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On
June 15 and
16, 1943,
whites and
blacks clashed
in Beaumont,
Texas, after
workers at the
Pennsylvania
shipyard in
Beaumont
learned that a
white woman
had accused a
black man of
raping her. On
the evening of
June 15 more
than 2,000
workers, plus
perhaps
another 1,000
interested
bystanders,
marched toward
City Hall.
Ultimately the
leaderless and
disorganized
crowd may have
reached 4,000.
Even though
the woman
could not
identify the
suspect among
the blacks
held in the
city jail, the
workers
dispersed into
small bands
and began
breaking into
stores in the
black section
of downtown
Beaumont. With
guns, axes,
and hammers,
they proceeded
to terrorize
black
neighborhoods
in central and
north
Beaumont. Many
blacks were
assaulted,
several
restaurants
and stores
were pillaged,
a number of
buildings were
burned, and
more than 100
homes were
ransacked.
More than 200
people were
arrested,
fifty were
injured, and
two�one black
and one
white�were
killed.
Another black
man died
several months
later of
injuries
received
during the
riot.
Mayor
George Gary
mobilized the
Eighteenth
Battalion of
the Texas
State Guardqv
late that
night, and
acting Texas
governor A. M.
Aiken, Jr.,qv
declared
Beaumont to be
under martial
law. (Governor
Coke Stevenson
and Lt.
Governor John
Lee Smithqqv
were both out
of the state
on official
business.) A
force of 1,800
guardsmen came
to Beaumont,
as did 100
state police
and 75 Texas
Rangers.qv
Most arrived
after the
violence had
subsided. A
curfew of 8:30
p.m. was
placed on the
entire city,
and the Texas
Highway Patrol
quickly sealed
off the city
by closing all
roads.
Beaumont was
placed
off-limits to
all military
personnel.
Local bus
services were
halted, and
all intrastate
bus lines were
rerouted
around the
town. Mayor
Gary closed
all liquor
dispensaries
in the city
and also
closed parks
and
playgrounds.
All public
gatherings
were
cancelled,
including
Juneteenthqv
celebrations.
Black workers
were not
allowed to go
to work. The
Jefferson
County
Fairgrounds
was turned
into a
stockade to
accommodate
the overflow
of prisoners
from the city
and county
jails. By June
20 a military
tribunal had
reviewed the
cases of the
206 arrested.
Twenty-nine
were turned
over to civil
authorities on
charges of
assault and
battery,
unlawful
assembly, and
arson. The
remainder were
released,
mostly because
of lack of
evidence. Also
on June 20,
Aiken ended
the period of
martial law.
The
Beaumont riot
had its roots
in the
tensions of
World War II.qv
Beaumont had
become a war
boomtown when
people moved
there in 1941
to take jobs
in the
shipyards and
war plants.
The population
of Jefferson
County
increased by
56,671 between
1941 and 1948;
more than
18,000 of
those settled
in the city in
1942 and 1943.
Rapid
population
growth brought
about forced
integration
because
service
facilities
were not
abundant
enough to
permit
complete
segregation.
Housing
shortages were
severe, and
the races were
forced to live
in close
proximity. In
the factories,
blacks began
to have access
to semiskilled
and skilled
jobs, a
situation that
put them in
competition
with white
workers.
Tensions
between whites
and blacks
were serious
enough that
early in June
1943 separate
commuter
transportation
had been put
into service
to end racial
violence on
overcrowded
buses. There
were also food
shortages.
Food
allotments and
ration cards
had been
issued in 1941
in Beaumont.
Although the
population had
drastically
increased by
1943,
wholesalers'
quotas were
still based on
1941
population
figures�a
situation that
caused severe
shortages of
meats and
canned goods.
Three days
before the
riot, J. H.
Kultgen, head
of the
regional food
administration,
wired
Washington,
D.C., with the
message that
the food
shortages in
Beaumont were
"conducive to
riot."
In
addition to
these factors,
a chapter of
the Ku Klux
Klanqv
was active in
the city and
was planning
to host a
regional
convention of
the Klan on
June 29. They
hoped to bring
15,000 to
20,000
Klansmen from
all over the
South to hear
William
Simmons,
"imperial
emperor" of
the KKK, offer
the keynote
address. The
proposed
meeting
received an
enormous
amount of
media
attention and
helped
intensify
racial
tensions. At
the same time,
the black
community was
preparing for
its annual
Juneteenth
celebration,
scheduled for
Saturday, June
19, when
hundreds of
East Texas
blacks were
expected to
come to
Beaumont.
Finally,
exacerbating
these
problems, a
rape was
alleged to
have occurred
on June 5. A
black man was
accused of
assaulting an
eighteen-year-old
Beaumont
telephone
operator, the
daughter of a
Louisiana
shipyard
worker then
working in a
Beaumont
plant. The
black man was
subsequently
shot and
killed by
Beaumont
police while
resisting
arrest. The
incident had
elevated
racial
tensions. When
a second
alleged rape
occurred on
June 15, it
triggered the
violence.
Beaumont then
joined
Detroit, New
York, Los
Angeles,
Mobile,
Philadelphia,
Indianapolis,
Baltimore, St.
Louis, and
Washington,
D.C., as sites
of bloody race
riots in the
summer of
1943.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
James A.
Burran,
"Violence in
an `Arsenal of
Democracy',"
East Texas
Historical
Journal
14 (Spring
1976). James
S. Olson and
Sharon Phair,
"Anatomy of a
Race Riot:
Beaumont,
Texas, 1943,"
Texana
11 (1973).
James
S. Olson
-
Handbook of
Texas Online,
s.v. ","
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/BB/jcb1.html (accessed
March 3,
2008).
(NOTE: "s.v."
stands for sub
verbo, "under
the word.")
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