East St. Louis 1917: How White Mobs Firebombed Homes and Decimated a Black Community in Illinois
Date of Creation
5-12-202
Medium
Video
Description
After the first world war, Black laborers moved to northern towns like East St Louis, Illinois, trying to escape Jim Crow in the south. In 1917, members of the White American Federation of Labor went on strike – and the company responded by hiring Black workers. Angry white workers began attacking Black people in the city. Eventually this leads to white mobs firebombing houses with Black families inside, while others outside waited to shoot and kill them. Historians estimate between 39 and 150 Black people were killed in the East St Louis riots.
Disciplines
Art and Design | Visual Studies
Copyright
© 2022 Bayeté Ross Smith
Recommended Citation
Ross Smith, Bayeté, "East St. Louis 1917: How White Mobs Firebombed Homes and Decimated a Black Community in Illinois" (202). Red Summers VR. 3.
https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/ross_smith_red_summers/3
Files