1919

Mayor Requests State Militia

From July 27th to August 3rd, the Race Riot of 1919 consumed the city of Chicago. Police officers fatally wounded seven Black men during the riot, while mobs and lone gunmen murdered an additional sixteen African Americans and fifteen whites. By the end of the riot five hundred Chicagoans of both races were injured.As the violent character of the riot became more evident, Chicago Mayor William Hale Thompson urged Illinois Governor Frank Lowden to mobilize the state militia. On July 28th, 3,500 troops filtered into Chicago’s armories. Chicago’s police department was already undermanned because they had 80 percent of their men stationed in or around the Black Belt. 
Painful memories from the conduct of the state militia during the 1917 East St. Louis Race Riots deterred leaders across the city from demanding its mobilization once again. However, by July 30th, Mayor Thompson summoned 6,200 troops to the region bounded by Wentworth and Indiana Avenues and 18th and 55th Streets. Pressure on the mayor to act came from the employers of large numbers of African Americans, the fact that fatigue was beginning to settle among police officers, and a rumor that there was a widespread plot to burn the Black Belt. On August 8th, the state militia was withdrawn from Chicago, signaling the official end of the riot.  

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