LibGuides: Monument Project: Wilmington, North Carolina 1898

1898 Coup

CAROLINA RACE RIOTS: FEDERAL AUTHORITIES MAY INTERVENE TO SECURE JUSTICE AND RESTORE ORDER. ALL QUIET AT WILMINGTON UNDESIRABLE RESIDENTS EXPELLED FROM THAT CITY NOT WELCOMED BY CITIZENS OF OTHER NORTH CAROLINA TOWNS. (1898, Nov 12). New York Times
Charles S. Morris: Description of the Wilmington Massacre (1899)
The "Wilmington Massacre" of 1898, an armed insurrection by white supremacists in Wilmington, North Carolina, was the only violent takeover of a local government in U.S. history. Blacks were targeted during the rioting; 22 were killed, and many others fled the city. The speech below was delivered by Rev. Charles S. Morris to the Interdenominational Association of Colored Clergymen, meeting in Boston, January 1899.
Editorials that Shook the State
Three editorials from white and black newspapers that sparked coup.
Letter from an African American Citizen of Wilmington to the President
This letter was written to President McKinley by a Black woman living in Wilmington. She described the fear and desperation of the Black community in Wilmington who had been terrorized by the white mob during the Wilmington Coup.
Newspaper clippings of the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce rejecting Black rule
NINETEEN NEGROES SHOT TO DEATH: FATAL RACE RIOTS IN NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA. VENGEANCE OF WHITE CITIZENS NEGRO PUBLISHER'S PLANT DESTROYED BY INDIGNANT MEN. NEW CITY GOVERNMENT FORMED BY THE PEOPLE OF WILMINGTON, AND STEPS TAKEN TO RESTORE ORDER. (1898,
NORTH CAROLINA'S RACE FEUD.: STEPS TAKEN BY WILMINGTON CITIZENS "TO ASSERT THE SUPREMACY OF THE WHITE MAN.". (1898, Nov 10). New York Times.
Photo of armed white Wilmington residents at the burned building that housed a Black newsppaer
A statement of facts concerning the bloody riot in Wilmington, N.C. of interest to every citizen of the United States by J. Allen Kirk
The Rev. Dr. J. Allen Kirk was pastor of the Central Baptist Church of Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1898, and a leading Black citizen of that city. During the Wilmington Coup, he and his family hid in the graveyard, knowing that the white supremacist mob was looking to kill him. Eventually, Kirk was forced to leave his family and flee North Carolina.
Kirk wrote this account of the Wilmington Coup in the third person, in an attempt to appear to be as unbiased as possible. He described a scene of chaos and violence. Historians do not know how many people died during the coup, but most estimates range from 60 to 100.