Special Section - 1907 Bellingham Riots

News Coverage 1907-2007

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The events of the 1907 riots in Bellingham are largely known to us through press accounts of the time. Bellingham was home to several newspapers, including the Bellingham Herald and the American Reveille, and reports of the riot, often varying wildly in their accuracy, were sent all over the world. One faulty report appearing in the New York Times prompted the mayor to demand a retraction. While the reports recount the events in some detail, they are also very biased, as the papers were sympathetic to the rioter’s demands. The racism of the news reports is so flagrant, in fact, that one paper, the Bellingham Herald issued an apology in 2007 to mark the 100th anniversary of the riots.

What follows below is a select list of headlines, with links to articles and photos of their respective papers, from 1907, as well as commemorative articles that appeared in Bellingham’s press in 2007. Special thanks to the Asian American Curriculum & Research Project for many of the following links.
1907:
8/29 Bellingham Herald Hindus Send Money to Native Land

9/5 American Reveille  Mob Raids Hindus and Drives Them From City 
9/5 Bellingham Herald Hindus Hounded From City
9/5 Bellingham Herald Millmen Will Fight for Rights
9/5 Bellingham Herald Committee to Investigate Causes
9/5 Bellingham Herald Scared Hindus in Hurry to Go
9/5 Bellingham Herald Hindus March Back to Mills Under Guard
9/5 Bellingham Herald Editorial: A Public Disgrace
9/6 American Reveille  Riot is quickly quelled
9/6 American Reveille  Exclusion League demands a check
9/6 American Reveille  Four alleged rioters arrested on warrants
9/6 American Reveille  Hindus cheered as they depart
9/6 American Reveille  Industrial workers condemn lawlessness
9/6 American Reveille  Quarters of Hindus extremely filthy
9/6 American Reveille  The Hindus Have Left Us
9/6 Bellingham Herald Dwellings of Hindus are Dens of Dirt
9/6 Bellingham Herald  Orientals Will All Leave City
9/6 Bellingham Herald  Hindus Afraid to Work at Mills
9/6 New York Times  Mob Drives Out Hindus
9/7 American Reveille  Bellingham Sees Last of the Hindus
9/7 American Reveille  Chinese Driven Out of City in 1885
9/7 Bellingham Herald Investigation is Commenced
9/7 Bellingham Herald Hindus are not wanted in Canada
9/7 Bellingham Herald Riot Deplored by Exclusion League
9/7 Bellingham Herald Editorial: The Benighted Hindu
9/7 New York Times Bryce Sure to Act on Hindu Expulsion
9/8 American Reveille Japanese Women Obstacle to Holiness
9/8 American Reveille Vancouver Laborers Mob Chinamen
9/9 Bellingham Herald Denunciations Hurled From Pulpits
9/9 Bellingham Herald Everett Hindus Ask for Police Protection
9/9 Bellingham Herald Anti-Asiatic Meeting Sunday
9/9 Bellingham Herald Press Comments on Anti-Hindu Riots
9/10 Bellingham Herald  Bellingham Japs Hold Mass Meeting 
9/10 Bellingham Herald  Millowners Censured for Importing Hindus 
9/11 Bellingham Herald  Horde of Hindus Landing At Vancouver 
9/12 American Reveille Japanese still fear serious outbreak
9/12 American Reveille Hindus Are Not Blacks, But Aryans
9/12 American Reveille Vancouver will ship Hindus to Canada
9/12 American Reveille Hindus and Whites Clash at Aberdeen
9/12 Bellingham Herald Editorial: The Race Question
9/13 American Reveille Chinamen Mob Yankee
9/13 American Reveille  Trades council opposed to riots
9/13 American Reveille  Irishman rebels at Japanese foreman
9/13 Bellingham Herald  Japs Huddle in Their Rooms While Labor Council Meets
9/13 Seattle Republican  Editorial: Always Ready to Riot
9/14 American Reveille  Japs Ask Mayor for 200 Extra Policemen 
9/14 Bellingham Herald  Hundreds Will Attend Mass Meeting
9/14 Bellingham Herald  Letter to the Editor: Shall We Raise Exclusion Wall?
9/15 American Reveille  Asian exclusion to be urged
9/16 Bellingham Herald Hindu Hoodoo Feared by Japs
9/16 Bellingham Herald Industrial War is Waged
9/21 American Reveille Riot Cases are Dismissed
10/2 Bellingham Herald Hindus Warned to Leave Everett
10/9 Bellingham Herald Editorial: The Chief and the Hindus
10/12 Collier's The Japanese and the Pacific Coast
11/4 Everett Herald Hindus Are Leaving City
2007:
8/29 Cascadia Weekly  Dark Century: Observing the Anniversary of Anti-Sikh Riots
8/30 Whatcom Independent  Guest Editorial: The need for healing and reconciliation
9/2 Bellingham Herald  1907 Bellingham mob forced East Indian workers from town
9/2 Bellingham Herald  City, country will mark 'day of healing' Tuesday
9/2 Bellingham Herald  Editorial: 100 years after riot coverage: our apology
9/3 Bellingham Herald  1907 Bellingham riot sparked other actions against immigrants
9/3 Bellingham Herald  New Sikh arrivals feel welcomed
9/3 Bellingham Herald  Immigrants often face animosity, historians say
9/6 Whatcom Independent Commemorative event draws people together
 
Copyright ©2004-2008 Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project.  For problems or questions regarding this site contact James Gregory. Last updated: July 16, 2007.