This booklet is a work within a larger project called “Filling in the Gaps.” It was created and developed based on the ideas and hard work of a group of Berea College students in Dr. Bobby Ann Starnes’ African American Studies class – AFR 186 Educational Inequity: The Impact of Eugenics on Education Today. In our study, we found very few students in the class know about their history and ancestors, especially the African American students. That has led us to engage in deep study of those omitted from history textbooks, which in turn led us to question ourselves, who we are, and where we come from.

1. Another View of Progress

2. 2
About Us
We are a group of Berea College students in Dr. Bobby Ann Starnes’ African American Studies
class – AFR 186 Educational Inequity: The Impact of Eugenics on Education Today.
As part of our study, we explored the connection between educational inequity, eugenics, and
American history textbooks’ content. We found these textbooks tell the stories of the white middle class
and wealthy and omit the history and contribution of people from poverty and minority groups.
In our study, we found very few students in the class know about their history and ancestors,
especially the African American students. That has led us to engage in deep study of those omitted from
history textbooks, which in turn led us to question ourselves, who we are, and where we come from.
This booklet is a work within a larger project called “Filling in the Gaps.” It was created and
developed based on the ideas and hard work of these students:
Editors
Anna Loveless, Health & Human Performance ‘16
Anthony Myrks, Education Studies ‘17
Ngoc-Anh Cao, Education Studies ‘16
Contributors
Anna Loveless, Health & Human Performance ‘16
Anthony Myrks, Education Studies ‘17
April Fellows, Education Studies ‘19
Austin Lowe, Child and Family Studies ‘19
Iliana Lomeli, Elementary Education ‘16
Jaeden Chatham, Spanish ‘16
James Alexander, Child & Family Studies ‘16
Johnesha Warren, Education Studies ‘16
Shauna Abdulsamea, Elementary Education ‘16
Shawna Stoneking, History ‘19
Tre Ogletree, Psychology ‘19
Dominique Forest
We would like to thank our beloved professor, Bobby Starnes, for supporting us to actualize this idea.
And thank you, the people who read this booklet and help share it with other people.

3. AFR 186 – Educational Inequity Berea, Spring 2016
3
Another View of Progress
Dr. Daniel Hale Williams III
Medical Pioneer
Daniel Hale Williams III was born January 18,
1856 in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, where his
father, Daniel Hale Williams II, worked as a barber
and with the Equal Rights League, which was a
Black civil rights organization during
Reconstruction. His mother, Sarah Price Williams,
worked hard to raise Daniel Hale Williams III and
his siblings.
However, when the younger Williams was 10, his
father died and he was sent to live with his relatives
in Baltimore.
As a young man, he spent time as a shoemaker’s
apprentice and a barber, but disliked both. Instead,
he chose to pursue medicine, apprenticing under
Dr. Henry Palmer and then completed his formal
education at Chicago Medical College. (cont. pg. 2)
NATIONAL MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
The National Medical Association (NMA) is the
largest and oldest national organization representing
African American physicians and their patients in the
United States. The NMA is a national professional and
scientific organization representing the interests of more
than 30,000 African American physicians and the
patients they serve. It is committed to improving the
quality of health among minorities and disadvantaged
people through its membership, professional
development, community health education, advocacy,
research and partnerships with federal and private
agencies.
Throughout its history the NMA has focused
primarily on health issues related to African Americans
and medically underserved populations; however, its
principles, goals, initiatives and philosophy encompass
all ethnic groups.
The NMA was founded in 1895 by Dr. Daniel Hale
Williams III and eleven other African American doctors.
Due to segregation policies and the idea of “separate but
equal,” African American doctors were not permitted to
join organizations like the American Medical
Association (AMA), so, African American doctors
created their own organization (the NMA).
Questionable “Nadir”
The Progressive Era (1890-1920) is often referred to as the “nadir,” or low point, of African
American History. We the authors, editors, and students in the class AFR 186 Educational Inequity
have found this to be untrue. Another View of Progress seeks to fill in the gaps that history
textbooks often leave out. We have found that many African Americans as well as other
underrepresented groups made numerous accomplishments during in this time frame. This
publication will highlight a myriad of people, events, and advances ranging from politics to
entertainment to technology.
As we gain knowledge, it is our duty to pass it on for others to discover. We hope to enlighten
and educate the readers through the sharing of a more accurate and holistic depiction of history.
This booklet was completed and compiled under the direction of professor Bobby Starnes, a long
time educator at Berea College.

4. 4
MARY ELIZA MAHONEY
At the age of 33, Mahoney was
accepted into the nursing
school for the New England
Hospital for Women and
Children. She was the first
African American professional
nurse in U.S. (1879). After
graduation she registered as a
private duty nurse and helped to
raise nurses’ status. During her
life she was also one of the first
African American members of
the organization that would
become the American Nurses
Association and support the
fight for women’s right to vote.
DR. CHARLES RICHARD
DREW
Through hard work and
dedication, Dr. Charles R.
Drew developed a method for
processing and preserving
blood plasma, which kept
longer than whole blood. This
development led to his earning
of his doctoral degree from
Columbia University (he was
the first African-American to
do so). His development also
greatly assisted in the efforts of
WWII. He was also the first
Director of an American Red
Cross Blood Bank, a professor
at Howard University and the
Chief Surgeon at Freedmen’s
Hospital.
WILLIAM’S MEDICAL
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Dr. Williams III (cont. pg.1)
1883
Williams attended Chicago
Medical School (currently
Northwestern University Medical
School). He graduated in 1883.
May 4, 1891
On May 4, 1891 Daniel Hale
Williams established the Provident
Hospital and Training School
Association, a three story building
which held 12 beds and served
members of the community as a
whole. The school also served to
train Black nurses and utilized
doctors of all races.
Within its first year, 189 patients
were treated at Provident Hospital
and of those 141 saw a complete
recovery, 23 had recovered
significantly, three had seen
change in their condition and 22
had died. For a brand new
hospital, at that time, to see an
87% success rate was phenomenal
considering the financial and
health conditions of the patients,
and primitive conditions of most
hospitals. Much can be attributed
to Williams’s insistence on the
highest standards concerning
procedures and sanitary
conditions.
July 10, 1893
Dr. Williams operated on James
Cornish, a Chicagoan, who was
brought to Provident Hospital with
a severe stab wound to his chest.
When Cornish started to go into
shock, Williams suspected a
deeper wound near the heart. He
asked six doctors (four white, two
black) to observe while he
operated on Mr. Cornish. With the
heart beating and transfusion
impossible, Williams rinsed the
wound with salt solution, held the
edges of the palpitating wound
with forceps, and sewed them
together. Just 51 days after his
apparently fatal wound, James
Cornish walked out of the hospital.
He lived for over 20 years after the
surgery.
1894
In 1894 Williams moved to
Washington, D.C. where he was
appointed the chief surgeon of
Freedmen’s Hospital, which had
formerly served enslaved African
Americans. The facility had long
been neglected, but under
Williams’ supervision, surgical
procedures were improved. There
was an increase in specialization
and ambulance services were
launched.
1895
Although he recognized the value
of racial integration in the medical
field, Williams in 1895 co-founded
the National Medical Association
(NMA) because black medical
practitioners were denied
admission to the all-white
American Medical Association.
1913
Among the numerous honors and
awards bestowed on Williams,
perhaps the most groundbreaking
was his becoming, in 1913, the
first black member of the
American College of Surgeons.

5. 5
Other Important
Figures
Garret Morgan
Garret Morgan was born on
March 4, 1877 as the seventh of
eleven children. Although he
only completed an elementary
school education, he was later
able to pay for private tutoring.
He worked several jobs at sewing
machine factories and found his
niche in being able to repair and
improve machines. He opened
his own business and received a
patent for a newer and more
improved sewing machine.
One day during work he saw a
piece of woolen fabric that, due
to its rough texture, had been
torn and scorched by the sewing
needle. Garret began to mix
different chemicals together that
would reduce tension on the
fabric and upon completion he
realized that the mixture had
softened the fabric. He tried the
concoction on his neighbor’s dog
and got the same results. After
successfully using it on himself
he began packaging and selling
his invention under his new
company G.A. Morgan Hair
Refining Company as a hair
softener. In 1914 Garret Morgan
began to work on a mask that
would stop inhalation of
pollutants and particles. Germany
had just begun to use gas as a
weapon of war and his invention
was right in time for WWI.
His invention was eventually
modified by the U.S. army and
used as a gas mask. His invention
also helped save men trapped
250ft beneath Lake Erie after an
explosion. Regardless of his
amazing work, people were
unhappy to have these inventions
come from a black man, so
Garret hired a white man to pose
as inventor of his products when
it was time to present them to
people. Garret would pose as his
assistant, successfully
demonstrating his own products
which were later picked up by
firefighters to rescue people.
As the first black man in
Cleveland, Ohio to own a car, he
began to work on his car by
inventing the friction drive
clutch. While driving one day, he
witnessed an accident that
happened due to the fact that
people didn’t know when to stop
their cars at busy intersections.
This was when he invented the
traffic light and later sold the
rights to general electric for
$40,000.
Aside from all of his great work,
Garret Morgan was also an active
participant in the NAACP who
donated to black colleges,
opened an all-black country club,
and founded the Cleveland
newspaper named the Call and
Post. He died on July 27, 1963 in
Cleveland, Ohio and was finally
recognized as the savior of the
men in the Lake Erie explosion.
Marcus Garvey
“A people without the
knowledge of their past history,
origin and culture is like a tree
without roots.”
Marcus Garvey
Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., born
on August 17, 1887, in St. Ann's
Bay, Jamaica, was a self-
educated man who helped found
the Universal Negro
Improvement Association
(UNIA). UNIA was dedicated in
promoting African-Americans
and resettlement in Africa.
In 1916, Garvey visited the U.S.
to deliver a speech and to raise
funds for establishing a school in

6. 6
Jamaica. It was this time when he
met several black leaders.
By 1919, Marcus Garvey and
UNIA had launched the Black
Star Line, a shipping company
that would establish trade and
commerce between Africans in
America, the Caribbean, South
and Central America, Canada
and Africa.
Some established black leaders
found his separatist philosophy
ill-conceived. W.E.B. Du Bois, a
prominent black leader and
officer of the N.A.A.C.P. called
Garvey "the most dangerous
enemy of the Negro race in
America." In 1922, Marcus
Garvey and three other UNIA
officials were charged with mail
fraud involving the Black Star
Line. Garvey was convicted and
sentenced to prison for five
years. In 1927 he was released
from prison and deported to
Jamaica. Garvey continued his
political activism and the work of
UNIA in Jamaica, and then
moved to London in 1935.
Bessie Coleman
Bessie Coleman was born on
January 26, 1892 in Atlanta,
Texas. She was one of 13
children. In 1915, at 23 years old,
Coleman moved to Chicago,
where she lived with her brothers
and worked as a manicurist. Not
long after her move to Chicago,
she began listening to and
reading stories of WWI pilots,
which sparked her interest in
aviation.
In 1922, a time of both gender
and racial discrimination,
Coleman broke barriers and
became the world’s first black
woman to earn a pilot’s license.
Flying schools in the United
States denied her entry, she took
it upon herself to learn French
and move to France to achieve
her goal. After only seven
months, Coleman earned her
license from the France’s well
known Caudron Brother’s School
of Aviation.
Although she wanted to start a
flying school for African
Americans when she returned to
the U.S., Coleman specialized in
stunt flying and parachuting, and
earned a living barnstorming and
performing aerial tricks. In 1922,
hers was the first public flight by
an African-American woman in
America. Tragically, on April 30,
1926, Coleman was killed in an
accident during a rehearsal for an
aerial show which sent her
plummeting to her death. She
was only 34 years old.
Marshall Walter
Taylor (aka Major)
Taylor was raised in
Indianapolis, Indiana in an
impoverished family. Taylor
became close to one of his
father’s employers’ children and
was later unofficially adopted
into the white family. Taylor
received a bike as a gift and
taught himself how to ride and do
tricks. Taylor was often seen
wearing a military uniform while
on his bike and was given the
nickname, Major.
Major started his professional
career at age 18. In the year
1898, at age 20, Major added 7
world records to his already
impressive cycling reputation.
Major’s athleticism took him
around the world. In the next
year, he was named both an
international and national world
champion cyclist. He competed
in various cities in the U.S., as
well as in Europe and Australia.
Despite his worldwide success
and champion status, Taylor
experienced intense racism,
especially in the U.S., throughout
his 14-year career. Taylor was
not even allowed to compete in
the American South because of
discrimination. During a race in
Boston, Massachusetts, another

7. 7
cycler pushed Taylor off his bike
and choked him, rendering him
unconscious for 15 minutes. Due
to countless instances of racial
discrimination, Taylor retired at
age 32. Before he retired he was
one of the wealthiest athletes in
the world.
After his cycling career, Taylor
fell upon hard times. He
attempted to write and publish an
autobiography called The Fastest
Bicycle Rider in the World but
that was of no financial benefit.
Marshall Taylor died broke and
was initially buried in welfare
section of an Illinois cemetery
despite his achievements. His
body was exhumed in 1948 due
to the efforts of the Schwinn
Bicycle Company along with
other professional racers. His
body was then moved to a
different portion of the cemetery.
Major Taylor exemplifies the
struggle, success, and
empowerment of not only Black
people but also low income
individuals. He pursued his
dreams of cycling despite
physical and mental attacks for
his whole career. Although he
died penniless, he illustrates what
persistence can achieve.
Jack Johnson
Jack Johnson, (March 31, 1878,
Galveston, Texas – June 10,
1946, Raleigh, North Carolina),
was the first black boxer to win
the heavyweight championship
of the world. Johnson is
considered by many boxing
observers to be one of the
greatest heavyweights of all time.
He fought professionally from
1897 to 1928 and engaged in
exhibition matches as late as
1945. He won the title by
knocking out champion Tommy
Burns on Dec. 26, 1908, and lost
it on a knockout by Jess Willard
in 26 rounds in Havana on April
5, 1915. Until his fight with
Burns, racial discrimination had
limited Johnson’s opportunities
and purses. When he became
champion, a hue and cry for a
“Great White Hope” produced
numerous opponents.
At the height of his career, the
outspoken Johnson excoriated by
the press for his flashy lifestyle
and for having twice married
white women. He further
offended white supremacists in
1910 by knocking out former
champion James J. Jeffries, who
had been induced to come out of
retirement as the “Great White
Hope.” The Johnson-Jeffries
bout, which was billed as the
“Fight of the Century,” led to
nationwide celebrities by African
Americans that were
occasionally met by violence
from whites, resulting in more
than 20 deaths across the
country.
In connection with one of his
marriages, Johnson was
convicted in 1912 of violating
the Mann Act by transporting his
wife-to-be across state lines
before their marriage. He was
sentenced to a year in prison and
was released on bond, pending
appeal. Disguised as a member of
black baseball team, he fled to
Canada; he then made his way to
Europe and was a fugitive for
seven years.
He defended the championship
three times in Paris before
agreeing to fight Willard in
Cuba. Some observers thought
that Johnson, mistakenly
believing that the charge against
him would be dropped if he
yielded the championship to a
white man, deliberately lost to
Willard.
From 1897 to 1928, Johnson had
114 bouts, winning 80, and 45 by
knockouts. In 1920, Johnson
surrendered to U.S. marshals; he
then served his sentence, fighting
in several bouts within the
federal prison at Leavenworth,
Kan. After his release he fought
occasionally and performed in
vaudeville and carnival acts,
appearing finally with a trained
flea act. He died in an
automobile accident. In the years
after Johnson’s death, his
reputation was gradually
rehabilitated.
His criminal record came to be
regarded more as a product of
racially motivated acts than as a
reflection of actual wrongdoing,
and members of the U.S.

8. 8
Congress have in a number of
occasions attempted to secure a
posthumous presidential pardon
for Johnson. His life story was
lightly fictionalized in the hit
play The Great White Hope
(1967; filmed 1970), and he was
the subject of Ken Burn’s
documentary film Unforgivable
Blackness (2004). Johnson was a
member of the inaugural class of
inductees to the International
Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990.
Mamie Smith
Actress and performing artist
Mamie Smith made music
history in 1920 when she stepped
into a studio to lay down “Crazy
Blues,” considered by industry
scholars to be the very first blues
recording. Smith was a
glamorous and multi-talented
entertainer, performing on stage
and in film. Her pioneering
musical career paved the way for
more successful female blues and
jazz artists like “Ma” Rainey,
Bessie Smith (no relation), and
Billie Holiday.
Although little is known about
her early years, scholars believe
that Smith was born Mamie
Robinson in Cincinnati, Ohio in
1883. By the age of 10 she was
working as a vaudeville
entertainer and touring with the
Four Dancing Mitchells.
Mamie Smith and the Jazz Hounds
She continued to tour with
various acts throughout her teens.
By 1913 at the age of 20 she was
living and working in Harlem
and soon after married William
“Smithy” Smith. She remarried
twice after her career took off.
In 1918 she was staring at the
Lincoln Theater in Made in
Harlem (referred to in some texts
as Maid of Harlem), a musical
revue produced by Perry
Bradford who also composed the
legendary “Crazy Blues” song.
Wishing to have some of his
songs recorded, Bradford
contacted and was rejected by a
number of studios until signing
an agreement with General
Phonograph.
In February of 1920 Bradford
brought Mamie Smith to the
company’s Okeh Studios in New
York to record “That Thing
Called Love” and “You Can’t
Keep a Good Man Down.” On
August 20, Smith and Bradford
returned to the studio with a
group of African American
musicians known as the Jazz
Hounds to record “It’s Right
Here for You” and “Crazy
Blues,” widely considered the
first blues song on record. It was
extremely successful,
purportedly selling 75,000 copies
within the first months of its
release.
The immediate popularity
prompted other recording
companies to sign on female
black blues singers to capture the
new “race records” market.
While “Crazy Blues” is cited as
the first blues recording, it also
represents the emergence of
black female singers into popular
music culture. The record was
purchased by black and white
consumers and was recognized as
a lucrative marketing segment by
studios and record company
executives.
Smith found herself suddenly
wealthy, and she spent much of
her earnings on clothes, jewelry,
real estate, and servants. She
toured with the Jazz Hounds,
recorded a number of follow-up
records, and performed in New
York theaters. She also appeared
in a series of low-budget African
American films during the early
1940s. Mamie Smith died in
Harlem in 1946.

9. 9
Historical Events
Race War on Lonoke
County, Arkansas
(1897-1898)
There were two groups involved
in the Race War of Lonoke
County – a white group and a
black group. The black group
assembled to ensure safety from
KKK attacks while the white
group assembled to “catch
thieves.” These groups were
violent toward one another,
which resulted in a number of
deaths and even more injuries
that have not been concluded.
Violence toward blacks got
extremely out of hand and many
fled for their lives, while only a
few chose to stay and face the
racism.
African Americans leaving Lonoke
County with white males behind
ensuring that they leave.
As a result of these attacks,
Lonoke County established black
teacher school where whites and
black could not be taught
together and black teachers had
to be trained in special schools
based on race. These black
schools were often ransacked and
many teachers were abused just
because of their race.
After the violence against school
teachers, the white community
banded together to hopefully kick
out the rest of the black
community. Some torment
included stoning, burning of
houses, and even stealing food
from black homes. After
withstanding such hardship, one
man still felt that there was a way
for people to have peace. This
man was D.T. Watson.
D.T. Watson was a professor that
also served as an activist for a
way to peacefully resolve racism
in Lonoke County. Watson’s
actions ended up not working in
his favor - he was stoned and
killed in one of his classrooms.
His story has been unknown for
many people due to the fact that
his documents and manuscripts
were destroyed/buried as an act
of hate. His story, or what little
is known of it, shows a true
dedication to peace. Although
Watson was unable to really
make a difference in his
community, he was one man who
really acted against the norm and
tried to make a difference
without causing harm to anyone.
Wilmington
Insurrection of 1898
Racial tensions ran high after
Black republicans won the North
Carolina state elections of 1896.
White democrats were unwilling
to tolerate blacks maintaining
political power and vowed to win
the 1898 elections by any means
necessary.
They appealed to the fear of
whites in the state by making
claims that white women were in
danger from black males. While
democrats ended up winning the
elections, racial hostility in
Wilmington carried on.
The democrats staged a coup
d’état and drove black politicians
out of office, along with white
professionals rioting; killing
random black people on the
street. Twenty-five blacks were
reported dead, but the official
death toll is unknown as many
bodies are presumed to have
been dumped in the river.
The Niagara
Movement (1905)
The Niagara Movement was a
civil rights group organized by
W.E.B. DuBois and William
Monroe Trotter in 1905. After
being denied admittance to hotels
in Buffalo, New York, the group
of 29 who comprised the initial
meeting gathered at Niagara
Falls, from which the group’s
name derives. The principles
behind the Niagara Movement
were largely in opposition to

10. 10
Booker T. Washington’s
principle of Accommodationism.
Founders of the Niagara Movement
Trotter publicly reprimanded
Washington at a Boston meeting
in 1903. In The Souls of Black
Folk (1903), DuBois had also
condemned Washington for his
lowered expectations for African
Americans. The Niagara
Movement drafted a “Declaration
of Principles,” part of which
stated, “We refuse to allow the
impression to remain that the
Negro-American assents to
inferiority, is submissive under
oppression and apologetic before
insults.” The Niagara Movement
attempted to bring about legal
changes, addressing the issues of
crime, economics, religion,
health, and education. The
Movement stood apart from other
black organizations at the time
because of its powerful,
unequivocal demand for equal
rights. The Niagara Movement
forcefully demanded equal
economic and educational
opportunity.
Members of the Niagara
movement sent a powerful
message to the entire country
through their condemnation of
racial discrimination and their
call for an end to segregation.
While the movement had grown
to include to 170 members in 34
states by 1906, it also
encountered difficulties. While
W.E.B. DuBois supported the
inclusion of women in the
Niagara Movement, William
Monroe Trotter did not. Trotter
left the movement in 1908 to
start his own group, the Negro-
American Political League.
The Niagara Movement met
annually until 1908. In that year
a major race riot broke out in
Springfield, Illinois. Black and
white activists, including
members of the Niagara
Movement, felt a new more
powerful, interracial organization
was now needed to combat
racism. Out of this concern the
National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP) was formed. The
Niagara Movement was
considered the precursor to the
NAACP and many of its
members, such as W.E.B.
DuBois, were among the new
organization’s founders.
The Great Migration
(1915)
Starting in 1915, Southern blacks
began leaving the south in order
to escape harsh levels of racism
and pursue job opportunities,
altering the racial makeup of
cities throughout the country.
Cities in the north and west saw
their black populations soar
during this time period.
A family in route to Northern
territories.
Jesse Washington
Lynching (1916)
Jesse Washington was a severely
mentally challenged 17-year-old
boy who was accused of raping
and murdering his employer’s
wife in Waco, Texas. As soon as
the jury of 12 white men found
him to be guilty in only 4
minutes, a mob threw a chain
around Jesse’s neck and drug
him down the back stairs of the
courthouse as the authorities
watched.
Outside, there was a mob of
between 15,000-20,000 people
waiting. They dragged Jesse
down to the town hall where they
had their lynching tree. The mob
set a fire underneath where Jesse
was hanging to burn him alive as
they continuously lowered him
down into the fire, but raised him
out so he could suffer longer in
order to please the crowd. Jesse
attempted to climb up the chain,

11. 11
but the mob cut off all of his
fingers one by one so all he could
do was slapping the chain.
Postcard made about the lynching
of Jesse Washington that was being
to community members in the
surrounding area around 1916.
After two hours of lynching, the
mob put his body remains in bags
and took them to Robinson,
Texas, which was the hometown
of Lucy Fryer (the murder
victim) and a large African
American population. There, his
body hung on a utility pole until
the county took down his
remains and burned them.
The Silent Protest
Parade of 1917
Also known as the Negro Silent
Protest Parade, this protest came
after the East St. Louis riots. The
riots began after two white
policemen were killed on July 1st
in a ruckus caused by people
attacking the homes of African
Americans since they were used
to replace the white workers on a
strike. Many people, however,
believe that the murder of the
two policemen was just a rumor.
In the East St. Louis Riots, many
acts of violence were committed
towards blacks including burning
their homes, shooting them to
death, beating, and lynching.
During these riots, an estimated
nine whites and hundreds of
African Americans were killed,
hundreds more were injured, and
thousands of homes were burned.
The exact number has not yet
been concluded.
Nothing was done to prevent the
attacks and the NAACP protested
with a Silent March of 10,000
black men, women, and children
down New York’s Fifth Avenue.
The women and children dressed
in white and the men in black
suits, marched behind a row of
drummers carrying banners
calling for justice and equal
rights. The only sound was the
beat of muffled drums.
Thousands of Black people,
including young children, in the
Silent Protest Parade
Some of the mottoes on the
protest posters people carried
were: “Thou shalt not kill”;
“Thou shall not bear false
witness against thy neighbor”;
“We are maligned as lazy, and
murdered when we work”; and
“’We hold these truths to be self-
evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among
these are Life, Liberty and the
pursuit of Happiness.’ If you are
of African descent tear off this
corner”.
The Anti-Lynching Bill
of 1918
The Anti-Lynching Bill of 1918
– also known as the Dyer Bill –
was proposed by Republican
Congressman Leonidas Dyer. It
was an act to assure to persons
within the jurisdiction of every
state the equal protection of the
laws, and to punish the crime of
lynching. The bill stated that
state officials who failed to
protect the rights of lynching
victims or prosecute the lynchers
could face five years in prison
and a $5,000 fine and that the
victim’s heirs could recover up to
$10,000 from the county where
the crime occurred.
Dyer and his supporters stated
that the validity of the bill was
found in the 14th Amendment
which stated that no state could
“deprive any person of life,
liberty, or property, without due
process of law; nor deny to any
person within its jurisdiction the
equal protection of the laws.”
Because lynching was considered
a private act outside the law, the
proponents argued that state
officials’ failure to uphold their
sworn duties denied victims
“equal protection of the laws”
under the 14th Amendment.

12. 12
Republican Congressman Leonidas
Dyer. Representative of Missouri.
After a prolonged fight, the
House passed the bill on January
26, 1922, by a vote of 230 to
119, but a filibuster by Southern
Democrats defeated it in the
Senate. The Dyer Bill was
defeated two more times later in
the 1920s. Lynching was not
actually illegal until the late
1960s due to the Civil Rights
Act.
The 1919 Chicago
Race Riots
The imaginary beach line that
separated Whites and Blacks.
There was an invisible line that
separated the beach: The 25th
street beach was for the black
community and the 29th street
beach for the white. This line
was unseen and a law unwritten,
so basically it was an invisible
line that divided the beach of
Lake Michigan.
An African American teenager
named Eugene Williams was
swimming with his friends and
drifted onto the 29th street side
of the beach. Once the whites
found Eugene Williams
swimming on their side they
started to throw rocks at him and
he eventually drowned.
The white individuals who were
responsible for his death were
not arrested, which raised a great
deal of tension and fury in the
African American community in
Chicago. This event sparked a
wave of violent riots throughout
the city of Chicago.
For nearly two weeks, black
mobs attacked white mobs and
vice versa. There were a total of
38 people who died and 23 of
them were African Americans.
By the time the National Guard
brought an end to the riots more
than 500 people were injured or
wounded. An astonishing number
of 1,000 African American
families were left homeless due
to the destruction of their homes.
Black Wall Street Dies
(1921)
Black Wall Street in Tulsa,
Oklahoma was one of the most
affluent all-Black communities in
America. With the oil boom of
the early 1900’s, many people
moved to Tulsa for a shot at
quick economic gains and high
life. Many African Americans
hoped to prosper from the new
industry as well.
Tulsa, like many cities and towns
throughout the US, was
segregated, with African
Americans settling into the
northern region of the city.
A store front that was destroyed by
Whites in the riots.
On June 1, 1921, a night’s
slaughter left nearly 3,000
African Americans dead and over
600 successful businesses lost.
Among these were 21 churches,
21 restaurants, 30 grocery stores
and two movie theaters, plus a
hospital, a bank, a post office,
libraries, schools, law offices, a
half dozen private airplanes and
even a bus system. Responsible
for the destruction was the Ku
Klux Klan, working in groups
with ranking city officials and
many other followers.

13. 13
Literary Works
A Voice from the South (1892)
A Voice from the South was written by Anna Julia
Cooper, a biracial feminist and educator, in 1892.
It is a significant literary work because Cooper
focuses mainly on publicizing the voices of
women, especially those of color in a society that
did not respect the rights, voices, and opinions of
women.
Cooper emphasized the need for equal treatment,
not only among races but also sexes. Cooper
constantly sought to uplift Black women and
found the best way to do that through the
attainment of higher education. She held this in
great importance, not only for herself but the
female Black community. A Voice from the South
is only one of many of Anna Julia Cooper’s
pieces. Cooper’s writings are so profound that
they are currently archived at Howard University.
If We Must Die (1919)
- Claude McKay
If we must die, let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
Making their mock at our accursed lot.
If we must die, O let us nobly die,
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain; then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!
O kinsmen! We must meet the common foe!
Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!