The Laurens County, Georgia race riot was an attack on the black community by white mobs in August of 1919. In the Haynes' report, as summarized in the ''New York Times'', it is called the Ocmulgee, Georgia race riot.
Background
Earlier in the summer the incident surrounding the
Dublin, Georgia riot
The Dublin, Georgia riot of 1919 were a series of violent racial riots between white and black residents of Dublin, Georgia.
Racial violence
During a race riot local African-American, Rob Ashely, was accused in the murder of a white man and woun ...
had greatly alarmed the white community in Laurens County. Even more alarming was a rumour that a Black leader was promising to "rise up and wipe out the white people."
Race riot
On Wednesday, August 27, a black man, chosen because he seemed like the leader of the local community, was lynched and on the morning of Friday morning August 29, and three black churches and one community building were burned down. He was taken from
Cadwell, Georgia
Cadwell is a town in Laurens County, Georgia, Laurens County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The population was 528 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, up from 329 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Dublin, Georgia, Dub ...
and killed in Ocmulgee, Georgia. The corpse of an elderly man was later pulled from the ashes of the church burned down in Ocmulgee. The body may have belonged to Eli Cooper who was alleged to have said that "the negroes had been run over for fifty years, but this will all change in thirty days." The local white community took this to mean a call for violent revolution.
Aftermath
Four men were arrested in connection with the body found in the church. They were C. G. Rogers, Coroner of
Dodge County; C. C. Adwell; John Quillian; and Will Watson, who were quickly acquitted of all charges.
This uprising was one of several incidents of civil unrest that began in the so-called
American Red Summer of 1919. Terrorist attacks on black communities and white oppression in over three dozen cities and counties. In most cases, white mobs attacked African American neighborhoods. In some cases, black community groups resisted the attacks, especially in Chicago and Washington DC. Most deaths occurred in rural areas during events like the
Elaine Race Riot in Arkansas, where an estimated 100 to 240 black people and 5 white people were killed. Also in 1919 were the
Chicago Race Riot
The Chicago race riot of 1919 was a violent racial conflict between white Americans and black Americans that began on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, on July 27 and ended on August 3, 1919. During the riot, 38 people died (23 black and ...
and
Washington D.C. race riot which killed 38 and 39 people respectively, and with both having many more non-fatal injuries and extensive property damage reaching up into the millions of dollars.
See also
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Washington race riot of 1919
The Washington race riot of 1919 was civil unrest in Washington, D.C. from July 19, 1919, to July 24, 1919. Starting July 19, white men, many in the armed forces, responded to the rumored arrest of a black man for rape of a white woman with four ...
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Mass racial violence in the United States
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List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States
Bibliography
Notes
References
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{{Lynching in the United States
1919 in Georgia (U.S. state)
1919 riots in the United States
African-American history between emancipation and the civil rights movement
History of racism in Georgia (U.S. state)
Racially motivated violence against African Americans
Red Summer
Riots and civil disorder in Georgia (U.S. state)
White American riots in the United States
August 1919 events