A Summer of Strife: The 1919 Chicago Unrest

​The summer of 1919 witnessed a horrific period of racial conflict in Chicago, Illinois. On August 3, 1919, the state militia finally intervened, bringing an end to several days of intense violence directed at the city’s Black communities. This terrifying five-day span of gunfire, assaults, and arson resulted in significant casualties and displacement: 15 white people and 23 African Americans were killed, 537 people were injured, and approximately 1,000 African American families lost their homes.

​The Precursors to Conflict: A City Divided

​Many Black Americans had migrated north, hoping to escape the overt, institutionalized racial hostility prevalent in the Southern states. However, upon arrival in Chicago, they encountered a different, yet persistent, form of racial tension and exclusion. Living conditions were challenging due to overcrowded housing, workplace inequality, instances of police misconduct, and widespread, customary segregation.

​In the 1910s, Chicago’s segregation wasn’t enforced by the same strict, written statutes found in the South. Instead, unspoken agreements and societal practices severely limited where Black residents could live, work, and access public spaces, including local beaches.

​The Spark: A Tragic Drowning

​The unrest was ignited on July 27, 1919. A young Black male, Eugene Williams, drowned at a local beach. Eyewitnesses reported that a white man had struck him with a stone, causing him to fall into the water on the “white” side of Lake Michigan’s swimming area.

​When police personnel declined to detain the individual who had thrown the stone, Black bystanders protested the lack of action. This protest quickly escalated as aggressive groups of white individuals responded with widespread hostility, marking the start of the five-day period of conflict.

​Five Days of Violence and Targeting

​During this frightening time, aggressive white groups targeted and attacked Black individuals wherever they were found. They also perpetrated acts of arson, setting fire to over 30 properties on the city’s south side. There was even an attempt to assault Provident Hospital, an institution that primarily served Black patients.

​The scale of the situation necessitated a significant response, leading to the deployment of six thousand National Guard troops to restore order. The trauma of the experience caused many Black residents to permanently leave the city.

​Aftermath: A Disproportionate Response

​State officials committed to an investigation and planned to hold all individuals responsible for the destruction and violence accountable. However, the subsequent legal proceedings demonstrated a clear bias: significantly more Black individuals were arrested than white individuals.

​The resulting grand jury proceedings focused primarily on charging Black defendants. The city’s chief law enforcement official later conceded, during testimony before a commission investigating the event’s causes, that this disparity was due to prejudice within his predominantly white department.