On This Day in History, White Mob Wages Violence Against Black Voters

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A historical marker in Barbour County, Alabama, erected in 1979, describes the 1874 Eufaula Massacre as a “riot.” (Jonathan Gibson)

According to the Equal Justice Initiative,

On Election Day, November 3, 1874, local white residents in Eufaula, Alabama, determined to regain political dominance in the county that they had lost during Reconstruction, used terror and intimidation to suppress Black votes, ultimately waging a violent, deadly massacre.

As the 1874 election neared, white employers openly fired any Black workers who intended to vote for Elias Keils, a white candidate who supported the aims of Reconstruction, for the position of city court judge. False rumors spread that Black residents planned to violently drive white voters from the polls, and white residents began stockpiling guns near Eufaula polling sites.

Judge Keils tried to notify state and federal officials of the danger, but Alabama’s attorney general rebuffed the warning, and federal troops stationed in Eufaula refused to intervene.

Head over to EJI to discover how the violence unfolded.

Violence like this was common during Reconstruction.

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