Attack
The Bloody Bogalusa Massacre occurred on November 22, 1919, following years of labor struggles in the timber industry. The Bogalusa sawmill was the world's largest, and labor demands for better wages were met with arrests of Black men for minor offenses, forcing them into forced labor at the mill. Sol Dacus, the head of the Black union, was defended by white union members, resulting in a confrontation.
The Great Southern Lumber Company deployed its private militia, consisting of 150 deputies, against unrest. A riot signal was sounded, leading to the attempted arrest of J. P. Bouchillon and Stanley O’Rourke, who were carrying shotguns. Conflicting accounts exist regarding who fired first, but the incident resulted in the deaths of four white unionists, including Bouchillon, O'Rourke, Lem Williams, and carpenter Thomas Gaines, along with two Black men. This event marked a significant setback for labor unionization efforts and led to the deployment of federal troops to restore order in Bogalusa.
Washington Parish is a parish located in the interior southeast corner of the U.S. state of Louisiana, one of the Florida Parishes. As of the 2020 census, the population was 45,463. Its parish seat is Franklinton. Its largest city is Bogalusa. The parish was founded in 1819.
Bogalusa is a city in Washington Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 12,232 at the 2010 census. In the 2020 census the city reported a population of 10,659. It is the principal city of the Bogalusa Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Washington Parish and is also part of the larger New Orleans–Metairie–Hammond combined statistical area.
The Elaine massacre occurred on September 30 – October 2, 1919, at Hoop Spur in the vicinity of Elaine in rural Phillips County, Arkansas where African Americans were organizing against peonage and abuses in tenant farming. As many as several hundred African Americans and five white men were killed. Estimates of deaths made in the immediate aftermath of the Elaine Massacre by eyewitnesses range from 50 to "more than a hundred". Walter Francis White, an NAACP attorney who visited Elaine shortly after the incident, stated "... twenty-five Negroes killed, although some place the Negro fatalities as high as one hundred". More recent estimates in the 21st century of the number of black people killed during this violence are higher than estimates provided by the eyewitnesses, and have ranged into the hundreds. The white mobs were aided by federal troops and local terrorist organizations. Gov. Brough led a contingent of 583 US soldiers from Camp Pike, with a 12-gun machine gun battalion.
The New Orleans general strike was a general strike in the U.S. city of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, that began on November 8, 1892. Despite appeals to racial hatred, black and white workers remained united. The general strike ended on November 12, with unions gaining most of their original demands.
The Great Southern Lumber Company was chartered in 1902 to harvest and market the virgin longleaf pine forests in southeastern Louisiana and southwestern Mississippi. Bogalusa, Louisiana was developed from the ground up as a company town and was the location for Great Southern Lumber Company's sawmill, which began operation in 1908. Other company interests included a railroad and paper mill. The company ceased operation in 1938, when the supply of virgin pines was depleted. Bogalusa became the site of a paper mill and chemical operations, followed by other industry.
The Grabow riot or Grabow massacre was a violent confrontation that took place between private police hired by management and labor factions in the timber industry near Grabow (Graybow), Louisiana, on July 7, 1912. The clash left three union workers and a company security employee dead, including union leader Asbury Decatur ("Kate") Hall, and an estimated fifty wounded. It was a crucial event in attempts to organize locals and unionize sawmill workers in Louisiana and east Texas in a series of events known as the Louisiana-Texas Lumber War of 1911-1912.
Deacons for Defense is a 2003 American television drama film directed by Bill Duke. The television film stars Forest Whitaker, Christopher Britton, Ossie Davis, Jonathan Silverman, Adam Weiner, and Marcus Johnson. Based on a story by Michael D'Antonio, the teleplay was written by Richard Wesley and Frank Military.
The Bisbee Riot, or the Battle of Brewery Gulch, occurred on July 3, 1919, between the black Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Cavalry and members of local police forces in Bisbee, Arizona.
The Brotherhood of Timber Workers (BTW) (1910–1916) was a union of sawmill workers, farmers, and small business people primarily located in East Texas and West Louisiana, but also had locals in Arkansas (7) and Mississippi (1). The BTW was organized in 1910 by Arthur Lee (A.L) Emerson and Jay Smith as an industrial union. Estimates of membership fall between 20,000 and 35,000 people. Despite being located in the Jim Crow South the union was open to members of all races and women were granted membership in 1912. Roughly half of the membership is believed to have been African American. Members of Brotherhood had their work cut out for themselves, organizing an interracial union during Jim Crow in one of the largest industries in the South. Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi were three of the largest timber producing states in the country during that era.
Charles Waterhouse Goodyear was an American lawyer, businessman, lumberman, and member of the prominent Goodyear family of New York. Based in Buffalo, New York, along with his brother, Frank, Charles was the founder and president of several companies, including the Buffalo and Susquehanna Railroad, Great Southern Lumber Company, Goodyear Lumber Company, Buffalo & Susquehanna Coal & Coke Company, and the New Orleans Great Northern Railroad Company.
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 the rape of a white woman with four days of mob violence against black individuals and businesses. They rioted, randomly beat black people on the street, and pulled others off streetcars for attacks. When police refused to intervene, the black population fought back. The city closed saloons and theaters to discourage assemblies. Meanwhile, the four white-owned local papers, including the Washington Post, fanned the violence with incendiary headlines and calling in at least one instance for mobilization of a "clean-up" operation.
The New London riots of 1919 were a series of racial riots between white and black Navy sailors and Marines stationed in New London and Groton, Connecticut.
The Dublin, Georgia riot of 1919 were a series of violent racial riots between white and black residents of Dublin, Georgia.
The 1919 Coatesville call to arms was when the black community of Coatesville, Pennsylvania formed a large armed group to prevent a rumoured lynching. Only later when the armed group had surrounded the jail to prevent the lynching did they learn that there was no suspect and no white lynch mob.
The Syracuse riot of 1919 was a violent racial attack that occurred when the management of the Globe Malleable Iron Works pitted striking white unionized workers against black strikebreakers in Syracuse, New York on July 31, 1919.
There were a number of race riots in Philadelphia during the 1919 Red Summer.
The Wilmington, Delaware race riot of 1919 was a violent racial riot between white and black residents of Wilmington, Delaware on November 13, 1919.
The New York race riots of 1919 developed with increasing racial tension and violent incidents in New York City. These riots were a part of the Red Summer, a series of violent terrorist attacks on black communities in many cities in the United States during the summer and early autumn of 1919. The New York race riots were caused by social tensions such as competition for jobs, politics, and racial tension. Many historians and scholars view these riots as the culmination of racial tensions which had been rising due to the migration of African Americans from the rural South to northern cities. Tensions developed partly due to the competition for jobs, which was worsened by the presence of African Americans workers who could replace striking White workers.
The Laurens County, Georgia race riot was an attack on the black community by white mobs in August 1919. In the Haynes' report, as summarized in the New York Times, it is called the Ocmulgee, Georgia race riot.
The Louisiana and Texas Lumber War of 1911–1912 was a series of worker strikes that fought for better conditions in sawmills in the Piney Woods of west Louisiana and East Texas. These sawmills underwent attempts to unionize that were opposed by lumber companies and owners. The union workers were known as the Brotherhood of Timber Workers (BTW), a branch of the Lumber Workers Industrial Union (LWIU), which was affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The Brotherhood tried to recruit mill workers by giving speeches and conducting meetings at various mills. Although they had limited success in Louisiana, the LWIU became very successful from 1917 to 1924.
