In 2014, the East St. Louis 1917 Centennial Commission & Cultural Initiative was created to recognize the centennial of the 1917 pogrom- the terrible race riot that devastated the ESTL community in July of that year. The commission acknowledged and established twenty four Sacred Sites and historical markers across the city in remembrance. The ESTL1917CCCI retired in 2020 and its work has been turned over to the East St. Louis Historical Society.

Introduction by Charles Lumpkins, Ph.D.

On Monday, July 2, 1917, black and white residents of industrial East St. Louis , witnessed their city plunged into a second round of racial violence, just thirty-five days after the first eruption of racial conflict on May 28.

The July conflagration began when violence-seeking white individuals meted revenge on Black townspeople for the killing of two plainclothes police detectives by armed Black militiamen, mistakenly believed to be the white drive-by shooters who had terrorized Black neighborhoods the previous June.

The police, angered about the death of their colleagues, rarely stopped rioters from beating or killing their victims, including those white persons who tried to protect isolated African Americans. Unlike the May event, the July race riot reached horrific levels, assailants torching hundreds of Black homes and businesses, white-owned businesses who employed Black workers, pummeled, injured, or killed undetermined numbers of Black residents and nonresidents, and drove at least 7,000 Black townspeople across the Mississippi River to safety and permanent exile in St. Louis, Missouri.

Rioters avoided the city’s Denverside, a predominantly Black neighborhood where Black residents engaged in armed self-defense. Assailants ended their rampage on July 3 when Illinois National Guardsmen aggressively arrested or dispersed them. Estimates of deaths varied widely- no more than twenty or so white individuals were killed and from several dozen to several hundred Black persons, but the authorities fixed the death toll at nine white men and thirty-nine Black men, women, and children.

In its murderous barbarity, the East St. Louis race riot of July 2, 1917, shocked Americans who thought an outbreak of mass racial violence was impossible in and industrialized city in a northern state. Occurring three months after the United States officially entered World War I, many Americans demanded President Woodrow Wilson revise his war slogan from “make the world safe for democracy” to “make America safe for democracy.”

Residents and nonresidents blamed the riot on the sharp rise in the city’s Black population caused by the Great Migration of Black southerners seeking employment in the booming wartime labor market in northern and Midwestern industrial cities, thus creating interracial competition for jobs and housing. Others blamed the riot on white backlash to increases in Black criminal activity or perceived Black strikebreaking.

Some contemporaries called the riot a pogrom because they identified the city’s businessmen-politicians creating the riot to disrupt, if not destroy, Black East St. Louis, and its developing Black political machine, to wrest additional resources and services from the city’s elites, to arrest Black political activist leaders like Assistant State’s Attorney Noah Parden and the dentist Leroy Bundy, and to institute a new form of municipal government to diminish Black political strength in city governance.
The East St. Louis race riot/pogrom marked a watershed for East St. Louis and for race relations in twentieth-century America. Following the self-guided tour allows you to conduct your individualized, historical commemoration of the men, women, and children who perished or survived the city’s holocaust.

Sacred Site Histories by Andrew J. Theising, Ph.D.

Sacred Site #1: True Light Baptist Church – 1535 Tudor Ave.
The Bell of True Light Baptist Church rang around 11 p.m. on July 1, 1917 as both a warning and a call to arms to citizens across East St. Louis. The violence that erupted the following day on July 2 was long simmering. For months, the African American community had prepared for the possibility of violence and the church bells were readied as the first warning. Whites harassed the South End neighborhood regularly that summer.

On the night of July 1, a car of assailants drove along Market Street firing shots into homes. Upon hearing the True Light Baptist Church bell, armed African Americans gathered to defend their neighborhood. This response was presented at trial as evidence that African Americans, not whites, started the conflict.

Sacred Site # 2: Leroy Bundy Home Site – 1700 Bond Ave.
Dr. Leroy Bundy, a dentist and a leader of the African American community in the region, lived and operated a service station at the intersection of 1700 Bond Ave. He was an advocate for the unionization of African American workers and inclusion in city government. He was accused of fomenting militant behavior in the South End and stood trial for causing the 1917 riot. He was found guilty on false testimony and was sentenced to life in prison. He was later exonerated by the Illinois Supreme Court.

Sacred Site #3: 11th St. & McCasland Ave.
It was near this part of the South End that white rioters passed through, targeting homes for violence during the riot. Houses were burned and shots were fired at fleeing victims. Buildings here were destroyed with notable damage on the southwest corner of the intersection.

Sacred Site #4: 10th St. & Bond Ave.
On the night of July 1, 1917, white marauders drove through the South End randomly shooting into homes. When the bell of True Light Baptist Church rang, an unmarked police car was dispatched. In the dark street, it is speculated a tire may have blown, causing a loud, gun-like pop. African American neighbors, already tense from the recent shooting and assembled by the church bell, fired shots at the car, unknowingly killing two police officers. This event sparked a rampage the following morning.

Sacred Site #5: 10th St. & Trendley Ave.
White rioters, having done damage to homes further west of 10th St. & Trendley Ave. attempted to push their destruction deeper into the South End, beyond 10th St. Neighbors were organized and ready. Snipers were in place and, after several shots were fired, the rioters retreated. There was considerable damage done at the site regardless.

Sacred Site #6: 10th St. & Piggott Ave.
Near the intersection of 10th St. & Piggott Ave. stretches Municipal Bridge (then called ‘Free Bridge’ because it had no toll). The bridge opened in January of 1917 and was a primary way for people living in the South End to cross over to St. Louis. During the violence of the riots, victims attempted to flee across the bridge to safety but white rioters blocked the way. Luella Cox, a white woman from St. Louis who had crossed the bridge for nonprofit work, started directing families to flee across the bridge. One woman was beheaded at the site, according to Mrs. Cox’s testimony. Eventually, the rioters were driven away and hundreds of families fled across the bridge to safety in St. Louis.

Sacred Site #7: Broadway Opera House – 700 East Broadway
An empty theater once stood at 700 East Broadway called the ‘Opera House’. It is rumored many African Americans were burned to death inside this building during the 1917 riot. Bystanders claimed to have seen men, women, and children seek refuge in the building’s basement. Officially, no bodies were found, but the bodies may have been incinerated. Firefighters could not save the theater but did stop it from spreading to a nearby factory storing over a thousand gallons of oil and gas. The library next door was also saved.

Sacred Site #8: Southeast Corner of 8th St. & East Broadway
Otto Nelson once lived at 741a on the southwest corner of 8th St. & East Broadway near the ‘Opera House’. He was the city’s only African American detective; during the riot, the city turned against him. Otto and his wife were forced to hide in the weeds outside as their home was destroyed. When the path was clear, they worked their way towards the Eads Bridge, where they found themselves in a stream of other displaced African Americans heading over the bridge to safety.

Sacred Site #9: South 8th St. & Walnut Ave.
Mary Edwards, age 23, lived near the intersection of South 8th St. & Walnut Ave. She was the director of the cafeteria at Lincoln School and had lived in East St. Louis most of her life. She told W.E.B. DuBois that she knew at 10 a.m. that “white and colored had been fighting” but did not know how serious it had become. She didn’t think the trouble would come to South 8th St. but it did. Rioters began setting fire to homes and shooting into them. Her daughter and father were inside dodging bullets. When rioters burned the house at 8th and Walnut, Edwards heard them yell, “Save it. Whites live there.”

Sacred Site #10: Northeast Corner – 8th St. & Brady Ave.
On this site was a Southern Railway Crossing. The night of the massacre, rail cars filled the tracks along the curve of Railroad Avenue. Armed men fired at the houses along these streets and, as African Americans fled, they were shot by men standing along the tracks. The St. Louis Republic newspaper described: “[The victim] would zig-zag through the spaces between buildings. Then a well-directed shot would strike him. He would leap into the air. There were deep shouts, intermingled with shrill feminine ones. The flames would creep up to the body.” If the man writhed more shots would be fired. The flames engulfed him and tore further east along the road.

Sacred Site #11: James R. Thompson Blvd. – South 6th St. & Railroad Ave.
At 7:30 p.m. on the evening of the massacre, over 100 African Americans barricaded themselves into two homes. They were armed and resisted the white rioters, so much so that the rioters complained to the Illinois National Guard standing by. An officer lectured the rioters, “They are playing the game the way you are.” He arranged a ceasefire and the African Americans were escorted to St. Louis.

Sacred Site #12: James R. Thompson Blvd. – South 5th St. & Railroad Ave.
The most severe damage during the riot occurred along the Southern Railway tracks than ran along James R. Thompson Boulevard. Many African American families lived in the homes adjacent to the tracks and the tracks at the time had dozens of railcars sitting still on them. Some fled their homes and hid among the freight. Rioters burned the rail cars. In the end, 44 rail cars were destroyed, as was the Southern Railway warehouse near South 2nd Street & East Broadway, where the cars were to be unloaded.



Sacred Site #13: James R. Thompson Blvd. – South 4th St. & Railroad Ave.
Scott & Iva Clark’s residence was at this location. Rioters set fire to their house while the Clarks hid in the cellar. After the walls collapsed, they fled next door. Rioters also burned that house and the Clarks fled again. They ran along the railroad tracks where a National Guardsman seemingly offered protection. The three of them proceeded to South 4th Street and then towards East Broadway, cutting through an alley. A mob attacked the Clarks there and the National Guardsman did nothing. Mr. Clark was struck with an iron bar and a rope was placed around his neck. He pleaded for his life. The rioters attempted to hang him but their rope was too short, so they dragged him instead. He died of strangulation four days later.

Sacred Site #14: West of Fountain of Youth Park – South 4th St. spur & East Broadway
This site is where the apex of violence coalesced. Post-Dispatch reporter Paul Anderson counted six corpses on the street. When an ambulance arrived, rioters threatened the driver with death. National Guardsmen were standing a few hundred feet away but refused to intervene, despite Anderson’s pleading. Reporter Carlos Hurd witnessed a lynching there where a rioter yelled “pull for East St. Louis!” The body was left hanging for hours. One rioter approached a body lying in a gutter and fired several shots to make sure the man was dead.

Sacred Site #15: East of Fountain of Youth Park – South 4th St. & East Broadway
An African American man was shot where Collinsville Avenue meets East Broadway. One of the first actions of the mob there was to stop a streetcar which was easily done by pulling the overhead trolleys from the charged electrical wire. White rioters attacked African American passengers while soldiers stood and watched.

Sacred Site #16: Southwest Corner of North 4th & Division St.
At this site, police found the cremated body of a boy who looked to have been hiding under a bed when the flames consumed him. Narsis Gurlie lived a few houses south and gave the following statement to W.E.B. DuBois during the investigation of the massacre: “Between five and six o’clock we noticed a house nearby burning and heard the men outside. We were afraid to come outside and remained in the house which caught fire from the other house. When the house began falling in we ran out, terribly burned, and one white man said, ‘let those old women alone’. We were allowed to escape. Lost everything, clothing and household goods.”

Sacred Site #17: Southwest Corner of North 3rd St. & Missouri Ave.
The municipal building complex was near this site which included city hall, a police department, and fire station. The address was 115 N. Main St. The police car in which Officers Coppedge and Wadley died was parked outside this station for all to see. It was blood-soaked and riddled with holes. On the night of the massacre, five-hundred men, women, and children spent the night in the police station for safety and hundreds more in the city hall auditorium.

Sacred Site #18: Northwest Corner of Collinsville Ave. & St. Louis Ave.
Near this intersection, white rioters assembled to listen to inflammatory speeches and marched in military formation toward Broadway. Richard Brockway, the white man who inflamed the crowd, eventually was convicted and sentenced to prison for the crime of rioting.

Sacred Site #19: Across the Street from Dunham Museum – 1010 Pennsylvania Ave.
This site was once the home of Mayor Malbern M. Stephens, the city’s longest serving mayor. He was firt elected in 1887 and he actively recruited industry including Aluminum Ore Co. and the Armour Meatpacking plant. However, he was replaced as mayor in 1903 by a series of corrupt administrations. He fought for good governance and helped get one mayor indicted for corruption. After the 1917 massacre, civic leaders begged him to return, even though he was then 72 years old. He served eight more years and oversaw the payment of reparations to the victims of the massacre- he personally signed each bond.


Sacred Site #20: North 9th & St. Clair Ave.
St. Clair Ave. north of this point was called “Whiskey Chute” as it was lined with taverns and brothels to tempt young farmers who had just sold livestock at the stockyards. They had to go down this route to get to the train depot. Employment strife at the National Stock Yards helped to set off the May 28 riot. Along the Whiskey Chute, whites accosted African Americans workers leaving the meatpacking plants and there were skirmishes, particularly on St. Clair Ave. between 2nd and 4th Streets. Police officers recued some and the arrival of the Illinois National Guard caused rioters to scatter. The trouble was not over then- only postponed for another day.

Sacred Site #21: 621 North 9th St.
Mayor Fred Mollman, who lived at this site, was an incompetent politician who knew that the city was about to explode with violence. He had been the leader of a corrupt government that was unprepared to respond to any civil disturbance, much less an open massacre. Marcus Garvey said in a speech that Mollman was to blame for the massacre, believing Mollman wanted African Americans out of the city. Mollman was indicted for malfeasance, but the charges were later dropped.

Sacred Site #22: Northwest Corner of North 9th & Gross Ave.
Around 11 p.m., near the end of the massacre but before the Illinois National Guard reinforcements arrived, rioters arrived to this site and began setting homes on fire. The L&N rail yards were just north of this street and officials feared the rail terminal would be burned as well.

Sacred Site #23: North 13th & Nectar Ave.
Around fifteen houses were destroyed in this neighborhood, though it is more than two miles away from the core of the massacre. As firefighters arrived to extinguish flames in one area, rioters moved to start fires in another. St. Louis firefighters were called to help around 9 p.m. As they made progress fighting fires in the downtown area, rioters had moved to this neighborhood around 11 p.m.

Sacred Site #24: Northeast Corner of North 18th & Parsons Ave.
Several homes were burned in this area as rioters made one last push to destroy African American homes as midnight approached. Fatalities were few here, as many African Americans had already been alerted to trouble by this time and fled the neighborhood.

Site histories provided by Andrew J. Theising, Ph.D.
Introduction provided by Charles Lumpkins, Ph.D.
Site maps created by Micah Stanek and Jesse Vogler