this attack, in which Lieutenant Browning was shot, and Clarence Metz, a white boy, was killed by a stab wound inflicted by Lieutenant Washington in self-defense, the mob moved on to Grand Boulevard, preceded by the rumor that it intended to attack the homes of Negroes. A shot from a house grazed a white lad, and the crowd went on, leaving the police to come and arrest the Negroes who had fired.
Mob action in planned attacks was more daring, but not more dangerous. Robbery was occasionally an accompaniment of spontaneous attack, but arson never. Whether or not some of the organized raids could readily have been stopped by the police, and the mobs dispersed, remains unproved. No attempt was made either in the "Loop" district, in the Forty-seventh and Wells streets districts or in the Sixty-ninth and Elizabeth streets district to check the depredations.
Rumor.—Rumor was often the first step in crowd formation and often opened the way for the sharp transformation of a crowd into a mob. The circulation of rumors was partly due to natural repetition, often with increasing embellishment, by one person to another of what he had heard or read. The desire to tell a "big story" and create a sensation was no doubt an important factor. With so much bitter feeling there was also considerable conscious effort to provoke vengeful animosity by telling the worst that the teller had heard or could imagine about the doings of the opposite race. The latter type of rumor circulation especially fed the riot from the beginning to the final clash. It continues to be a constant menace to the friendly relations of the races.
Newspapers were often supplied a source of rumor material through mistake in fundamental facts, due either to misinformation or exaggeration.
In considering the newspaper handling of riot news, it should be borne in mind that the task was most difficult during a period of such excitement and such crowding of events. Further it must be considered that white reporters might very justifiably avoid the risk of seeking news where crowds of Negroes had been roused to a high pitch of resentment against whites. There were doubtless instances in which news was secured from sources ordinarily trustworthy, but inaccurate during the riot. On the other hand, it must be recognized that in a time of such excitement the effect of sensational news on the popular mind is generally accentuated, and the responsibility for careful handling of news is correspondingly greater. Where bias is as pronounced as in a race riot it is of the utmost importance that essential facts be stated correctly.
| TABLE I | |||||||
| Date | Number of Injured as Reported by the "Tribune" and "Herald-Examiner" during the First Four Days of Riot | Facts as Later Obtained from Police, State's Attorney, Hospital Reports, and Olivet Baptist Church, Covering Each Day | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | Negro | Total | White | Negro | Unknown | Total | |
| July 27 | 29 | 19 | 48 | 10 | 31 | 5 | 46 |
| July 28 | 64 | 60 | 124 | 71 | 152 | 6 | 229 |
| July 29 | 62 | 72 | 134 | 55 | 80 | 4 | 139 |
| July 30 | 40 | 21 | 61 | 20 | 20 | 2 | 42 |
| Total | 195 | 172 | 367 | 156 | 283 | 17 | 456 |
| Percentage of total | 53 | 47 | 100 | 34 | 62 | 4 | 100 |
Reports of numbers of dead and injured tended to produce a feeling that the score must be evened up on the basis of "an eye for an eye," a Negro for a white, or vice versa. A most unfortunate impression may be made upon an excited public, Negro and white, by such erroneous reporting as the following, in which newspapers, although they understated rather than exaggerated the number of injuries, reported that 6 per cent more whites were injured than Negroes, when the fact was that 28 per cent more Negroes were injured than whites.
The Tribune of July 29 in a news item said that before 3:00 a.m., July 29, twenty persons had been killed, of whom thirteen were white and seven colored. The truth was that of twenty killed, seven were white and thirteen colored.[7]
The Daily News of July 29 gave the starting-point of the riot as the Angelus clash, referring to it as "the center of the trouble." The same item mentioned the spread to the Stock Yards district. The fact was that the assault upon street cars in the Stock Yards district Monday afternoon and rumors of further brutalities there helped to start the Angelus riot Monday evening.[8]
The Tribune of July 30 stated that "the Black Belt continues to be the center of conflict." Up to July 30 the "Black Belt" had witnessed 120 injuries, while the district west of Wentworth Avenue had had 139. For the entire riot period the "Black Belt" furnished 34 per cent of the total number of injuries, and the district west of Wentworth Avenue 41 per cent.
Exaggeration in news reports, when popular excitement is at a high pitch, is peculiarly dangerous. For the very reason that the essential fact seems authenticated by the simultaneous appearance of the gist of the report in several papers, the individual reader is the more inclined to believe such exaggerations as may appear in his favorite journal.
Cases of exaggeration could be adduced from every Chicago newspaper, but a typical one is the report in the Chicago Daily News of July 29 concerning the killing of Harold Brignadello, white. This item said:
Four women and nine men are held at the South Clark Street Station after their arrest at 1021 South State Street, where they had a formidable arsenal.
Harry Signadell [sic], 35, white, died on the way to St. Luke's Hospital shortly before noon after his bullet-riddled body had been picked up by the police in front of 1021 South State Street, where a colored woman and 20 other Negroes had barricaded themselves and were shooting at all whites who passed the place.
Other persons arrested included Kate Elder, 26 years old, who gave her home as the State Street address. In all, four women and nine men were made prisoners at the raid on the place which was found to be an arsenal for the Negro rioters. Two revolvers, two rifles, an axe, several knives, and several hundred rounds of ammunition, including 38 and 48 [sic] calibre cartridges, were discovered piled up near the window from which the Negroes had been shooting.
Patrolman John Hayes, of the South Clark Street Station, heard the shots fired by the Negroes who were firing from the house and saw the spurts of fire from their rifles and revolvers whenever whites ventured to pass the place. An unknown white man, a victim of the Negroes' bullets, was found lying on the sidewalk. He was rushed to St. Luke's Hospital where he died.
The facts of this case, as reported by the coroner's jury are as follows:
… Harold Brignadello … came to his death on the 29th day of July, a.d. 1919, at St. Luke's Hospital from shock and hemorrhage due to a bullet wound in the chest cavity.
[Note.—"a bullet wound," not "bullet-riddled."]
We find the deceased while standing at the southwest corner of State and Taylor … was shot and wounded by a bullet fired from the revolver held in the hand of one Emma Jackson who was standing at an open window on the second floor of the premises at 1021 South State Street.
Testimony shows that just prior to the shooting, said premises had been stoned by a mob of white men.
We, the jury, recommend that the said Emma Jackson, said Kate Elder, said John Webb, said Ed. Robinson, and said Clarence Jones be held to the grand jury upon a charge of murder until discharged by due process of law.
[Note.—Two women and three men, not "four women and nine men," nor yet "a colored woman and 20 other Negroes." They were indicted by the grand jury but found not guilty.]
We believe from the evidence that the police have sufficient information as to the identity of some of said white men to warrant arrest, and we recommend such action be taken.
[Note.—No
