August 1917
Events
- August 23, 1917Buffalo Soldiers of the 24th Infantry Respond to Racial Violence at Camp Logan in Houston
On August 23, 1917, approximately 100 soldiers of the all-Black 24th Infantry Regiment marched on Houston after months of violent provocation from white civilians and police. The subsequent court martial — the largest in US Army history — sentenced 19 men to death and 41 to life imprisonment, illustrating the profound contradiction Black soldiers faced serving a country that denied them basic rights.
- August 23, 1917Houston Riot: 24th Infantry Soldiers Respond to Racial Violence
Black soldiers of the 24th Infantry Regiment, facing systematic brutality and humiliation by Houston police enforcing Jim Crow laws, marched on the city in armed protest. Nineteen people died. The Army executed thirteen Black soldiers without appeal, the largest mass execution in U.S. military history, and imprisoned dozens more. Black communities and the NAACP protested the summary justice as deeply unjust.
- August 23, 1917Buffalo Soldiers of the 24th Infantry Regiment Respond to Racial Violence at Camp Logan
On August 23, 1917, approximately 100 soldiers of the all-Black 24th Infantry Regiment marched on Houston after months of violent provocation from white civilians and police, including the brutal beating of a Black soldier and a Black police officer. The confrontation resulted in 19 deaths. The subsequent court martial — the largest in US Army history — sentenced 19 men to death by hanging and 41 to life imprisonment, a profound illustration of the contradiction Black soldiers faced serving a country that denied them basic rights.