Darby 1919 lynching attempt
Attempted killing of an African-American boy in Darby, Pennsylvania, U.S.
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Samuel Gorman, a 17-year-old African-American worked for hay merchant William E. Taylor who owned the shop on 503 Main Street. On July 23, 1919, Taylor told him that he did not have any more work for Gorman and he allegedly hit him over his head, fatally wounding him. Gorman was quickly apprehended by Chief of Police Clark. Word got out that the suspect had been arrested and a white mob quickly surrounded the jail. The police were called out en masse to prevent the mob from storming the building.
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Aftermath
This uprising was one of several incidents of civil unrest that began in the so-called American Red Summer, of 1919. The Summer consisted of terrorist attacks on black communities, and white oppression in over three dozen cities and counties. In most cases, white mobs attacked African American neighborhoods. In some cases, black community groups resisted the attacks, especially in Chicago and Washington, D.C. Most deaths occurred in rural areas during events like the Elaine massacre in Arkansas, where an estimated 100 to 240 black people and 5 white people were killed. Also occurring in 1919 were the Chicago Race Riot and Washington D.C. race riot which killed 38 and 39 people respectively, and with both having many more non-fatal injuries and extensive property damage reaching up into the millions of dollars.