Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-10, Section: A, page: 3651.

Adviser: Howard R. Lamar.

This dissertation explores the Atlanta Race Riot of 1906 to uncover divisions and points of agreement among Atlantans and among Americans on the issues of race relations and law and order in the period between 1899 and 1919. On the night of September 22, 1906, a mob of whites waged a wholesale attack against African-Americans in downtown Atlanta. Over the next three days, African-Americans defended their neighborhoods from further attacks organized first by white mobs and then by law enforcement officials. Conservative estimates suggest that at least twenty-five African-Americans died as a result of the violence.

In the wake of the riot, African-Americans and white reformers cooperated and struggled among each other as they attempted to restore order in the city. For white civic leaders, the riot threatened the legitimacy of elite rule over the city. For white businessmen, the riot threatened the international reputation vital to a city whose commercial livelihood depended on trade and tourism. For white religious leaders, the riot served as a compelling symbol for the strained social relations that came with Atlanta's increasing commercialism. For African-Americans, the riot only increased the urgency of a desire for fundamental social justice that had long consumed them. This dissertation explores the conflicts that took place among these various groups as they attempted to mold the city according to their own visions of law and order.

The riot occurred at a critical juncture in the history of American race relations. Various local governments in the South had recently passed a flurry of laws disfranchising African-Americans and segregating blacks and whites. For a brief period, the riot provided an entering wedge for a discourse that called upon the federal government to take action to protect the civil rights of African-Americans in the South. This dissertation explores the ways in which these alternative voices were ultimately muffled. By constructing a narrative of the riot and its aftermath, this dissertation provides a window into the complex web of power relations at play in a New South urban center.