Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension Of American Racism (94 page)
Read Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension Of American Racism Online
Authors: James W. Loewen
BOOK: Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension Of American Racism
11.78Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
13
Comprehensive Handbook
to
Indiana in the Civil War: Away from the Battle,
exhibit at Indiana State Museum, 1995–1997, 17.
Comprehensive Handbook
to
Indiana in the Civil War: Away from the Battle,
exhibit at Indiana State Museum, 1995–1997, 17.
14
Jack Blocker Jr., “Channeling the Flow,” unpublished ms., Ch. 5, “Violence.”
Jack Blocker Jr., “Channeling the Flow,” unpublished ms., Ch. 5, “Violence.”
15
Roberta Nelson, “Myakka City’s Black History a ‘Mystery,’ ”
Tampa Tribune,
2/26/2001; Melissa Sue Brewer, e-mail, 8/2002. Brewer has confirmed these details with the 1930 manuscript census and other records.
Roberta Nelson, “Myakka City’s Black History a ‘Mystery,’ ”
Tampa Tribune,
2/26/2001; Melissa Sue Brewer, e-mail, 8/2002. Brewer has confirmed these details with the 1930 manuscript census and other records.
16
Librarian, West Frankfort, IL, 9/2002;
One Hundred Years of Progress: The Centennial History of Anna, Illinois
(Cape Girardeau: Missourian Printing, 1954).
Librarian, West Frankfort, IL, 9/2002;
One Hundred Years of Progress: The Centennial History of Anna, Illinois
(Cape Girardeau: Missourian Printing, 1954).
17
Life Newspapers 35th Anniversary Issue
(Northbrook, IL: Liberty Group, 12/1961), “Cicero . . . the Best Town in America,” 139.
Life Newspapers 35th Anniversary Issue
(Northbrook, IL: Liberty Group, 12/1961), “Cicero . . . the Best Town in America,” 139.
18
Baptist minister quoted in Joseph Lyford,
The Talk in Vandalia
(Santa Barbara: Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, 1962), 93.
Baptist minister quoted in Joseph Lyford,
The Talk in Vandalia
(Santa Barbara: Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, 1962), 93.
19
The Pekin Centenary 1849–1949
(Pekin: Pekin Chamber of Commerce, 1949), 93–95; Lowell Nye,
Our Town
(Libertyville: Lions Club, 1942), 11; Edna Ferber,
A Peculiar Treasure
(New York: Doubleday, 1939), 57; James Cornelius, 7/2002.
The Pekin Centenary 1849–1949
(Pekin: Pekin Chamber of Commerce, 1949), 93–95; Lowell Nye,
Our Town
(Libertyville: Lions Club, 1942), 11; Edna Ferber,
A Peculiar Treasure
(New York: Doubleday, 1939), 57; James Cornelius, 7/2002.
20
Clarence D. Stephenson,
175th Anniversary History of Indiana County
(Indiana, PA: A. D. Halldin, 1978–80), 354, quoting
Indiana County Gazette,
2/25/1903; cf. Denise Dusza Weber,
Delano’s Domain: A History of Warren Delano’s Mining Towns of Vintondale, Wehrum and Claghorn,
vol. I,
1789–1930
(Indiana, PA: A. G. Halldin, 1991); Loewen,
Lies Across America,
408–13.
Clarence D. Stephenson,
175th Anniversary History of Indiana County
(Indiana, PA: A. D. Halldin, 1978–80), 354, quoting
Indiana County Gazette,
2/25/1903; cf. Denise Dusza Weber,
Delano’s Domain: A History of Warren Delano’s Mining Towns of Vintondale, Wehrum and Claghorn,
vol. I,
1789–1930
(Indiana, PA: A. G. Halldin, 1991); Loewen,
Lies Across America,
408–13.
21
Please tell me of more: [email protected].
Please tell me of more: [email protected].
22
Three cities that tried but failed to expel their African Americans have recently marked those events. Springfield, Missouri, put up a historical marker about its Easter lynchings of 1906. Springfield, Illinois, set up a walking tour denoted by eight historical markers telling of its 1908 race riot. Tulsa, Oklahoma, erected a black granite memorial in its Greenwood section detailing whites’ 1921 attempts to drive all African Americans from Tulsa. Because these cities remained interracial, African American citizens existed to help spur the memorials, and European Americans had not joined hands for decades in support of a sundown policy, so they were more open to telling the truth. Similarly, a state historical marker in Detroit tells accurately of the 1948 court case won by the Orsel McGhee family when their white Detroit neighbors tried to keep them from moving in by invoking “a restrictive covenant forbidding non-white residents,” to quote the marker. (The case was merged with
Shelley v. Kraemer,
and the U.S. Supreme Court declared racial covenants unenforceable, as Chapter 9 tells.) Another Michigan marker, erected in 2004, tells of the riot that greeted Dr. Ossian Sweet when he moved into a sundown neighborhood in Detroit in 1925.
Three cities that tried but failed to expel their African Americans have recently marked those events. Springfield, Missouri, put up a historical marker about its Easter lynchings of 1906. Springfield, Illinois, set up a walking tour denoted by eight historical markers telling of its 1908 race riot. Tulsa, Oklahoma, erected a black granite memorial in its Greenwood section detailing whites’ 1921 attempts to drive all African Americans from Tulsa. Because these cities remained interracial, African American citizens existed to help spur the memorials, and European Americans had not joined hands for decades in support of a sundown policy, so they were more open to telling the truth. Similarly, a state historical marker in Detroit tells accurately of the 1948 court case won by the Orsel McGhee family when their white Detroit neighbors tried to keep them from moving in by invoking “a restrictive covenant forbidding non-white residents,” to quote the marker. (The case was merged with
Shelley v. Kraemer,
and the U.S. Supreme Court declared racial covenants unenforceable, as Chapter 9 tells.) Another Michigan marker, erected in 2004, tells of the riot that greeted Dr. Ossian Sweet when he moved into a sundown neighborhood in Detroit in 1925.
23
Pinky Zalkin, e-mail, 11/2002;
Idaho Highway Historical Marker Guide
(Boise: Idaho Transportation Department, 1990), 10; Connie Farrow, “ ‘The Anger and the Hatred Ends,’ ” Springfield (MO)
News-Leader,
8/18/2001.
Pinky Zalkin, e-mail, 11/2002;
Idaho Highway Historical Marker Guide
(Boise: Idaho Transportation Department, 1990), 10; Connie Farrow, “ ‘The Anger and the Hatred Ends,’ ” Springfield (MO)
News-Leader,
8/18/2001.
24
Jacqueline Froelich and David Zimmermann, “Total Eclipse: The Destruction of the African American Community of Harrison, Arkansas, in 1905 and 1909,”
Arkansas Historical Quarterly
58, 2 (1999): 159; Laurinda Joenks, “Roughness of Citizens Blamed on Lean Times,”
Springdale
(AR)
Morning News,
5/7/2000, paraphrasing Zimmermann; Randy Krehbiel, “Answers the Facts Cannot Provide,”
Tulsa World,
6/5/2000.
Jacqueline Froelich and David Zimmermann, “Total Eclipse: The Destruction of the African American Community of Harrison, Arkansas, in 1905 and 1909,”
Arkansas Historical Quarterly
58, 2 (1999): 159; Laurinda Joenks, “Roughness of Citizens Blamed on Lean Times,”
Springdale
(AR)
Morning News,
5/7/2000, paraphrasing Zimmermann; Randy Krehbiel, “Answers the Facts Cannot Provide,”
Tulsa World,
6/5/2000.
25
Arnold Hirsch,
Making the Second Ghetto
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), 60–63; Mary Ellen Stratthaus, “Flaw in the Jewel: Housing Discrimination Against Jews in La Jolla, California,”
American Jewish History
84, 3 (1996): 199.
Arnold Hirsch,
Making the Second Ghetto
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), 60–63; Mary Ellen Stratthaus, “Flaw in the Jewel: Housing Discrimination Against Jews in La Jolla, California,”
American Jewish History
84, 3 (1996): 199.
26
The 2000 census showed 8 African Americans among 2,553 people, including two households.
The 2000 census showed 8 African Americans among 2,553 people, including two households.
27
Anna editor, 10/2002; Villa Grove editor and secretary, 10/2002.
Anna editor, 10/2002; Villa Grove editor and secretary, 10/2002.
28
Gordon D. Morgan, “Black Hillbillies of the Arkansas Ozarks,” Department of Sociology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, 1973, 21; “A Really Good Show,”
Rogers Daily News,
1/25/1962.
Gordon D. Morgan, “Black Hillbillies of the Arkansas Ozarks,” Department of Sociology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, 1973, 21; “A Really Good Show,”
Rogers Daily News,
1/25/1962.
29
Rogers Chamber of Commerce Publicity and Public Relations Committee, “Committee Report,” 1/29/1962, in Rogers Historical Museum files.
Rogers Chamber of Commerce Publicity and Public Relations Committee, “Committee Report,” 1/29/1962, in Rogers Historical Museum files.
30
Robby Heason,
Trouble Behind
(Cicada Films, 1990).
Robby Heason,
Trouble Behind
(Cicada Films, 1990).
31
Peter Rachleff, e-mail, 6/2002.
Peter Rachleff, e-mail, 6/2002.
32
John Winkols, interview by Roger Horowitz c. 1990, tape 37 side 2.
John Winkols, interview by Roger Horowitz c. 1990, tape 37 side 2.
33
History teacher, e-mail, c. 6/2002; Hobart native, e-mail, 8/2004; Elin Christianson, e-mail, 9/2002; Moria Meltzer-Cohen, e-mail, 9/2002.
History teacher, e-mail, c. 6/2002; Hobart native, e-mail, 8/2004; Elin Christianson, e-mail, 9/2002; Moria Meltzer-Cohen, e-mail, 9/2002.
34
No “large band of Negroes” could have existed. The nearest black population was St. Joseph, just 4% black, and two counties away.
No “large band of Negroes” could have existed. The nearest black population was St. Joseph, just 4% black, and two counties away.
35
Patrick Clark, e-mail, 7/2002; Arthur F. Raper,
The Tragedy of Lynching
(New York: Dover, 1970 [1933]), 407, 427–28; cf. MacKinlay Kantor,
Missouri Bittersweet
(New York: Doubleday, 1969), 140–69; Patrick Huber and Gary Kremer, “A Death in the Heartland,” presented at Missouri Conference on History, St. Louis, 3/1994, 7; “Maryville Alarmed Over Riot Rumors,”
St. Joseph Gazette,
1/18/1931; cf. John Rachal, “An Oral History with Jan Handke,” University of Southern Mississippi Oral History Program, 5/8/1996,
lib.usm.edu/~spcol/crda/oh/handketrans.htm
, 8/2003; Howard B. Woods, “Lynching Spectre Still in Mo. Town; Maryville Group Cites ‘N . . . Free’ Community,”
St. Louis Argus,
10/10/1958; Albany native, e-mail, 10/2002.
Patrick Clark, e-mail, 7/2002; Arthur F. Raper,
The Tragedy of Lynching
(New York: Dover, 1970 [1933]), 407, 427–28; cf. MacKinlay Kantor,
Missouri Bittersweet
(New York: Doubleday, 1969), 140–69; Patrick Huber and Gary Kremer, “A Death in the Heartland,” presented at Missouri Conference on History, St. Louis, 3/1994, 7; “Maryville Alarmed Over Riot Rumors,”
St. Joseph Gazette,
1/18/1931; cf. John Rachal, “An Oral History with Jan Handke,” University of Southern Mississippi Oral History Program, 5/8/1996,
lib.usm.edu/~spcol/crda/oh/handketrans.htm
, 8/2003; Howard B. Woods, “Lynching Spectre Still in Mo. Town; Maryville Group Cites ‘N . . . Free’ Community,”
St. Louis Argus,
10/10/1958; Albany native, e-mail, 10/2002.
36
Sylvia J. Smith, “The Island on Williston Road Otherwise Known as Mayfair Park,”
Chittenden County Historical Society Bulletin
36, 4 (2003): 8–9; “Outline of Protective Covenants for Mayfair Park,” supplied by Elise Guyette, 4/2003.
Sylvia J. Smith, “The Island on Williston Road Otherwise Known as Mayfair Park,”
Chittenden County Historical Society Bulletin
36, 4 (2003): 8–9; “Outline of Protective Covenants for Mayfair Park,” supplied by Elise Guyette, 4/2003.
37
Tim Long, Great Lakes Regional Conference, National Council for the Social Studies, Indianapolis, 4/2002.
Tim Long, Great Lakes Regional Conference, National Council for the Social Studies, Indianapolis, 4/2002.
38
My web site,
uvm.edu/~jloewen/sundown/
, provides an “anti-bibliography” that critiques studies whose authors should have noted that the communities they described were all-white on purpose.
My web site,
uvm.edu/~jloewen/sundown/
, provides an “anti-bibliography” that critiques studies whose authors should have noted that the communities they described were all-white on purpose.
39
William H. Whyte Jr. based
The Organization Man,
his famous 1956 interpretation of suburbia, on fieldwork in Park Forest, and the next chapter quotes from Whyte’s account of a controversy over the possible admission of “Negroes,” resolved by renewing the community’s decision to keep them out. Randall knew Whyte’s work. See Whyte,
The Organization Man
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1956), 311.
William H. Whyte Jr. based
The Organization Man,
his famous 1956 interpretation of suburbia, on fieldwork in Park Forest, and the next chapter quotes from Whyte’s account of a controversy over the possible admission of “Negroes,” resolved by renewing the community’s decision to keep them out. Randall knew Whyte’s work. See Whyte,
The Organization Man
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1956), 311.
40
Karl B. Lohmann,
Cities and Towns of Illinois
(Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1951); Gregory Randall,
America’s Original GI Town: Park Forest, Illinois
(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000); C. S. Stein,
Toward New Towns for America
(Boston: MIT Press, 1966).
Karl B. Lohmann,
Cities and Towns of Illinois
(Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1951); Gregory Randall,
America’s Original GI Town: Park Forest, Illinois
(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000); C. S. Stein,
Toward New Towns for America
(Boston: MIT Press, 1966).
41
Carl Withers,
Plainville, USA
(Westport: Greenwood, 1971 [1945]), 4, n.; Art Gallaher,
Plainville Fifteen Years Later
(NY: Columbia University Press, 1961); Gallaher, “Plainville: The Twice-Studied Town,” 285–303 of Arthur Vidich, Joseph Bensman, and Maurice Stein,
Reflections on Community Studies
(New York: Wiley, 1964); James Jacobs, “The Politics of Corrections; Town/Prison Relations as a Determinant of Reform,”
Social Service Review 50
, 4 (1976), 623–63; Otto H. Olsen,
The Negro Question: From Slavery to Caste, 1863–1910
(New York: Pitman, 1971), xxi; James R. Grossman, Ann D. Keating, and Janice L. Reiff, eds.,
Encyclopedia of Chicago
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004); Alex Kotlowitz, “How Regular Folks in Berwyn, Ill., Tried to Fight Prejudice,”
Wall St. Journal,
6/3/1992.
Carl Withers,
Plainville, USA
(Westport: Greenwood, 1971 [1945]), 4, n.; Art Gallaher,
Plainville Fifteen Years Later
(NY: Columbia University Press, 1961); Gallaher, “Plainville: The Twice-Studied Town,” 285–303 of Arthur Vidich, Joseph Bensman, and Maurice Stein,
Reflections on Community Studies
(New York: Wiley, 1964); James Jacobs, “The Politics of Corrections; Town/Prison Relations as a Determinant of Reform,”
Social Service Review 50
, 4 (1976), 623–63; Otto H. Olsen,
The Negro Question: From Slavery to Caste, 1863–1910
(New York: Pitman, 1971), xxi; James R. Grossman, Ann D. Keating, and Janice L. Reiff, eds.,
Encyclopedia of Chicago
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004); Alex Kotlowitz, “How Regular Folks in Berwyn, Ill., Tried to Fight Prejudice,”
Wall St. Journal,
6/3/1992.
42
Merrill Matthews, Jr., “Human Experimentation,”
Texas Republic,
3/1994, 28; Richard Stewart, “Desegregation at Public Housing Ripped by Audit,”
Houston Chronicle,
7/11/1997; Indiana Historical Bureau official, 10/2004.
Merrill Matthews, Jr., “Human Experimentation,”
Texas Republic,
3/1994, 28; Richard Stewart, “Desegregation at Public Housing Ripped by Audit,”
Houston Chronicle,
7/11/1997; Indiana Historical Bureau official, 10/2004.
43
Catherine Jurca,
White Diaspora
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001), 8.
Catherine Jurca,
White Diaspora
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001), 8.
44
At
uvm.edu/~jloewen/sundown/
, a bibliography lists all books and articles that treat sundown towns significantly. It includes several novels, including three for younger readers. Undoubtedly my literature review has been incomplete, and readers can post suggestions.
At
uvm.edu/~jloewen/sundown/
, a bibliography lists all books and articles that treat sundown towns significantly. It includes several novels, including three for younger readers. Undoubtedly my literature review has been incomplete, and readers can post suggestions.
45
Frank Kardes and David Sanbonmatsu, “Omission Neglect,”
Skeptical Inquirer
27, 2 (2003): 45.
Frank Kardes and David Sanbonmatsu, “Omission Neglect,”
Skeptical Inquirer
27, 2 (2003): 45.
46
Patrick Huber, “Race Riots and Black Exodus in the Missouri Ozarks, 1894–1905” (Harrison, AR: Ozark Cultural Celebration, 9/2002).
Patrick Huber, “Race Riots and Black Exodus in the Missouri Ozarks, 1894–1905” (Harrison, AR: Ozark Cultural Celebration, 9/2002).
47
I began with the census definition of “city”—larger than 2,500 in total population. Then I discovered towns far smaller than 2,500 that posted signs, passed ordinances, spread the word informally, burned houses, or took other steps to keep out African Americans (and sometimes other groups). So I enlarged my definition of “town” to include places from 1,000 to 2,500. When jurisdictions even smaller than 1,000 came to my attention for excluding African Americans, I included them as well, although I did not try to study these hamlets systematically. (In many states, I have not been able to study towns smaller than 2,500 systematically and have merely taken note of information on them when I obtain it in the course of my research.)
I began with the census definition of “city”—larger than 2,500 in total population. Then I discovered towns far smaller than 2,500 that posted signs, passed ordinances, spread the word informally, burned houses, or took other steps to keep out African Americans (and sometimes other groups). So I enlarged my definition of “town” to include places from 1,000 to 2,500. When jurisdictions even smaller than 1,000 came to my attention for excluding African Americans, I included them as well, although I did not try to study these hamlets systematically. (In many states, I have not been able to study towns smaller than 2,500 systematically and have merely taken note of information on them when I obtain it in the course of my research.)
Such small towns can be important, partly because when they do expand, usually they remain sundown. Malcolm Ross investigated East Alton, Illinois, for example, for the Fair Employment Practices Commission during World War II. The town’s industrial patriarch, F. W. Olin, told him that East Alton had an ordinance dating back to 1895, when a “Negro boy” committed some crime, and men had gone hunting for him with shotguns. He got away, but his angry pursuers reportedly swore that no Negro would ever again set foot in East Alton. Ross noted that during the next fifty years, East Alton had grown from a few families to a sizable town without any Negro ever having stayed the night. During World War II, Olin’s munitions plant employed more than 13,000 workers—not one of them African American or Native American. In 1940, shortly before Ross wrote, its population had increased to 4,680, with 1 stray African American. By 1960, East Alton had 7,309 residents but only 4 African Americans, probably none of whom lived in an independent household. It finally cracked in the 1990s.
Larger cities tested my operational definition in a different way. A cutoff of ten proved too low to do justice to large cities widely known to keep out African Americans, such as Cicero. In 1951, as we have seen, the governor had to call out the Illinois National Guard to stop a riot against one African American who had tried (and failed) to move into Cicero. “Of primary significance in understanding the violence,” sociologist William Gremley points out, “is the fact that it was widely believed by the residents of the community that no Negroes lived in Cicero.” Actually, the U.S. Census in 1950 showed 31 African Americans in the city, but they were apparently live-in servants, biracial adopted children, or individuals living unobtrusively in rental property. Cicero clearly defined itself as a sundown town, no matter what the census said. Indeed, according to a report issued after the 1951 riot, “It is said that no Negroes now live within the limits of Cicero, although one or two families have done so in the past.” But “fewer than ten African Americans” would have missed Cicero. So for cities larger than 10,000, I changed my definition for “all-white town” to “less than 0.1% black,” decade after decade. For towns smaller than 10,000, “fewer than ten blacks” remained in force.
48
Live-in institutions include prisons, hospitals and long-term care facilities, armed forces bases, and residential colleges and prep schools. Other groups understood to be nonhousehold include railroad track-laying crews, CCC work camps, Job Corps trainees, and construction personnel.
Live-in institutions include prisons, hospitals and long-term care facilities, armed forces bases, and residential colleges and prep schools. Other groups understood to be nonhousehold include railroad track-laying crews, CCC work camps, Job Corps trainees, and construction personnel.
49
John Paul Myrick, e-mail, 3/2002; Richard Todd, “Darien, Connecticut,”
New England Monthly,
3/1986, 43; Gregory Dorr, e-mail, 7/2002.
John Paul Myrick, e-mail, 3/2002; Richard Todd, “Darien, Connecticut,”
New England Monthly,
3/1986, 43; Gregory Dorr, e-mail, 7/2002.
50
Kotlowitz, “How Regular Folks in Berwyn, Illinois, Tried to Right Prejudice.”
Kotlowitz, “How Regular Folks in Berwyn, Illinois, Tried to Right Prejudice.”
51
Morgan, “Black Hillbillies of the Arkansas Ozarks,” 152; Jim Clayton, e-mail, 11/2002.
Morgan, “Black Hillbillies of the Arkansas Ozarks,” 152; Jim Clayton, e-mail, 11/2002.
52
Michelle Tate, typescript, 10/2002.
Michelle Tate, typescript, 10/2002.
53
Nebraska Writers’ Project,
The Negroes of Nebraska
(Omaha: Urban League, 1940), 10; “Inventory of the County Archives,” WPA Federal Writers Project, Waverly, 1942, supplied by James L. Murphy, 3/2004; James Emmitt,
Life and Reminiscences
(Chillicothe, OH: Peerless, 1888), 287–89.
Nebraska Writers’ Project,
The Negroes of Nebraska
(Omaha: Urban League, 1940), 10; “Inventory of the County Archives,” WPA Federal Writers Project, Waverly, 1942, supplied by James L. Murphy, 3/2004; James Emmitt,
Life and Reminiscences
(Chillicothe, OH: Peerless, 1888), 287–89.
54
Colleen Kilner,
Joseph Sears and His Kenilworth
(Kenilworth: Kenilworth Historical Society, 1990), viii, 143, her italics; Paul Wong, e-mail, 8/2003.
Colleen Kilner,
Joseph Sears and His Kenilworth
(Kenilworth: Kenilworth Historical Society, 1990), viii, 143, her italics; Paul Wong, e-mail, 8/2003.
Other books
HOME RUN by Seymour, Gerald
Ex-Patriots by Peter Clines
The Good People by Hannah Kent
The Professional by Kresley Cole
Top Down by Jim Lehrer
Love on the Rocks (Bar Tenders) by Melanie Tushmore
Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
Dead Man's Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl
Antonia's Bargain by Kate Pearce
Deceit by Collins, Brandilyn