Racial unrest in Cairo, Illinois

Cairo, Illinois, racial unrest
Cairo, Illinois, racial unrest
Date	1967–1973
Location	Cairo, Illinois, United States
Caused by	Segregation, poverty, unemployment
Methods	Rioting, arson, sniping, picketing, boycott
Resulted in	White flight, followed by general depopulation of Cairo
Parties
Casualties
Death(s)	4

Last updated October 03, 2024

From 1967 to 1973, an extended period of racial unrest occurred in the town of Cairo, Illinois. The city had long had racial tensions which boiled over after a black soldier was found hanged in his jail cell. Over the next several years, fire bombings, racially charged boycotts and shootouts were common place in Cairo, with 170 nights of gunfire reported in 1969 alone.^[1]^[2]

Background

Cairo's turbulent history of race relations is often traced back to the lynching of black resident William James. In 1900, Cairo had a population of nearly 13,000. Of that total, approximately 5,000 residents were African-American. In 1900, this was an unusually high black population for a town of Cairo's size, and five percent of all black residents of the state of Illinois resided here. As a result of the large black population in a town with a traditionally southern white heritage (despite the fact that Illinois is not in the South), race relations were already strained by 1900. On the night of November 11, 1909, two men were lynched. The first man lynched was a black man named William James, who was allegedly responsible for the murder of Anna Pelley, a young white woman killed three days earlier. The second man lynched was a white man named Henry Salzner, who had allegedly murdered his wife in the previous August.^[3]

The decline of the steamboat industry in the early 20th century hurt Cairo's economy significantly. By the time of unrest in the 1960s, the unemployment rate of Cairo was more than twice the national average and poverty was widespread among both black and white people in the city.^[4]

1967 riot

The Cairo riot of 1967 was one of 159 race riots that swept cities in the United States during the "Long Hot Summer of 1967". This riot began on July 17, 1967, and persisted through three days of riots and protests.

Tensions had been building in Cairo for years prior to the incident. Black residents (roughly half the population of Cairo) were locked out of all jobs except menial labor. Similarly, Black residents were restricted from purchasing or renting homes, and could only live in the two block by one block area of the Pyramid Courts housing project. This housing project had not been maintained by the city or the project management offices since its erection in 1939 and was in disrepair, infested with rats and insects, and used a water system that was contaminated with lead. Black residents were ignored by the all white city council and could not get onto the ballot themselves, depriving them of any legitimate means of addressing grievances.^[5]

The incident began with the alleged jailhouse suicide of Private Robert Hunt, a young African-American soldier on leave in his hometown of Cairo. Police said Hunt hanged himself with his T-shirt, but Cairo's African-American residents challenged that story. The death touched off three days of riots and protests, followed by a seven-year renewal of civil rights activities in the city.

Several shootouts occurred throughout the city and at least six firebombings occurred. Three stores and a warehouse were burned down and a stabbing also occurred.^[6]^[7]

Timeline

1967

July 17 - Unrest starts after the suspicious jailhouse suicide of Robert Hunt. Six fire bombings occurred throughout the city, including attacks on three stores and a warehouse.^[6]
July 19 - Three fire bombings occurred in the city - two at a lumber yard and one at the home of the lumber yard's foreman. Police also exchanged fire with snipers but no injuries occurred.^[7]
July 20 - 100 national guardsmen are recalled after a night of low tensions.^[8]
July 21 - Eight community leaders from Pyramid Courts attended the meeting and issued a list of demands: repairs to Pyramid Courts, political representation, an end to police brutality and job discrimination. Activist and future minister Charles Koen was one of the leaders present and insisted that their demands needed to be met without 72 hours. Other Black leaders agreed, warning that otherwise Cairo would "look like Rome burning down."^[9]^[10]^[11] Mayor Lee Stenzel held a meeting to a crowd of 400 angry white people in which he told them that the "negro problem" in the city had been brewing for a long time and that he needed more time to deal with it.^[12] In spite of the warnings, the city did not burn, and the riot ended within a matter of days. That same July, over six hundred white residents, including prominent members of the community, formed a vigilante group called the Committee of Ten Million. For the next two years, day and night, members of this group patrolled Cairo with firearms and police dogs, conducted paramilitary drills, and were empowered by the sheriff's department to threaten and arrest Black residents. They became known as the White Hats due to the white helmets they wore in their duties.^[13]^[14]

1969

March 23 - Father Gerald Mantroy exposed the crippling poverty of the Black community in Cairo and the violence perpetrated by the White Hats in an interview on the front page of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. An organization called Concerned Clergy was formed in East St. Louis, and with the support of Bishop Albert Rudolph Zuroweste sent twenty priests and ministers to Cairo to support Montroy and the Black community. In response, the White Hats conducted their own interviews with the press, defending the use of intimidation tactics. ^[15]^[16]^[17]
March 31 - Around 10pm, members of the White Hats stood on a levee and fired rifles and shotguns into the Pyramid Courts housing project. Some residents returned fire, others shot out the streelights to provide cover. A railyard lay between the levee and the housing project, and some railcrew workers were caught in the crossfire. Assaults on the project would continue almost daily over the next several years, with the residents sleeping in bathtubs and occasionally firing back at their assailants.^[18]^[19]^[20]^[21]^[22]^[23]
April 7 - Cairo's United Front called for a boycott of any store in the business district that refused to hire Black workers. The group picketed each Saturday for almost three years. In the first year, eleven businesses closed rather than capitulate to the protesters. Eventually a third of the downtown stores would go out of business.^[24]
April 26 - State attorney Peyton Berbling issued warrants to search three apartments in Pyramid Courts for guns and explosives. The apartments were ransacked in the afternoon while the occupants of the apartments were picketing downtown. No weapons were found.^[25]^[26]^[27]
April 26–28 - A total of 28 fire bombings occurred throughout the city over the weekend. A laundromat, a tavern and a mostly Black high school were bombed while the Tri-County Health center was set alight twice. During the second fire at the health center, firemen attempting to extinguish the flames and the policemen protecting them were fired at. In another incident, policemen tried to enter the Pyramid housing projects to search for a murder weapon, but were confronted by 200 black residents of the projects and forced to leave.^[28]^[4]^[26]
May 1 - 175 National Guardsmen and 30 State Policemen were deployed to Cairo to help the 15-man police force enforce a curfew over the city. Mayor Lee Stenzel, Police Chief Carl Clutts and civic and business leaders city testified at the Illinois State capitol on the unrest.^[26]^[29]
May 26 - Two waves of violence occurred in 24 hours. In the first incident, a number of gunmen attacked the Cairo police station, firing over 100 rounds into the building over the course of 15 minutes. In the second incident, a wallpaper warehouse and the Tri-County Health center were firebombed and responding firemen were shot at. The firemen allowed the health center to burn to the ground as it was scheduled to destroyed due to previous bombings.^[30]
June 12–14 - Four fire bombings and two gunfire incidents occurred.^[31]
June 15 - Sniper fire and fire bombings occurred throughout Cairo. A large discount store was fire bombed and responding firefighters were shot at. A group of black residents firebombed several white residences and there were total of about a dozen fires. There was speculation that the unrest was related to the appointment of former Alton police chief William Petersen to chief of Cairo police.^[31]
June 18 - Policemen engaged in a shootout with an unknown gunmen at an abandoned building. An unoccupied house in a black neighborhood and a storage shed for a lumber company were set on fire as well.^[32]
June 20 - A nine-member legislative committee recommended that a 70-man state police force patrol the city and that White Hats members should not be deputized. They also recommended that Governor Richard B. Ogilvie request the federal government to declare a state of emergency so that federal funding for housing and business development be made available.^[33]
June 26 - Groups of white and black residents threw rocks and bricks at each other after a march of 400 white people demanding "equal rights for whites" ended.^[34]
July 15 - Six ministers from the United Front of Cairo were evicted from Governor Ogilvie's reception office in Springfield where they had organized a sit-in.^[35]
August 28–29 - Scattered gunfire reported throughout the city, including incident in which patrol cars were fired at, but no injuries reported.^[36]

1970

July 23 - Several shootouts between white and black people occurred throughout the city, with the heaviest concentration being at the Pyramid Courts housing project.^[37]
October 27 - Governor Ogilvie ordered a 24-man state police force as well as an armored car to patrol Cairo for an indefinite period to stop the "indiscriminate gunfire and lawlessness" in the city. The order came after the Cairo police station was attacked with automatic gunfire on three separate occasions.^[38]
December 17 - Senator Charles H. Percy was visited in Washington by three Cairo high school students, the mayor and business leaders to discuss bringing peace to city.^[39]

Aftermath

In 1971 and 1972, the City Council repeatedly blocked efforts of a United Front backed corporation to buy vacant city lots and build affordable housing for both white and black residents.^[40] The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law arrived in Cairo in September 1969 to work with the Pyramid Courts Tenants Council. They filed a class action lawsuit that resulted in the desegregation of public housing by 1974, ending the shootings from the nearby levee. Over the next decade they also challenged unconstitutional city ordinances and provided assistance to residents who had been arrested or abused. In 1980 the first Black representative was elected to the city council.^[41]

The racial conflict resulted in a mass exodus of white residents from Cairo, which was already experiencing population decline before the unrest began.^[1] The white-owned businesses that closed due to the United Front boycott were not replaced by new businesses.^[42] The population of Cairo has declined from 9,348 in 1960 to approximately 2,359 in 2016. The peak population was 15,203 in 1920.^[43]^[44]

Related Research Articles

In the broader context of racism in the United States, mass racial violence in the United States consists of ethnic conflicts and race riots, along with such events as:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cairo, Illinois</span> City in the United States

Cairo is the southernmost city in Illinois and the county seat of Alexander County. A river city, Cairo has the lowest elevation of any location in Illinois and is the only Illinois city to be surrounded by levees. It is in the river-crossed area of Southern Illinois known as "Little Egypt", for which the city is named, after Egypt's capital on the Nile. The city is coterminous with Cairo Precinct.

The 1967 Detroit riot, also known as the 12th Street Riot, and the Detroit Uprising, was the bloodiest of the urban riots in the United States during the "long, hot summer of 1967". Composed mainly of confrontations between black residents and the Detroit Police Department, it began in the early morning hours of Sunday July 23, 1967, in Detroit, Michigan.

The Watts riots, sometimes referred to as the Watts Rebellion or Watts Uprising, took place in the Watts neighborhood and its surrounding areas of Los Angeles from August 11 to 16, 1965. The riots were motivated by anger at the racist and abusive practices of the Los Angeles Police Department, as well as grievances over employment discrimination, residential segregation, and poverty in L.A.

The 1967 Newark riots were an episode of violent, armed conflict in the streets of Newark, New Jersey. Taking place over a four-day period, the Newark riots resulted in at least 26 deaths and hundreds more serious injuries. Serious property damage, including shattered storefronts and fires caused by arson, left many of the city's buildings damaged or destroyed. At the height of the conflict, the National Guard was called upon to occupy the city with tanks and other military equipment, leading to iconic media depictions that were considered particularly shocking when shared in the national press. In the aftermath of the riots, Newark was quite rapidly abandoned by many of its remaining middle-class and affluent residents, as well as much of its white working-class population. This accelerated flight led to a decades-long period of disinvestment and urban blight, including soaring crime rates and gang activity.

The Plainfield riots was one of 159 race riots that swept cities in the United States during the "Long Hot Summer of 1967". This riot was a series of racially charged violent disturbances that occurred in Plainfield, New Jersey, which mirrored the 1967 Newark riots in nearby Newark.

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. Over the week, injuries attributed to the episodic confrontations stood at 537, two-thirds black and one-third white; and between 1,000 and 2,000 residents, most of them black, lost their homes. Due to its sustained violence and widespread economic impact, it is considered the worst of the scores of riots and civil disturbances across the United States during the "Red Summer" of 1919, so named because of its racial and labor violence. It was also one of the worst riots in the history of Illinois.

Riots often occur in reaction to a perceived grievance or out of dissent. Riots may be the outcome of a sporting event, although many riots have occurred due to poor working or living conditions, government oppression, conflicts between races or religions.

The Cicero race riot of 1951 occurred July 11–12, when a mob of 4,000 whites attacked an apartment building that housed a single black family in a neighborhood in Cicero, Illinois.

The King assassination riots, also known as the Holy Week Uprising, were a wave of civil disturbance which swept across the United States following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968. Some of the biggest riots took place in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Chicago, and Kansas City.

The 1968 New York City riot was a disturbance sparked by the assassination of Martin Luther King on April 4, 1968. Harlem, the largest African-American neighborhood in Manhattan was expected to erupt into looting and violence as it had done a year earlier, in which two dozen stores were either burglarized or burned and four people were killed. However, Mayor John Lindsay traveled into the heart of the area and stated that he regretted King’s wrongful death which led to the calming of residents. Numerous businesses were still looted and set afire in Harlem and Brooklyn, although these events were not widespread and paled in comparison to the riots in Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Chicago in which federal troops were needed to quell the disorders.

The 1966 Chicago West Side riots occurred between July 12 and 15 in Chicago, Illinois. After police arrested a man who was wanted for armed robbery, black residents took to the streets in anger and looted and burned various stores throughout the West Side until the arrival of 1,200 National Guardsmen on July 15. Violence quickly subsided and most of the troops were sent home on July 20.

The 1967 Saginaw riot was one of 159 race riots that swept cities in the United States during the "Long Hot Summer of 1967". This riot occurred in Saginaw, Michigan, on July 26, 1967. Tensions were high across Michigan that week as the 1967 Detroit riots in nearby Detroit had been escalating since Sunday July 23. When Saginaw mayor Henry G. Marsh chose to only meet privately with Civil Rights leaders in a conference closed to members of the public, the public started a protest. The protestors were met by riot police at City Hall and began getting out of hand, eventually turning into a riot that spread through downtown and into the neighborhoods of Saginaw. In all, 7 people were injured, 5 of whom were civilians and 2 were police.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marquette Park rallies</span>

From the mid-1960s until the late 1980s, Chicago's Marquette Park was the scene of many racially charged rallies that erupted in violence. The rallies often spilled into the residential areas surrounding the park.

A group of black organizations in Miami called for “a mass rally of concerned Black people,” to take place on August 7, 1968, at the Vote Power building in Liberty City, a black neighborhood. Sponsors were the Vote Power League, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and numerous smaller organizations. The protest was not provoked by a specific incident, but was intended “to show their frustration with the nation’s unfair political, social, and economic systems.” Another scholar described the root causes as “discrimination, proscription, and segregation.” A more extensive statement from the same scholar says the “major grievances... included deplorable housing conditions, economic exploitation, bleak employment prospects, racial discrimination, poor police-community relations, and economic competition with Cuban refugees.” The date was chosen to coincide with the Republican National Convention being held in Miami Beach.

Mass rioting and looting occurred in Chicago, Illinois in the immediate aftermath of the Chicago Bulls winning six NBA championships in the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ghetto riots (1964–1969)</span> American civil unrest, 1964-1969

The term ghetto riots, also termed ghetto rebellions, race riots, or negro riots refers to summer social unrest across the United States in the mid-to-late 1960s, characterized by African American groups using violent tactics.

The 1967 Minneapolis disturbance was one of the 159 disturbances that swept across cities in the United States during the "long, hot summer of 1967".

References

1 2 3 Maraniss, David. "RACE 'WAR' IN CAIRO RECONCILIATION GROWS AS MEMORIES RECEDE". Washington Post. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
↑ "Let my people Go" . Retrieved September 10, 2017.
↑ "1909: Will James, "the Froggie", lynched in Cairo". November 11, 2009. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
1 2 Powers, Thomas. "RACE STRIFE, JOBLESSNESS PLAGUE CAIRO". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
↑ Hinton, Elizabeth. America on fire: The untold history of police violence and Black rebellion since the 1960s. Liveright Publishing, 2021. p47-48.
1 2 ALERT GUARD AFTER RACIAL RIOTS IN CAIRO
1 2 Send Troops to Cairo
↑ "Remove Guard at Cairo". /archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
↑ Hinton, Elizabeth. America on fire: The untold history of police violence and Black rebellion since the 1960s. Liveright Publishing, 2021. p48-51
↑ Donald Janson, "Negroes Demand Action by Cairo, Ill," New York Times, July 21, 1967, pg. 28
↑ Jerome P. Curry, "Negro Youth Leaders Give Cairo 72 Hours to Meet Terms," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 20, 1967, pg. 3.
↑ "Reinforce Cairo Police". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
↑ Hinton, Elizabeth. America on fire: The untold history of police violence and Black rebellion since the 1960s. Liveright Publishing, 2021. p51, 72-74.
↑ J. Anthony Lukas. "Bad Day at Cairo, Ill., The New York Times. February 21, 1971, Section SM, Page 22.
↑ Hinton, Elizabeth. America on fire: The untold history of police violence and Black rebellion since the 1960s. Liveright Publishing, 2021. p51, 72-74.
↑ Robert H. Collins, "Priest Makes Charge: Vigilante Corps in Cairo, Ill." St Louis Post-Dispatch, Mar. 23, 1969.
↑ Thomas Powers, "Cairo Clerics Denounce Priest," Chicago Tribune, May 2, 1969.
↑ Hinton, Elizabeth. America on fire: The untold history of police violence and Black rebellion since the 1960s. Liveright Publishing, 2021. p52, 76-77, 92.
↑ "Shots Fired Near Scene of Racial Tension in Cairo," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 1, 1969, pg. 4C.
↑ "FBI Probing Black-White Clash in Cairo," Chicago Daily Defender, April 2, 1969, p3.
↑ Lee Winfrey, "The Gun Is King in City of Hate," Detroit Free Press, September 21, 1969, pg. 1.
↑ David Maraniss and Neil Henry, "Race 'War' in Cairo: Reconciliation Grows as Memories Recede," Washington Post, March 22, 1987, pg. A1.
↑ "Guns Blaze in Cairo, Ill., Racial Clash". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
↑ Hinton, Elizabeth. America on fire: The untold history of police violence and Black rebellion since the 1960s. Liveright Publishing, 2021. p68-69, 90-92, 197.
↑ Hinton, Elizabeth. America on fire: The untold history of police violence and Black rebellion since the 1960s. Liveright Publishing, 2021. p85-86.
1 2 3 Powers, Thomas. "Guard, Cops Enforce Tight Cairo Curfew". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
↑ Powers, Thomas. "Cairo Peace Efforts Move to Springfield". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
↑ "COPS FORCED TO RETREAT BY CAIRO GUNFIRE". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
↑ Powers, Thomas. "Cairo Peace Efforts Move to Springfield". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
↑ "Sniping, Fire Bombing Erupt Again In Cairo". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
1 2 "Fires Bombs, Sniping Again Hit Cairo, Ill". /archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
↑ "CAIRO POLICE IN SHOOTOUT WITH SNIPER". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
↑ Howard, Robert. "Legislative Unit Urges Race Equality to Ease Cairo Unrest". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
↑ "New Cairo Curfew". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
↑ Howard, Robert. "Police Evict Six Ministers During Sit-in at Ogilvie Office". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
↑ "RACE VIOLENCE INJURIES SIX IN GRAND RAPIDS". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
↑ "Gunfire in Cairo". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
↑ Elmer, John. "Ogilvie Orders State Police Into Cairo". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
↑ "Ask Percy's Help in Cairo". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
↑ Duane Lindstrom, "A Decade of Waiting in Cairo: A Report of the Illinois Advicosry Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights" (June 1975): 40, 11.
↑ Hinton, Elizabeth. America on fire: The untold history of police violence and Black rebellion since the 1960s. Liveright Publishing, 2021. p195-196.
↑ Hinton, Elizabeth. America on fire: The untold history of police violence and Black rebellion since the 1960s. Liveright Publishing, 2021. p197-198.
↑ "Decennial US Census". Archived from the original on 2013-10-01. Retrieved 2017-12-19.
↑ "Population and Housing Unit Estimates" . Retrieved September 10, 2017.

External links

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[race_war-1] 1 2 3 Maraniss, David. "RACE 'WAR' IN CAIRO RECONCILIATION GROWS AS MEMORIES RECEDE". Washington Post. Retrieved September 10, 2017.

[2] "Let my people Go" . Retrieved September 10, 2017.

[3] "1909: Will James, "the Froggie", lynched in Cairo". November 11, 2009. Retrieved September 10, 2017.

[joblessness-4] 1 2 Powers, Thomas. "RACE STRIFE, JOBLESSNESS PLAGUE CAIRO". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.

[5] Hinton, Elizabeth. America on fire: The untold history of police violence and Black rebellion since the 1960s. Liveright Publishing, 2021. p47-48.

[ALERT_GUARD-6] 1 2 ALERT GUARD AFTER RACIAL RIOTS IN CAIRO

[send_troops-7] 1 2 Send Troops to Cairo

[8] "Remove Guard at Cairo". /archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.

[9] Hinton, Elizabeth. America on fire: The untold history of police violence and Black rebellion since the 1960s. Liveright Publishing, 2021. p48-51

[10] Donald Janson, "Negroes Demand Action by Cairo, Ill," New York Times, July 21, 1967, pg. 28

[11] Jerome P. Curry, "Negro Youth Leaders Give Cairo 72 Hours to Meet Terms," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 20, 1967, pg. 3.

[12] "Reinforce Cairo Police". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.

[13] Hinton, Elizabeth. America on fire: The untold history of police violence and Black rebellion since the 1960s. Liveright Publishing, 2021. p51, 72-74.

[14] J. Anthony Lukas. "Bad Day at Cairo, Ill., The New York Times. February 21, 1971, Section SM, Page 22.

[15] Hinton, Elizabeth. America on fire: The untold history of police violence and Black rebellion since the 1960s. Liveright Publishing, 2021. p51, 72-74.

[16] Robert H. Collins, "Priest Makes Charge: Vigilante Corps in Cairo, Ill." St Louis Post-Dispatch, Mar. 23, 1969.

[17] Thomas Powers, "Cairo Clerics Denounce Priest," Chicago Tribune, May 2, 1969.

[18] Hinton, Elizabeth. America on fire: The untold history of police violence and Black rebellion since the 1960s. Liveright Publishing, 2021. p52, 76-77, 92.

[19] "Shots Fired Near Scene of Racial Tension in Cairo," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 1, 1969, pg. 4C.

[20] "FBI Probing Black-White Clash in Cairo," Chicago Daily Defender, April 2, 1969, p3.

[21] Lee Winfrey, "The Gun Is King in City of Hate," Detroit Free Press, September 21, 1969, pg. 1.

[22] David Maraniss and Neil Henry, "Race 'War' in Cairo: Reconciliation Grows as Memories Recede," Washington Post, March 22, 1987, pg. A1.

[23] "Guns Blaze in Cairo, Ill., Racial Clash". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.

[24] Hinton, Elizabeth. America on fire: The untold history of police violence and Black rebellion since the 1960s. Liveright Publishing, 2021. p68-69, 90-92, 197.

[25] Hinton, Elizabeth. America on fire: The untold history of police violence and Black rebellion since the 1960s. Liveright Publishing, 2021. p85-86.

[curfew-26] 1 2 3 Powers, Thomas. "Guard, Cops Enforce Tight Cairo Curfew". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.

[27] Powers, Thomas. "Cairo Peace Efforts Move to Springfield". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.

[28] "COPS FORCED TO RETREAT BY CAIRO GUNFIRE". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.

[29] Powers, Thomas. "Cairo Peace Efforts Move to Springfield". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.

[30] "Sniping, Fire Bombing Erupt Again In Cairo". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.

[sniping_again-31] 1 2 "Fires Bombs, Sniping Again Hit Cairo, Ill". /archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.

[32] "CAIRO POLICE IN SHOOTOUT WITH SNIPER". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.

[33] Howard, Robert. "Legislative Unit Urges Race Equality to Ease Cairo Unrest". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.

[34] "New Cairo Curfew". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.

[35] Howard, Robert. "Police Evict Six Ministers During Sit-in at Ogilvie Office". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.

[36] "RACE VIOLENCE INJURIES SIX IN GRAND RAPIDS". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.

[37] "Gunfire in Cairo". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.

[38] Elmer, John. "Ogilvie Orders State Police Into Cairo". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.

[39] "Ask Percy's Help in Cairo". archives.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 8, 2017.

[40] Duane Lindstrom, "A Decade of Waiting in Cairo: A Report of the Illinois Advicosry Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights" (June 1975): 40, 11.

[41] Hinton, Elizabeth. America on fire: The untold history of police violence and Black rebellion since the 1960s. Liveright Publishing, 2021. p195-196.

[42] Hinton, Elizabeth. America on fire: The untold history of police violence and Black rebellion since the 1960s. Liveright Publishing, 2021. p197-198.

[43] "Decennial US Census". Archived from the original on 2013-10-01. Retrieved 2017-12-19.

[44] "Population and Housing Unit Estimates" . Retrieved September 10, 2017.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

[28]

[29]

[30]

[31]

[32]

[33]

[34]

[35]

[36]

[37]

[38]

[39]

[40]

[41]

[42]

[43]

[44]

v t e Cairo, Illinois
History	Racial unrest (1967-1973)
Places	Cairo Historic District
Education	Cairo Community Unit School District 1
Transportation	Cairo I-57 Bridge Cairo Mississippi River Bridge Cairo Ohio River Bridge Cairo Regional Airport
Landmarks	Fort Defiance Magnolia Manor Old Custom House
This list is incomplete.