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Wilmington's lie : the murderous coup of 1898 and the rise of white supremacy

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First edition.

"By 1898 Wilmington, North Carolina, was a shining example of a mixed-race community-a bustling port city with a thriving African American middle class and a government made up of Republicans and Populists, including black alderman, police officers, and magistrates. But across the state-and the South-white supremacist Democrats were working to reverse the advances made by former slaves and their progeny. They were plotting to take back the state legislature in the November 8th election and then use a controversial editorial published by black newspaper editor Alexander Manly to trigger a "race riot" to overthrow the elected government in Wilmington. With a coordinated campaign of intimidation and violence, the Democrats sharply curtailed the black vote and stuffed ballot boxes to steal the 1898 mid-term election. Two days later, more than 2,000 heavily armed white nightriders known as Red Shirts swarmed through Wilmington, terrorizing women and children and shooting at least sixty black men dead in the streets. The rebels forced city officials and leading black citizens to flee at gun point while hundreds of local African Americans took refuge in nearby swamps and forests. This brutal insurrection is the only violent overthrow of an elected government inU.S. history. It halted gains made by blacks and restored racism as official government policy, cementing white rule for another seventy years. It was not a "race riot" as the events of November 1898 came to be known, but rather a racially-motivated rebellion launched by white supremacists. In Wilmington's Lie, David Zucchino uses contemporary newspaper reports, diaries, letters, and official communications to create a gripping narrative that weaves together individual stories of hate, fear, and brutality. This is a dramatic and definitive account of a remarkable but forgotten chapter of American history"--

Available copies

  • 22 of 22 copies available at Westchester Library System.

Current holds

1 current hold with 22 total copies.
Location Call Number /
Shelving Location
Barcode Status /
Due Date
Briarcliff Manor Public Library 305.8009 ZUCCHINO (Text)
Nonfiction
31036150924998
Available
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Bronxville Public Library 305.8 Z (Text)
Nonfiction
31004151829426
Available
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Chappaqua Library 305.8 ZUCCHINO (Text)
Nonfiction
31005600109260
Available
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Greenburgh Public Library 305.8 Z (Text)
Nonfiction
31009154506129
Available
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Harrison Public Library 305.8 Z (Text)
Nonfiction
31010300210582
Available
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Hendrick Hudson Free Library 305.8 Z (Text)
Nonfiction
31016151692471
Available
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Katonah Village Library 305.8 Z (Text)
Nonfiction
31013151855406
Available
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Larchmont Public Library 305.8009 Z (Text)
Nonfiction
31014152744870
Available
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Mamaroneck Public Library District 305.8 ZUC (Text)
Nonfiction
31015152593431
Available
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Mount Kisco Public Library 305.8 ZUCCHINO (Text)
Nonfiction
31017151863120
Available
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