A Church Destroyed

A band of horsemen in Alabama threaten the black population because they believe they are taking their jobs and dislike the fact that the farmers are protecting and hiring them.

Alabama now comes to the front with an outrage. This time the colored people have done absolutely nothing to cause it. It is an attempt to deny to colored people the right to work. Their church and lodge hall have been destroyed according to the following report: “Tusacaloosa, Ala., Oct. 11- A Negro Baptist Church and lodge hall at Spring Hill, Ala., were burned Friday night by unknown persons. A band of horsemen, alleged to have been organized with the intention of driving the Negroes out of the community, is said to have set fire to the church and hall. It is reported that several of the Negroes have received anonymous letters, telling them if they do not leave the county they will be killed and that their houses have already been fired into. The Negroes are badly frightened, and are hiding in the woods, being afraid to remain in their homes at night. White farmer are doing everything possible to protect the Negroes. White farmers are to protect them. This is a ray of hope. These farmers find that the Negro’s labor is better and cheaper than that of the white men, who are attempting to drive them out. Some people will argue that this constitutes a Negro problem. We do not see it in that light. It is a question of the white man’s lawlessness and will be settled in a short while if the same energy and devotion displayed by Gov. Patterson of Tennessee is brought into action in Alabama. Where human life, be it Negro’s or white man’s, is insecure capital will not find an abiding place, and where capital will not abide, hard-times will set up its throne without thought of molestation or annoyance.

“A Church Destroyed,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed September 13, 2026, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/735.