On January 1, 1923, a massacre was carried out in the small, predominantly black town of Rosewood in central Florida. The massacre was instigated by the rumor that a white woman, Fanny Taylor, had been sexually assaulted by a black man in her home in … Read MoreRosewood Massacre (1923)
The trial of Dr. Ossian Sweet along with ten family members and friends for murder after a mob attacked his Detroit home caught the nation’s attention in 1925 and 1926. This trial and a re-trial of Ossian Sweet’s younger brother Henry exposed racial tensions in … Read MoreOssian Sweet (1895-1960)
In the 1980s, several racially motivated attacks dominated the headlines of New York City newspapers. On September 15, 1983, artist and model Michael Stewart died on a lower Manhattan subway platform from a chokehold and beating he received from several police officers. A year later, … Read MoreHoward Beach Incident (1986)
The 1830s saw an unprecedented wave of mob violence in the Northern states. The Pennsylvania Hall fire is one such case of violence spurred by racial/gender tensions. The hall had several rooms and a large auditorium that seated three hundred people. A Board of Managers … Read MorePennsylvania Hall Fire (1838)
