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98-755: According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas , "the Elaine Massacre was by far the deadliest racial confrontation in Arkansas history and possibly the bloodiest racial conflict in the history of the United States". After the massacre, state officials concocted an elaborate cover-up, claiming that blacks were planning an insurrection . National newspapers repeated the falsehood that blacks in Arkansas were staging an insurrection. A New York Times headline read, "Planned Massacre of Whites Today", and

196-470: A 40% increase among 18- to 24-year-olds. From 1988 to 1992, murder arrests of youths under 18 increased by 256%. By the end of 1992, Little Rock reached a record of 61 homicides, but in 1993 surpassed it with 76. It was one of the highest per-capita homicide rates in the country, placing Little Rock fifth in Money Magazine's 1994 list of most dangerous cities. In July 2017, a shootout occurred at

294-537: A Mr. Bratton, a white lawyer from Little Rock, Ark., was employed by sixty or seventy colored families to go to Elaine to represent them in a dispute with the white planters relative to the sale price of cotton. It referred to a report in The Commercial Appeal of Memphis, Tennessee on October 3 that quoted Bratton's father: It had been impossible for the negroes to obtain itemized statements of accounts, or in fact to obtain statements at all, and that

392-427: A household in the city was $ 37,572, and the median income for a family was $ 47,446. Males had a median income of $ 35,689 versus $ 26,802 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 23,209 . 14.3% of the population is below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 20.9% of those under the age of 18 and 9.0% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line. The 2020 U.S. Census population estimate for

490-742: A rock formation along the river, named the "Little Rock" by the French explorer Jean-Baptiste Bénard de la Harpe in 1722. The capital of the Arkansas Territory was moved to Little Rock from Arkansas Post in 1821. Little Rock is a cultural, economic, government, and transportation center within Arkansas and the American South . Several cultural institutions are in Little Rock, such as the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts ,

588-437: A settlement before July of the following year. They often amassed considerable debt at the plantation store before that time, as they had to buy supplies, including seed, to start the next season. Black farmers began to organize in 1919 to try to negotiate better conditions, including fair accounting and timely payment of monies due them by white landowners. Robert L. Hill , a black farmer from Winchester, Arkansas , had founded

686-599: A total area of 116.8 square miles (303 km ), of which 116.2 square miles (301 km ) is land and 0.6 square miles (1.6 km ) (0.52%) is water. Little Rock is on the south bank of the Arkansas River in Central Arkansas. Fourche Creek and Rock Creek run through the city, and flow into the river. The western part of the city is in the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains . Northwest of

784-496: A white law firm based in Little Rock to represent the black farmers in getting fair settlements for their labors during the 1919 cotton harvest. The firm was headed by Ulysses S. Bratton , a native of Searcy County and former assistant federal district attorney. The postwar summer of 1919, also known as Red Summer , had already been marked by deadly massacres targeting African-Americans in more than three dozen cities across

882-500: A writ of habeas corpus , alleging that the proceedings that took place in the Arkansas state court, while ostensibly complying with trial requirements, in fact complied only in form. They argued that the accused had not been adequately defended and were convicted under the pressure of the mob, with blatant disregard for their constitutional rights. The defendants originally intended to file their petition in Federal district court, but

980-413: Is Frank Scott Jr. , a former assistant bank executive, pastor and state highway commissioner. The city manager is Bruce T. Moore, the longest-serving city manager in Little Rock history. The city employs over 2,500 people in 14 different departments, including the police department, the fire department, parks and recreation, and the zoo. Most Pulaski County government offices are in Little Rock, including

1078-605: Is Pinnacle Mountain State Park , a 2,000 acres (810 ha) park surrounding Pinnacle Mountain in the Ouachita Mountains . The Arkansas Arboretum at the park features flora and tree plantings correspond to Arkansas's six geographical regions. The Arkansas River Trail runs 17 miles (27 km) along both sides of the Arkansas River through a portion of Little Rock, including over the Big Dam Bridge ,

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1176-490: Is a project of the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies at the Little Rock -based CALS. CALS has pledged to keep the encyclopedia in operation in perpetuity. The project was officially launched in 2006 with 700 entries and 900 multimedia items. By June 2014, it had grown to more than 3,600 entries and 5,000 multimedia items; as of 2021 , the site had more than 6,500 entries and 10,500 pieces of media. The website

1274-735: Is also home to the Little Rock Trojans , the athletic program of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock . The majority of the school's athletic teams are housed in the Jack Stephens Center , which opened in 2005. As of 2022, the Trojans play in the Ohio Valley Conference . Little Rock's War Memorial Stadium hosts at least one University of Arkansas Razorback football game each year. The stadium

1372-479: Is an inter-modal river port with a large industrial business complex. It is designated as Foreign Trade Zone 14. International corporations such as Danish manufacturer LM Glasfiber have established new facilities adjacent to the port. Along with Louisville and Memphis, Little Rock has a branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis . Cultural sites in Little Rock include: Founded in 1976,

1470-474: Is eventually what stuck. The territorial capitol had been located at Arkansas Post in Southeast Arkansas since 1819, but the site had proven unsuitable as a settlement due to frequent flooding of the Arkansas River . Over the years, the "little rock" was known as a waypoint along the river, but remained unsettled. A land speculator from St. Louis, Missouri who had acquired many acres around

1568-482: Is home to two universities that are part of the University of Arkansas System : the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences . UAMS consists of six colleges, seven institutes, several research centers, and the UAMS Medical Center . A pair of smaller, historically black colleges, Arkansas Baptist College and Philander Smith College , affiliated with

1666-545: Is known for being in the middle of a golf course. Each fall, the city closes the golf course on Razorback football weekends to allow the estimated 80,000 people who attend take part in tailgating activities. War Memorial also hosts the Arkansas High School football state championships, and starting in the fall of 2006 hosts one game apiece for the University of Central Arkansas and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff . Arkansas State University also plays at

1764-557: Is likely that White exaggerated the dramatic manner of his escape, much in the way he did his childhood experiences in the Atlanta riot...surviving documents reveal several inconsistencies between what White wrote at the time and what he later recalled having happened." White had time to talk with both black and white residents in Elaine. He reported that local people said that up to 100 blacks had been killed. White published his findings in

1862-550: Is the headquarters of Dillard's , Windstream Communications , Stephens Inc. , University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences , Heifer International , Winrock International , the Clinton Foundation , and the Rose Law Firm . Archeological artifacts provide evidence of Native Americans inhabiting Central Arkansas for thousands of years before Europeans colonists arrived. The early inhabitants may have been

1960-573: The Arkansas Gazette (the leading newspaper in Arkansas) wrote that Elaine was "a zone of negro insurrection". Subsequent to this reporting, more than 100 African Americans were indicted, with 12 being sentenced to death by electrocution. After a years-long legal battle by the NAACP, the 12 men were acquitted. Because of the widespread attacks which white mobs committed against blacks during

2058-422: The 2020 United States Census , there were 202,591 people, 80,063 households, and 45,577 families residing in the city. As of the 2010 census, there were 193,524 people, 82,018 households, and 47,799 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,576.0 inhabitants per square mile (608.5/km ). There were 91,288 housing units at an average density of 769.1 per square mile (297.0/km ). The racial makeup of

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2156-735: The Arkansas Repertory Theatre is the state's largest nonprofit professional theatre company. A member of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT D), The Rep has produced more than 300 productions, including 40 world premieres, in its building in downtown Little Rock. Producing Artistic Director John Miller-Stephany leads a resident staff of designers, technicians and administrators in eight to ten productions for an annual audience in excess of 70,000 for MainStage productions, educational programming and touring. The Rep produces works from contemporary comedies and dramas to world premiers and

2254-653: The Arkansas Repertory Theatre , the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra , and the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center , in addition to hiking, boating, and other outdoor recreational opportunities. Little Rock's history is available through history museums, historic districts or neighborhoods of Little Rock like the Quapaw Quarter , and historic sites such as Little Rock Central High School and West Ninth Street . The city

2352-780: The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now , Clinton Foundation , Lions World Services for the Blind, Clinton Presidential Center , Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, FamilyLife , Audubon Arkansas, and The Nature Conservancy . Little Rock is also home to the American Taekwondo Association and Arkansas Hospital Association. Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield , Baptist Health Medical Center, Entergy , Dassault Falcon Jet , Siemens , AT&T Mobility , Kroger , Euronet Worldwide , L'Oréal , Timex , and UAMS are employers throughout Little Rock. One of

2450-693: The Daily News , the Chicago Defender , and The Nation , as well as the NAACP's magazine The Crisis . He "characterized the violence as an extreme response by white landowners to black unionization". Governor Brough asked the United States Post Office Department to prohibit the mailing of the Chicago Defender and Crisis to Arkansas, while local officials attempted to enjoin distribution of

2548-529: The Defender. Years later, White said in his memoir that people in Elaine told him that up to 200 blacks had been killed. In October and November 1919, an all-white Arkansas state grand jury returned indictments against 122 blacks. Since most blacks had been disenfranchised by Arkansas' 1891 Election Law and 1892 poll tax amendment, which created barriers to voter registration, blacks as non-voters were excluded from juries. All-white juries rendered verdicts on

2646-502: The Folsom people and Mississippian culture peoples who built earthwork mounds recorded in 1541 by Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto . Historically attested tribes of the area are the Caddo , Quapaw , Osage , Choctaw , and Cherokee . Little Rock was named for a stone outcropping on the bank of the Arkansas River used by early travelers as a landmark, which marked the transition from

2744-633: The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution . Prominent Little Rock attorney George Rose wrote a letter to outgoing Governor Thomas McRae requesting that he find a way to release the remaining defendants if they agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder. Rose's letter was an attempt to prevent Governor-Elect Thomas Jefferson Terral , a known member of the Ku Klux Klan , from getting involved in

2842-529: The Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR Metropolitan Statistical Area was 748,031. The MSA covers the following counties: Pulaski , Faulkner , Grant , Lonoke , Perry , and Saline . The largest cities are Little Rock, North Little Rock , Conway , Jacksonville , Benton , Sherwood , Cabot , Maumelle , and Bryant . In the late 1980s, Little Rock experienced a 51% increase in murder arrests of children under 17, and

2940-868: The National Premier Soccer League played their inaugural seasons in 2016 and 2017 for the men's and women's teams respectively. Home games are played at War Memorial Stadium . Little Rock was also home to the Arkansas Twisters (later Arkansas Diamonds ) of Arena Football 2 and Indoor Football League and the Arkansas RimRockers of the American Basketball Association and NBA Development League . Both of these teams played at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock. The city

3038-576: The Progressive Farmers and Household Union of America (PFHUA). He worked with farmers throughout Phillips County. Its purpose was "to obtain better payments for their cotton crops from the white plantation owners who dominated the area during the Jim Crow era. Black sharecroppers were often exploited in their efforts to collect payment for their cotton crops." Whites tried to disrupt such organizing and threatened farmers. The PFHUA retained

Elaine massacre - Misplaced Pages Continue

3136-726: The Red Summer of 1919, the Equal Justice Initiative of Montgomery, Alabama classified the black deaths at Elaine as lynchings in its 2015 report on the lynching of African Americans in the South. Located in the Arkansas Delta , Phillips County had historically been developed for cotton plantations , and its land was worked by enslaved African-Americans before the Civil War . In the early 20th century

3234-584: The War Department and requested Federal troops. After considerable delay, nearly 600 U.S. troops arrived, finding the area in chaos. White men roamed the area randomly attacking and killing black people. Fighting in the area lasted for three days before the troops ended the violence. The federal troops disarmed both parties and arrested 285 black residents, putting them in stockades for investigation, and according to them, protection, until they were vouched for by their employers. Although official records of

3332-560: The Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation. The most-visited page on Encyclopedia of Arkansas is that of the Little Rock Nine . Other entries range from slime mold to various Civil War battles and skirmishes in Arkansas to cheese dip. Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock ( Quapaw : I’i-zhinka , lit.   ' Little rock ' ) is the capital and most populous city of

3430-559: The "little rock" began pressuring the Arkansas territorial legislature in February 1820 to move the capital to the site, but the representatives could not decide between Little Rock or Cadron (now Conway ), which was the preferred site of Territorial Governor James Miller . The issue was tabled until October 1820, by which time most of the legislators and other influential men had purchased lots around Little Rock. The legislature moved

3528-435: The 1890s by creating barriers to voter registration. It excluded them from the political system via the more complicated Election Law of 1891 and a poll tax amendment passed in 1892. The white-dominated legislature enacted Jim Crow laws that established racial segregation and institutionalized efforts to impose white supremacy. The decades around the turn of the century were the period of the highest rate of lynchings across

3626-627: The Eastern District of Arkansas granted an injunction from the U.S. Department of Justice compelling him to withdraw the Guard. Angry white mobs began rioting when the nine black students began attending Central High School. President Dwight D. Eisenhower , on the request of Woodrow Wilson Mann , Little Rock's mayor, deployed the 101st Airborne Division to the city and federalized the Arkansas National Guard to protect

3724-604: The Elaine area in 1918–19. On September 29, representatives met with about 100 black farmers at a church near Elaine to discuss how to obtain fairer settlements from landowners. Whites had resisted union organizing by the farmers and often spied on or disrupted such meetings. Approximately 100 African-American farmers, led by Robert L. Hill , the founder of the union, met at a church in Hoop Spur, near Elaine in Phillips County. Union advocates brought armed guards to protect

3822-739: The NAACP since 1909, became part of the team when the Moore cases went to the Supreme Court. He had been president of the American Bar Association in 1895. The defendants' lawyers obtained reversal of the verdicts by the Arkansas Supreme Court in six of the twelve death penalty cases, known as the Ware defendants. The grounds were that the jury had failed to specify whether the defendants were guilty of murder in

3920-717: The Ozarks , Rose Law Firm , Westrock Coffee, Central Flying Service, and large brokerage Stephens Inc. are headquartered in Little Rock. Large companies headquartered in other cities but with a large presence in Little Rock are Dassault Falcon Jet (near Little Rock National Airport in the eastern part of the city), Fidelity National Information Services (in northwestern Little Rock), and Welspun Corp (in Southeast Little Rock). Little Rock and its surroundings are home to headquarters for large nonprofit organizations, such as Winrock International , Heifer International ,

4018-520: The Power Ultra Lounge nightclub in downtown Little Rock; although there were no deaths, 28 people were injured and one hospitalized. In 2021, Little Rock saw a decrease in most violent crime, but a 24% increase in homicides from 2020. The 65 homicides were the third-most on record in the city. Little Rock set a new record of 81 homicides in 2022. Dillard's Department Stores , Windstream Communications and Acxiom , Simmons Bank , Bank of

Elaine massacre - Misplaced Pages Continue

4116-931: The Quorum, Circuit, District, and Juvenile Courts; and the Assessor, County Judge, County Attorney, and Public Defender's offices. Both the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit have judicial facilities in Little Rock. Emergency Response is brought to you by the Little Rock Police Department , Little Rock Fire Department, and Metropolitan Emergency Medical Service (MEMS) The Little Rock School District (LRSD) operates

4214-841: The RiverBlades of the ECHL played at the Verizon Arena . Little Rock is home to the Grande Maumelle Sailing Club. Established in 1959, the club hosts multiple regattas during the year on both Lake Maumelle and the Arkansas River . Little Rock is also home to the Little Rock Marathon , held on the first Saturday of March every year since 2003. The marathon features the world's largest medal given to marathon participants. Little Rock has 48 parks in its park system. The region's largest park

4312-481: The South. White landowners often underpaid sharecroppers for their crops and paid when they saw fit. Between the prices of goods purchased from the plantation store and the crop underpayments, many were kept in debt to their landlords. At the time of settlement, landowners generally never gave an itemized statement to the black sharecroppers of accounts owed, nor details of the money received for cotton and seed. The farmers were disadvantaged as many were illiterate. It

4410-514: The South; it features seasonal festivals and cultural events. Lassis Inn was a meeting place for civil rights leaders in the 1950s and 1960s, including Daisy Bates , while they were planning efforts such as the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School . In 2017, it was among the three inaugural inductees into the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame , along with Rhoda's Famous Hot Tamales and Jones Bar-B-Q Diner . In 2020, it

4508-616: The State Supreme Court. It found that the exclusion of blacks from the juries resulted in a lack of due process for the defendants, based on violations of the Fourteenth Amendment (especially Due Process Clause ) and the Civil Rights Act of 1875 , due to exclusion of blacks from the juries. The lower courts failed to retry the men within the two years required by Arkansas law, and the defense finally gained their release in 1923. The Arkansas Supreme Court upheld

4606-529: The U.S. state of Arkansas . The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Little Rock metropolitan area is the 81st-most populous in the United States with 748,031 residents according to the 2020 census. As the county seat of Pulaski County , the city was incorporated on November 7, 1831, on the south bank of the Arkansas River close to the state's geographic center in Central Arkansas . The city derived its name from

4704-671: The United Methodist Church, are also in Little Rock. Located in downtown is the Clinton School of Public Service , a branch of the University of Arkansas System, which offers master's degrees in public service. Pulaski Technical College has two locations in Little Rock. The Pulaski Technical College Little Rock-South site houses programs in automotive technology, collision repair technology, commercial driver training, diesel technology, small engine repair technology and motorcycle/all-terrain vehicle repair technology. The Pulaski Technical College Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Institute and The Finish Line Cafe are also in Little Rock-South. There

4802-451: The affidavits later supplied by the defendants, many of the prisoners had been beaten, whipped or tortured by electric shocks to extract testimony or confessions. They were threatened with death if they recanted their testimony. A total of 73 suspects were charged with murder; other charges included conspiracy and insurrection. The trials were held in 1920 in the county courthouse in Elaine, Phillips County . Mobs of armed whites milled around

4900-485: The appeals, given the hostile reception to its reports on the rioting and the trials. Once it undertook to organize the defense, it went to work vigorously, raising more than $ 50,000 and hiring Scipio Africanus Jones , a highly respected African-American attorney from Arkansas , and Colonel George W. Murphy , a 79-year-old Confederate veteran and former Attorney General for the State of Arkansas. Moorfield Storey , descended from Boston abolitionists and founding president of

4998-552: The black farmers, they concluded that the Progressive Farmers and Household Union of America was a socialist enterprise and "established for the purpose of banding negroes together for the killing of white people". This version of events has persisted in many histories of the riot. The NAACP promptly released a statement from a contact in Arkansas providing another account of the origins of the violence noting efforts by Ulysses Simpson Bratton to assist African Americans in peonage : The whole trouble, as I understand it, started because

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5096-436: The capital to Little Rock, where it has remained ever since. Little Rock Nine were the nine African American students who desegregated Little Rock Central High School in 1957 after the Little Rock School Board voted to begin the area's desegregation, in compliance with Brown v. Board of Education . On September 4, 1957, the first day of school at Central High, a white mob of segregationist protesters physically blocked

5194-462: The city limits are Pinnacle Mountain and Lake Maumelle , which provides Little Rock's drinking water. The city of North Little Rock is just across the river from Little Rock, but it is a separate city. North Little Rock was once the 8th ward of Little Rock. An Arkansas Supreme Court decision on February 6, 1904, allowed the ward to merge with the neighboring town of North Little Rock. The merged town quickly renamed itself Argenta (the local name for

5292-965: The city such as Mills University Studies High School and Joe T. Robinson High School . Little Rock is home to both the Arkansas School for the Blind (ASB) and the Arkansas School for the Deaf (ASD), which are state-run schools operated by the Board of Trustees of the ASB–ASD. In addition, eStem Public Charter High School and LISA Academy provide tuition-free public education as charter schools. Various private schools are in Little Rock, such as: Arkansas Baptist School System , Central Arkansas Christian Schools , Episcopal Collegiate School , Little Rock Catholic High School , Little Rock Christian Academy , Mount Saint Mary Academy and Pulaski Academy . Little Rock's Catholic high school for African-Americans, St. Bartholomew High School, closed in 1964. The Catholic grade school St. Bartholomew School, also established for African-Americans, closed in 1974. The Our Lady of Good Counsel School closed in 2006. Little Rock

5390-516: The city was 48.9% White, 42.3% Black, 0.4% Native American, 2.7% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 3.9% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. 6.8% of the population is Hispanic or Latino. There were 82,018 households, of which 30.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.6% were married couples living together, 17.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.7% were non-families. 34.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.8% had someone living alone who

5488-772: The city's comprehensive public school system. As of 2012 , the district has 64 schools with more schools being built. As of the 2009–2010 school year, the district's enrollment is 25,685. It has 5 high schools, 8 middle schools, 31 elementary schools, 1 early childhood (pre-kindergarten) center, 2 alternative schools, 1 adult education center, 1 accelerated learning center, 1 career-technical center, and about 3,800 employees. The public high schools in Little Rock are Little Rock Central High School , Little Rock Southwest High School , Little Rock West High School , Hall STEAM Magnet High School and Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School . The Pulaski County Special School District (PCSSD) serves parts of Little Rock. PCSSD high schools are in

5586-420: The classics of dramatic literature. The Community Theatre of Little Rock , founded in 1956, is the area's oldest performance art company. The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra performs over 30 concerts a year and many events. The Robinson Center Music Hall is the main performance center of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. The Wildwood Park for the Arts is the largest park dedicated to the performing arts in

5684-402: The convictions from a narrowly legalistic position, based on the US Supreme Court's earlier decision in Frank v. Mangum (1915). It did not dispute the defendants' evidence of torture used to obtain confessions nor of mob intimidation at the trial, but the state argued that, even if true, these elements did not amount to a denial of due process. The United States district court agreed, denying

5782-854: The country, (including Chicago , Knoxville , Washington, D.C. , and Omaha, Nebraska ) being targeted by white mobs. Competition for jobs and housing in crowded markets following World War I as veterans returned to the work force, stirring racial tensions. Having served their country in the Great War, many African-American veterans were no longer willing to tolerate racial discrimination and were now prepared to use violence in self defense against white mobs and terrorism. In 1919 African-Americans vigorously fought back when their communities came under attack. Labor unrest and strikes took place in several cities as workers tried to organize. Industries often hired blacks as strikebreakers, increasing or creating resentment against them by white workers. The Progressive Farmers and Household Union of America had organized chapters in

5880-410: The county seat of Phillips County, and alerted officials. A posse was dispatched and within a few hours hundreds of white men, many of them the "low down" variety, began to comb the area for blacks they believed were launching an insurrection. In the end, over a hundred African Americans and five white men were killed. Some estimates of the black death toll range in the hundreds. Allegations surfaced that

5978-627: The county's population was still predominantly black, because most freedmen and their descendants had stayed on the land as illiterate farm workers and sharecroppers . African Americans outnumbered whites in the area around Elaine by a ten-to-one ratio, and by three-to-one in the county overall. White landowners controlled the economy, selling cotton on their own schedule, running high-priced plantation stores where farmers had to buy seed and supplies, and settling accounts with sharecroppers in lump sums, without listing items. The all-white legislature had disenfranchised most blacks and many poor whites in

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6076-403: The courthouse. Some of the white audience in the courtroom also carried arms. The lawyers for the defense did not subpoena witnesses for the defense and did not allow their clients to testify. Twelve of the defendants (who became known as the "Arkansas Twelve" or "Elaine Twelve") were convicted, most of them as "accomplices", and sentenced to death in the electric chair by all-white juries for

6174-426: The death sentences of Moore and the other five defendants. It rejected the challenge to the all-white juries as untimely, and found that the mob atmosphere and use of coerced testimony did not deny the defendants the due process of law. Those defendants unsuccessfully petitioned the United States Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari from the Arkansas Supreme Court's decision. The defendants next petitioned for

6272-426: The defendants in trials following the Elaine race riot. The only men prosecuted for these events were 122 African Americans, with 73 charged with murder. Those blacks willing to testify against others and to work without shares for terms as determined by their landlords, were set free. Those who refused to comply with those conditions, or were labeled as ringleaders or were judged unreliable, were indicted. According to

6370-510: The first or second degree; those cases (known as Ware et al.) were sent back to the lower court for retrial. The lower court retried the defendants beginning on May 3, 1920. On the third day of the trials, Murphy collapsed in the courtroom. Scipio Jones had to carry most of the responsibility for the remaining trials. The all-white juries quickly convicted the six defendants of second-degree murder and sentenced them to 12 years each in prison. Jones appealed these convictions, which were overturned by

6468-465: The first train back to Little Rock . The conductor told the young man that he was leaving "just when the fun is going to start", because they had found out that there was a "damned yellow nigger passing for white and the boys are going to get him." When White asked what the boys would do to the man, the conductor told White that "when they get through with him he won't pass for white no more!" Biographer Kenneth Robert Janken writes of this description: "It

6566-411: The flat Mississippi Delta region to the Ouachita Mountain foothills. It was named in 1722 by French explorer and trader, Jean-Baptiste Bénard de la Harpe . Travelers referred to the area as the "Little Rock". Though there was an effort to officially name the city "Arkopolis" upon its founding in the 1820s, and that name did appear on a few maps made by the US Geological Survey , the name Little Rock

6664-408: The former 8th Ward), but returned to its original name in October 1917. Little Rock lies in the humid subtropical climate zone ( Cfa ), with hot, humid summers and cool winters with usually little snow. It has experienced temperatures as low as −12 °F (−24 °C), which was recorded on February 12, 1899 , and as high as 114 °F (46 °C), which was recorded on August 3, 2011. As of

6762-426: The hunt and a mob of 500 to 1,000 armed men formed. They attacked black people on sight across the county. Local whites requested help from Arkansas Governor Charles Hillman Brough , citing a "Negro uprising". Sensational newspaper headlines published by the Arkansas Gazette and others reported that an "insurrection" was occurring, and that black people had planned to murder white leaders. Governor Brough contacted

6860-421: The late 20th century. Encyclopedia of Arkansas The Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) Encyclopedia of Arkansas is a web -based encyclopedia of the U.S. state of Arkansas , described by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as "a free, authoritative source of information about the history , politics , geography , and culture of the state of Arkansas." The encyclopedia

6958-399: The longest pedestrian/bicycle bridge in North America that has never been used by trains or motor vehicles at 4,226 feet (1,288 m). Little Rock Zoo , founded in 1926, consists of at least 725 animals and over 200 species. The city has operated under the city manager form of government since November 1957. In 1993, voters approved changes from seven at-large city directors (who rated

7056-512: The manager was preparing to ship their cotton, they being sharecroppers and having a half interest therein, off without settling with them or allowing them to sell their half of the crop and pay up their accounts.... If it's a crime to represent people in an effort to make honest settlements, then he has committed a crime. The NAACP sent its Field Secretary, Walter F. White , from New York City to Elaine in October 1919 to investigate events. White

7154-466: The matter. Just hours before Governor McRae left office in 1925, he contacted Scipio Jones to inform him that indefinite furloughs had been issued for the remaining defendants. He freed these six men in 1925 in the closing days of his administration. Jones used the furloughs to obtain release of the prisoners under cover of darkness. He arranged for these men to be quickly escorted out of state to prevent them from being lynched. The NAACP helped them leave

7252-627: The meeting. When two deputized white men and a black trustee arrived at the church, shots were exchanged. Railroad Policeman W.D. Adkins, employed by the Missouri Pacific Railroad , was killed and the other white man wounded; it was never determined who shot first. According to Revolution in the Land: Southern Agriculture in the 20th Century (2002), in a section called "The Changing Face of Sharecropping and Tenancy": The black trustee raced back to Helena,

7350-603: The most deadly conflict in the history of the United States. The Arkansas Encyclopedia of History and Culture notes that estimates of African-American deaths range into the "hundreds". Since the late 20th century, researchers have begun to investigate the Elaine race riot more thoroughly. For decades, the riot and numerous murders were too painful to be discussed openly in the region. The wide-scale violence ended union organizing among black farmers. White oppression continued, threatening every black family. Historian Robert Whitaker says, "As with many racial histories of this kind," it

7448-503: The murder of a white deputy at the Adkins church. Others were convicted of lesser charges and sentenced to prison. The lawyer of one defendant did not interview any witnesses, ask for a change of venue, nor challenge any jurors. The trials of these twelve lasted less than an hour in many cases; the juries took fewer than ten minutes to deliberate before pronouncing each man guilty and sentencing them to death. The Arkansas Gazette applauded

7546-624: The nine black students from entering the school. Minnijean Brown , Terrence Roberts , Elizabeth Eckford , Ernest Green , Thelma Mothershed , Melba Patillo , Gloria Ray , Jefferson Thomas , and Carlotta Walls , who had been recruited by Daisy Bates and the NAACP , attempted to integrate Central High School, but Governor Orval Faubus deployed the Arkansas National Guard to support the segregationists , and only backed down after Judge Ronald Davies of U.S. District Court for

7644-663: The only sitting judge was assigned to other judicial duties in Minnesota at the time and would not return to Arkansas until after the defendants' scheduled execution date. Judge John Ellis Martineau of the Pulaski County chancery court issued the writ. Although the writ was later overturned by the Arkansas Supreme Court, his action postponed the execution date long enough to permit the defendants to seek habeas corpus relief in Federal court. U.S. District Judge Jacob Trieber issued another writ. The State of Arkansas defended

7742-502: The organization. He later was selected as executive secretary of the NAACP, essentially the chief operating officer, and served in this position for decades, leading the organization in additional legal challenges and civil rights activism. "It is documented that five whites, including a soldier died at Elaine, but estimates of African American deaths, made by individuals writing about the Elaine affair between 1919 and 1925, range from 20 to 856; if accurate, these numbers would make it by far

7840-462: The position of mayor among themselves) to a popularly elected mayor, seven ward directors and three at-large directors. The position of mayor remained a part-time position until August 2007. At that point, voters approved making the mayor's position a full-time position with veto power , while a vice mayor is selected by and among members of the city board. The current mayor, elected in November 2018,

7938-407: The posse brought numerous stories and rumors, through all of which ran the belief that the rioting was due to propaganda distributed among the negroes by white men." The next day's report added: Additional evidence has been obtained of the activities of propagandists among the negroes, and it is thought that a plot existed for a general uprising against the whites." A white man had been arrested and

8036-564: The stadium from time to time. Little Rock was a host of the First and Second Rounds of the 2008 NCAA men's basketball tournament . It has also been a host of the SEC women's basketball tournament. The now defunct Arkansas RiverBlades and Arkansas GlacierCats , both minor-league hockey teams, were in the Little Rock area. The GlacierCats of the now defunct Western Professional Hockey League (WPHL) played in Little Rock at Barton Coliseum while

8134-430: The state court, the six "Moore" defendants settled with the lower court on lesser charges and were sentenced to time already served. During appeals, the death penalty cases were separated. The NAACP took on the task of organizing the defendants' appeals. The NAACP assisted the defendants in the appeals process, raising money to hire a defense team, which it helped direct. For a time, the NAACP tried to conceal its role in

8232-701: The state safely. The Supreme Court's decision marked the beginning of an era in which the Supreme Court gave closer scrutiny to criminal justice cases and reviewed state actions against the Due Process Clause and the Bill of Rights. A decade later, the Supreme Court reviewed the case of the Scottsboro boys . The victory for the Elaine defendants gave the NAACP greater credibility as the champion of African Americans' rights. Walter F. White 's risk-taking investigation and report contributed to his advancing in

8330-626: The state's largest public employers, with over 10,552 employees, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and its healthcare partners— Arkansas Children's Hospital and the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System —have a total annual economic impact in Arkansas of about $ 5 billion. UAMS receives less than 11% of its funding from the state; it is funded by payments for clinical services (64%), grants and contracts (18%), philanthropy and other (5%), and tuition and fees (2%). The Little Rock port

8428-538: The students and ensure their safe passage to the school. Little Rock's four public high schools were closed in September 1958, and reopened a year later. Integration across all grades was fully achieved in fall 1972. The Little Rock school episode drew international attention to the treatment of African Americans in the United States. According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has

8526-430: The time count eleven black men and five white men killed, there are estimates from 100 to 237 African Americans killed, and more wounded. At least two and possibly more victims were killed by Federal troops. The exact number of black people killed is unknown because of the wide rural area in which they were attacked. A dispatch from Helena, Arkansas to The New York Times , datelined October 1, said: "Returning members of

8624-403: The trials as the triumph of the "rule of law", because none of the defendants were lynched . These men became known as the "Elaine Twelve". After those convictions, 36 of the remaining defendants chose to plead guilty to second-degree murder rather than face trial. Sixty-seven other defendants were convicted of various charges and sentenced to terms up to 21 years. When the cases were remanded to

8722-415: The white posse and even U.S. soldiers who were brought in to put down the so called "rebellion" had massacred defenseless black men, women and children. The parish sheriff called for a posse to capture suspects in the killing. The county sheriff organized the posse and whites gathered to put down what was rumored as a "black insurrection". Additional armed white men entered the county from outside to support

8820-495: The writ, but it found there was probable cause for an appeal and allowed the defendants to take their case to the U.S. Supreme Court. In Moore v. Dempsey 261 U.S. 86 (1923), the United States Supreme Court vacated these six convictions on the grounds that the mob-dominated atmosphere of the trial and the use of testimony coerced by torture denied the defendants' due process as required by

8918-417: Was "alleged to have been preaching social equality among the negroes". Part of the headline was: "Trouble Traced to Socialist Agitators." A few days later a Western Newspaper Union dispatch was captioned, "Captive Negro Insurrectionists". Arkansas Governor Charles Hillman Brough appointed a Committee of Seven to investigate. The group was composed of prominent local white businessmen. Without talking to any of

9016-464: Was "one of those shameful events best not talked about". Another reason for silence was that the second Ku Klux Klan began to be active in Arkansas in 1921, concentrating in black-majority areas. It used intimidation and attacks to keep blacks suppressed. Author Richard Wright grew up in Phillips County and discusses it in his autobiography Black Boy. He wrote that when he questioned his mother about why their people did not fight back, "the fear that

9114-448: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 3.00. In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.7% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 31.7% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 11.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85 males. The median income for

9212-421: Was an unwritten law of the cotton country that the sharecroppers could not quit and leave a plantation until their debts were paid. The period of the year around accounts settlement was frequently the time of most lynchings of black people throughout the South, especially if times were poor economically. As an example, many black sharecroppers in Phillips County, whose cotton was sold in October 1918, did not get

9310-480: Was in her made her slap me into silence". A 1961 article, "Underlying Causes of the Elaine Riot", claimed that blacks were planning an insurrection, based on interviews with whites who had been alive at the time, and that they were fairly treated by planters of the area. It repeated rumors of 1919 that certain planters were targeted for murder. This view has been generally discounted by historians publishing since

9408-819: Was named an America's Classic by the James Beard Foundation. Little Rock is home to the Arkansas Travelers . They are the AA professional Minor League Baseball affiliate of the Seattle Mariners in the Texas League . The Travelers played their last game in Little Rock at Ray Winder Field on September 3, 2006, and moved into Dickey–Stephens Park in nearby North Little Rock in April 2007. The Little Rock Rangers soccer club of

9506-540: Was of mixed, majority-European ancestry; blond and blue-eyed, he could pass for white . He was granted credentials from the Chicago Daily News . He gained an interview with Governor Charles Hillman Brough, who gave him a letter of recommendation for other meetings with whites, as well as an autographed photograph. According to his own account, White had been in Phillips County for a brief time when he learned there were rumors floating about him. He quickly took

9604-675: Was redesigned in 2019 to add functions and support for mobile devices. The project has a staff of five; articles are written by volunteer contributors who receive a payment of 5 cents per word. Tom W. Dillard was the Founding Editor; as of 2018 the editor is Guy Lancaster, who was one of the first interns. The project is financially supported by the NEH; the Department of Arkansas Heritage , Arkansas General Assembly , and Arkansas Humanities Council; and by various foundations, principally

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