Progressive Farmers and Household Union of America facts for kids
The Progressive Farmers and Household Union of America was a group for Black tenant farmers and sharecroppers. It was started by Robert L. Hill. A meeting of this group near Elaine, Arkansas, was interrupted on September 30, 1919. A white man was shot and killed, which led to white people attacking Black people. Hundreds of white people came to the area, attacking Black people they saw. This event is known as the Elaine Race Riot. It is thought to be one of the deadliest events of its kind in American history.
Why the Union Was Formed
The Progressive Farmers and Household Union of America was created by Robert L. Hill. He was a Black tenant farmer from Winchester, Arkansas. He said the union had groups in many different counties. Several of these groups were in the Elaine area.
In late 1919, the union helped Black people in the Elaine area organize. Black women stopped working in white homes. The union also asked for higher pay for people who picked cotton. The union even hired lawyers to help them. They planned to sue landowners. They believed the landowners were unfairly keeping money from tenant farmers and sharecroppers.
The Elaine Race Riot
The union was mostly destroyed by the violence that happened in Phillips County. Many white people formed groups to hunt down Black people across the county. They claimed it was an "uprising." The Governor of Arkansas, Charles Hillman Brough, brought federal soldiers into the county. Hundreds of Black people were arrested.
During these days, five white people and an estimated 100 to 237 Black people were killed. Some of the Black people were killed by soldiers. Other Black people needed special passes signed by military leaders and a trusted white citizen to move around in public. In the week after the shooting, groups of white people and federal soldiers killed many Black people in the area.
After the violence, a group of local white landowners and business owners decided who would be accused of crimes. Black men who agreed to speak against others and work for whatever their landlords wanted were set free. Black people who were seen as leaders or "unreliable" were accused. Later, some of the accused said they were beaten or treated badly to make them confess. They were told they would die if they changed their stories.
Robert Hill escaped to Kansas during the first days of the riot. He was arrested there, but the governor of Kansas would not send him back to Arkansas to face charges.
About 122 Black people were accused of crimes in Arkansas. 73 of them were charged with murder. No white people were accused. Many suspects were treated badly to force them to confess. The trials were held with all-white juries. Armed white men were outside the courthouse, and some were even inside the courtroom.
Twelve men were found guilty of murder and given very serious punishments. Their appeals went in two different directions. Six men (Ware et al.) had their convictions overturned in state court. They were tried again and found guilty, but they won another appeal in the state supreme court. They were released in 1923 because Arkansas law said they had to be retried within two years, and the state did not do so.
The convictions of the other six men (Moore et al.) were eventually overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in a case called Moore v. Dempsey 261 U.S. 86 (1923). The Supreme Court said their right to a fair trial was violated because of the conditions of the trial and what was being said publicly. This was a very important decision. It meant the Supreme Court could look at state criminal trials to make sure people's rights were protected.
The NAACP had helped pay for the defense team. Because of this case, their reputation for helping African Americans became even stronger. Walter F. White, who worked for the NAACP and investigated the riot, became well-known for his reports on the event. He later led the NAACP for many years.
