Online Galleries & Exhibitions
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Booker T. Washington and
the
Shiloh Baptist Church Tragedy |
The Trumpet Blast
book
Newspaper
Articles
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People came early to
Shiloh Baptist Church on the evening of September 19, 1902. The
National Baptist Convention, an African American organization, was
holding its annual meeting in Birmingham, and 2,000 delegates were
present from several states. |
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The featured speaker on this night was Booker T.
Washington.
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Shiloh Baptist Church,
an impressive brick structure on the city’s Southside, had been
completed the year before and was built to seat 3,000 people. |
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Spectators hoping to hear Washington began arriving hours before the
event, and all seats were taken well before the speaker arrived.
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People continued to push their way into the church, packing the
aisles and stairways well beyond capacity. As Washington finished
his talk two men began to argue over a seat on the stage. A woman
nearby yelled, “Fight!” Many in the crowded and noisy sanctuary
mistook “Fight!” for “Fire!” and people in the rear of the church
scrambled for the door. |
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As people pushed from the main floor and down the stairs from the
balcony the crowd clogged the door and entranceway. In the
entranceway the bodies piled up eight to ten feet deep and those on
bottom were trampled to death or suffocated from the weight.
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Between 70 and 80 people died at the church during the ten minute
stampede. Hundreds more were injured and the final death toll was
120. |
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For Booker T. Washington the Shiloh tragedy was a reminder of the
danger created by the large crowds who came to hear him speak. For
Birmingham, the tragedy was so awful that it brought a short respite
from racial antagonism. |
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Several months after the tragedy Robert Henry Walker, Jr., a
Washington, D. C. minister whose sister lived in Birmingham,
collected survivor accounts and photographs relating to the tragedy
and published them as The Trumpet Blast. |
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Walker’s book, along with the newspaper coverage, provides most of
what we now know about the stampede. This online exhibit includes
the full text of The Trumpet Blast as well as newspaper articles and
photographs relating to the tragedy. |
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Page Last Modified:
3/16/2021 11:51 AM