On this date in 1917, The East St. Louis Race Riot of July 1-3, 1917, was one of the deadliest episodes of racial violence in U.S. history. It was fueled by racial tensions over job competition between Black workers, many of whom had migrated from the South, and white laborers in the city’s booming industrial sector.

Violence erupted when white mobs attacked Black residents and workers, burning homes and businesses. Estimates of those killed ranged from 40 to over 200, with thousands of African Americans displaced. Martial law was declared, but the destruction had already devastated the community.

A Congressional investigation later acknowledged the horrific scale of the massacre, though an exact death toll was never confirmed. The riot highlighted the severe racial injustices of the time and was a precursor to future civil rights struggles in the U.S.