Date Original
2018
Description
This collection contains two copies of The Elaine Massacre and Arkansas: A Century of Atrocity and Resistance, 1819-1919, edited by Guy Lancaster and one Curtis H. Sykes Memorial Grant Program final grant report.
Biographical/Historical Note
The Elaine Massacre was by far the deadliest racial confrontation in Arkansas history. The events in Elaine (Phillips County) stemmed from tense race relations and growing concerns about labor unions. A shooting incident that occurred at a meeting of the Progressive Farmers and Household Union escalated into mob violence on the part of the white people in Elaine and surrounding areas. Although the exact number is unknown, estimates of the number of African Americans killed by whites range into the hundreds; five white people lost their lives. The conflict began on the night of September 30, 1919, when approximately 100 African Americans, mostly sharecroppers on the plantations of white landowners, attended a meeting of the Progressive Farmers and Household Union of America at a church in Hoop Spur (Phillips County), three miles north of Elaine. The purpose of the meeting, one of several by black sharecroppers in the Elaine area during the previous months, was to obtain better payments for their cotton crops from the white plantation owners who dominated the area during the Jim Crow era. Black sharecroppers were often exploited in their efforts to collect payment for their cotton crops.
Physical Description
Document, 8.5" x 11"
Geographical Area
Elaine, Phillips County (Ark.)
Language
English
Identifier
BHC.005.001
Resource Type
Text
Collection
The Elaine Massacre and Arkansas, final grant report, BHC.005.001
Publisher
Arkansas State Archives
Contributing Entity
Arkansas State Archives
Recommended Citation
The Elaine Massacre and Arkansas final grant report, Arkansas State Archives, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Rights
Use and reproduction of images held by the Arkansas State Archives without prior written permission is prohibited. For information on reproducing images held by the Arkansas State Archives, please call 501-682-6900 or email at state.archives@arkansas.gov.
Disciplines
United States History
