The Bayou Brief is Louisianas only statewide, completely free, member-supported digitally-oriented publication. ALEXANDRIA, La. On the fateful day of 8 February 1942, the Japanese launched a night invasion into Singapore, sparking the week-long Battle of Singapore. This year, the city of Alexandria, Louisiana installed a historical marker commemorating a confrontation between African American soldiers and white military police during World War II. Today he lives in New Orleans and is currently writing a book about the life of reputed New Orleans Mafia boss Carlos Marcello. Crittle was 16 years- old in 1942. During its first two years, the Bayou Brief has become more than a Louisiana news outlet; it is also an online community, which is even more critical as a global pandemic forces us to find new ways to come together. See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Today, most of those soldiers and most of the civilians who witnessed the pandemonium are dead; records are missing or were destroyed. Even though Republican nominee Ulysses Grant won, not a single Republican vote was counted in St. Landry Parish. "On weekends there would be upwards of 1,000 or more African-American citizens and soldiers walking on Lee Street enjoying the local businesses in a five-block area," Wynne said. Alexandria, LA (04/10/2023) The Alexandria Police Department (APD) is investigating a traffic collision that occurred last night involving an off-road. "He was very conservative," said Wynne. Wynne read the book and contacted Bristol about the alleged mass grave. In the wake of Simpsons scholarship, even the Town Talk had been forced to publicly acknowledge its own complicity in manufacturing what now was clearly revealed to be an egregious cover-up. ALEXANDRIA, La. Halloween is just around the corner, and if you're looking for some spooky fun then you've come to the right place. City Erects Marker Recognizing Lee Street Riot of 1942 Cookie Settings, War, Politics, and Reconstruction: Stormy Days in Louisiana, The Roots of Rough Justice: Origins of American Lynching, Five Places Where You Can Still Find Gold in the United States, Scientists Taught Pet Parrots to Video Call Each Otherand the Birds Loved It, Balto's DNA Provides a New Look at the Intrepid Sled Dog, The Science of California's 'Super Bloom,' Visible From Space, What We're Still Learning About Rosalind Franklins Unheralded Brilliance. The Thibodaux Massacre (November 23, 1887) - BlackPast.org The Terrifying Story of the Congressional Baseball Shooting The story of the incident that unfoldedJan. 10, 1942on Lee Street begins during the World War II era. Holly Oak Cemetery was established around 1923 and according to Mike Wynne, local historian, is the most historic Black cemetery in Central Louisiana. (KALB) - Expert researchers and historians spent Tuesday at Holly Oak Cemetery in Pineville, searching for a rumored mass gravesite. The Thibodaux Massacre Left 60 African-Americans Dead and Spelled the The Alexandra Hospital case. The Family of Lexi Rubio, Uvalde Shooting Victim, Pleads for Action He never heard of the Lee Street Riot until Compton told him about it. Haywood Joiner Sr. was wandering about Lee Street, the bustling artery abutting the Black district of Alexandria, Louisiana. Memorial Day and the Lee Street Massacre - Medium Scalise, 51, who represents Louisiana and is the third-ranking Republican in the House, was standing at second base when the shooting erupted, witnesses said. Alexandria is a city in and the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. When they did start reporting the next week, they could only give the information that the Army gave them.". Some three whites and about 150 African-American fatalities occurred in the riot. Twitter Marker acknowledges tragic night in Alexandria's history Alexandria LA Real Estate & Homes For Sale. We had The Knights of the White Camellia, The Ku-Klux Klan, and an Italian organization called The Innocents, who nightly paraded the streets of New Orleans and the roads in the country parishes, producing terror among the Republicans.. The untold story of the slaying of a Southern town's ex-slaves and a white lawyer's historic battle to bring the perpretators to justice Following the Civil War, Colfax, Louisiana, was a town, like many, where African Americans and whites mingled uneasily. For those familiar with my previous reporting about Louisiana College, I should note that Bill Simpson worked at LC before its credibility as an academic institution was effectively destroyed in the aftermath of a hostile takeover by a fringe group of disreputable, corrupt, and anti-intellectual bigots. 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. Were looking at these signals here, says Dr. David Holt. Rumors spread, and soon many Republicans were convinced Bentley had been killed, though he managed to escape with his life. COLFAX, La. But on April 13, 1873, a small army of white ex-Confederate soldiers, enraged after attempts by freedmen to assert their new rights . allegedly fired his gun at a Black soldier leaving the Ritz Theater, attempting to arrest the man for disorderly conduct. Some say it was 20 while others think the number could be as high as 300. The Beginning of Hell | Bayou Brief Murders of Czar Nicholas II of Russia and His Family - ThoughtCo Secret Democratic organizations were formed, and all armed. On 15 February 1942, the British surrendered Singapore to the Japanese.15 Those who survived the massacre became prisoners of war (POWs) of the Japanese and had to endure three and a half years of captivity. Albert H. Leonard, a Shreveport Times editor, power broker, and prominent White Leaguer, began calling on his fellow paramilitaries that summer of 1874 to murder Republican political leaders and instill fear . Alexandria, LA Is Among the Most Dangerous US Metro Areas Alexandra Hospital massacre | Infopedia - National Library Board They were apprehended before they got anywhere, and the army ordered the units swift transfer to a camp in Texas the very next day. What Was the Colfax Massacre? - The Root Compton would lay a wreath at the site each year in remembrance of those who were killed that night. Golden Shield. Terms of Use Black soldiers who were killed or injured in a tragic incident in Alexandria's history known as the Lee Street Riotwill be commemorated withabronze historical marker, said local historian Mike Wynne. and race riots such as the 1873 Colfax Massacre, in which many white citizens of Rapides Parish took part. Hopefully, the full truth of what actually happened on that never-to-be-forgotten night will come out one day, he said. Website: http://www.lboissoneault.com/, 2023 Smithsonian Magazine The city had to budget about $100,000 for the careful exhumation of the remains, he said. Cenla Historian Michael Wynne tells KALB he and many others believe a number of African American soldiers were killed that night and buried in a mass grave thats now home to Holly Oak Cemetery. 160 Fox Fire Ln USD 27 Jun 04 75th Anniversary Celebration. May 26, 2022. They forced him to sign a retraction of the article, and then Dickson savagely beat Bentley, sending the children who were sitting for lessons scattering in terror. The Alexandria Massacre of 11 June 1882 and the British - JSTOR Tyson, a former reporter for The Town Talk, also interviewed Alexandria residents for an article published in 2000. Simpson relates what he had been told by those he interviewed. USM Professor Organizes Formal Discussion of Rumored Mass Grave for 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. After that incident that had happened on Lee St. they didnt see any of their soldier friends anymore, says Rhodes. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. Find service information, send flowers, and leave memories and thoughts in the Guestbook for your loved one. THE INVESTIGATORS: Man who confessed to streamed killing on - WAFB 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. Of those men, 29 were taken to the local prison, and 27 of them were summarily executed. "He knows what graveyards look like. But there was another factor, and the federal government didnt make it much of a secret: Locals, they believed, wouldnt complain about the inconvenience. In 1941, the 367th Negro Infantry Regiment (later renamed the 364th) was one of the earliest African-American combat units. And he also knows when there is something unusual like what we would call a mass grave - like when bodies are extremely close together to the point of overlapping.". This would be an important precedent for the subsequent wave of lynchings that occurred in Louisiana from the 1890s through the early decades of the twentieth century, in which lynch mobs killed more than 400 persons, most of them African American.. It was far easier for White soldiers to enjoy Liberty Weekends than it was for Black soldiers. Thousands of white men began arming themselves and raiding houses around the area. Published: Feb. 1, 2021 at 4:36 PM PST. 1874-1875. In 1940, 8,000 construction workers began moving into Central Louisiana, building the entire place in less than a year. Colfax, LA Map & Directions - MapQuest Weeks after the massacre, a Franklin, Louisiana, newspaper victoriously declared, "The negroes in St. Landry are, for the first time since the war, polite and well disposed, and work well." 8 New Orleans Republican, "The St. Landry Massacre," October 12, 1868, reprinting editorials from The Franklin Banner, October 10, 1868. I truly dont believe this is a loss, Jennings told the Town Talk. By the 14th of February, the 550-bed hospital had close to 900 patients. 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. With Louisiana passing a new state constitution in April 1868 that included male enfranchisement and access to state schools regardless of color, Bentley had reason to feel optimistic about the states future. "Businesses that included an Army YMCA-USO, six cafes and two grills, a drugstore with a soda shop, four pubs and bars, four grocery stores and a fruit store, three liquor stores, a bus station, a coffee shop, a boxing arena and a movie theater called The Ritz.". The team also went to Potters Field in Pineville to look at potential gravesites there. "Before I even became a Buffalo Soldier, I would go to the Lee Street Riot memorial with Mrs.Compton and some other community leaders and that's where I learned about it. Some say it was 20 while others think it could be as high as 300. When I was a high school student, more than 50 years after the camps closure, kids would drive out to Claiborne to drink beer and smoke pot. Louisiana Haunted Houses - Your Guide to Halloween in Louisiana In 1887, African-American cane workers in Louisiana attempted to . Black soldiers were stationed at Camp Claiborne while white soldiers were stationed at Camp Livingston and Camp Beauregard. 27th May 2023 Events in Alexandria, Louisiana That monument, erected in 1921, still stands. "But everybody, everysoldier, that died that night, is important," he said. It is believed many of the black soldiers targeted in the Lee St. violence were stationed at Camp Claiborne. The quick and easy way to find all the exciting Halloween attractions in the Louisiana area for 2023! Holt said they have been successful at finding old slave cemeteries in which there was a systematic burial of bodies closetogether. The straightforward message represented a menacing threat to Bentley, who was teaching African-American children in Louisiana at the time. We believe in providing readers with robust, research-intensive, fact-based reporting and commentary about Louisiana, the land, and her people, at no charge and with no intrusions from advertisements. . Alexandria, LA 71301 (318) 483 . Address: 3601 Bayou Rapides Road, Alexandria, LA 71303, United States. They used to go to the movies, go to dinner with the soldiers that came into town, says Linda Rhodes. (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. Henry Clay Warmoth, a Republican, won the race for state governor, but the votes African-Americans cast for those elections cost them. Others told him thatbodies were put on rail cars and shipped out of state. "Getting them out of here. He referred to the excavation of bodiesfrom the 1921 Tulsa, Okla., massacre that were recently exhumed from a mass grave at Oaklawn Cemetery. Those black soldiers mostly came from northern states. The summer of 1868 was a tumultuous one. Due to Simpson's and Tyson's interviews, Wynne said, "We now know more about the reported deaths of the soldiers. There would be no Republican organization in the parish for the next four years, and no Republican paper until 1876. She has previously written for The Atlantic, Salon, Nautilus and others. No one stayed long. Some historians believe there was a cover-up by the United States military and researchers are hunting for a possible mass grave. He cited Tulsa, Okla., and how citizens are now acknowledging the massacre there in 1921 when a white mob, many of them deputized . Alexandria, Louisiana - Wikipedia And after the first of the year, on the 79th anniversary of the Lee Street Riot, I'm going to begin anew and see what I can accomplish.". We may never know the full and complete story of what transpired on Lee Street. alexandria, louisiana massacrehorses for sale in georgia under $500. With the approach of the presidential elections in November, the tension only increased. "The front part of the cemetery dates prior to 1945," said Wynne. In the 1990s,William M. Simpson, former Louisiana College history professor, interviewed scores of peopleincluding former policemen, former state troopers and civilians and included their stories in his articleA Tale Untold? (There were subsequent reports the soldier had been accused of assaulting a White woman, though those reports seem to be based on pure speculation. About The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918 Copyright 2020 WVUE. The story has been kept alive and there now appears to be more interest in it. Lee Street would never again be the same kind of bustling commercial corridor it had been. "Getting them out and putting them on the freight trains," he said. A University of Southern Mississippi (USM) professor has joined in an effort to resolve questions about the potential existence of a mass grave of African-Americans killed in a 1940s riot in Alexandria, Louisiana by arranging a roundtable panel focused on the issue in the upcoming 38th annual Gulf South Historical Association meeting being held in that city this weekend. The most plausible would be maybe 20 to 30 soldiers would be killed that could conceivably, I thought, be concealed, says Dr. Simpson. While the federal government prepared young men to fight across both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, for many Black soldiers, hell began as soon as they wandered off-base. And then, according to this witness, once that happened, he says, quote, 'All hell broke loose.'". The contradiction between the official report and oral history is what kept Simpson interested. The Caucasian. When he was interviewed for the video, he was attending a Memorial Day service held by the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club to honor the soldiers killed in that incident. The Louisiana History Museum is not just dedicated to Alexandria but to all of Louisiana's history. Dr. Simpson is a retired professor from Pineville who began researching the incident 25 years ago. So, it led to conflicts anywhere they were positioned in the South, says Dr. Doug Bristol. The Alexandria, Louisiana, Lee Street Riot (January 10, 1942). New Orleans fell to the US Army early, in April 1862. Displeased with the way Bentley had portrayed the Democrats, Democrats John Williams, James R. Dickson (who later became a local judge), and constable Sebastian May visited Bentleys schoolhouse to make good on the anonymous threats of the earlier September note. In his research, he contacteduniversities and other sources in Louisiana but was unable to get help. As a small number of African-Americans prepared to rescue Bentley, word spread around the parish that a black rebellion was imminent. 5716 Skye St, Alexandria, LA 71303. We remember driving the abandoned roads of the camp and stopping to shoot BB guns into some of the abandoned warehouses during the late 1950s. On June 14, 2017, a gunman walked onto a baseball field at Eugene Simpson Park in Alexandria, Virginia, opening fire on politicians and wounding House GOP Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana and four . There probably are relatives still around of the men who were killed. January 10, 1942, in Alexandria, Louisiana. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Possibly one of the soldiers got intoxicated and the white military police who were armed tried to arrest them, but something happened. This was particularly true for Black soldiers training at Camp Claiborne. Camp Claiborne, like many things in Louisiana, is buried above ground.