Researching the Wilmington 1898 Massacre and Coup: Home

This guide serves as a portal for researchers investigating the Wilmington Massacre and Coup of November 10, 1898.* The main purpose of this guide is to collect the primary and secondary source materials held at the Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library at UNC-Chapel Hill related to this event, its buildup and aftermath. As the documents and records themselves clearly reveal, the 19th century white supremacist Democratic machine in North Carolina was closely connected to the University of North Carolina. Conspirators and instigators of the November 1898 massacre and coup in Wilmington also had close ties to UNC.

This guide could not be possible without the pioneering research and scholarly work of LeRae Umfleet. Her extensive investigation into the records and evidence for these crimes is crucial for understanding the full scope and impact of these events.

• Central Figures and Related Resources - this tab includes documents and records related to specific people involved with the white supremacy campaigns in NC and the Wilmington 1898 events
• Additional Primary Sources - primary documents and records such as maps and city directories
• Literary Works - historical and interpretive fiction
• Secondary Sources - important scholarly work based on primary accounts
• For Further Research - suggestions for further research in newspapers and other formats, plus links to other repositories and websites
• Registering and Requesting - this page has information about how to visit Wilson Special Collections Library and search the collections

*In this guide and elsewhere when possible, the word "riot" is not used. "Riot" implies a spontaneous act, which this was not, as it was well-planned. Furthermore, "race riot" is misleading in that it assumes the instigators are Black, and deflects blame from white supremacist orchestrators.