On Nov. 10, 1898, a white mob in Wilmington went on a rampage, killing prominent black officials and business owners and forcing others to flee the city forever.
The attacks occurred in broad daylight and led to the overthrow of the Wilmington’s legitimately elected government.
Now a new book, published by the N.C. Office of Archives and History and the African American Heritage Commission, tells the story of this evil chapter in state history.
Written by LeRae S. Umfleet, “A Day of Blood: The 1898 Wilmington Race Riot” recounts the only known coup d’état in American history, which ended much of the social and economic progress freed slaves had achieved under Reconstruction. Similar riots spread to other U.S. cities and set the tone for the Jim Crow laws that would follow.
Umfleet, the author, is chief of collections management for the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the UNC-Chapel Hill and a master’s degree in history from East Carolina University. In 2007 she received the American Association for State and Local History’s Award of Merit and WOW Award for her work on the 1898 Wilmington Race Riot Report.
To order a copy, send $28.02 (which includes tax and shipping) to: Historical Publications Section (N), Office of Archives and History, 4622 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-4622.
For credit card orders, call (919) 733-7442, ext. 0, or visit the section’s secure online store at http://nc-historical-publications.stores.yahoo.net/.
“A Day of blood” also is available at local bookstores and Amazon.com.
