East Saint Louis Race Riot, East Saint Louis, Ill., 1917

The East St. Louis massacre was a series of violent attacks by White Americans against African Americans in East St. Louis, Illinois, from late May to early July 1917. The riots displaced some 6,000 African Americans and led to the destruction of property worth about $400,000 ($10.05 million in 2025). The particularly violent July 1917 episode was one of the worst racial riots in U.S. history; author Robert Fitch called it the "worst case of labor-related violence in 20th-century American history". The massacre drew national attention. At the end of July, some 10,000 Black citizens marched in silent protest in New York City. Many Black people left East St. Louis; when area public schools opened in the fall, Black enrollment had dropped by 35%.