Negro Fights Futilely Against Crowd in Loop
Shot When He Ceases Running to Battle Whites Second Time
|
Source: Chicago Daily Journal, 29 July 1919, pg. 1.
|
A lone negro, evidently on his way home from work in the loop at 6 a.m., was shot to death near the corner of Wabash avenue and Adams street after he had failed in a helpless, desperate fight to escape from the mob of white men who bore down upon him.
The crowd was driven early in the morning from the streets of the black belt, where they had passed a rageful night. The mob marched north in Michigan avenue shouting, brandishing clubs, baseball bats, occasionally shooting revolvers. The avenue was free of any negro victims.
The procession turned west on Adams street. They spied their victim on the corner of Wabash avenue. The negro, warned by their howling threats, ran south. He threw away his hat and coat as he fled, a score of white men, wildly running after him.
Seeks Shelter in Doorway
Dodging rocks and clubs which were hurled after him, he tried to find shelter in teh doorway of a Thompson lunchroom at 105 South Wabash avenue.
The pursuers were almost past his hiding place before they checked their speed. Three or four men fell upon the negro. Battered with their clubs, he tore himself out of their clutch and ran back the way that he had come.
The terrified man led the race west on Adams street. Then, panting for breath, his head bleeding from wounds, he gasped and faced the crowd. Bullets from revolvers found their target and he fell to the pavement, almost directly in front of the Delco restaurant at 26 East Adams street.
Kick Lifeless Body
The mob kicked the lifeless body. Then, ignoring the terrified clerks and waitresses who rushed from the restaurants and the near-by cigar stores, they turned back to Wabash avenue.
The police arrived as the mob was fleeing. Four bullets had pierced the man's chest. No weapons were found on him.
[End of news article]
|
|
Page compiled: 5 November 2001
|
|
|
