2-378-258 - Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images

African Americans and whites leaving the beach as trouble begins, Chicago, Illinois, USA, c1919. Racial tensions increased in Chicago after the end of the First World War as African Americans from the South moved in increasing numbers into the South Side of the city. On 27 July 1919 a major race riot broke out in the city, after a young African American was killed by a rock thrown at him by a white man on an informally segregated beach on the shore of Lake Michigan. The violence raged for days and 38 people were killed (23 African American and 15 white) and 537 injured. 6000 National Guard troops were deployed onto the streets by the government to restore order. Many African American families fled the city, returning to the South.