1919 Lynching in Montgomery, Alabama

Miles (or Relius) Phifer and Robert Crosky were lynched in Montgomery, Alabama for allegedly assaulting a white woman.

1919 Lynching in Montgomery, Alabama
Part of Red Summer
News coverage of the Lynchings in Montgomery, Alabama
DateSeptember 29, 1919
LocationMontgomery, Alabama, United States
Deaths3

Lynching of Phifer and Crosky

In August or September of 1919 Miles Phifer and Robert Crosky were arrested over allegations they assaulted two white women in separate incidents in Montgomery, Alabama. The Gadsden Daily Times-News reported that the two had confessed to the assaults.[1] A mob had formed and a concerned citizen notified Alabama's Governor Thomas Kilby that there might be a lynching.[2] Kilby ordered the two to be transferred to the relative safety of prison in Wetumpka, Alabama.[2] On September 29, 1919, the sheriff and his deputies were transporting Phifer and Crosky when they were stopped by a white mob, of about 25 masked men.[3] The deputies stood by as the men pulled the two out of the car. They were taken into the wilderness 5 miles (8.0 km) out of Montgomery, Alabama and told to run. As Phifer and Crosky sprinted away from the mob they were gunned down. Croskey was instantly killed, but Phifer lived for a few hours.[2] [4] Phifer and Crosky were discharged soldiers and Phifer was still in his uniform when he was killed.[5] [1]

Lynching of John Temple

On 2 AM on September 30, 1919, a day after the lynching of Phifer and Crosky, John Temple was lynched in a hospital for allegedly fatally wounding Policeman Barbaree.[5][6] The two events were not linked.[5]

Aftermath
Main article: Red Summer

These lynchings were one of several incidents of civil unrest that are now known as the American Red Summer of 1919. Attacks on black communities and white oppression spread to more than three dozen cities and counties. In most cases, white mobs attacked African American neighborhoods. In some cases, black community groups resisted the attacks, especially in Chicago and Washington, D.C. Most deaths occurred in rural areas during events like the Elaine race riot in Arkansas, where an estimated 100 to 240 blacks and 5 whites were killed. Other major events of Red Summer were the Chicago race riot and Washington D.C. Race Riot, which caused 38 and 39 deaths, respectively. Both riots had many more non-fatal injuries and extensive property damage reaching up into the millions of dollars.[7]

Lynchings in Alabama during 1919[4]
Date Name County
June 6, 1919 James E. Lewis Mobile
June 18, 1919 Jim McMillan Bibb
August 2, 1919 Archie Robinson Clarke
August 2, 1919 Unnamed man Clarke
September 29, 1919 Miles Phifer Montgomery
September 29, 1919 Robert Croskey Montgomery
September 30, 1919 John Temple Montgomery

See also

Bibliography

Notes

  1. The Gadsden Daily Times-News 2019, p. 1.
  2. Evening Capital News 1919, p. 1.
  3. Williams 2010, p. 234.
  4. The Guardian 2018.
  5. The Bridgeport Times and Evening Farmer 1919, p. 1.
  6. ODMP memorial John B Barbaree
  7. The New York Times 1919.

References

  • The Bridgeport Times and Evening Farmer (September 30, 1919). "Negro Shot To Death By Mob". The Bridgeport Times and Evening Farmer. Bridgeport, Fairfield, Connecticut: Farmer Pub. Co. pp. 1–16. ISSN 2381-0068. OCLC 25612160. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  • Evening Capital News (September 30, 1919). "Lynch Blacks In The South Who Attacked White Women". Evening Capital News. Boise, Idaho. ISSN 2471-7754. OCLC 18530685. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  • The Gadsden Daily Times-News (2019). "Three Negroes Are Lynched in Montgomery". The Gadsden Daily Times-News. Gadsden, Alabama: Times-News Print. Co. OCLC 12760995. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  • The Guardian (May 25, 2018). "America's first memorial to victims of lynching opens in Alabama – live updates". The Guardian. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  • The New York Times (October 5, 1919). "For Action on Race Riot Peril". The New York Times. New York, NY: Adolph Ochs. ISSN 1553-8095. OCLC 1645522. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
  • Williams, Chad Louis (2010). Torchbearers of Democracy: African American Soldiers in the World War I Era. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 9780807833940. - Total pages: 452
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