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Police watch protesters at Robert F. Wagner Sr. Junior
High School on East 76th Street, July 17, 1964. Photo by Marion S. Trikosk,
U.S. News & World Report Magazine Collection, Library of Congress, Prints
and Photographs Division
July 18, 1964, Harlem ~ It began,
as it so often has, with the shooting of a Black youth and ended in burned
buildings, hospitalizations, and arrests. The Harlem Riots of 1964 were four
days of a violent uprising that changed little between the police and Black
citizens.
On July 16 several Black youths were
on the stoop of a building across the street from Robert F. Wagner Sr. Junior
High School on East 76th Street. This was normal but did aggravate the building
superintendent Patrick Lynch and on the afternoon of the 16th he
had, had enough and sprayed the assembled boys with a hose, he reportedly
shouted, “Dirty niggers, I'll wash you clean," at them. James Powell a 15-year-old
who was a student at the school ran inside chasing Lynch. The other boys had
been throwing bottles and trash at Lynch.
Drawn by the noise an off-duty
police Lieutenant, Michael Gilligan, who was White, came out of a store next to the
brownstone when he saw the commotion he drew his gun. Gilligan said he held up his badge and
came up the stairs to find Powell running out of the building, then he shot
Powell twice killing him. The facts of the shooting are disputed with Gilligan
swearing Powell lunged at him with a knife and witnesses claiming Powell did
not have a weapon. A pocketknife was found in the street gutter later.
At the same time of the shooting
the students of the junior high were released for the day, and they rushed to
support their fellow students. This led to a tense situation with the police
now on the scene. At least 75 officers had to come to the scene to quell the
disturbance. No arrests were made at the time.
The morning following the
shooting saw peaceful protesting in Harlem at the school led by the Congress of
Racial Equality, or CORE. The protesters at the school chanted “Stop killer
cops!”, “We want legal protection” and “End police brutality!” They were met by
50 officers with nightsticks but there was no violence. CORE was calling on the
police department to fire Lt. Gilligan or for him to resign.
The backdrop to all of this was how
Black New Yorkers were mainly segregated in worn-out neighborhoods, denied
employment opportunities, and frequently profiled and mistreated by police. The
summer Powell was killed the majority of Black New Yorkers were angry and ready
for rebellion.
On the third day, July 18, the
situation was still tense and escalating. It was hot and humid, and the police
were being unnecessarily aggressive and provocative. James Powell’s funeral was
that morning and the police had installed barricades but also held a rally to
protest the crime rate in Harlem. After the funeral, CORE held a peaceful rally, and
the Reverend Nelson C. Dukes called for protestors to march on the 28th
police precinct. At the precinct rally organizers attempted to meet with precinct
commander police Inspector Pendergast. However, whatever was said between
organizers and Pendergast was lost as the crowd turned violent. They started throwing
bottles, bricks, and anything they could find, others had gone to the rooftops
to bombard the police. Pendergast told officers to stop the violence and clear
the streets.
By ten that night over a thousand
people had gathered at the intersection of Seventh Avenue and 125th Street. Police
were using megaphones and speakers to tell the crowd, “Go home, go home." The
crowd was recorded screaming back: "We are home, Baby!" The
police tactical team was called in as rioting began, the mob marched down 123rd
Street wrecking storefronts and destroying city property. Some police fired
into the air while others went directly into the rioters. By 8 am when this
first major burst of violence settled one man had been killed, 19 others
injured as well as 14 police officers injured enough to receive care. This was another
disputed fact as area hospitals reported over 100 serious injuries tied
directly to the rioting.
As the morning of the 19th
went on, a statement from Police Commissioner Michael J. Murphy was sent
to all the churches in Harlem that read, “In our estimation, this is a crime
problem and not a social problem!" No less than Malcolm X responded to this
with what many considered a warning or a threat. "There are probably more
armed Negroes in Harlem than in any other spot on earth. If the people who are
armed get involved in this, you can bet they'll really have something on their
hands," said the famed civil rights leader.
Tensions remained high with both
sides allegedly taunting the other and by afternoon the riot was full scale again. This time the chaos appeared to settle by 1:30 am with another 200
people being treated in hospital reports, while the official police report only
said 93 people. 103 arrests were made.
The next two nights and days were
very much the same with peaceful protests being disrupted by police who charged
into protesters and began indiscriminately beating people. Also, the police announced
a major investigation targeting protest organizers and Black Nationalists such
as the Harlem Progressive Labor Club, the Harlem branch of the Progressive
Labor Party.
The violence seemed to burn
itself out by the night of July 22 and clean-up began. The uprising had an
incredible cost with 500 shops damaged, and many destroyed. One person was listed
as killed in the official police records with 465 men and women arrested. There
was between 1 million and 2 million dollars in damages, approximately $19
million in 2024 dollars.
Two months after the shooting, Lt.
Gilligan was cleared of any wrongdoing by a grand jury. He maintained
Powell had lunged at him with a knife. Coincidently the riot broke out one
month after President Lyndon Johnson signed the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act
and at the same time as Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, an opponent of the
Civil Rights Act was being named the Republican candidate for president in
1964. Goldwater was promising to be tough on crime, a theme every Republican
presidential candidate has carried since.
Two reform attempts were made to
help the Black residents of Harlem and New York City at large. The first was “Project
Uplift” which was funded by Johnson’s Great Society program. For the summer of
1965 thousands of young Blacks were able to get jobs and job training, but it
only lasted that summer. In 1966 New York City Mayor John Lindsay changed the Civilian
Complaint Review Board, the board that investigated complaints against the
police. Lindsay added four civilians to the board which had previously been all
police, The move outraged the Police union which organized with business owners
and the Chamber of Commerce to reverse the decision by a public vote. The
police campaign was run on fears of rising crime and racism.
Sadly the Harlem Uprising was
just the first outbreak of violence in major American cities in the summer of
1964 which eventually became known as the “Long Hot Summer” in our history
books.
Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/event/Harlem-race-riot-of-1964
https://crdl.usg.edu/events/ny_race_riots
https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/harlem-race-riot-1964/
https://www.rutgers.edu/news/inside-harlem-uprising-1964
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