Many individuals are familiar with the “Red Summer Riots” of 1919, but few are familiar with the Houston Riot of 1917. What started as a rumor ended in death and destruction for both white civilians and the Black soldiers involved.
Camp Logan was one of sixteen military training camps established during the World War I era, and it was located in Houston, Texas. The camp housed and trained over 30,000 soldiers, but on the night of August 23, 1917, no soldier could be prepared for the race riot that would erupt.
At Camp Logan, all of the black soldiers working with the Third Battalion of the Twenty-fourth U.S. Infantry Regiment would often be subjected to harassment from Houston authorities. After hearing rumors in regards to the killing of a Black corporal, more than 100 troops marched through Houston.
The soldiers rallied in response to the rumor and the heightened racial tensions. White civilians began to arm themselves after being alerted that the Black troops were marching through Houston. The incident lasted nearly two hours and resulted in the deaths of four soldiers and 15 white civilians. The events at Camp Logan also have the distinction of being the only race riot in U.S. history where more whites than Blacks were killed.
Sergeant Vida Henry led the mission and the troops through the city before taking his own life at the end of the riot. After Henry’s suicide, the group of soldiers fell into disarray and the violence also came to an end.
The Camp Logan Mutiny, as it is sometimes referred to, has the distinction of resulting in both the largest murder trial and the largest court-martial in U.S. history. Nearly four months after the incident, on December 11, 1917, 13 Black soldiers were hanged near a creek on Camp Travis, a National Guard training facility next to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.
None of the men were ceremoniously buried and the only identification on their graves was a number (one through 13). More than 60 other soldiers were given life sentences and six more soldiers were hanged at the same site the following September in 1918.
