The Memphis Massacre was a truly horrific wave of destruction and violence, including sexual violence, against the Black community of Memphis just a year after the end of the U.S. Civil War.

Research:
“Memphis Daily Appeal Interviews Frances Thompson (1876),” SHEC: Resources for Teachers, accessed April 9, 2026, https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/3717.
“The Outrage Mill.” The North Missouri Register. 9/14/1876.
“The Reports of the Committees of the House of Representatives Made during the First Session Thirty-ninth Congress, 1865-’66.” Washington: Government Printing Office. https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/SERIALSET-01274_00_00-002-0101-0000/context
Blank, Christopher. “Do The Words 'Race Riot' Belong On A Historic Marker In Memphis?” Code Switch. NPR. 5/2/2016. https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/05/02/476450908/in-memphis-a-divide-over-how-to-remember-a-massacre-150-years-later
Britannica Editors. "Memphis massacre of 1866". Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 Feb. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/event/Memphis-Race-Riot. Accessed 8 April 2026.
Carriere, Marius. “An Irresponsible Press: Memphis Newspapers and the 1866 Riot.” Tennessee Historical Quarterly , Spring 2001, Vol. 60, No. 1. https://www.jstor.org/stable/42628498
Davis, Justin A. “How a disabled Black trans woman left her mark on 19th-century Memphis.” The Emancipator. 6/13/2024. https://theemancipator.org/2024/06/13/topics/histories/how-a-disabled-black-trans-woman-left-her-mark-on-19th-century-memphis/
Donald, Bernice Bouie. “When the Rule of Law Breaks Down: Implications of the 1866 Memphis Massacre for the Passage of the Fourteenth Amendment.” Boston Law Review. Vol. 98. 2018.
Equal Justice Institute. “On this day - Apr 30, 1866: White Police and Mobs Terrorize and Kill Black Residents in Memphis.” https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/apr/30
Harper’s Weekly. “The Memphis Riots.” 5/26/1866.
Johnson, Charles F. and T.W. Gilbreth. “The Freedmen’s Bureau Report on the Memphis Race Riots of 1866.” 5/22/1866. https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/the-freedmens-bureau-report-on-the-memphis-race-riots-of-1866/
Kimberley, Lewis. “’If you kill him, you have got to kill me first’: examining individual and collective loyalties during the Memphis Massacre (1866).” American Nineteenth Century History. Vol. 25, 2024. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14664658.2024.2316465
O’Donovan, Susan and Beverly Bond. “ ‘A History They Can Use’: The Memphis Massacre and Reconstruction’s Public History Terrain.” The Journal of the Civil War Era. 8/15/2016. https://www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2016/08/history-can-use-memphis-massacre-reconstructions-public-history-terrain/
Stryker, Susan. “To Appear As We Please.” Aperture, Winter 2017, No. 229, Future Gender. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44898154
Walker, Barrington. “'This is the White Man's Day': The Irish, White Racial Identity, and the 1866 Memphis Riots.” Left History. Vol. 5, No. 2, 1997. https://doi.org/10.25071/1913-9632.5336

The Memphis Massacre was a truly horrific wave of destruction and violence, including sexual violence, against the Black community of Memphis just a year after the end of the U.S. Civil War.
Research:
<ul>
<li>&ldquo;Memphis Daily Appeal Interviews Frances Thompson (1876),&rdquo; SHEC: Resources for Teachers, accessed April 9, 2026, https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/3717.</li>
<li>&ldquo;The Outrage Mill.&rdquo; The North Missouri Register. 9/14/1876.</li>
<li>&ldquo;The Reports of the Committees of the House of Representatives Made during the First Session Thirty-ninth Congress, 1865-&rsquo;66.&rdquo; Washington: Government Printing Office. https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/SERIALSET-01274_00_00-002-0101-0000/context</li>
<li>Blank, Christopher. &ldquo;Do The Words 'Race Riot' Belong On A Historic Marker In Memphis?&rdquo; Code Switch. NPR. 5/2/2016. https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/05/02/476450908/in-memphis-a-divide-over-how-to-remember-a-massacre-150-years-later</li>
<li>Britannica Editors. "Memphis massacre of 1866". Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 Feb. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/event/Memphis-Race-Riot. Accessed 8 April 2026.</li>
<li>Carriere, Marius. &ldquo;An Irresponsible Press: Memphis Newspapers and the 1866 Riot.&rdquo; Tennessee Historical Quarterly , Spring 2001, Vol. 60, No. 1. https://www.jstor.org/stable/42628498</li>
<li>Davis, Justin A. &ldquo;How a disabled Black trans woman left her mark on 19th-century Memphis.&rdquo; The Emancipator. 6/13/2024. https://theemancipator.org/2024/06/13/topics/histories/how-a-disabled-black-trans-woman-left-her-mark-on-19th-century-memphis/</li>
<li>Donald, Bernice Bouie. &ldquo;When the Rule of Law Breaks Down: Implications of the 1866 Memphis Massacre for the Passage of the Fourteenth Amendment.&rdquo; Boston Law Review. Vol. 98. 2018.</li>
<li>Equal Justice Institute. &ldquo;On this day - Apr 30, 1866: White Police and Mobs Terrorize and Kill Black Residents in Memphis.&rdquo; https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/apr/30</li>
<li>Harper&rsquo;s Weekly. &ldquo;The Memphis Riots.&rdquo; 5/26/1866.</li>
<li>Johnson, Charles F. and T.W. Gilbreth. &ldquo;The Freedmen&rsquo;s Bureau Report on the Memphis Race Riots of 1866.&rdquo; 5/22/1866. https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/the-freedmens-bureau-report-on-the-memphis-race-riots-of-1866/</li>
<li>Kimberley, Lewis. &ldquo;&rsquo;If you kill him, you have got to kill me first&rsquo;: examining individual and collective loyalties during the Memphis Massacre (1866).&rdquo; American Nineteenth Century History. Vol. 25, 2024. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14664658.2024.2316465</li>
<li>O&rsquo;Donovan, Susan and Beverly Bond. &ldquo; &lsquo;A History They Can Use&rsquo;: The Memphis Massacre and Reconstruction&rsquo;s Public History Terrain.&rdquo; The Journal of the Civil War Era. 8/15/2016. https://www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2016/08/history-can-use-memphis-massacre-reconstructions-public-history-terrain/</li>
<li>Stryker, Susan. &ldquo;To Appear As We Please.&rdquo; Aperture, Winter 2017, No. 229, Future Gender. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44898154</li>
<li>Walker, Barrington. &ldquo;'This is the White Man's Day': The Irish, White Racial Identity, and the 1866 Memphis Riots.&rdquo; Left History. Vol. 5, No. 2, 1997. https://doi.org/10.25071/1913-9632.5336</li>
</ul>

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Stuff You Missed in History Class

The Memphis Massacre was a truly horrific wave of destruction and violence, including sexual violence, against the Black community of Memphis just a year after the end of the U.S. Civil War.

The Memphis Massacre

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