The visitor center included a display about the 1906 racial riots in Atlanta called Red Was The Midnight. Signs:
Enforcing Jim Crow: The Police, The Convict Lease System, and Racial Violence:
At the turn of the century, Atlanta had one of the highest per capita arrest records in the country, and the majority of those arrested were black. Police brutality remained a chronic problem in the city, and confrontations between African Americas and police became commonplace in the 1880s and 1890s. African Americans, arrested for such minor infractions as idling or loitering, drunkenness, and suspicious behavior, were sentenced to months in jail or work on Georgia's chain gangs if they were unable to pay the typical fine of $5 and court costs. Those African Americans who were convicted of felonies frequently became part of Georgia's notorious convict lease system and were rented out by the state as laborers to the highest bidder. By 1908, more than 85 percent of laborers in Georgia's convict lease system were black. James English, former mayor of Atlanta and police commissioner from 1883 to 1905, was one of the state's largest users of this captive labor force at his Chattahoochee Brick Company in a camp that was infamous for its brutality.
Racial violence and lynchings also escalated at the turn of the century. In 1889, a white mob in the Atlanta suburb of East Point hung and burned the corpse of an African American named Warren Powell, who was accused of sexually assaulting a white woman. A decade later, vigilantes in nearby towns lynched twelve black men during a six-week period, including Sam Hose, who was hunted down, mutilated, and burned alive in Newnan, Georgia for allegedly murdering his employer and raping his wife. Area newspapers, including the Atlanta Constitution, predicted that Hose would be lynched when caught, and a crowd of some 2,000 whites (many of whom had traveled from Atlanta via special excursion trains) gathered to witness the brutal execution. W.E.B. DuBois later identified this event as a key factor in his commitment to combating racial violence through nonviolent agitation.
The 1906 Governor's Race:
In the racially charged climate of 1906, the battle between Democratic Party candidates Clark Howell and Hoke Smith to become governor of Georgia reflected and intensified white hostility towards African Americas. Registered black voters in Georgia had little say in the political process and almost no chance of holding elective office after the fall of the Republican Party in the South in the 1870s and the state's 1892 imposition of the "white primary," prohibiting African American men from voting in Democratic primary elections. Still, both candidates for governor in the 1906 race called for further restraints on black civil rights, endorsed white supremacy, and claimed that educated, affluent and politically active African Americans, as well as black "vagrants," posed a threat to white southern society.
The fact that Howell and Smith had strong ties to leading Atlanta newspapers (Howell was the editor of the Atlanta Constitution and Smith a former owner of the Atlanta Journal) insured widespread coverage of the campaign in Atlanta. Each newspaper used the resources at its command -- particularly editorials, articles, and political cartoons -- to try to paint the opponent as a friend of the Negro and therefore a traitor to the white cause.
Hoke Smith won the governor's race by a large margin. Though he ended the state's brutal convict lease system in 1908, that same year he made good on his earlier campaign promise by approving an amendment to the state constitution that further restricted black voting rights.
Causes of the Riot:
During the summer of 1906, white newspapers in Atlanta published stories of a "Negro Crime Wave" and "Reign of Terror" that threatened to engulf the city. The news stories included detailed, and often embellished, descriptions of alleged assaults of white women by black men; editorials and letters to the editors suggested a myriad of ways to combat and contain this crime wave, including arming white women, torturing and branding convicted rapists, evicting unemployed black "vagrants," and reviving the Ku Klux Klan. Many white and black leaders also called for the closing of Decatur Street saloons that they felt contributed to increased crime and immorality among white and black patrons. Yet most blacks, and even some whites, believed there was no real threat to white womanhood. "The whole is a lie," wrote white Clark Atlanta University Professor Arthur Rowell to his mother in the North, "but they have so fooled there own women that they go into hysterics and scream without provocation and then the papers urge the hoodlums on."
An underlying reason for the attacks on black Atlantans was a fear -- frequently expressed by candidates and the newspapers during the 1906 governor's race -- of "Negro domination." Though laws that segregated and disfranchised black people were already in place, African Americans' ability to continue exercising and coordinating their restricted voting rights, their racial solidarity on important social and political issues, and the establishment of strong and successful African American businesses and organizations were viewed as threats to the white power structure in the city.
Day One:
On Saturday, September 22, 1906, the racial tensions that one white journalist described as "the crusty crater of a volcano now dangerously nearing eruptions" burst forth in a violent and prolonged attack on African Americans and African American businesses in Atlanta.
Spurred on by inflammatory -- and unsubstantiated -- newspaper reports of four assaults on white females, an angry white mob of men and boys gathered in downtown Atlanta that evening. City leaders, including Mayor James Woodward and Captain James English, confronted the crowd and urged them to disperse, but the mob ignored their pleas and surged through the central business district, attacking black barbershops, restaurants, and any African American they could lay their hands on, regardless of age or gender. A window in one of Alonzo Herndon's barbershops was smashed and a crippled "bootblack" beaten to death. Two other barbers across the street were attacked in their shop and murdered. The bodies of all three victims were heaped at the foot of the statue of Henry Grady, the man who saw black suppression as vital to a "New South."
As the evening wore on, the mob assaulted unsuspecting African American men and women riding on the city's streetcars; at least three of the women were killed. Police proved unable (and, in some cases, unwilling) to halt the violence as the mob grew in size and intensity. Finally, at midnight the governor summoned the state militia, and streetcar service was halted. A heavy downpour of rain at about 2:00am brought the evening's violent and destructive activities to a close.
Day Two:
While state militia patrolled downtown streets on Sunday, September 23, and newspaper headlines proclaimed all was now peaceful and quiet, African Americans secretly armed themselves in defense against further violence. Scattered confrontations took place in black neighborhoods around the city, where armed white mobs attempted to invade, harm, and intimidate residents.
At Atlanta Baptists College (later Morehouse) on the west side of Atlanta, President John Hope patrolled his campus, armed with a gun. Faculty and staff at Spelman and Atlanta University made similar efforts to protect their institutions and families. W.E.B. DuBois, who was out of the city when the riot began, returned to Atlanta University to protect his family, penning his famous poem, "Litany of Atlanta" on the train trip back. In Summerhill, residents organized to search and detain whites entering the area. And in the Fourth Ward, on the city's east side, thirteen-year-old Walter White and his father (a postal clerk) prepared to defend their home and family Sunday evening against an approaching mob. Gunfire from the community dispersed the mob before it could achieve its state intention of burning down the family's house, but the frightening incident became a defining moment in the life of Walter White, who later became Executive Secretary of the NAACP.
Some African Americans were arrested on Sunday for illegally arming themselves, and later that evening in East Point, a mob broke into the jail and lynched Zeb Long, an African American who had been charged with carrying concealed weapons.
Day Three:
On Monday and Tuesday (September 24 and 25), the focus of racial violence shifted to Brownsville, a middle-class African American community located about two miles south of downtown Atlanta and home to Gammon Theological Seminary and Clark University. Gammon President, James W.E. Bowen, and other community leaders had been calling for police protection since the first day of the riot, but to no avail. Instead, Fulton County police and "deputized" civilians launched a raid on Brownsville late Monday to arrest any blacks bearing arms. A shootout ensued, resulting in the deaths of one police office (James Heard) and twelve African Americans. Two other blacks, who had been arrested before the shootout began, were transported by streetcar back to Atlanta, where a mob ambushed the car and shot the two men to death after they attempted to escape.
Day Four:
Early Tuesday morning, the state militia advanced on Brownsville, killing for more African American men while searching homes in the area. More than 250 black residents were arrested for possession of arms or suspicion of being involved in the shootout. Among those arrested was Gammon President James Bowen. Although a few more skirmishes occurred elsewhere in the city, the riot was finally at an end.
Restoring Order:
As the riot drew to a close, leaders in Atlanta's black and white communities pushed for an end to the violence and the arrest and prosecution of those who had incited or participated in the mob's attacks. A group of influential African Americans, including Reverend Proctor, Bishop Henry McNeil Turner, and Alonzo Herndon, met with Mayor Woodward, James English, and the commander of the state militia on Tuesday, September 25 and demanded increased protection against mob violence, an end to police harassment, and better treatment on streetcars. Later that same day, a gathering of one thousand black and white Atlanta citizens passed .resolutions denouncing mob violence and calling for increased protection for white women. In the chaos of post-riot Atlanta, white business elites quickly took control of the city. A group of these leaders, chaired by English and known as the "Committee of Ten," was appointed to investigate and curb any additional threats to public order. A grand jury was formed, white and black suspects were identified and arrested, and white newspapers -- especially the Atlanta Evening News -- were publicly castigated for publishing inflammatory articles that contributed to the riot's outbreak and violence.
In the search for other guilty parties, the usual suspects surfaced. White leaders, the white press and most black ministers who wrote or spoke on the subject, decried the actions of "black criminals and rapists" and emphasized the unhealthy influence of dives along Decatur Street. The city responded by temporarily closing all saloons, dives, and dance halls until October 1st and by denying African Americans liquor licenses or access to white-owned bars. Most of the blame for the riot's origins and excesses was leveled at those labeled black criminals and lower-class whites, thugs, and thieves. When Jesse Max Barber publicly disputed this account in an "anonymous" letter to the editor of the New York World, he was summoned to the office of James English, accused of "vile slander of Atlanta," and given a choice of leaving the city or serving time on a chain gang. Barber moved to Chicago, where he re-established his publication as The Voice.
The Aftermath:
The exact number of people killed and injured during the riot may never be known. An official investigation concluded that twelve people -- ten African Americans and two whites -- had died, but the actual number of black fatalities was clearly much higher. Newspaper estimates at the time greatly exceeded this total, and a more recent tally of victims by the Metro-Atlanta Afro American Historical and Genealogical Society has identified twenty-one blacks and two whites by name who lost their lives during the riot. Even this list, however, does not account for reported victims, such as the man Evelyn Witherspoon witnessed being lynched outside her family's home, who were never identified. Likewise, the number of injured was under-counted, as wounded African Americans were unlikely to report their injuries or seek medical assistance during or even after the riot.
The 1906 riot also exacted a heavy toll on local race relations and Atlanta's image as a thriving and progressive city of the New South. The event was reported widely in both national and international newspapers, and many publications loudly denounced the actions of the mob and the city's inability to bring it to a quick conclusion. But it was the African American community that suffered most as a result of the violence, not only in terms of lives lost, but also in damage to businesses and personal property. Thousands of black residents left the city when the violence finally concluded, many never to return. Whatever sense of security or well being African Americans had enjoyed before the riot, was now gone. As one man who fled the city after the riot later told journalist Ray Stannard Baker, "I must hurry through the only life I shall live on earth, tortured by these experiences and these horrible impulses, with no hope of ever getting away from them."
Interracial Cooperation:
The destructive violence of the riot, its harmful impact on Atlanta's economy, image, and reputation, and fears of black retaliation convinced a number of white citizens that the time had come, not only to denounce mob violence, but also to encourage interracial cooperation and interaction. In the aftermath of the riot, meetings between white and black leaders were arranged and new organizations formed to stabilize the racial climate.
Two white Atlantans who played a major role in the formation of these early interracial organizations were lawyer Charles T. Hopkins and former governor, William J. Northen. Hopkins (a member of the Committee of Ten) established the Atlanta Civil League, whose mission was to encourage peace and racial harmony through moral rather than political means and whose membership was primarily composed of elite white businessmen. Reverend Henry Proctor headed an affiliated Colored Cooperative League of black community leaders. A third organization, which focused on improving race relations through religious example and instruction was the Business Men's Gospel Union, headed by W.J. Northen -- who also attempted, without success, to establish a state network of anti-lynching organizations.
While these early efforts represented a new direction for Atlanta race relations in the early twentieth century, their effectiveness was undercut by continued white adherence to the principles of Jim Crow. Both Hopkins and Northen, remained firm believers in racial segregation and the need for white control of politics and government. Thus, while the Atlanta Civil League and the Colored Cooperative League were closely aligned, and the white Business Men's Gospel Union and the black Evangelical Ministers Union were similarly connected by mission and approach, they remained separate racial organizations, operating in separate racial spheres.
The Rise of Sweet Auburn:
The 1906 Atlanta race riot had a dramatic impact on the city, its residents, and its institutions, but perhaps its most long-lasting effect was the strengthening of Jim Crow restrictions and, in particular, racial segregation. Before the riot, black businesses, such as Alonzo Herndon's barbershops, had been scattered among white businesses on Peachtree Street and other major avenues of downtown Atlanta. Following the riot, both African American businesses and African American residents increasingly sought the safety and support of all-black enclaves within the city.
This increased segregation contributed to the rise of Auburn Avenue as a prosperous black business and entertainment district, serving an exclusively black audience. The construction of new buildings along Auburn Avenue in the early twentieth century provided much-needed office space for an increasing number and diversity of black professionals, businesses, trade, and service organizations. The Odd Fellows Building, completed in 1915, housed a drugstore, an auditorium, offices for black professionals and entrepreneurs, and a rooftop garden where dances and receptions were held. By 1920 there were already 72 black-owned businesses and twenty black professionals located on the avenue; ten years later that number had climbed to 121 businesses and thirty-nine professionals. Included in this mix were insurance companies, such as Standard life Insurance and Atlanta Life Insurance Company (one of the largest black-owned companies in the nation); banks and lending-institutions, such as Citizens Trust Bank and Mutual Federal; entertainment centers; hotels; restaurants; beauty schools; funeral homes; and newspapers.
This was the world Martin Luther King, Jr. experienced growing up on Auburn Avenue -- a street rich with examples of black success and achievement, but hemmed in and diminished by Jim Crow segregation and racial discrimination, a legacy of the 1906 Atlanta race riot.
Summary:
The race riot that occurred in Atlanta in 1906 was not an isolated event. Similar acts of racial violence occurred throughout the country at the turn of the century, as white political and civic leaders attempted to establish and maintain a rigid system of segregation and racial discrimination, and African Americans resisted.
Following the riot, politicians and civic leaders in Atlanta worked hard to quickly erase the memories and stigma of that event, but the riot's impact was long-lived and far-reaching. In Atlanta, it led not only to the formation of the city's first interracial organizations, but also to a more extensive and pronounced segregation of black residences and businesses within the city. On the state level it facilitated the passage of prohibition as well as additional restrictions on black voting rights. And on a national level, more black leaders began to oppose the accommodationist approach of Booker T. Washington and gave impetus to the formation of growth of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) -- an organization whose leaders would include both W.E.B. DuBois and Walter White.
The events of those four days in September 1906 would soon slip from the public's consciousness, but the impact of the "death and fury" that DuBois described in "Litany of Atlanta" would resonate within the city and nation for decades to come.
Red was the Midnight
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