaker 1: researched by Ali Steed and produced by Miranda hawk Ggins 536 00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:04,760 Speaker 1: and Trevor Young, with executive producers Aaron Mankey, Alex Williams, 537 00:35:04,760 --> 00:35:08,120 Speaker 1: and Matt Frederick. To learn more about the show, visit 538 00:35:08,160 --> 00:35:11,640 Speaker 1: Grim and mild dot com. From more podcasts from iHeart Radio, 539 00:35:11,880 --> 00:35:15,560 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 540 00:35:15,640 --> 00:35:16,640 Speaker 1: get your podcasts.