April 8, 2011

In early October 1919, Governor Charles Brough, after receiving pleas from Phillips County citizens, requested that federal troops be sent to restore order to the area. Approximately 600 soldiers were sent from Camp Pike to stop the ongoing racial violence known today as the Elaine Massacre. Brough, shown here with a Camp Pike army officer, himself visited the area to “obtain correct information.” After returning to Little Rock (Pulaski County), he declared that the situation was well in hand. In truth, it is estimated that several hundred African Americans were killed before the violence ended.