Site 7: First to Third Streets — The 1894 Waterfront Riot: Murder Comes to the Levee
Gun smoke mingled with steam rising from smokestacks of British ships docked along the levee. Rifle shots replaced the usual sounds of the port. The rattling of carts and longshoremen singing shanteys to lighten the tedious nature of the day's work went silent. In their place were the screams of victims who tried to escape the onslaught.
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Imagine being so fearful for your life that your only chance to save yourself is to jump into a powerful river--even though you can't swim.
Despite the vandalism experienced on October 26, 1894, agents expected Black screwmen to continue loading cotton with borrowed tools. Although shipping bosses appealed to Mayor John Fitzgerald and the chief of police to provide protection, only 10 men showed up to work. The rest stayed away due to the large number of White screwmen lurking in the vicinity. The few Black men who decided to resume working would regret it.
Around 2:30 on the afternoon of October 27, members of the Screwmen's Benevolent Association, armed with Winchester rifles and stones, initiated a violent attack on the Black screwmen who gathered on the quay. The White screwmen made no effort to conceal their crimes. They fired more than 100 rounds while the policemen stood "idly by, like interested spectators."
Reports claim that the mob, "swooped down on the negroes with imprecations on thier lips and the desire for blood in their hearts." There was a large, open space at the head of First Street where the Delano was docked. It was in this area where the Black screwmen rushed off the ship and tried to find safety. Reporters from the Times Picayune describe them being "followed by a howling mob, who were indiscriminately shooting in all directions."
Men had no other choice but to dive off the deck of the ship, drowning in the rushing waters below. Randolph Blackwell was shot in the leg, arm, and thigh. Andrew Holmes, a Black man, 40 years of age, attempted to flee from the scene "at a good run" when White screwmen "emtied their pistols at him."
It is unknown how many Black screwmen jumped overboard and drowned. The newspaper stated that, "We won't know until the [river] gives up its dead."
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Where It All Happened
On October 27, 1894, white screwmen launched a violent attack on Black screwmen, who were contracted to load cotton onto British steamships. The Delano was moored at the head of First Street. White screwmen boarded the ship and began shooting at the Black workers. Some jumped overboard and drowned in the Mississippi River. Others attempted to flee and ran in all directions. Some ran past what is now the First Street Wharf and into the surrounding neighborhood. | Source: Laura M. Hughes | Date: September 7, 2022
Down the Street
On the afternoon of October 27, 1894, white screwmen launched a coordinated and violent attack on the Black screwmen.Forty-year-old Andrew Holmes attempted to flee, and ran out onto the levee at First Street, but was gunned down by white screwmen. | Source: Laura M. Hughes | Date: September 7, 2022
Docks From the 1920s
These docks, which sustained hurricane damage, were built in the early 1920s. They are located at the Harbor Police Department between First and Third Streets, where White screwmen attacked their Black counterparts on the Lord Erne, the Imperial, and the Delano. | Source: Laura M. Hughes | Date: September 7, 2022
A View of the River
British crews docked their steamships along this stretch of the Mississippi River. White screwmen boarded the ships and destroyed the screwjacks of Black screwmen, throwing them overboard into the river below. | Source: Laura M. Hughes | Date: September 7, 2022
The River's Secrets
In order to flee the gun smoke and bloodshed that White screwmen rained down on Black screwmen on October 27, 1894, many Black laborers threw themselves into the River and drowned. Contemporary newspapers failed to tell how many men drowned in the part of the river on that fateful day. Journalists said that no one would know, "until the river gives up her secrets." | Source: Laura M Hughes | Date: September 7, 2022
Water and Land
Overgrown shrubbery meets centuries old docks where port workers once toiled from dawn until dusk. It was here where, on ships docked along the levee, and on the shore, where Black screwmen were attacked and murdered for daring to work when the White screwmen were on strike. | Source: Laura M. Hughes | Date: September 7, 2022