August 1901

On August 19, 1901, white residents of Pierce City, Missouri attacked and expelled virtually its entire Black population of approximately 300 people following the murder of a white woman. Black homes, churches, and businesses were burned. The expulsion was near-total and permanent — Pierce City remained nearly all-white for decades. The incident was documented by Ida B. Wells and served as an example in anti-lynching campaigns of how mass expulsions operated alongside individual lynchings to achieve wholesale demographic cleansing.

On August 19, 1901, white residents of Pierce City, Missouri attacked and expelled virtually its entire Black population of approximately 300 people. Black homes, churches, and businesses were burned. The expulsion was near-total and permanent. Ida B. Wells documented it as an example of how mass expulsions operated alongside individual lynchings to achieve wholesale demographic cleansing.