African American Black Buffalo Soldier 1917 Photo Houston Race Riots Camp Mutiny
DETAILS: Original real photo post card (RPPC) of an African American buffalo soldier standing next to a US Army Pennant Flag dated 1917. Note that the pennant flag is hanging ignobly, pointed downward towards the ground. Also note the unhappy facial expression of the soldier. We believe that this photo was taken to protest the Logan Camp Mutiny / Houston Race Riots that resulted in the deaths of over 129 black soldiers. Measures 3.5" x 5.5" inches. Please see images for further details. BACKGROUND: The Houston race riot of 1917, also known as the Camp Logan Mutiny, was a mutiny and riot by 156 soldiers from the all-black 24th Infantry Regiment of the United States Army, taking place on August 23, 1917, in Houston, Texas. The incident occurred within a climate of overt racist hostility from members of the all-white Houston Police Department against members of the local black community and black soldiers stationed at Camp Logan. Following an incident where police officers arrested and assaulted black soldiers, many of their comrades mutinied and marched to Houston. There they opened fire and killed eleven civilians including a minor, Fred E. The police also killed five soldiers. In accordance with Jim Crow policies of the time, 118 soldiers were tried in three courts-martial. This was the largest murder trial in US history.
A total of 110 were convicted, of whom 19 were executed in a mass execution and 63 were sentenced to life imprisonment. Gregg Andrews, author of Thyra J. Edwards: Black Activist in the Global Freedom Struggle, wrote that the riot "shook race relations in the city and created conditions that helped to spark a statewide surge of wartime racial activism". In November 2023, the Army set aside all 110 convictions.
It acknowledged the servicemen had not received fair trials in the racist climate of the time period. The Army gave all the men honorable discharges, enabling any of their descendants to receive military benefits. Oxxbridge Galleries was founded in 1987 and specializes in vintage paper items with a large selection of historical and 19th Century tintypes, daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, cabinet cards, carte des visites and other types of early photography.