RALEIGH – The book recounting the only known coup d’état in American history is now available.
“A Day of Blood: The 1898 Wilmington Race Riot,” by LeRae Umfleet, is published by the Historical Publications Section of the N.C. Office of Archives and History and the African American Heritage Commission, and is available through Historical Publications.
“On Nov. 10, 1898, white rioters in Wilmington murdered blacks in broad daylight and overthrew
a legitimately elected Republican government without public opposition or intervention by the authorities,” said Umfleet. Over the next quarter of a century, in a series of similar race riots throughout the country, Wilmington’s violence led to ever-tightening controls on blacks as they lost their rights and, in many instances, their lives.
The riot was neither isolated nor spontaneous. It was the result of a series of events planned by white businessmen to regain control of government on both local and state levels. State Democratic Party strategists thrust Wilmington into the spotlight as an example of Republican corruption and bad government because of the participation of African Americans in local politics. The change in government that day—the only successful coup d’état in United States history—fully ended black participation in local government until the advent of the civil rights era 60 years later.
In this thoroughly researched, definitive study, Umfleet examines the actions that precipitated the riot; the details of what happened in Wilmington on Nov. 10, 1898; and the long-term impact of that day in North Carolina and across the nation.
LeRae S. Umfleet 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.
“A Day of Blood: The 1898 Wilmington Race Riot” (softbound; pp. xix, 288; illustrations; index) costs $28.02 ($26.08, libraries), which includes tax and shipping. Order from the 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” is also available through local bookstores and Amazon.com.
The Historical Publications Section is administered by the Office of Archives and History, part of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, the state agency dedicated to the promotion and protection of North Carolina’s arts, history and culture. Additional information is available at www.ncculture.com.