During the trials, Murphy became ill, and Jones became the principal counsel. Holmes planned and executed three different failed attacks on the town. On the Laps of Gods: The Red Summer of 1919 and the Struggle for Justice that Remade a Nation. Stopford, Annie. There were 2,312 households, out of which 32.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.8% were married couples living together, 28.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.3% were non-families. If Elaine residents need something, they must drive to Helena, 30 minutes away - past silver metal silos with angled tops, modest one-story houses, John Deere tractors and the Lake View community, where a number of trailers and motor homes are parked along Old . 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. Improve this listing Full view All photos (4) Top ways to experience nearby attractions Memphis City Tour with Optional Riverboat Cruise & Sun Studio Add-On Options 438 Recommended Bus Tours from $40.00 per adult [55] Walker's men spent the rest of the morning primarily skirmishing with Clayton's cavalry and firing at long range. [97] Vicksburg had surrendered on July 4, and the Confederate garrison at Port Hudson, Louisiana fell within a week. Historic Theaters of Arkansas - Only In Arkansas [9] Further vacillation by Holmes ended when Confederate cavalry reported on June 14 that the garrison at Helena had been weakened. [21], The Union troops in Helena were commanded by Major General Benjamin Prentiss and consisted of the Thirteenth Division of the XIII Corps. News also reached the Union forces at Helena of a major Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. A steel gondola car was hauled back and forth on the railroad track, he said, adding, the men inside firing from the shelter of the steel walls of the car, shooting black people. Further Deep South states seceded early in the next year, forming the Confederate States of America. Burke, Jordan C. White Discipline Black Rebellion: A History of American Race Riots from Emancipation to the War on Drugs. PhD diss., University of New Hampshire, 2020. This article is about the U.S. city. My sadness comes from the senseless murder of human beingsso many that there isnt an exact number, which is wrong on so many levels. [71] Both Price and Holmes were issuing orders independently,[72] and Holmes' orders were making things worse for the Confederates. American Congo: The African American Freedom Struggle in the Delta. See this venue in scenes from the 2004 film, "Walk the Line . But World War I brought changes to the Delta, as it did in Northern urban centers. This neglect by the government came in the face of people who merely sought to exercise their basic rights to secure a lawyer to defend their property. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.28. Black guards returned the fire, killing a white agent of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Smith, a 1980 graduate of Helena-West Helena Central High School, graduated from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., in 1984. There were 1,636 Confederate casualties and 205 Union casualties.[6]. 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. 1E, 6E. [24] The Union garrison would face the coming attack with 4,129 men. This picture of the Magnolia Inn on Roosevelt Road in Little Rock was taken in 1969. [4] [69] Believing a full-fledged attack to be a suicide charge, McRae had his men simply fire on the rifle pits in hopes of diverting attention away from Fagan's command. 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The committee met with Gov. Fort Curtis was not directly attacked at the Battle of Helena since the Confederacy focused its attacks on the outlying batteries. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1988. Washington is where we met. One of the convicted 12 wrote to her from prison, requesting help. Visualizing the Red Summer. Crime fighting efforts in Helena-West Helena, Arkansas are getting a big boost from the federal government. [5] The service was restored on October 1, 2015, and two new freight customers were quickly gained. The town was at the center of a rapidly changing lumber and plantation economy known for harsh working conditions. UPDATE: Officer killed in Helena-West Helena shooting identified The research below is a comprehensive historical analysis of every major league baseball player born in Arkansas. 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). ArkansasReview: A Journal of Delta Studies32 (August 2001). Williams, Lee E., and Lee E. Williams II. http://visualizingtheredsummer.com/ (accessed August 16, 2022). What is certain is that the massacre cast a long shadow for decades, with fear of reprisals silencing those who witnessed and survived the terror. 72201. In June 1863, Confederate Commander Theophilus Holmes sought to take pressure off of Vicksburg, Mississippi, by attacking the Union-held town of Helena, Arkansas. Stockley, Grif, Brian K. Mitchell, and Guy Lancaster. The murders, thefts, violence and terror continued long after the troops had gone and the convicted men had been released. Price was to attack the Union center, focusing on Battery C on Graveyard Hill. [85] Walker's withdrawal occurred at about 2:00 pm. Courageously, she dressed up as a sharecropper and went to Arkansas. Within days of the initial shoot-out, 285 African Americans were taken from the temporary stockades to the jail in Helena, the county seat, although the jail had space for only forty-eight. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2015. Little Rock, AR. 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. The Elaine massacre occurred on September 30-October 2, 1919 at Hoop Spur in the vicinity of Elaine in rural Phillips County, Arkansas. https://ualrexhibits.org/elaine/ (accessed August 16, 2022). The governor, who was reported as saying he was going to Elaine to obtain correct information, accepted the authority of the committee in return for its commitment that no lynchings would take place in Helena (Phillips County). The racial makeup of Helena is 67.93% Black or African American, 30.59% White, 0.13% Native American, 0.60% Asian, 0.17% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races. Two Narratives: How a 1919 Massacre Tore Elaine, Ark., Apart. Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, November 15, 2021. https://lynching.cnsmaryland.org/2021/11/14/two-narratives-how-a-1919-massacre-tore-elaine-ark-apart/ (accessed August 16, 2022). Some of the refugees were killed, some were taken prisoner, and the camp was burned by the Confederates at some point during the battle. Colonel Isaac Jenks, commander of the U.S. troops at Elaine, recorded the number of African Americans killed by U.S. troops as only two. and the Arkansas Riot Cases; Ida Wells Barnett, The Elaine Race Riot; Guy Lancaster, The Elaine Massacre and Arkansas: A Century of Atrocity and Resistance, 1819-1919; Grif Stockley, Blood in Their Eyes: The Elaine Arkansas Race Massacre., Nan Elizabeth Woodruff us an emeritus professor of African American studies and modern United States history at Pennsylvania State University and the author of American Congo: The African American Freedom Struggle in the Delta.. Butts, J. W., and Dorothy James. The trial had occurred in a setting dominated by a mob spirit, violating the prisoners right to due process. Facebook/Historic Arkansas Facts and Photos. With the success of the Russian Revolution, stopping the spread of international communism was seen as the duty of all loyal Americans. There were 2,710 housing units at an average density of 304.6 per square mile (117.6/km2). 0:36. (Students Tapping Academic Resources for Success) Academy (alternative school), This page was last edited on 26 April 2023, at 19:58. Barry, John M. Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America. Krug, Teresa. Even at the age of seventy-nine, Murphy, a former Confederate officer and Arkansas attorney general, was considered one of the best trial attorneys in Arkansas. And heres our email: letters@nytimes.com. Butler Center for Arkansas Studies. [6] In late May, with Union troops heavily pressuring Vicksburg, Confederate authorities sent a message to General Joseph E. Johnston suggesting that forces from the Trans-Mississippi Department be used to relieve the pressure on Vicksburg. Many denied the massacre had occurred, leaving accounts of the slaughter to witnesses, reports from Wells Barnett, and stories passed down through families of the victims. [46] Obstructions on the line of approach also disorganized Price's ranks. The fire from the artillery battery did little damage, but the gunboat's shots were more effective. According to Christ, Prentiss lost 220 of the 4,129 men he took into battle: 57 killed, 127 wounded, and 36 missing. Little Rock: Parke-Harper Publishing Company, 1925. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Calls went out to the governor for federal troops. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. [24] Each of the four batteries was located on a high point of Crowley's Ridge. Elaine Massacre of 1919 - Encyclopedia of Arkansas 14 Best Things to Do in Helena-West Helena (Arkansas): Arkansas Welcome Center Phillips County Museum Fort Curtis Delta Cultural Center Robert Nighthawk Gravesite Quapaw Canoe Company King Biscuit Time Marker Sonny Boy Williamson's Boarding House Helena Confederate Cemetery Pillow Thompson House Freedom Park Frank Frost Gravesite The violence even claimed those who had nothing to do with the union efforts, such as brothers David Augustine Elihue Johnston, Gibson Allen Johnston, Lewis Harrison (L. H.) Johnston, and Leroy Johnston, who were returning to Helena from a hunting trip when they were attacked and killed on October 2. I know for a fact my fathers people were involved in the Elaine Riot. There, in the early fall of 1919, a different struggle for democracy was taking place. Sandy Diggs or Toby Diggs was the name father and son, Im trying to find what happened to them. Grif Stockley Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2022. Instead, the troops either shot or arrested them. Arkansas State Police investigating Helena-West Helena homicide - KAIT There is no danger of any lynching. At 11 p.m., a band of white men shot into the church. 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. For more information, contact 501-918-3025 orcalsfoundation@cals.org. HELENA WEST HELENA, Ark. Helena-West Helena Police investigate a deadly Friday night - FOX16 [90] Casualties were heaviest among the 33rd Iowa and the 33rd Missouri, while the 2nd Arkansas Infantry Regiment (African Descent) saw the first combat wounds suffered by African American soldiers in Arkansas during the war. As you know, our black history is very limited in some areas. Omissions? [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. [50] Price's command consisted of the brigades of Brigadier Generals Dandridge McRae and Mosby Monroe Parsons, and was led by the 9th Missouri Sharpshooter Battalion and a company of Arkansans local to the Helena area. I first learned of the Elaine Massacre today, February 7, 2017, and I am both saddened and angered. 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. The 1919 cotton crop was the most profitable in history and they stood to make a good amount of money. [12] On June 22, Holmes revised the plan, ordering Price to concentrate at a location known as Switzer's, instead of Cotton Plant. The Edwardian Inn is located on land occupied by Union forces during the Siege of Vicksburg in 1863, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.[14]. The population density was 710.7 inhabitants per square mile (274.4/km2). Praying at the dedication of the Elaine Massacre Memorial. Arkansas Residents Make a Case for Reparations 100 Years after the Elaine Massacre. American Prospect, September 30, 2019. https://prospect.org/justice/arkansas-reparations-elaine-race-massacre/ (accessed August 16, 2022). Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. How could anyone treat people with such horrendous disregard and violence? [87] Almost all of the Confederate losses were from the brigades of Fagan, Parsons, and McRae, who took 32 percent of their attacking forces as casualties. 10 Abandoned Places in Arkansas Being Reclaimed by Nature - OnlyInYourState Online at https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/2040/ (accessed November 9, 2022). He made no motion for a change of venue, nor did he challenge a single prospective juror, taking the first twelve called. It was a system intended to keep black people in debt and dependent upon planters. Americans have yet to reckon with this horrible past. The Battle of Helena was fought on July 4, 1863, near Helena, Arkansas, during the American Civil War.
