alexandria, louisiana massacre

Everyone should be reminded that in 1942 the famed Louisiana Maneuvers was happening all around central Louisiana, Wynne told those at the briefing. (WVUE) - At a time when close to a half million troopers were training for World War II, a Louisiana town was ground zero for a riot, or massacre, that highlights the racial tensions of the 1940s. Find an obituary, get service details, leave condolence messages or send flowers or gifts in memory of a loved one. Today819 Lee St. is just a vacant lot in downtown Alexandria, but back in 1942it was the site the former Ritz Theater, where the trouble began. : "About 7 o'clock, a disorderly Black soldier was arrested by two white MPs - attempted arrest. 5716 Skye St, Alexandria, LA 71303. As one scholar noted, Blacks lived so far away from the main facilities it seemed to have no physical connection at all with the camp itself. THE INVESTIGATORS: Man who confessed to streamed killing on - WAFB Register or Buy Tickets, Price information. He hopes that schools will have field trips to the site and have someone such as one of the members of the Buffalo Soldierstalk to students about about what happened. Durand, the other editor of the St. Landry Progress, was murdered in the early days of the massacre and his body displayed outside the Opelousas drug store. 31 18.408 N, 92 26.774 W. Marker. On March 1941 it was activated at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana located in central Louisiana outside of the city of Alexandria. I didnt set into this to make the army look bad, says Dr. Bill Simpson. 150 Years Ago, the Colfax Massacre Was the Largest Single Attack on Over the summer, armed white men harassed black families, shot at them outside of Opelousas (the largest city in St. Landry Parish), and killed men, women and children with impunity. A 2003 article in the Alexandria Town Talk, part of the USA TODAY Network, states that . What we know about the victims of the Uvalde school shooting The crowd, including soldiers and civilians, resented the actions of the MP. Streets, buildings, cemeteries, and the land itself are saturated with history and the . Privacy Statement For the next fewhours, fighting broke out up and down a five to six block corridor -from Lee Street to about4th and 10th Streets. Sure enough, they used Bentleys account, in which he wrote the men had been intimidating the Republicans, to instigate a wave of violence on September 28, 1868. . See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Reconstruction shortly gave way to an era of resentment and retribution, stunting growth and ensuring wealth remained concentrated in the hands of a small handful of White families. It's become known as the Lee Street Riot of 1942, but the story passed down through generations of Black Americans in the town is that it was more of a . The plantation was so large, in fact, that from . Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. In the 55 years between Reconstruction and the Second World War, time may have moved, but in Central Louisiana, almost everything else remained still. With the approach of the presidential elections in November, the tension only increased. It was an ugly scene. That monument, erected in 1921, still stands. If you make it to Forest Hill, the self-proclaimed nursery capital of Louisiana, turn around; youve gone too far. This was the clearest opportunity yet to take him down. The vigilante groups were so widespread that they often included nearly every white man in the region. Next photo. For a time, the parishs largest slave owner had been Meredith Calhoun, the man who allegedly inspired the notorious character Simon Legree in Harriet Beecher Stowes Uncle Toms Cabin. According to the 1860 Census, there were more slaves in Rapides Parish than in any other parish in the state. The entrance to the Forgotten City is marked by a road sign at the intersection of Louisiana Highways 165 and 112, sixteen miles south of Alexandria. Landry Parish illustrates the local shift of power after 1868, where an instance of conservative boss rule occurred and the parish Republican Party was unable to fully recover for the remainder of Reconstruction, writes historian Matthew Christensen. Alexandria has a rich and intriguing haunted history that dates to the first Native American settlers. A century before it hosted the Louisiana Maneuvers, 69% of the population of Rapides Parish were enslaved African Americans. The Lee Street Massacre took place on Saturday night, January 10, 1942, in Alexandria, Louisiana. Please include title of story. "You had thousands of soldiers in town on liberty weekend," said Simpson. The victims of the Texas school shooting in Uvalde - Los Angeles Times It's possible, but it's definitely going to be an uphill battle between the legal action as well as the monetary costs.". 9. That Saturday night in 1942 was like any other, said Wynne. If anything, the vengeance visited upon the Negro population was greater, as blacks were no longer protected by any consideration of their monetary value.. (Berry was introduced to the bar by another well-known legal giant, Camille Gravel, and today, the citys municipal court building is named in honor of both men). . Thousands of soldiers, both Black and white,were training at local bases. "Thanksgiving and Christmas. Legal Advocate. There is one bit of folklore that continues to persist: the story of what a small group of Black soldiers had attempted to do once they returned to base. One eyewitness later claimed that the MP panicked when the mob jostled him and he fired directly into the crowd. Lamar writes about the people, the politics, and the magic of Louisiana. But Democratic papersthe only remaining sources of news in the region, as all Republican presses had been burneddownplayed the horrific violence. Alexandria LA Real Estate & Homes For Sale. Personally, Wynne says he feels itcould be closer to 20. They sent Ralph Williams, an award-winning correspondent, to Central Louisiana. Halloween is just around the corner, and if you're looking for some spooky fun then you've come to the right place. Colfax, founded in 1869 as the seat of Grant Parish, began life at the site of one of Louisiana's largest cotton plantations. While there is scant evidence of premeditation or planning, his initial reporting on deaths was later corroborated, at least in part, by White officers themselves. allegedly fired his gun at a Black soldier leaving the Ritz Theater, attempting to arrest the man for disorderly conduct. In his research, he contacteduniversities and other sources in Louisiana but was unable to get help. Wynne says there is rumored to be anywhere from 20 to 300 bodies. By about 11 o'clock, the fighting was over.". The city had to budget about $100,000 for the . The story has been kept alive and there now appears to be more interest in it. Removing the White Supremacy Marker at Colfax, Louisiana: A 2021 While there is now no question whatsoever that black soldiers from Camp Claiborne were among the primary victims of what was quickly dubbed the Lee Street Riot, Col. Ralph Holiday, a commander at the camp, had initially claimed that none of our boys participated in the unfortunate outbreak. It was a part of a pattern of denials, obfuscation, and brazen lies that would be repeated countless times by the militarys brass, one that the pliant and obsequious local paper, the Alexandria Daily Town Talk, was more than willing to report as fact. The police never patrolled out there; they couldnt. As we all adjust to the world reshaped by a global pandemic, we cannot afford to lose our storytellers and muckrakers; their jobs now are both more in need than any time in the past half-century and yet also more endangered by a rattled economy than ever before. Sort: Homes for You. "The Army continued to insist that withall of the fighting that went on, there were no fatalities," said Simpson. The Alexandria, Louisiana, Lee Street Riot (January 10, 1942) By WILLIAM M. SIMPSON' January 1942 brought Alexandrians, as it did most persons across the United States, bleak prospects for a happy new year. "I believe my basic thesis has been accepted conclusively by others. Different versions of the story have been told over the years about whatsparkedthe incident, but mostagree it began withaBlack soldier and a white military police officeror two. "The Army quickly cordoned off that corridor of Lee Street denying access to anything," he said. A memorial to the three white men who died fighting for white supremecy during the Colfax Massacre stands in the town cemetery Thursday, April 13, 2023, in Colfax, La. The primary difference was that in 1942, unlike 1877, the regions White establishment welcomed the federal government. Camp Claiborne, like many things in Louisiana, is buried above ground. At the time of death, the czar was 50 years old and the empress 46. So she called the local police officer over who of course immediately started to arrest him and other soldiers that had come out with him that night, came around and this became a police riot because one among the things they reported where police were doing things like just shooting into black barbershops. Nearly half a million men were stationed at camps near Alexandria. The service was held at the site of the former Ritz Theater on Lee Street. City Erects Marker Recognizing Lee Street Riot of 1942 The story of the incident that unfoldedJan. 10, 1942on Lee Street begins during the World War II era. Dr. Bristol is a history professor at the University of Southern Mississippi and says it appears the violence started when a black soldier stepped in front of a car driven by a white woman. 2017-2021 Bayou Brief. Surface changes, soil changes and big tree roots, which look like an interred body, are also organic and surrounded by soil can provide challenges for the radar when used in a cemetery. This much is known: The rioting started at around 8PM, after a white M.P. And just as theyd been ordered to stay away from Glenmora, Black soldiers were told that Alexandria was also now off-limits.. But on April 13, 1873, a small army of white ex-Confederate soldiers, enraged after attempts by freedmen to assert their new rights . All rights reserved. "I don't know how I got to safety after the riot," a black trainee at Camp Claiborne recalled. Alexandria was burned to the ground by the Union, and emancipation upturned the regions economy, which had been largely dependent on slave labor and the slave trade.

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