That was 97 years ago but little has changed in the hearts of people. The Elaine Massacre was by far the deadliest racial confrontation in Arkansas history and possibly the bloodiest racial conflict in the history of the United States. [48] They were now in front of Battery D.[50], Marmaduke has his own problems in his sector on the line. (WMC) - Arkansas State Police were on the scene of a homicide investigation Tuesday night in Helena-West Helena. [53] Bledsoe's two guns were driven off, but neither side could defeat the other. [85] Walker's withdrawal occurred at about 2:00 pm. The information you have provided is great for families that lost people and is greatly needed. The findings blamed outside agitators for stirring up ignorant sharecroppers. The median age was 32 years. Though accounts of who fired the first shots are in sharp conflict, a shootout in front of the church on the night of September 30, 1919, between the armed black guards around the church and three individuals whose vehicle was parked in front of the church resulted in the death of W. A. Adkins, a white security officer for the Missouri-Pacific Railroad, and the wounding of Charles Pratt, Phillips Countys white deputy sheriff. Workers also had to buy food, clothing, household wares, tools, seed and fertilizer at the plantation commissary, which charged exorbitant interest rates. South of Price, Fagan was to attack Battery D on Hindman's Hill, while Marmaduke, supported by Walker, was to attack from the north, take Rightor's Hill, and then use the hill as an artillery position to fire on Batteries A and B. Collins, Ann V. All Hell Broke Loose: American Race Riots from the Progressive Era through World War II. Delta Cultural Center, Helena-West Helena, Arkansas. [16] Holmes and Fagan reached Clarendon on June 26. The decision by the justices was aided by two white men involved in the massacre who reversed their previous testimonies. [8] There they formed a plan to concentrate Confederate forces against Helena, although Holmes was still nervous about the proposed attack, as he was worried that it might fail. Legal disfranchisement stripped them of the vote and an ability to share in any benefits of citizenship. [4] Beginning in late April, Union (United States) forces followed up on the victory at Pea Ridge by moving into Arkansas, threatening the state capital of Little Rock, and occupying the Mississippi River town of Helena on July 12. Price was to attack the Union center, focusing on Battery C on Graveyard Hill. http://visualizingtheredsummer.com/ (accessed August 16, 2022). . See this venue in scenes from the 2004 film, "Walk the Line . After troops arrived in Elaine on the morning of October 2, 1919, the white mobs began to depart the area and return to their homes. [17] Price's advance continued to be slowed by the terrain and weather, to the annoyance of Holmes, who rightly believed that the delay had prevented any remaining chance of the movement being a surprise. Arkansas governor Charles Hillman Brough told a St. Louis, Missouri, audience during the war that there existed no twilight zone in American patriotism and called Wisconsin senator Robert LaFollete, who opposed the war, a Bolshevik leader. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The converging attack would be difficult, and the generals interpreted Holmes' order to begin the attack at "daylight" differently. [7], On June 9, Holmes learned that the strength of the Union forces in Helena was about 3,000 or 4,000 men, and decided against an attack. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. More controversial is the view that the military participated in the murder of blacks. Americans have yet to reckon with this horrible past. Helena is the eastern portion of HelenaWest Helena, Arkansas, a city in Phillips County, Arkansas. New York: Anchor Books, 1967. Brough, who had ridden on the train with the troops and accompanied them on a march to the Hoop Spur area. Bearden, Russell E. "Arkansas' Worst Disaster: The Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927." Arkansas Review: A Journal of Delta Studies 34 (August 2003): 79-97. [21] Walker lost only 12 men; historian Mark Christ attributes this to the weakness of his attack. They still believe non-whites are a threat to their way of life. But World War I brought changes to the Delta, as it did in Northern urban centers. The descendants of the massacre have begun to organize to make their stories heard. [98] The Confederate repulse at Helena had preserved the Union bridgehead in eastern Arkansas, and had parried an attempt to break Union control of the Mississippi River. For every 100 females, there were 83.3 males. [78] Including the men of the 37th Arkansas, about 250 Confederates surrendered in Fagan's sector. [93][94] The battle also destroyed any positive relationships remaining between Holmes and Price,[95] with the former believing that the latter should have reinforced Fagan. McCool, B. Boren. Both Holmes and Marmaduke accused Walker of dereliction of duty. Peacock, Leslie Newell. [18] The Confederate columns finally united on July 3,[19] and that day began the final movement towards Helena. [7], Helena built a reproduction of Fort Curtis in 2012 that is free to the public. America cannot address the inequality, poverty, inadequate education, the racially biased criminal justice system, and the limited life chances of black people that define contemporary society until the nation confronts and acknowledges this history. On September 29, 2019, a memorial to those who died during the massacre was dedicated in downtown Helena-West Helena. On November 5, 2019, the Elaine Twelve were memorialized on the Arkansas Civil Rights Heritage Trail in Little Rock. Police say that Borum was . [78] About 100 men remained behind on the hill, pinned down by Union fire. Price commanded the Confederate forces during the campaign, as Holmes had fallen ill.[100] Events during this campaign worsened the split between Marmaduke and Walker, and the former killed the latter in a duel on September 6. [13] Rains and high stream levels slowed Price's approach,[14] and though Marmaduke's men reached Switzer's on time, the infantry was delayed at the crossing of the Cache River. [46] Meanwhile, Fagan's men attacked the second Union line of works. Elaine sits in Phillips County, on one of the many bends in the Mississippi, roughly 95 miles southwest of Memphis. [88] The unit had not completed formation at the time of the battle and was poorly trained, so it had been positioned in an area where it was unlikely to be directly engaged. Creating an account gives you access to all these features. Further Deep South states seceded early in the next year, forming the Confederate States of America. Jackson: University and College Press of Mississippi, 1972. Sandy Diggs or Toby Diggs was the name father and son, Im trying to find what happened to them. Race, Labor, and Violence in the Delta: Essays to Mark the Centennial of the Elaine Massacre. Hundreds of black citizens were killed in Elaine, Ark., a century ago this week. Once there, Holmes provided further orders for the advance: Walker was to screen Fagan's movement to Helena with part of his command, while Price continued on to Helena from Switzer's. [4] 100 Rock Street Lancaster, Guy, ed. 1808-11-10 Osage Treaty / Treaty of Fort Clark, Osage Nation cedes territory in Missouri and Arkansas to the US. The Elaine Massacre and Arkansas: A Century of Atrocity and Resistance, 18191919. [43] Meanwhile, on the Lower Little Rock road, Brooks ran into trouble, taking fire from Battery K, 1st Missouri Light Artillery Regiment and Tyler. [Editors note: A professor at UA Little Rock is working to compile such a list.]. [56] Historian Robert E. Shalhope wrote that the Confederate attacks were repulsed "perhaps less by the powerful Union entrenchments than by their own poorly co-ordinated attack". In previous months, racial conflict had occurred in numerous cities in America, including Washington DC; Chicago, Illinois; Knoxville, Tennessee; and Indianapolis, Indiana. After hiding for two days in the woods, the Colemans returned home to find dead bodies of women and children scattered about their community. [4] After, a loss of rail service in early 2015, a successful effort was launched by the Helena-West Helena/Phillips County Port Authority to have freight service restored. Colonel Jencks sent all of the white women and children to Helena by train, ordered the immediate disarming of everyone and authorized the killing of black insurgents who failed to disarm. Ferguson, Bessie. Enraged citizens fired at the bodies of the dead negroes as they rode out of Helena toward Elaine.. The few who made it close to Fort Curtis were easily repulsed. The city was a Union supply depot during the American Civil War, and the Battle of Helena (July 4, 1863) was a futile attempt by the Confederates to capture it. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2020. When she came back to her neighborhood, a plantation manager, Billy Archdale, told her if she did not leave, he would kill her, burn her up, and no one would know where she was. Most of those who survived found their homes emptied of possessions that appeared in white peoples homes. The Malco theater in Helena has served as both a place to see a movie and as a movie location in Arkansas. A jury convicted 12 black men in the murders of three white men, even though two of the deaths had occurred from white people accidentally shooting each other in a frenzy. To Those Known and Unknown: The Elaine Massacre Memorial. Arkansas Times, August 2019, pp. As for me, I have a timeline of ten years, 1910 to 1920, in the Delta of Bogy Township, Jefferson, Arkansas, just below Elaine, Arkansas. They stole Wares cow, two mules, one horse, a farm wagon, his Ford car and various household goods. The community, originally settled in 1797 and first called Monticello and then St. Francis, grew around a warehouse built for barge shipping. [60] The failure of the attacks on Batteries A and D allowed those positions to fire on Price's men, and Tyler and Fort Curtis added artillery fire as well;[61] Tyler had moved to a different location that allowed for better fire on Graveyard Hill after suppressing Brooks' men. Elaine Race Massacre: Red Summer in Arkansas. Colonel Jenckss report of his mission supported this view, claiming only two black people and one of his corporals had died. During this Red Scare, the threat of Bolshevism seemed to be everywhere: not only in the labor strikes led by the radical Industrial Workers of the World but also in the cotton fields of Arkansas. Hostility toward him was so great from local white residents that, out of fear for his life, he was said to sleep at a different black familys house every night during the trials. Authorities say Wallace and other police officers were looking for Howard, who was wanted on charges in connection to a shooting in Helena-West Helena about a week ago. In fact, local police were complicit in the killing of untold numbers of African-Americans. Pop. The descendants of the wealthier white perpetrators, they insist, have profited, and continue to do so, from the suffering and loss that their families endured in 1919. I have been trying to close a chapter in my family history. Men and women migrated to Northern factories or joined the military, creating a labor shortage in the cotton fields and lumber mills. 1861-02-12 State troops seize US munitions in . In Phillips County, this struggle directly challenged planter dominance. As you know, our black history is very limited in some areas. New York: Pegasus Books, 2020. Salomon would make many of the decisions in the upcoming battle. The Arkansas Race Riot. N.p. Additional support provided by the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation Inc. The troops were aided by seven machine guns. She was able to go one way. The Delta city has been awarded a $1 million grant speci Black sharecroppers were often exploited in their efforts to collect payment for their cotton crops. From 1906 to 1946, Helena was a terminal point on the former Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad, which provided passenger and freight service to Joplin, Missouri. Trauma and Repair: Confronting Segregation and Violence in America. It is impossible to establish an accurate death toll. [45], Price's attack had been delayed. According to several accounts from white witnesses, both vigilantes and the troops committed acts of barbarism. About 38.4% of families and 41.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 54.9% of those under age 18 and 24.1% of those age 65 or over. In 2 U.S. Cities Haunted by Race Massacres, Facing the Past Is Painful and Divisive. NPR, December 11, 2022. https://www.npr.org/2022/12/11/1137090651/elaine-massacre-tulsa-race-riot (accessed December 12, 2022). The Underlying Causes of the Elaine Riot of 1919. Arkansas Historical Quarterly 20 (Spring 1961): 95104. [42] The Confederates came under fire from the 29th Iowa Infantry Regiment, which had been sent to reinforce the position at Rightor's Hill, and became disorganized. The trials were a joke. All the white people had to do was stay away from the church while the meeting was going on. Honor or memorial gifts are an everlasting way to pay tribute to someone who has touched your life. Helena was defended by about 4,100 Union troops led by Major General Benjamin Prentiss, manning one fort and four batteries. A Rural Town Confronts Its Buried History of Mass Killings of Black Americans. The Guardian, August 18, 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/18/a-rural-town-confronts-its-buried-history-of-mass-killings-of-black-americans (accessed February 22, 2023). She had been driven from her home in Memphis to Chicago because of her activism. News of the shooting quickly reached the county seat of Helena. Corrections? The perpetrators suppressed coverage of the events, and the victims, terrified black families, had no one to turn for help. [52] The two Union cavalry regiments were holding a position behind a levee. [44] Brooks' men became disorganized and did not reform until 8:00 am. And heres our email: letters@nytimes.com. VHS Documentary. From Race Riot to Sit-in: 1919 to the 1960s. #7 of 8 things to do in Helena Historic Sites Write a review About Suggested duration 2-3 hours Suggest edits to improve what we show. He made no motion for a change of venue, nor did he challenge a single prospective juror, taking the first twelve called. On September 10, Union troops took Little Rock. Selecting a player's name will bring up his statistics page and selecting a column title (Birthplace, Debut Year, Final Year) will allow you to re-sort the data. My anger comes from this being hidden/erased from history like the lives that were taken that day. [84] Marmaduke received orders to withdraw at about 11:00 am, but being angry at Walker over Walker's failure to support his attack and believing that Walker faced only a small force, decided against informing Walker of his retreat. The Union guns concentrated on this attack and inflicted heavy casualties on it. Differing interpretations of Holmes' order to attack at daylight resulted in Brigadier General James F. Fagan's troops attacking Battery D unsupported, and Major General Sterling Price's attack against the Union center was made after Fagan's had largely fizzled out. Pascal, Olivia. Ellis, Mark. But officials have not released exactly what happened. Despite dawn beginning to be visible in the sky, Price misunderstood Holmes' order to attack at daylight and held back his troops, until Holmes came over to explain his orders. For additional information: Jones began to raise money in the black community in Little Rock for the defense of the Elaine Twelve, as the convicted men came to be known. On November 5, 2019, the Elaine Twelve were memorialized on the Arkansas Civil Rights Heritage Trail in Little Rock. [34] To protect Fagan's flank, Brooks' men were sent up the Lower Little Rock Road at around 1:30 am;[35] the detachment opened the battle in the early dawn by clashing with Union pickets. Washington is where we met. During the 1910 census, my great-great-great-grandfather was listed. [51] His dismounted cavalrymen were pushed back by the 29th Iowa and part of the 36th Iowa Infantry Regiment, and his flank was threatened by the 5th Kansas Cavalry Regiment and the 1st Indiana Cavalry Regiment, which were commanded by Powell Clayton. This was a . One African-American, William Pickens, described the region as the American Congo. Elaine, though an isolated plantation region, was part of the broader social upheaval following World War I that came in the form of massive strikes and racial confrontations, both at home and abroad. [70] Fagan's lines had been badly thinned by not only Union fire but also heat and exhaustion. On September 29, 2019, a memorial to those who died during the massacre was dedicated in downtown Helena-West Helena. They seek redress, not in the form of apologies, but in recognition of the harm done, and of the way generations continue to suffer the consequences. Black guards returned the fire, killing a white agent of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. [36] Brooks' Confederates also encountered a camp of African-American refugees. In Little Rock and at the headquarters of the NAACP in New York, efforts began to fight the death sentences handed down in Helena, led in part by Scipio Africanus Jones, the leading black attorney of his era in Arkansas, and Edgar L. McHaney. My sadness comes from the senseless murder of human beingsso many that there isnt an exact number, which is wrong on so many levels. The conflict began on the night of September 30, 1919, when approximately 100 African Americans, mostly sharecroppers on the plantations of white landowners, attended a meeting of the Progressive Farmers and Household Union of America at a church in Hoop Spur (Phillips County), three miles north of Elaine. Unions such as the Progressive Farmers represented a threat not only to the tenet of white supremacy but also to the basic concepts of capitalism. Special thanks to the Department of Arkansas Heritage. Mulder, Brandon. [54] Walker's men had encountered the felled trees across their path of advance, and though he threw forward a skirmish line, most of his men remained back at the barricades. The City of Helena is located in Phillips County in the State of Arkansas. Although the posse encountered minimal resistance from the black residents of the area around Elaine, the fear of African Americans, who outnumbered whites in this area of Phillips County by a ratio of ten to one, led an estimated 500 to 1,000 armed white peoplemostly from the surrounding Arkansas counties but also from across the river in Mississippito travel to Elaine to put down what was characterized by them as an insurrection. On October 1, Phillips County authorities sent three telegrams to Gov. Take a look at these 10 abandoned places in Arkansas. Neuman, Scott. Updates? HELENA-WEST HELENA, Ark. Blood in Their Eyes: The Elaine Massacre of 1919. Women received domestic allotment checks from men in the military, giving them cash beyond the control of planters. The murders, thefts, violence and terror continued long after the troops had gone and the convicted men had been released. There she interviewed the 12 prisoners accused of murder, their wives, and many others, publishing her findings in a 1920 pamphlet. The death toll was listed at 23, and many others were seriously injured. There, in the early fall of 1919, a different struggle for democracy was taking place. [80] Between 10:30 and 11:00 am, Fagan received orders to retreat from before Battery D. Part of the 37th Arkansas Infantry Regiment was trapped during the retreat and was captured. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1997. (Students Tapping Academic Resources for Success) Academy (alternative school), This page was last edited on 26 April 2023, at 19:58. Richard Hall asked my father to come to Mississippi to visit him. In a final act of disrespect, they tied her dress over her head and left her body on the side of the road for several days. Local authorities blocked press coverage. Believing that the Confederates were preparing to attack again, Prentiss requested reinforcements, which arrived from Memphis, Tennessee, on July 6. He began moving towards Jacksonport and met Major General Sterling Price and Brigadier General John S. Marmaduke on June 18. As of the census[12] of 2000, there were 6,323 people, 2,312 households, and 1,542 families residing in Helena. [22] Although Prentiss was in command of the general district around Helena, the garrison itself was operationally commanded by Brigadier General Frederick Salomon, the commander of the division. White wrote in the Chicago Daily News on October 19, 1919, that the belief there had been an insurrection was only a figment of the imagination of Arkansas whites and not based on fact. He said, White men in Helena told me that more than one hundred Negroes were killed. Famed journalist and anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells-Barnett secretly interviewed some of the prisoners in Helena, from which she produced the pamphlet The Arkansas Race Riot. This work also challenged allegations of an insurrection and documented the torture and other depredations the prisoners had suffered. On Oct. 7, Colonel Jencks declared the insurrection over and withdrew his troops. Soon, word spread that blacks were attacking whites in Elaine. These are the same people who dont understand why African Americans choose Black Lives Matter as a valid starting point. He was elderly and handicapped, and ran too slowly. The account that best captured the perspective of the sharecroppers came from Ida Wells Barnett, the legendary anti-lynching crusader and journalist. Since Prentiss was aware of a coming attack, the Confederates would not have the advantage of surprise. [82] Either around the time that Battery C fell to Price's attack[83] or as Fagan's withdrawal was ending, Brooks placed a 6-pounder field gun on a hilltop and began to fire on the Union positions, but Battery K, 1st Missouri Light Artillery and Tyler drove it off. Fort Curtis 12 Points of Interest & Landmarks By Altekameraden [66] Many men from the 7th Missouri Infantry Regiment (Lewis') were captured at this time. The trial had occurred in a setting dominated by a mob spirit, violating the prisoners right to due process. Animal rescue groups from across the country are converging on the Humane Society of the Delta in Helena-West Helena, Arkansas, faced with the challenge of evaluating . As racialized violence spread in both Northern and Southern cities during the Red Summer of 1919, Delta planters were paying close attention. The fear is instilled by people who continue to voice the hatred of slave owners of 257 years ago and they dont see it as the source of belligerent race rations. Livingston, Kelly, and Madison Peek. Founded in 1871, the Helena World is one of Arkansas' oldest newspapers. [31], On July 3, Holmes, Price, Walker, Fagan, and Marmaduke gathered to formulate the plan of assault. McWhirter, Cameron. Over 7,500 Confederate troops led by Lieutenant General Theophilus Holmes attempted to capture Helena in hopes of relieving some of the pressure on the Confederate army besieged in Vicksburg, Mississippi. [25] Prentiss' men had advantages over the Confederates through their defenses, batteries, and naval support. Among the musicians who regularly visited and performed in the area at that time were Robert Johnson, Johnny Shines, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Robert Nighthawk, Howlin' Wolf, Elmore James, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Memphis Slim and Roosevelt Sykes. He returned to Little Rock the next day and told a press conference, The situation at Elaine has been well handled and is absolutely under control. How could anyone treat people with such horrendous disregard and violence? In Helena, the age distribution included 32.5% of the population under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 22.1% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. 1831-12-25 Louisiana & Arkansas are first states to observe Christmas as holiday. This article is about the U.S. city. [69][b], With Price's men shredded, Fagan's men exhausted, and the cavalry not making any progress, Holmes decided to order a withdrawal at 10:30 am. One idea was an attack on Helena. Gov. [24][28] Prentiss also cancelled a planned celebration of the Fourth of July as a precaution,[19] and ordered the roads into town barricaded with felled trees. New York: Peter Lang, 2008. It is a deliberately planned insurrection of the Negroes against the whites directed by an organization known as the Progressive Farmers and Household Union of America, established for the purpose of banding Negroes together for the killing of white people..

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