Mena, Arkansas, Aug. 6, 1896 — The
irony of an unwelcome and unwanted group of people attacking another wasn’t
something most of the people in Western Arkansas would have noticed at this
time.
The railroad was moving through Western
Arkansas connecting the region to the Gulf Coast and the stackyards of Kansas City.
The Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad was building the line, and
they were using the cheapest labor they could find and this included newly
arrived immigrants from Italy, Hungary and Swedish who were hired and dozens of
Black workers. These new White Americans had picked up some of America’s oldest
and worst habits, racism.
Mena was a brand-new city
established in1896 as a stop on the line of the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf
Railroad. The owner of the railroad, Arthur E. Stilwell, was constructing a
line the to move steel from
Pittsburgh to the Gulf and return with goods that could be sold anywhere. The
new town of Mena was to be a major stop and was positioned to help get settlers
into Oklahoma Territory and the hill county of Arkansas.
Apparently, the railroad and
Stilwell were not aware of the racial animus in Polk County and the rather
extreme bigotry of the residents. It was the practice of the railroad to hire
both immigrants and Blacks to do the labor building the railroad, although often
they did hire more Black laborers.
On the night of the Aug 6th
a Black labor camp constructed by the railroad was invaded by White men. They
were armed and assaulted the workers and drive them out of the camp and pursued
them through the evening. This attack led to the death of three Black men and
severe injuries to eight more.
This assault was led by many of
the European immigrants, because one of the easiest and quickest ways to gain
trust of the nativists was to attack Blacks. The immigrants often dealt with
prejudice directed at them by White citizens. The prejudice was much the same
as what was directed towards the Africans. Established White citizens were fearful
that the Europeans had a character that leaned toward indolence and crime.
Often, especially in the south,
the quickest route to assimilation and building trust with the dominate White
culture was to join them in the resentment and violence towards Blacks.
The next day the railroad had another
car full of Black laborers arrived in the new city on Mena and were met in the
town of Horatio by the Sheriff of Siever County and some deputized men, they
escorted them to the Polk County line where that sheriff escorted them to the other
side of the county and insisted, they leave. Polk County was established as a “Sundown”
county that afternoon.
The Arkansas Gazette printed an anonymous
quote, "Polk County citizens say they have no negroes there no will they
permit them to come and work on the railroad.” Yet the railroad continued to
try to bring in Black laborers because of their belief that they were the best
workers. Violence wasn’t always the end result , but it was often enough. Particularly
the lynching of Peter Berryman in 1901.
It was reported in the New York Times an a
handful of other newspapers with a national standing reported that the “Leaders”
of the raid on the work camp were arrested but interestingly enough there is
nothing in the Arkansas papers regarding these arrests or any court cases. The
three men who were killed were never identified and buried in the potter’s
field outside Mena.
Sources:
https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/polk-county-race-war-of-1896-7390/
https://robbauerbooks.com/2021/09/22/the-polk-county-race-war-of-1896-arkansas/
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