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Description

A broadside addressed "To the Negroes of Phillips County" by Sheriff F.F. Kitchens and a committee of eleven, dated October 7, 1919, informing African Americans that the trouble at Hoop Spur and Elaine, Arkansas, had been settled and that soldiers would not remain in the area very long. Kitchens stated that no innocent African American had been arrested and thus all others should not be concerned and continue to work. It concludes with the advice: "Stop Talking! Stay at home-Got to work-Don't worry!". The broadside followed one of the deadliest racial incidents in United States history. A large group of African American sharecroppers had met with officials of the Progressive Farmers and Household Union in a church in Hoop Spur on September 30 to discuss how to get more money for their crops from the white landowners. Shooting erupted between armed guards placed by the union around the building and a group of white men resulting in the death of one of the white men and the wounding of a deputy sheriff. This resulted in white vigilantes roaming the county and a call to the governor for soldiers to be sent from Camp Pike to maintain order because of the fear of a black insurrection. While 122 African Americans were arrested and 12 sentenced to be executed, with the others receiving up to 20 years imprisonment, many more were killed or tortured by local whites and soldiers in what was later called the Elaine massacre. By 1925, all of the imprisoned were released although they were not acquitted.

Identifier

sc.0495.005_007.001

Date

1919

Keywords

Elaine (Ark.)--Race relations.

Elaine massacre broadsheet, Arkansas, 1919

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