The 1906 Atlanta Race Riots

1. THE 1906 ATLANTA RACE RIOT SEPTEMBER 22 nd -24 th , 1906

2. THE 1906 ATLANTA RACE RIOT During the summer of 1906, white fears of African Americans’ increasing economic and social power, sensationalized rhetoric from white politicians, and unsubstantiated news stories about a black crime wave created a powder keg of racial tension in Atlanta. The powder keg exploded on the night of September 22nd in what became known as The Atlanta Race Riot . By the time the riot ended on September 25th, at least 25 blacks and two whites lay dead.

8. THE 1906 ATLANTA RACE RIOT ORIGINS OF SOCIAL UNREST ATLANTA’S NEWSPAPERS HELP INCITE RIOT The Atlanta Georgia published editorials on “The Reign of Terror for Southern Women” about ending black crime. The Atlanta Journal stressed crime coverage and reported stories based on rumor and half-truths or fabricated stories. The Atlanta Evening News and The Georgian published many false reports of assaults by black men on white women and other “outrages.” The Atlanta Evening News editor applauded lynchings and supported the Ku Klux Klan. Example headlines: Girls Jumps Into Closet To Escape Negro Brute Half Clad Negro Tries to Break Into House Bold Negro Kisses White Girl’s Hand Negro Knocks Down Aged White Woman: She Dies…

9. THE 1906 ATLANTA RACE RIOT ORIGINS OF SOCIAL UNREST ATLANTA’S NEWSPAPERS HELP INCITE RIOT Friday, September 21 st : The Atlanta Evening News runs an editorial entitled “IT IS TIME TO ACT, MEN.” Saturday, September 22 nd : Newsboys from some papers stand on downtown street corners with extra editions of the papers outlining four new assaults.

16. THE 1906 ATLANTA RACE RIOT KNOWN VICTIMS Shot in Leland’s Barber Shop Henry Welch Gash on forehead Ed Watson Gash on head William Wardlow Stabbed in head and chest Tom Walton Badly cut on Decatur Street G.C. Tomlinson Head and back cut Roy Thomas Eye gouged out; head cut Ben Nelson Shot in the right leg A. C. Moore Stabbed in hip J. C. McCoy Stabbed in hip Walter Jeffers Skull crushed Frank Scudder Fractured skull; died at Grady Hospital Marshall Carter Shot by another black man on Thurman St. Stinson Ferguson Hit on Head Georg Dickerson Shot by officer Frank Fambro Knifed to death on Forsyth Street Bridge Frank Smith Shot; died at Grady Hospital Clem Rhodes Hanged by residents in East Port on Sat. night Zeb Long Shot by mob on Peters Street Milton Brown Killed John White Shot by police officers in Brownsville George Wilder Shot to death by mob while being transported to the Tower Sam McGruder

17. THE 1906 ATLANTA RACE RIOT 100 YEAR ANNIVERSARY Coalition to Remember the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot http://www.1906atlantaraceriot.org/ Centennial Remembrance Weekend Sept. 21–24, 2006 Atlanta, Georgia August 19 – September 30, 2006 : 515 Auburn Avenue What Color the Dawn: Breaking the Silence on the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot. A listening station of oral histories by first/second generation witnesses. Tuesday, August 29th 2006: Margaret Mitchell House “Rage in the Gate City” lecture by Rebecca Burns Lecture Sunday, July 9th, 1:00 p.m. Walking Tour: Walking tour of the sites related to the riot; starts in Woodruff Park at the gazebo. Radio Show: Thursday, July 20th 2006: 89.3 FM WRFG's Good Morning Blues. Cliff Kuhn will join host Phil Graitcer to talk about the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot. Sept. 3, 2006-Jan. 27, 2007: The Dalton Gallery of Agnes Scott College: FENCE by LISA TUTTLE: A Public Work of Art in Honor of the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot April 30 th , 2006 4:00pm-6:00pm Clairmont Crest Apts. / 1861 Clairmont Road Dr. Harvey Newman, GA State University conducts a panel discussion with Ms. Christine King Farris (MLK Jr.’s sister), Ms. Rose Walter Palmer (niece of Walter White, the Secretary of the NAACP from 1931-1955).

18. THE 1906 ATLANTA RACE RIOT 100 YEAR ANNIVERSARY Coalition to Remember the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot http://www.1906atlantaraceriot.org/ Centennial Remembrance Weekend Sept. 21–24, 2006 Atlanta, Georgia Thursday, September 21st, 2006 : Old Ebenezer Baptist Church A memorial service at the church, then a processional and to and graveside service at the South-View Cemetery. Thursday, September 21 st , 2006: Old Fourth Ward A candlelight vigil from the King gravesites on Auburn Avenue through the Fourth Ward. Friday, September 22 nd – Sunday, September 25 th Georgia State University and Atlanta University Center’s Woodruff Library Panel discussions, book signings, and artistic interpretations.

19. THE 1906 ATLANTA RACE RIOT WORKS CITED Garrett, Franklin M. Atlanta and Environs: A Chronicle of Its People and Events . Volume II. Athens: University of Georgia Press. 1969. Auchmutey, Jim. “Deadline: How Atlanta’s newspapers helped incite the 1906 race riot.” Atlanta Journal-Constitution 17 September 2006: B1 and B3. Auchmutey, Jim “A century later, a city remembers” Atlanta Journal-Constitution 17 September, 2006: A1 and A14. Wells-Barnett, Ida B. Lynch Law in Georgia: A six-week record in the center of southern civilization as faithfully chronicled by the Atlanta journal and the Atlanta constitution ... the lynching of nine men for alleged arson. Pamphlet Circulated in Chicago 1899. The 1906 Atlanta Race Riot: An Explanatory Timeline by Clarissa Myrick-Harris, Ph.D. http://www.1906atlantaraceriot.org/ “The Neighborhood Union” collection. Special Collections in the Robert W. Woodruff Library at Atlanta University. http://www.auctr.edu/collections/titles/nuc.asp . http://www.1906atlantaraceriot.org/ http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/