behest of Mrs. Jonas, who had told him that he was a "smart young fellow."
The ceremonies and manifestations of the "Abyssinians" were marked by such fanaticism that responsible Negroes repudiated them and condemned the leaders along with other criminals and exploiters of the ignorant Negroes. The Negro World, organ of the Universal Improvement Association and Black Star Line, carried the following article.
Appalled by the violence aroused on Sunday night, when an American flag was burned and two men were killed by the Abyssinian zealots, colored leaders of the Middle West have begun a systematic campaign to eliminate white exploitation among the Negroes and to bring about better racial co-operation.
The Chicago police announced today that all the men wanted in the case, except two, are under arrest. They also promised that the career of Grover Cleveland Redding, self-styled "Prince of Abyssinia," and identified as a ringleader in the affair, will enter a new phase tomorrow when the frock-coated suspect is formally charged with murder, accessory to murder and rioting.
Oscar McGavick, one of the men sought, was arrested in Pittsburgh today. "Bill" Briggs and Frank Heans were taken into custody here. This leaves the police list with only two names, the Fernons, father and son. "Dr." R. D. Jonas, known on the South Side as a professional agitator, was released today, no evidence having been found of his direct connection with the shooting. Federal officials are investigating him.
According to the opinions of some of the leaders among Chicago Negroes the "Abyssinian movement," from which Sunday night's trouble indirectly resulted, is a legitimate and valid enterprise. It is but one of the manifestations of that bubbling activity which today characterizes the colored people of America in their struggle for race progression.
The trouble lies, they claim, in a group of exploiters and mountebanks, who, unauthorized by real leaders in the movement, have seized upon it as a medium for personal gain. In Chicago two of these were Jonas and Redding, it is claimed.
Pertinent on this point also is the stand taken by the Chicago Defender, among the most influential of the Negro publications, concerning the Abyssinians, which said editorially:
We warn all agitators, whether they be white or black, that this paper, standing as it does for law and order, for justice to all men, for that brotherhood without which no country can long prosper, and for the better element of our twelve millions, that we condemn their disloyalty and will do all in our power to aid the constituted authorities in crushing them.
The burning of the American flag by a group of self-styled Abyssinians at 35th St. and Indiana Avenue last Sunday evening, as a means of showing their contempt for the United States, and the resultant murders that followed in the wake of this demonstration, instead of accomplishing the end desired by these malcontents, acted as a boomerang. Every black face portrayed indignation. Every black arm was lifted to strike a blow at these law-breakers. This is our home, our country, our flag, for whose honor and protection we will give our last drop of blood. With all our shortcomings it can never truthfully be said that we are disloyal or unpatriotic.
The real problem indicated by the "Abyssinian" affair is how to prevent self-seekers from playing upon the superstitions and emotions of ignorant Negroes, to the harm of others and the disturbance of the peace.
4. THE BARRETT MURDER
The murder of a white man, Thomas J. Barrett, by a Negro on September 20, 1920, is not particularly significant in itself. But it was committed in the heart of the district where some of the worst rioting took place in 1919, it created a situation which might easily have developed into another serious riot, and it affords an example of prompt and effective police handling.
AFTER THE "ABYSSINIAN MURDERS"
Photograph taken at Thirty-fifth Street and Indiana Avenue, where both races co-operated to maintain order.
Forty-seventh and Halsted streets is the intersection of two main thoroughfares used by Negroes returning home from work in the Stock Yards. The neighborhood is one where gangs of hoodlums have attacked Negroes, and is thickly settled with people who have shown considerable antagonism toward Negroes.
Barrett, who was a motorman on the Chicago surface lines, was killed shortly after seven o'clock in the evening. He had had his shoes shined at the stand of William Sianis, 4720 South Halsted Street, and had purchased a newspaper at Halsted and Forty-seventh streets at about 7:00 p.m. About the same time three Negroes came out of the yards of Ready & Callaghan on Halsted Street between Forty-sixth and Forty-seventh, and one of these Negroes went to the news stand seeking a newspaper in which to roll up his overalls. In an encounter with these Negroes, Barrett was fatally stabbed, dying before he reached a hospital. His head was nearly severed from his body.
The Negroes, pursued by a rapidly increasing crowd of whites, ran north nearly a block on Halsted Street. They turned into a vacant lot and went through alleys until they emerged on Forty-fifth Street near Emerald Avenue, evidently trying to work their way east to the main Negro neighborhood. The crowd, however, had thickened so rapidly that they took refuge in St. Gabriel's Catholic Church, just east of Lowe Avenue.
The mob was checked by the appearance and quieting remarks of Father Thomas M. Burke, pastor of the church. He told them that the Negroes had sought sanctuary, that there were laws to punish them, and that it was not the province of a mob to wreak summary vengeance.
Meanwhile the police were already arriving. A patrol wagon had left the Stock Yards station about seven o'clock, and followed the pursuing crowd. Acting Lieutenant Bullard telephoned at once to Chief Garrity, and extra police were quickly thrown into the neighborhood to control the crowd.
Samuel C. Rank, lieutenant of police at the Thirteenth Precinct station, Forty-seventh Place and Halsted Street, had received the alarm about seven o'clock. He sent five detectives and followed shortly after to the scene of the disturbance. He went into the church with Sergeant Brown and three detectives. Lieutenant Rank forced a number of the mob to leave the church and locked the doors. Captain Hogan, of the Tenth Police Precinct, and Chief Garrity arrived about this time. The three Negroes were taken through a rear entrance to a patrol wagon in the alley and removed to the Hyde Park police station, a considerable distance away.
The crowd in front of the church had grown by this time to 3,000 or 4,000. In order to quiet them they were again addressed by Father Burke, who told them the Negroes had been removed from the church. They dispersed about 10:30 p.m.
Profiting by the experience of 1919 Chief Garrity made prompt use of prearranged plans to check all such disorders in their incipiency. He immediately closed saloons and "clubs" in which young hoodlums were accustomed to gather. He had the police patrol the streets by twos. He drew a "dead line" to prevent Negroes from entering the district. With his forces well organized and distributed, he set up headquarters at the Stock Yards Precinct station and spent the night there, with Captain Westbrook, commander of the second battalion of police, Captain Hogan, and Lieutenant Ira McDonnell, of the Desplaines Street station. Street cars and automobiles approaching the police "dead line" were stopped and all Negro passengers warned off. Street gatherings were broken up and people were searched for weapons. People were also kept moving in the streets. This display of force undoubtedly had its quieting effect. Nevertheless, a stray Negro was here and there attacked despite the vigilance of the police.
During the five or six hours following the murder, racial street fights occurred at Forty-fifth Street and Wabash Avenue. A mob stormed a house at 229 East Forty-fifth Street, attempted to burn it and did considerable damage. Frank Gavin, a white man, 1509 Marquette
