LONGVIEW, Texas — In the summer of 1919, racial tensions, a romance, and a controversial newspaper report helped ignite what became known as the Longview Race Riot. 

A night that left Black homes and businesses burned, forced families to flee, and permanently shaped the community.

“You will find native individuals who spent their entire life in Longview, who have not heard about these events,” coordinator with the 1919 Longview Remembrance Project Clent Holmes II said. 

After World War I, Longview was a small cotton and lumber town, with nearly a third of its population made up of Black residents. 

Author and historian Mandel Stoker said the post-war period marked a shift in how many African Americans viewed their place in society and how white communities responded.

“During that time, Blacks were starting to look at themselves differently,” Stoker said. “And sadly, the society wasn’t ready for that.”

He said tensions rose when two Black leaders urged cotton farmers to sell directly to buyers in Galveston, challenging the traditional system and threatening white economic control.

“This was what caused a lot of the race riots,” Stoker said. “And they needed something to fuel a race riot. And then we had the couple.”

Stoker said that moment came after the death of Lemuel Walters, a Black man from Longview who had a relationship with a white woman from Kilgore. 

A national Black newspaper, the Chicago Defender, reported on Walters’ death and claimed he had been held in the Gregg County jail before the sheriff handed him over to a white mob.

“The girl’s, brothers and friends lynched him because of that,” Stoker said. “And we couldn’t get any kind of justification from law enforcement.”

Stoker has dedicated years to researching the story and is the author of the book and play “Foote Switch,” a fictional story inspired by Walters and the Kilgore woman’s relationship.

Tensions further boiled over after a local correspondent for the Chicago Defender was blamed and attacked by local whites for the story.

“They were not okay with the fact that justice had not been served and that the situation was kind of trying to be swept under the rug,” Holmes said.

Holmes said the violence quickly escalated into attacks on Black neighborhoods.

“That’s when the rioting started,” Holmes said. “And so they’re burning Black homes, Black businesses, even reports of some people being beat.”

Holmes said the violence sparked fear across the Black community and forced many families to leave Longview.

“There was a huge exodus from Longview, from the Black community,” he said.

In response, Gov. William P. Hobby called in the Texas Rangers and National Guard and declared martial law. Dozens were arrested, but no one was ever tried.

Now, more than 100 years later, the 1919 Longview Remembrance Project is working to bring the story into the spotlight and help the community confront its past.

“We want to enter into these difficult conversations and walk alongside the community,” Holmes said. “We are responsible for not pretending like these horrific and embarrassing moments of our history aren’t true, because if we continue to do that, we can’t grow from it.”

Last year, the organization sponsored a state historical marker outside the Gregg County Courthouse recognizing the events of 1919 and the lasting impact they had on the community.

Holmes said the goal is to make sure future generations do not have to dig for the truth.

“It’s really important to me that we do this work so that generations after us won’t have to do this,” he said. “But they can simply build on the foundation that we are adding to through this effort. And that’s to live and walk in truth.”