Digitizing Louisiana Newspapers Project (DLNP)

Topic Guide to Colfax Riot (1873)

The information and links below include search tips and a selection of articles covering this topic in the digitized Louisiana newspapers. The dates and suggested search terms can help to further explore this topic on Chronicling America. For the most search results, try the search terms in different combinations, in proximity, and as phrases.

Significant Dates

1872 - Reconstructionist republicans won a hotly contested Louisiana governor's race
1873 - March 28, a group of white Democratic leaders organized a militia to "take back" the Grant Parish Courthouse from white and black Republican leaders
1873 - April 2, fighting erupts in Colfax Parish
1873 - April 13, a group of over 300 whites including those from supremacist groups such as the Knights of White Camellia and the Ku Klux Klan attack the courthouse armed with a cannon and rifles. Three whites and approximately 60 black men were killed in the conflict
1873 - April 14, the state militia under Governor William Kellogg arrive. 97 white men were arrested and charged with the violation of the 1870 U.S. Enforcement Act, of which only a few were convicted
1875 - Those convicted were acquitted when the U.S. Supreme Court declared the Enforcement Act of 1870 applied only to state governments and not individuals
1921 - April 13, a monument erected in memory of the three white men killed in the Colfax Riot is unveiled in the Colfax cemetary

Suggested Search Terms

Colfax Riot, Colfax Affair, Colfax Race Riot, Grant Parish, William Kellogg, race riot

Sample Articles