0:02

You're listening to American Shadows,

0:04

a production of I Heart Radio and Grim

0:06

and Mild from Aaron Mankey. All

0:21

they wanted to do was finished work. On

0:23

September fourteen

0:26

year old Henry and his father, both white, had

0:29

their dinner and then drove downtown to their small,

0:31

family owned printing business, which overlooked

0:34

the Omaha Courthouse. After

0:36

finishing up, they shot off the lights and were

0:38

ready to leave when a commotion outside

0:40

caught their attention. Father

0:43

and son stood by the window on

0:45

the street below. A large mob had gathered

0:47

on the courthouse steps. More kept

0:49

coming until there was little room to stand.

0:52

Some shouted, and some gathered bricks

0:55

and stones. It

0:57

didn't take being in the printing business to

0:59

know why the crowd had gathered. Word

1:01

had traveled like fire. Inside

1:04

the courthouse, a jail cell held a black

1:06

man named Will Brown. Due

1:08

to the nature of the crime had been accused of.

1:11

The angry mob had no intention of waiting

1:13

for what the system called a fair trial.

1:16

The crowd wanted their own justice. Three

1:19

days earlier, Agnes low Back and her

1:21

disabled boyfriend, Milton, both white,

1:24

had been on their way home after a late movie.

1:27

A man had stepped out of the Shadows and held them

1:29

at gunpoint. They had robbed the couple,

1:31

taking Milton's watch and money, as well

1:33

as Agnes's ruby rang. Then

1:36

the attacker dragged nineteen year old Agnes

1:38

by the hair to an area inaccessible to

1:40

Milton and dessaulted her. Both

1:42

Milton and Actus told the police that this assailant

1:45

was black. The

1:47

morning after the attack, Henry's dad

1:50

had read the derogatory an inciting

1:52

headline in the Omaha be Fueled

1:54

by the story, several members within the community

1:57

began looking for the suspect. A

1:59

resident told police about a suspicious black

2:01

man living near the scene of the attack, although

2:05

it isn't clear why the informant thought the man

2:07

was suspicious. Police went to the house

2:09

and found a man hiding under a bed. They

2:12

brought him to Agnes and Milton's home, where

2:15

both identified forty one year old William

2:17

Brown as the man who had attacked them.

2:20

Brown was arrested and taken to the jail at the county

2:22

courthouse. In

2:24

the days that followed, the already brewing

2:26

race war between black and white stockyard

2:29

workers had reached a fever pitch after

2:32

a strike for higher wages and a safer environment.

2:35

The company had filled the positions with black

2:37

day workers who accepted lower pay and

2:39

didn't ask for better conditions. The

2:43

Omaha Bee continued to publish articles

2:45

that inflamed the rising tensions. Headlines

2:48

that fueled emotions sold more papers after

2:50

all, and no emotion worked better

2:52

than anger. From

2:55

his family print shop, Henry watched the

2:57

crowd grow larger by the minute. By

2:59

seven p m. Over five thousand people

3:02

had gathered on the courthouse steps demanding

3:04

Brown. Police who tried

3:06

to disband the group were assaulted greatly

3:09

outnumbered, the officers eventually retreated

3:11

back into the courthouse. The

3:13

mayor stepped outside to try to calm the crowd

3:16

down. It didn't work. They

3:18

dragged him to the lampost that intended to use

3:20

to lynch Brown and hung him up instead.

3:23

A rescuer cut him down just in time, and

3:26

he was rushed to the hospital, where he later fully

3:28

recovered, nearly

3:30

killing. The mayor did more to give the riders

3:32

confidence than scare them.

3:35

They used bricks and stones to break the windows.

3:37

Several men climbed in through the shattered glass,

3:40

saturated the floor with gasoline, and

3:42

then set the building ablaze to flush out

3:44

the officers and Brown. Firefighters

3:48

called to the scene found the streets so thick with

3:50

riders they had trouble getting to the building.

3:53

Police exchanged gunfire with a sixteen year

3:55

old, killing the team.

3:57

Inside the building, Brown insisted he was

4:00

innocent to anyone who would listen. By

4:03

eleven PM, the crowd had broken into

4:05

the jail, overwhelmed the deputies, and

4:08

dragged Brown out into the street. Henry's

4:11

father knew what was about to happen before

4:13

he did, and the still

4:15

in the dark second floor office, his father

4:17

told him that what he was about to witness was

4:19

the true horror of what people could do to one

4:21

another, that taking justice

4:23

into their own hands wasn't justice at

4:26

all. Henry

4:28

stood riveted in place, sweating fists

4:30

tight, and watched the crowd hang

4:32

will Brown, and then came

4:35

the gunfire. If the news

4:37

hadn't killed him, the bullets had before

4:40

cutting his body down, The crowd spun him around,

4:43

showing off what they'd done. Afterward,

4:46

the mob cheered as they dragged Brown's body

4:48

behind a car. Fortunately,

4:51

young Henry, now sobbing, didn't see

4:53

what happened next as the riders set

4:55

Brown's body on fire and dragged

4:57

him through the streets once more, sick

5:00

to his stomach and still weeping. Young

5:02

Henry would never forget that night and

5:05

vowed he'd do something about it. He

5:07

went on to serve in World War Two, and after

5:10

that became an actor, winning awards

5:12

for anti racism films such as

5:14

Young Mr. Lincoln and Twelve Angry Men.

5:17

He became active in the civil rights movement, and

5:20

in his later years, an interviewer asked

5:22

him about that night in Omaha.

5:25

The memory of it brought him to tears on national

5:27

television. All those

5:29

years later, the lynching of Will Brown remained

5:32

the most horrendous act against humanity

5:34

that Henry Fonda had ever witnessed. I'm

5:39

Lauren Vogelbaum. Welcome

5:41

to American Shadows. Tulsa's

5:53

population seemed to grow overnight.

5:55

Formerly known as Indian Territory,

5:58

settlers flocked to the area of the

6:00

discovery of oil there in nineteen o one.

6:03

Over the next nineteen years, the population

6:05

swelled to a hundred and forty thousand by

6:08

nineteen twenty, when the Native American communities

6:10

were removed and relocated once more.

6:13

Jobs brought both white and black citizens

6:16

seeking a better life, while

6:18

some of the black population found employment

6:20

in the stockyards or other day labor jobs.

6:23

An increasing number found successes lawyers,

6:26

skilled labor in preachers. A

6:28

wealthy Black landowner by the name of O. W.

6:31

Gurley bought forty acres, which he

6:33

sold only to other Black citizens.

6:36

Another successful Black entrepreneur believed

6:38

that poorer African Americans had the

6:40

best chance of success if they pooled

6:42

their resources. With an

6:44

abundance of work, black citizens agreed

6:47

and banded together to set up businesses and

6:49

build homes in the Greenwood district. The

6:52

area boasted culture and entertainment.

6:54

It had its own schools, churches, and a

6:56

library. Hotels, nightclubs,

6:59

movie theaters, and newspapers began to crop

7:01

up in Greenwood. Many

7:04

compared the construction and refinement of Greenwood

7:06

Avenue to those of Chicago State Street.

7:09

With such a prominent and vital community,

7:11

the citizens who called at home had hopes

7:13

that their numbers, success and contribution

7:16

of goods and services to the city of Tulsa offered

7:18

some protection against Jim Crow laws.

7:22

By nineteen ten, thousand black

7:24

residents lived and thrived in Greenwood,

7:27

with black owned banks, doctor's offices,

7:29

and grocery stores. The prosperous

7:31

area became known as Black Wall Street.

7:34

All the good fortune intimidated some of the

7:37

white population. Letters

7:39

filled with hate often found their way to the

7:41

most successful Greenwood businesses. Racial

7:44

divide had been building in Tulsa and around

7:46

the nation for years. In

7:49

nineteen nineteen, an iron worker was shot

7:51

in the back during a robbery. Before

7:53

he died in the hospital twelve hours later, he

7:55

told officers that the two men who shot him

7:57

were black. The shoot

8:00

made headlines in the local paper the following morning.

8:03

That day, three suspects were taken into custody

8:06

in Greenwood. Rumors spread that vigilantes

8:08

wanted the men lynched. Fifteen

8:11

black men drove to the jail to check on the

8:13

suspect's safety. Convinced

8:15

the men were well guarded, they left a

8:19

few days later, on March twenty two, three

8:21

black police officers were robbed and shot by

8:23

two white men. The suspects

8:25

were quickly captured. The arrests

8:28

didn't ease tensions much. Brazen

8:30

criminals shooting and robbing lawman didn't

8:32

make the citizens feel any safer either. With

8:36

the growing population, violent crime increased

8:39

across demographics. In

8:41

August of nine, Homer Nita,

8:43

a white taxi driver, stopped to collect

8:45

money owed to him at a local gas station. His

8:48

passengers, two men and a woman, all white,

8:50

beat Nita with a pistol and robbed him.

8:53

They drove to an isolated location, held

8:56

Nita gunpoint and forced him to beg

8:58

for his life. Then they

9:00

shot him and left him for dead. A

9:03

passerby heard the gunshot and rushed the taxi

9:05

driver to the hospital, where he later

9:07

died from his injuries. The

9:10

robbery and murder made the headlines, and

9:12

a witness stepped forward to identify one

9:14

of the suspects. Police tracked

9:17

down the woman, and before long all

9:19

three passengers were arrested and pleaded

9:21

not guilty. An angry

9:23

mob of fifty people arrived at the jail demanding

9:26

the suspects. When the sheriff refused,

9:28

the group disarmed him, holding him hostage

9:30

in exchange for Roy Belton, one of

9:32

the accused perpetrators. The

9:35

mob forced Belton into Anita's stolen

9:37

taxi. They drove to the location

9:39

of the shooting and waited for the rest of the mob

9:41

to arrive. Belton continued

9:44

to deny any involvement. By

9:46

the time they strung him up over a thousand

9:49

spectators had arrived. For

9:51

eleven minutes, Belton fought for air.

9:54

Finally, when he was still the

9:56

mob cut him down. No

9:58

charges were pressed, leaving the people

10:00

of Tulsa to believe their actions were acceptable

10:03

and justified. In

10:06

May, of the growing crime

10:09

rate, vigilanteism and racial divide

10:11

were set to collide. Dick

10:14

Rowland, black, nineteen year old, liked

10:16

flashy clothing and fancy dance moves,

10:18

often besting his friends around

10:21

town. He was also a bit of a rebel and got

10:23

into trouble now and then. He dropped

10:25

out of high school in a senior year. By

10:28

that year, Tulsa had become the oil

10:30

capital of the world, and with more wealth

10:33

than they often knew what to do with that

10:35

money got around the way

10:37

Roland probably saw it. He could take advantage

10:39

of the latest oil boom while it lasted. He

10:42

took up work shining shoes, and the wealthy

10:44

men tipped him generously. On

10:48

he took a break between clients. Bathrooms

10:51

were segregated, and the nearest available black

10:53

bathroom was on the top floor of the nearby

10:55

Drexel building. He entered

10:57

the elevator operated by White seventeen

10:59

year old Sarah Page. That's

11:02

when a clerk working at a clothing store heard

11:04

a woman's scream. He hurried

11:06

toward the elevator as Roland ran past

11:08

him. The clerk said Page looked

11:11

distressed, assuming

11:13

that Roland had attempted to assault her, he summoned

11:15

the police. The police

11:18

never questioned Page. They filed

11:20

a report based solely on the clerk's retelling

11:22

of the events, and left Page's name out

11:24

of it. Instead of Page a statement.

11:27

They interviewed potential witnesses. It

11:30

soon became clear that Roland and Page knew

11:32

each other. It wasn't the first time Rowland

11:34

had had to use the restroom after all. Some

11:37

said the teens were friends and that Roland would

11:40

never have attempted to assault her. Others

11:42

suggested the two were potentially more intimate.

11:45

In the end, the police determined that whatever

11:48

had happened in the elevator had not been

11:50

assault. They speculated

11:52

that there might have been some horseplay, or

11:54

that Roland had tripped and fallen into

11:56

Page, but that's not how

11:58

the press report of it, despite no

12:00

evidence to back it up. The headline suggested

12:03

he attacked her. The

12:05

morning paper claimed Page had noticed

12:07

him looking to see if anyone else was around before

12:09

stepping onto the elevator. During

12:12

the attack, he scratched her face, arms,

12:14

and tore her clothing before she fought him

12:16

off. She screamed, bringing

12:18

the store clerk, who scared Roland away.

12:22

Two officers, one white and the other

12:24

black, arrested Roland at his mother's

12:27

home the next day. While

12:29

he admitted placing his hand on Page's arm,

12:31

he insisted that he never harmed her in any

12:33

way. Many

12:36

white citizens became furious.

12:38

Assaulting a white woman had been bad enough,

12:40

but there had also been allegations of a relationship

12:43

between the two. The Tribune,

12:45

known for sensationalism, ran a headline

12:48

one with a dangerous rumor. According

12:51

to the paper, a lynching had been

12:54

planned. The

13:05

officers ushered Dick Roland to his cell.

13:08

If any of the deputies had been superstitious,

13:11

they might not have put him in the same cell Roy

13:13

Belton had occupied a year before. But

13:16

none of the men were aware that the afternoon edition

13:18

of the Tribune had started firestorm until

13:21

an hour later, when the first phone call

13:23

came in informing them that the paper had

13:25

spurred talk on the street about a hanging.

13:29

The talk was more than rumor, both

13:31

the police and fire commissioner had heard that

13:33

a lynch mob was forming. By

13:36

six pm that night, they were proven

13:38

right. A crowd had gathered

13:40

outside the court house. An

13:42

hour and a half later, the small crowd grew

13:44

to over three hundred. Three

13:47

men entered the court house demanding to see

13:49

Roland. The newly elected

13:51

sheriff, Willard McCullough, told them

13:53

that there would not be a lynching and promptly

13:56

ordered the men to leave. They

13:58

went back outside, and he all of them

14:00

to strongly encourage the rest of the crowd

14:03

to go home. No

14:05

one left. Outnumbered

14:07

three hundred to one, the sheriff stepped

14:09

back inside and locked the doors. Determined

14:13

to prevent what had happened to Belton from happening

14:15

to Roland, he sent the elevator to the

14:17

top floor, making it unable to return

14:19

to the first floor. Then he

14:21

ordered his men to take up defensive positions

14:23

around Roland. By now

14:26

several hundred people had joined the mob outside,

14:29

all demanding the sheriff turned Roland over

14:31

to them for justice. The

14:34

growing lynch mob hadn't gone unnoticed.

14:36

In Greenwood, fifty armed

14:38

black men drove to the courthouse to offer

14:40

assistance to the sheriff. Some

14:42

reports state that the sheriff had asked for their

14:45

help. McCullough,

14:47

though denied requesting assistance from the black

14:49

community, thinking it would probably do

14:51

more harm than good. A

14:53

witness said he warned the sheriff that car

14:55

loads of armed black men would cause more

14:58

trouble and to do something about it, and

15:01

McCullough did. Instead

15:03

of force, he met with the men, telling

15:05

them to go home. Then he

15:07

turned back to the white mob, telling them

15:09

the same. One angry

15:12

white man shouted that the sheriff had asked

15:14

for help from the Greenwood residence. After

15:17

watching the sheriff talked with the black men, hundreds

15:20

of angry but yet unarmed white men

15:22

headed to the nearby armory

15:24

to them. If the sheriff was talking to

15:26

the black residents, then the conspiracy

15:29

had to be real. Those who

15:31

were already armed stayed at the courthouse.

15:35

Major James Bell of the hundred and eighth

15:37

Infantry heard about the crowd intent

15:39

on stealing weapons. He called

15:42

commanders in the National Guard, who in turn

15:44

ordered every available member to report

15:46

at the armory. They

15:48

arrived moments after the riders converged.

15:51

Some of them already tugging at the bars over the

15:53

windows, Bell stepped

15:55

outside and calmly informed the riders

15:58

that anyone attempting to enter the bill holding would

16:00

be shot. Seeing

16:02

the major in the National Guard with their weapons

16:04

drawn encouraged the men to leave.

16:07

The riders returned to the court house, where

16:09

the crowd exceeded two thousand people.

16:12

Reverends and the chief of police all

16:14

tried to talk the crowd down. Instead

16:18

of seeing the men's gestures as an attempt at

16:20

peace, the enraged crowd believed

16:22

the reverends and the chief were taking every

16:24

effort to defend and support Roland.

16:27

From there, some of the white men shouted that their

16:29

leaders were showing allegiance to the black community

16:31

over the welfare and concern of white

16:34

citizens. Shouts

16:36

of an uprising rang out along with

16:38

gunfire in Greenwood.

16:41

Rumors spread that white people had already stormed

16:43

the courthouse. Another larger

16:46

group of armed black men arrived once

16:48

again, offering to help the sheriff. Their

16:50

presence and continued discussions with the

16:52

authorities only fueled the already

16:54

out of control white mobs conspiracies.

16:58

The sheriff declined the men's help once more.

17:01

Around ten thirty that night, the Tulsa

17:04

Chief of Police notified the governor but the situation

17:06

was under control. But he

17:09

was wrong. A rioter demanded

17:11

that a black man standing near him drop his weapon,

17:14

and when the man refused, a shot

17:16

rang out. Although

17:19

it's speculated that the shot was fired as a

17:21

warning from one or the other of the

17:23

two men, it incited white

17:25

rioters to open fire on the black

17:27

crowd. The two groups exchanged

17:30

gunfire, and in under two minutes,

17:32

ten white and two black men lay

17:34

dead. Some reports

17:37

speculate that some white men were deputized

17:39

to hunt and kill black people. It

17:42

remains unclear what official would have authorized

17:45

such an order. Sheriff

17:47

McCullough and his deputies were still barricaded

17:49

inside the building. The reports show

17:51

county police were also present. The

17:54

black men retreated to their cars and sped off

17:56

toward Greenwood. Members

17:58

of the white mob chased after them, each

18:00

side shooting at the other. By

18:03

eleven that night, the National Guard organized

18:05

a plan to end the rioting. Guardsmen

18:08

were stationed at the courthouse and police station.

18:11

Since the riders now numbered in the thousands,

18:13

The local chapter of the American Legion joined

18:16

the rest of the Guard in patrolling the streets. Though

18:18

they stayed in the white neighborhoods, they

18:21

didn't have any orders to go into Greenwood.

18:24

Black men found in or near the white neighborhoods

18:27

were taken to the Convention Hall, which acted

18:29

as a temporary detention center, while

18:32

several white men remained on the courthouse steps

18:34

and called for Roland's lynching. No

18:36

one stormed the courthouse and no other

18:38

violence occurred there. That

18:41

can't be said of Greenwood, though just

18:43

after one in the morning, riders set

18:46

the first building on fire. Everything

18:56

was on fire on the

18:58

southern edge of Greenwood. White mobs broke

19:01

windows and tossed lit, oil soaked

19:03

rags into the businesses on Archer Street,

19:07

intent on burning the buildings to the ground.

19:09

Riders with shotguns met fire trucks

19:11

arriving at the scene and forced the engines

19:14

to turn around. Firefighters

19:17

who attempted to turn on a hose were shot at,

19:19

but none were injured. Other

19:21

riders and cars randomly fired

19:23

into businesses and homes as they sped along

19:25

the streets. At one point,

19:28

train passengers arriving in a nearby

19:30

station had to take cover on the floor. The

19:32

train cars were riddled with bullets on both

19:34

sides. More

19:37

riders took to the wealthy white neighborhoods,

19:39

going door to door and demanding, often

19:41

at gunpoint, that any black servants

19:43

be handed over immediately. Those

19:45

who refused were beaten and their property

19:48

vandalized. At five

19:50

in the morning, riders mistook a train

19:52

whistle as a signal to go deeper into

19:54

Greenwood. They converged on

19:56

Greenwood by any means possible, on foot

19:58

or car. A sniper took

20:01

out one of the riders in

20:03

the end, though the number of white rioters

20:05

overwhelmed the black community, they

20:07

swarmed the streets, taking aim at

20:09

every man, woman and child. As

20:11

the black community fled, riders

20:14

looted homes and ordered any remaining residents

20:17

out into the streets. Many were

20:19

shot or made to walk to Pulsa and

20:21

the detention center. Rumors

20:24

spread among the riders that the black residents

20:26

had used a church to store weapons in caskets.

20:30

They converged on the church and ransacked it,

20:32

but no weapons were found. Eldris

20:35

Ector's mother knew the men would come

20:37

for them next. She shouted for

20:39

her daughter to wake up. Doing

20:41

as her panicked mother asked, Eldoras

20:44

dressed quickly. Then hand

20:46

in hand, they raced out the door. People

20:49

were running and shouting. Smoke from the fire

20:51

stained the pink dawn sky. Then

20:55

the planes arrived. Eldris

20:57

stopped to stare at them. Should never

21:00

seen planes fly over Greenwood. Before the

21:03

sound of gunfire got her and her mother moving

21:05

again. The men in the planes, what

21:07

looked like a dozen or more, were shooting

21:10

at them. Young and

21:12

old fell dead in the street. His families

21:14

ran for their lives. Eldor

21:16

saw a young girl, apparently now an orphan,

21:19

run past her. Tears streamed

21:21

down the small child's face. In

21:23

her arms, she clutched what was probably

21:25

all she had left in the world. A small

21:27

dog. Riders

21:30

had taken privately owned planes to fly

21:32

over Greenwood. Law enforcement

21:34

would later claim they had been sent out a reconnaissance

21:36

mission to prevent a black uprising. El

21:39

Doris heard the planes turn. They

21:41

swooped around again, firing another round

21:44

into the fleeing people below. Cries

21:47

of grief filled the air as loved ones were gunned

21:49

down. Survivors, still

21:51

wearing their pajamas and robes, dropped

21:53

to the ground over the bodies. Others

21:56

kept running for fear of being gunned down

21:58

as well. Now

22:00

separated from her parents in the chaos, Eldorus

22:03

ran for shelter in a chicken coop. She

22:05

told herself this was Judgment Day, just

22:08

like she had learned in Sunday School. She

22:11

also told herself that Jesus would appear

22:13

at any moment and save them.

22:15

Certainly, Jesus would be there any

22:18

minute. Her

22:20

father's arm pulled at her, dragging her

22:22

from the coop. The family resumed

22:24

running, joining a sea of other residents

22:26

fleeing Greenwood. Her family

22:28

was one of the lucky ones. They would

22:30

survive, but the scars would remain

22:33

all their lives. A

22:35

black doctor was shot and killed after surrendering

22:38

to a white mob who told him they were simply

22:40

taking him to the detention center. A

22:43

white residence standing on her porch was gunned

22:45

down riders mistook

22:47

a dark skinned white man for black inn shot

22:49

him. During the confusion,

22:52

Sheriff mc cull and his deputies managed to get

22:54

out of the court house, taking Roland with them.

22:56

They safely left town by eight a m.

23:00

General Barrett finally got official approval

23:03

to send the National Guard into Greenwood. At nine

23:05

am, they exchanged gunfire

23:07

with black snipers who shot at them from the church rooftop.

23:10

White rioters also shot at them.

23:13

By noon, though the guardsmen had managed to stop

23:16

most of the unrest and provoked any special

23:18

deputy privileges. Rioters claimed

23:20

to have over

23:23

four thousand Greenwood residents were taken into

23:25

custody. The convention

23:27

hall, theater, and baseball stadium had been

23:29

converted into detention centers to hold them.

23:33

Martial law remained in effect through June

23:35

three. At first, sixty

23:37

eight black people and nine white people were

23:39

reported to have died during the massacre, though

23:42

newspapers across the country printed different

23:44

totals ranging from sixty

23:46

five. Later, a police

23:49

officer stated that a hundred and seventy five people

23:51

had died, but only five from fire.

23:54

Modern estimates now put the death toll as

23:56

high as three hundred. Another

23:59

hundred and eighty three people had been seriously

24:01

injured. The only black hospital

24:04

had been burned down, so black patients

24:06

were sent to Morningside Hospital, a white facility,

24:09

and treated in the basement. After

24:12

the massacre, Pulsa established a public

24:14

safety committee made up of two hundred and fifty

24:16

men white men. Their

24:19

role was to protect the city from further violence.

24:22

That same day, the National guards shot and killed

24:25

a white man who tried to start trouble. All

24:28

told, over a hundred and ninety businesses were

24:30

destroyed, as well as a school and several

24:33

churches. Riders had looted

24:35

and estimated two hundred and fifteen homes

24:37

and destroyed one thousand, two hundred

24:39

more ten thousand

24:41

people were left on house losses

24:44

exceeded one point five million dollars

24:47

over thirty two million today. The

24:49

governor ordered an inquiry into the events,

24:52

and a grand jury convened on June nine.

24:55

The court heard testimony from black and white

24:57

witnesses for the next twelve days. In

25:00

the end, the all white jury determined

25:03

that the black mobs had started the incident

25:05

at that the sheriff's department was negligent in

25:07

preventing it. Though

25:09

eighty five people were indicted, none

25:12

were ever convicted. Pulse's

25:15

former mayor gave a speech claiming the real

25:17

citizens wept over such an unspeakable

25:20

crime and that the city would make good

25:22

on the damage. That

25:24

winter, many of the black families still

25:27

unhoused slept in tents while they rebuilt

25:29

their homes. Wealthy

25:31

white developers persuaded political powers

25:33

to prohibit black residents from rebuilding

25:35

in Greenwood. Their intentions

25:38

were clear to force the black community

25:40

further away from white neighborhoods and

25:42

take over the land for their own development. Fortunately,

25:46

the Supreme Court found the ordinance unconstitutional,

25:50

but although the city had promised to help them

25:52

rebuild, most residents of Greenwood

25:54

were left with a bitter reality.

25:56

The money never came. It

26:08

never seemed to end. Carlos

26:11

Heard, a reporter for the Post Dispatch,

26:13

watched one horrific scene after another

26:17

for an hour and a half. In July nineteen

26:20

chaos ruled the town of East St.

26:22

Louis, Illinois. White rioters

26:25

chased after black residence, beating and

26:27

killing them. A

26:29

group of men ganged up on a lone black man.

26:32

After rendering him unconscious, they've left

26:34

for their next target. A few

26:37

moments later, the badly injured man came

26:39

too, and, still dazed and

26:41

confused, he didn't see the well

26:43

dressed white man standing behind him

26:45

holding a large stone. As

26:48

the black man sat upright, the white

26:50

man hurled the rock at him. Shocked

26:52

by the indifferent cruelty, Heard

26:55

felt helpless. Unable to stop

26:57

the violence, he used his skills to document

27:00

how casually the white men assaulted

27:02

their victims. The man in the street

27:05

hadn't been the only one stoned to death.

27:08

Others injured and beaten begged

27:10

for their lives, but there please went

27:12

unheard. The white women

27:15

laughed and scorned the black women who

27:17

begged for some sense of compassion as

27:19

they too were stoned and beaten. I

27:23

can't imagine how Heard got

27:25

through watching such atrocity, such

27:28

barbaric and gut wrenching violence

27:30

against other human beings. The

27:32

complete breakdown of empathy and

27:34

decency had to be a nightmare

27:36

he carried for the rest of his life, and

27:39

it's hard to understand why so many

27:41

people could be so devoid of

27:44

even the tiniest scrap of humanity.

27:48

Yet, from nineteen seventeen to

27:50

ninety three, horrific scenes

27:52

like this played out across the nation.

27:55

Anti black riots and massacres

27:58

occurred in Houston, Chicago, Pulsa,

28:01

Charleston, Washington, d C. At

28:03

least twenty six different cities. In

28:06

Florida, the entire town of Rosewood

28:09

was destroyed over racial divide during

28:12

a period called the Red Summer. Nearly

28:14

a hundred lynchings were recorded Black

28:17

homes and businesses were reduced to ash.

28:19

Thousands were killed, tens of thousands

28:22

more left un housed. Some

28:24

scholars say that the riots served

28:26

as nothing more than a cover to maim,

28:29

steel and kill with impunity, A

28:32

terrible thought on its own, though.

28:34

The Red Summer also had the unfortunate

28:36

timing of taking place during the KKK

28:39

resurgence and the Great Migration,

28:41

when African Americans were moving from

28:43

poor economic locations to cities

28:45

that they felt might be safer than

28:48

where they had left. It

28:50

also coincided with white servicemen who

28:52

had had to leave their jobs to serve in the military,

28:55

returning to find those jobs filled by

28:57

Black Americans. Drunken

28:59

servicemen in d C assaulted and

29:01

lynched black citizens without provocation.

29:05

Armed with rifles, Black servicemen took

29:07

to community rooftops to thwart lynch

29:09

bobs from descending onto their communities.

29:12

With black presidents challenging Jim Crow

29:14

laws, some white servicemen returned

29:16

home, believing it was their duty to fight

29:18

a new war, but with the

29:20

industrial boom, striking union workers

29:23

were often replaced with cheaper Black

29:25

American laborers. Fear over

29:27

job and housing competition caused

29:29

many white employees to blame the black

29:31

day laborers instead of the corporations

29:34

looking to profit over everyone. Politicians

29:38

didn't help. The government sent

29:40

clear messages on equality as well. When

29:43

black enlisted men returned from war, they

29:45

didn't get the same compensation or acknowledgement

29:48

as their white military counterparts. The

29:51

nation became a powder keg. In

29:54

each city. It took just one death

29:56

or crime committed or allegation

29:58

among people of different skin colors to

30:00

set off a spate of violence. Over

30:03

time, citizens felt that repeated violent

30:05

crimes against them went unnoticed

30:08

and happened with impunity. White

30:11

instigators believed that the more violently

30:13

they acted against the black community, the

30:16

more fear they had instilled, the

30:18

fear that would keep the black community submissive,

30:20

they thought. But the opposite

30:23

proved true, and history repeated

30:25

itself. The suppressed and the

30:27

oppressed valued themselves even

30:30

when others did not. The

30:33

atrocities of the Red Summer went on to fuel

30:35

the Civil rights movement. Change

30:39

was coming. There's

30:52

more to this story. Stick around after this

30:54

brief sponsor break to hear all about it. The

31:01

iconic Central Park nestled

31:04

between the Upper East and Upper West sides

31:06

of Manhattan, The famous urban park

31:08

spans over a hundred and forty acres.

31:11

It's the most filmed and visited park

31:13

in the United States. But in

31:15

the early eighteen hundreds, the area was

31:18

called something else. Seneca

31:20

Village, White farmer's

31:22

John and Elizabeth Whitehead sold three

31:25

lots to a twenty five year old shoeshiner

31:27

in eighteen twenty five. A store

31:29

clerk soon purchased twelve lots. Once

31:32

the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church

31:34

was built, more African Americans bought

31:36

land from the farming couple. Soon

31:39

ten homes dotted the rolling landscape,

31:42

and a community was born. The

31:45

area housed the most looked down upon

31:47

groups at the time, Irish and African

31:49

Americans, when two thirds were

31:51

Black, one third was Irish, and a smattering

31:54

were of German scent. By

31:56

eighteen fifty, Seneca Village was a thriving

31:58

community where most of the residents

32:00

owned their own homes. The nearby

32:03

Hudson Rivers supplied fresh water and fishing,

32:05

and many residents kept gardens and livestock.

32:09

The majority of homes were small, roughly

32:11

built the shanties. Still,

32:13

it was a haven of sorts, a place

32:15

to call their own. The area was

32:17

safer than others for the residents who were told

32:20

their kind weren't welcome in other parts

32:22

of Manhattan, and

32:25

while other communities were divided by race,

32:27

the three groups lived in harmony. Though

32:30

multiple generations often shared a home and

32:32

living conditions were tight, they were better

32:35

than those in the poorer sections of the

32:37

already overcrowded city. As

32:40

New York's population grew, so did

32:42

the need for more land. In the

32:44

early eighteen fifties, the city decided

32:46

that a municipal park would provide a designated

32:49

area for recreation among the ever increasing

32:51

buildings. People in cramped

32:53

living conditions could enjoy green grass,

32:56

trees, open space, and fresh

32:58

air. By eighteen

33:00

fifty three, purchasing the land from the

33:02

current owners had come to be difficult,

33:05

so the city used a special power, eminent

33:07

domain. It had been a tactic

33:10

New York had used many times before. It

33:12

allowed the city to set what they considered

33:14

a fair price, often below market

33:17

value, and then force the sale.

33:20

Though residents complained bitterly, the city

33:22

refused to budge. By the end

33:24

of eighteen fifty seven, every resident

33:27

had to leave. Those who refused

33:29

were evicted. The city provided

33:31

no support or assistance in relocating.

33:34

Of the one thousand, six hundred people evicted,

33:37

two hundred and seventy were black. By

33:40

eighteen sixty, burial grounds were

33:42

relocated, homes and businesses

33:44

leveled. No trace of Seneca

33:47

Village remained except

33:49

for one, the All Angels

33:51

Church. The congregation had

33:53

once been multicultural, with Black,

33:55

German and Irish believers all worshiping

33:58

side by side with its walls,

34:00

Baptisms, weddings, and funerals were

34:02

held. Now a new congregation

34:05

gathered. It's

34:07

not clear where the residents relocated

34:10

or what became of them. All

34:12

that's left as an information board in Central

34:14

Park with a short description of what happened

34:16

to the village, but little is

34:18

known or written about those who lived there.

34:21

The residents had lived in the sort of community where

34:23

race and background brought people together

34:26

rather than pushing them apart. Today

34:29

it's all but forgotten. It's

34:32

often said that those who forget the past

34:34

are doomed to repeat it, which

34:36

means that each of us can keep it

34:39

alive by doing something very

34:41

important by remembering.

34:50

American Shadows is hosted by Lauren

34:53

Vogelbaum. This episode was

34:55

written by Michelle Muto, researched

34:57

by Ali Steed and produced by Miranda

34:59

hawk Ggins and Trevor Young, with executive

35:02

producers Aaron Mankey, Alex

35:04

Williams, and Matt Frederick. To

35:06

learn more about the show, visit Grim and mild

35:08

dot com. From more podcasts from

35:10

iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio

35:12

app, Apple Podcasts, or

35:15

wherever you get your podcasts.