1889 Forrest City riot

1889 Forrest City riot
1889 Forrest City riot
Part of the nadir of American race relations
Date	May 18–19, 1889
Location	Forrest City, Arkansas, United States
Casualties
Death(s)	4
Injuries	2

Last updated August 27, 2023

The 1889 Forrest City riot was a period of civil unrest in Forrest City, Arkansas, United States. The riot began on May 18 and concluded the following day.

The conflict had its roots in recent political developments within St. Francis County, of which Forrest City was the county seat. During the late 1880s, the Union Labor Party, which was made up of labor and agricultural activists from groups such as the Agricultural Wheel, formed an alliance with the Republican Party and won several elected positions in the county government in the 1888 elections. This development upset many white Democrats in the county, as the election saw many African Americans elected on the fusion ticket. The following year, elections were scheduled for the county's school board, and there was a possibility that African Americans could win a majority of seats on the institution. On May 18, election day, a fight broke out between Americus M. Neely, an African American school board member, and a white member of the board at a polling place. In the aftermath, shots were fired by members of both parties, resulting in several deaths. Neely fled the scene and barricaded himself in the offices of his local newspaper, though he was killed by militia members the following day.

Following the riot, African American leaders were driven out of the county and white Democrats regained control. A series of laws passed at the state level in the following years effectively disenfranchised African Americans, and in 1900, all white Democratic candidates in the county ran unopposed. The riot was one of several in the Arkansas Delta region that saw white Americans attempt to stop African Americans from gaining political power, and in 2006, historian James T. Campbell called the event "one of the bloodiest in a series of racist pogroms intended to drive black Arkansans out of politics".

Background

In 1887, the Union Labor Party was established at a meeting of organized labor and agricultural representatives, including members of the Agricultural Wheel, in Cincinnati. In April of the following year, the Arkansas state affiliate of the party held its first meeting.^[1] During that year's elections in Arkansas, members of the state party and the Republican Party formed an alliance to challenge the dominant Democratic Party. In St. Francis County, this fusion ticket saw success, with Republican candidates winning the offices of assessor, coroner, and treasurer, and Union Labor candidates becoming county clerk, county judge, and sheriff. Democrats were fearful of this new alliance and in particular the support the movement had from African Americans, with all three of the new Republican officeholders being black.^[2] Following the election, local Democrats stated that, unless "some lawful means [was] used to prevent [blacks'] election", African Americans would eventually dominate the county's politics. Around this time, St. Francis County was home to a significant number of African Americans, and by 1890, they would constitute a majority of the population.^[2] In May 1889, tensions began to arise in Forrest City,^[2] the county seat.^[3] At the time, the county school board consisted of five white Democrats and one black Republican, Americus M. Neely, a local black leader and editor of the Advocate, a Republican publication. However, two of the white Democrats terms had expired, with elections scheduled for May 18, and many white county residents were fearful that African Americans would win those open seats and gain a majority on the school board.^[2]

Riot

Violence broke out on the afternoon of election day, May 18.^[2] At a polling place, a fight broke out between Neely and James Fussell, the president of the school board and one of the Democratic candidates who was seeking reelection.^[2] Neely, who was knocked down during the scuffle, went to John Parham, a member of the Union Labor Party and a former sheriff, for protection.^[2] City Marshal Frank Folbre, a member of the Democratic Party, attempted to keep the peace before Deputy County Clerk Tom Parham, John's son, arrived and opened fire on some of the men, fatally wounding Folbre.^[2] Before dying, Folbre fired at Tom, killing him.^[2] In the ensuing shootout, a stray bullet killed Sheriff D. M. Wilson, a former Democrat turned Republican/Union Laborite, while John and Neely were both injured.^[2] Following the initial violence, Neely went to the Advocate headquarters and barricaded himself in there with his father, Henry, and younger brother, Ed.^[2] Meanwhile, G. W. Ingram, the coroner and a candidate for the school board, fled the county on orders to not return, and the white school board members won unanimous reelection.^[2] During the night, shots were fired into the Advocate building.^[2] The next morning, Van B. Izard, the colonel of a local militia who had recently been appointed sheriff by Arkansas Governor James Philip Eagle, led a group of men into the Advocate building and arrested Henry and Ed.^[2] After a search, Americus was found hiding under the floorboards and was killed when several men opened fire at him.^[2] His body was later turned over to family members.^[2]

Aftermath

In the aftermath of the riot, white Democrats were able to regain control of county politics through intimidation and voter discrimination.^[2] The riot was one of several that occurred around this time in the Arkansas Delta region, with a similar riot in Crittenden County the previous year resulting in all black elected officials being forced out of the county.^[4] Many of the African American leaders in St. Francis County left in the riot's aftermath, and many individuals who had been members of the Agricultural Wheel were attacked.^[5] In July 1889, during the Wheel's state conference in Hot Springs, Arkansas, the organization condemned the riot, but proceeded to adopt a new constitution that barred African American members from joining the organization.^[6] In the early 1890s, Democrats in the state passed laws instituting poll taxes and a white primary that effectively disenfranchised African Americans, as well as many poor whites.^[2] By 1900, all white Democratic candidates in St. Francis County ran unopposed.^[2] In a 2006 book, historian James T. Campbell referred to the 1889 riot as "one of the bloodiest in a series of racist pogroms intended to drive black Arkansans out of politics".^[7]

Related Research Articles

Orval Eugene Faubus was an American politician who served as the 36th Governor of Arkansas from 1955 to 1967, as a member of the Democratic Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carpetbagger</span> Pejorative term for opportunistic Northerner

In the history of the United States, carpetbagger is a largely historical term used by Southerners to describe opportunistic Northerners who came to the Southern states after the American Civil War, who were perceived to be exploiting the local populace for their own financial, political, and/or social gain. The term broadly included both individuals who sought to promote Republican politics and individuals who saw business and political opportunities because of the chaotic state of the local economies following the war. In practice, the term carpetbagger was often applied to any Northerners who were present in the South during the Reconstruction Era (1865–1877). The term is closely associated with "scalawag", a similarly pejorative word used to describe native white Southerners who supported the Republican Party-led Reconstruction.

Southern Democrats are affiliates of the U.S. Democratic Party who reside in the Southern United States. Most of them voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by holding the longest filibuster in American Senate history while Democrats in non-Southern states supported the Civil Rights Act of 1964. After 1994 the Republicans typically won most elections in the South.

The Red Shirts or Redshirts of the Southern United States were white supremacist paramilitary terrorist groups that were active in the late 19th century in the last years of, and after the end of, the Reconstruction era of the United States. Red Shirt groups originated in Mississippi in 1875, when anti-Reconstruction private terror units adopted red shirts to make themselves more visible and threatening to Southern Republicans, both whites and freedmen. Similar groups in the Carolinas also adopted red shirts.

The South Carolina civil disturbances of 1876 were a series of race riots and civil unrest related to the Democratic Party's political campaign to take back control from Republicans of the state legislature and governor's office through their paramilitary Red Shirts division. Part of their plan was to disrupt Republican political activity and suppress black voting, particularly in counties where populations of whites and blacks were close to equal. Former Confederate general Martin W. Gary's "Plan of the Campaign of 1876" gives the details of planned actions to accomplish this.

The Democratic Party of Arkansas is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the state of Arkansas. The current party chair is Grant Tennille.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Carolina Republican Party</span> North Carolina affiliate of the Republican Party

The North Carolina Republican Party (NCGOP) is the affiliate of the Republican Party in North Carolina. Michael Whatley has been the chair since 2019. It is currently the state's favored party, controlling half of North Carolina's U.S. House seats, both U.S. Senate seats, and a 3/5 supermajority control of both chambers of the state legislature, as well as a majority on the state supreme court.

Lewis Porter Featherstone was an American planter and farm activist who served for one year as a Labor Party U.S. Representative from Arkansas from 1890 to 1891.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William H. Cate</span> American politician

William Henderson Cate was an American politician, lawyer and judge. In 1889 and 1890, he served part of one term as a U.S. Representative from Arkansas. He was removed from his seat following an investigation of election fraud before regaining the seat in the subsequent election, serving an additional term from 1891 to 1893.

The Election Massacre of 1874, or Coup of 1874, took place on election day, November 3, 1874, near Eufaula, Alabama in Barbour County. Freedmen comprised a majority of the population and had been electing Republican candidates to office. Members of an Alabama chapter of the White League, a paramilitary group supporting the Democratic Party's drive to regain political power in the county and state, used firearms to ambush black Republicans at the polls.

John Middleton Clayton was an American politician who served as a Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives for Jefferson County from 1871 to 1873 and the Arkansas State Senate for Jefferson County. In 1888, he ran for a seat in the United States House of Representatives but lost to Clifton R. Breckinridge. Clayton challenged the results and was assassinated in 1889 during the challenge to the election. He was declared the winner of the election posthumously. The identity of his assassin remains unknown.

The Arkansas Delta is one of the six natural regions of the state of Arkansas. Willard B. Gatewood Jr., author of The Arkansas Delta: Land of Paradox, says that rich cotton lands of the Arkansas Delta make that area "The Deepest of the Deep South."

The State government of Arkansas is divided into three branches: executive, legislative and judicial. These consist of the state governor's office, a bicameral state legislature known as the Arkansas General Assembly, and a state court system. The Arkansas Constitution delineates the structure and function of the state government. Since 1963, Arkansas has had four seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Like all other states, it has two seats in the U.S. Senate.

James Ray Caldwell, known as Jim R. Caldwell, is a retired Church of Christ minister in Tulsa, Oklahoma, who was a Republican member of the Arkansas State Senate from 1969 to 1978, the first member of his party to sit in the legislative upper chamber in the 20th century. His first two years as a senator corresponded with the second two-year term of Winthrop Rockefeller, the first Republican governor of Arkansas since Reconstruction. Caldwell was closely allied with Rockefeller during the 1969-1970 legislative sessions.

The 1937 Arkansas special senatorial election was held on October 19, 1937, following the death of longtime Democratic senator Joe T. Robinson. Robinson was a powerful senator, staunch Democrat, and strong supporter of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and was instrumental in passing many New Deal programs through the Senate. Arkansas was essentially a one-party state during the Solid South period; the Democratic Party controlled all aspects of state and local office. Recently elected Democratic Governor of Arkansas Carl E. Bailey initially considered appointing himself to finish Robinson's term, but later acceded to a nomination process by the Democratic Central Committee, avoiding a public primary but breaking a campaign process. Avoiding the primary so angered the public and establishment Democrats, leading them to coalesce behind longtime Democrat John E. Miller as an independent, forcing a general election.

The 1932 Arkansas gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1932, to elect the Governor of Arkansas, concurrently with the election to Arkansas's Class III U.S. Senate seat, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.

The 1944 United States presidential election in Mississippi took place on November 7, 1944, as part of the 1944 United States presidential election. Mississippi voters chose nine representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

The 2020 United States presidential election in Arkansas took place on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Arkansas voters chose six electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting incumbent Republican President Donald Trump and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Mike Pence, against Democratic challenger and former Vice President Joe Biden and his running mate, United States Senator Kamala Harris of California. Also on the ballot were the nominees for the Libertarian, Green, Constitution, American Solidarity, Life and Liberty, and Socialism and Liberation parties and Independent candidates. Write-in candidates are not allowed to participate in presidential elections.

The 1888 Arkansas gubernatorial election was held on September 3, 1888.

References

↑ Hild 2022.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Welch 2022.
↑ Polston 2022.
↑ Lancaster 2014, pp. 8, 32.
↑ Stockley 2009, p. 116.
↑ Graves 1990, pp. 204–205.
↑ Campbell 2006, p. 127.

Sources

Campbell, James T. (2006). Middle Passages: African American Journeys to Africa, 1787-2005. Preface by David Levering Lewis. New York City: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-311198-6.
Graves, John William (1990). Town and Country: Race Relations in an Urban-Rural Context, Arkansas, 1865–1905. Fayetteville, Arkansas: University of Arkansas Press. ISBN 978-1-68226-138-5.
Hild, Matthew (March 28, 2022). "Union Labor Party". Encyclopedia of Arkansas . Archived from the original on November 27, 2022. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
Lancaster, Guy (2014). Racial Cleansing in Arkansas, 1883–1924: Politics, Land, Labor, and Criminality. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0-7391-9548-2.
Polston, Mike (December 5, 2022). "Forrest City (St. Francis County)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas . Archived from the original on January 8, 2023. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
Stockley, Grif (2009). Ruled by Race: Black/White Relations in Arkansas From Slavery to the Present. Fayetteville, Arkansas: University of Arkansas Press. ISBN 978-1-61075-356-2.
Welch, Melanie K. (February 7, 2022). "Forrest City Riot of 1889". Encyclopedia of Arkansas . Archived from the original on October 20, 2022. Retrieved January 8, 2023.