Elaine Arkansas Massacre: 100-237 Black Sharecroppers Killed by Mobs and Federal Troops

Black sharecroppers in Elaine, Arkansas had organized the Progressive Farmers and Household Union of America to negotiate cotton prices collectively. On September 30, 1919, white men fired into a union meeting at a church; return fire killed one white man. White mobs and federal troops then spent five days hunting and killing Black residents — estimates range from 100 to 237 Black deaths, with only 5 white deaths acknowledged. Twelve Black men were sentenced to death and 67 to long prison terms. The NAACP appealed; in Moore v. Dempsey (1923) the Supreme Court held the trials unconstitutional — one of the first times federal courts reviewed state criminal proceedings for due process violations.