[UNDER CONSTRUCTION]
This project seeks to shed light on the racial violence that plagued the Western region of the United States through the use of digital tools. It also serves as a resource for researchers investigating episodes of extralegal and legal violence against nonwhites during the nineteenth and early twentieth century.
“Colorado – the anti-Chinese riot in Denver, on October 31st Chinese being beaten and property destroyed by large mob.”, 1880. Photograph. Link.
The Crusade Against the Chinese
Click here to explore a map that plots where violent attacks against Chinese workers and residents occurred. The anti-Chinese sentiment that pervaded in Western United States led to riots and lynchings aimed at terrorizing and driving out Chinese in white-dominated spaces.
Indian Laborers in the Pacific Northwest
The lumber industry of the Pacific Northwest attracted many Hindu and Sikh men. Compared to Chinese laborers, the number of Indian workers was small, but nativists, white laborers, and others, nevertheless, deeply resented their presence. The maps on this page detail the transnational routes Indian laborers traveled to get to the Pacific Northwest as well as the violence they met once settled there.
Whites resorted to both legal and extralegal means to purge Native Americans from society. This page maps newspaper reports of crimes against and legal punishments against Native Americans.
Incarceration and Legal Violence
This page offers visualizations and data on incarceration and executions of minorities in California’s prisons. For Californios, state building was destructive to their way of life and their very existence. The budding prison complexes in California became tools with which to exploit and confine Californios and other racialized persons. This page also includes a section on incarcerated women of color during the nineteenth century.
Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, Madeline Bowen, Lawrence Matott, Pier Luigi Ferrari, Richardo Wohler, and Joseph Stubbs. San Quentin State Prison, Building 22, Point San Quentin, San Quentin, Marin County, CA. California Marin County San Quentin, 1933. Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Link.
On this page, users will find narratives of resistance against white supremacy. Laborers from Asia, Native Americans, and African Americans carved out meaningful lives despite their fragile security. Victims of racial violence, in many cases, refused to be silenced or driven out, turning to authorities and demanding justice instead of running away.
Pomo Family. , ca. 1905. Photograph. Link.
Contribute to Racial Violence and the West
If you know of narratives not detailed here, please feel free to share them with us. We will further research your contribution and properly attribute it to you.
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Racial Violence and the West 