1907 Bellingham race riot

Riots against Americans of Asian descent in Bellingham January 2024 January 2024 1907 Bellingham Race Riot Anti-Indian sentiment September 4, 1907 Bellingham, Washington, United States Racial prejudice against South Asian immigrants, labor competition in the lumber mills Expulsion of South Asian Indian immigrants from Bellingham Mob violence, beatings, intimidation Ended by September 5, 1907 Indian immigrants expelled, no prosecution of mob members White mob (predominantly Asiatic Exclusion League) South Asian Indian immigrants (mostly Sikhs) 400-500 125+ None 6 hospitalized (disputed) None 6 hospitalized (disputed) 5 arrested, all released None reported 100 held overnight in Bellingham jail None None Migration of victims to other areas, lasting racial tension Long-term racial tension The Bellingham riots occurred on September 4, 1907, in Bellingham, Washington, United States.https://depts.washington.edu/civilr/bham_intro.htm The 1907 Bellingham Riots Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project University of Washington 2024-01-09 A mob of approximately 500 white men, predominantly members of the Asiatic Exclusion League, with intentions to exclude Indian immigrants from the work force of the local lumber mills, attacked the homes of the South Asian Indians.Lieb Emily December 26, 2006 White workingmen attack Bellingham's East Indian millworkers on September 4, 1907 http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=8039 2024-01-09 HistoryLink.org Essay 8039 The Indians were mostly Sikhs from Punjab but were labelled as Hindus by much of the media of the day.The 1907 Bellingham Riots: News Coverage 1907-2007 https://depts.washington.edu/civilr/bham_news.htm Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project University of Washington 2024-01-09 thumb|Article from the 16 September 1906 Puget Sound American newspaper incorrectly describing turbaned Sikhs as "Hindu" and their unfavorable immigration to Bellingham Background and Context In the early 1900s, Bellingham was home to a substantial number of Asian Immigrants who came to Bellingham from places such as the Daoba Region of Punjab, in search of better job opportunities that would help to not only support their families, but to contribute to India’s growing independence movement.Bellingham riots History Research Starters EBSCOhost https://www.ebsco.com/ 2026-09-23 EBSCO en Bellingham was home to lumber camps and mills,Bellingham: Home - Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project https://depts.washington.edu/civilr/bham_intro.shtml 2026-09-23 depts.washington.edu fishing and the Great Northern Railway, which helped to provide prospective jobs for the immigrants. Hundreds of Sikhs, Japanese, Koreans, Chinese and several other Asian immigrants emigrated to Bellingham and found active employment, until September 4th, 1907. Events The mob threw the South Asian workers into the streets, beat them, and pocketed their valuables. The authorities co-operated with the mob by corralling the beaten Indian immigrants into the City Hall, ostensibly for their safety.Cahn David http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/bham_history.htm The 1907 Bellingham Riots in Historical Context 2008 Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project University of Washington 2024-01-09 "By the next day 125 South Asians had been driven out of town and were on their way to British Columbia".Lee Erika Erika Lee 2007-11-01 The "Yellow Peril" and Asian Exclusion in the Americas Pacific Historical Review en 76 4 537–562 10.1525/phr.2007.76.4.537 0030-8684 10.1525/phr.2007.76.4.537 6965417308 According to one report, disputed by local leaders and newspapers, six South Asians were hospitalized; no one was killed. About 100 were held overnight in the Bellingham jail, reportedly under "protective custody". Although five men were arrested, they were later released and none of the participants in the mob violence were prosecuted.Wynne Robert E. 1966 American Labor Leaders and the Vancouver Anti-Oriental Riot https://www.jstor.org/stable/40488175 The Pacific Northwest Quarterly 57 4 174 0030-8803 40488175 9972703563 Some victims of the riots migrated to Everett, Washington where two months later, they received similar treatment.Labovitch Lisa June 4, 2021 White mob gathers to expel Asian Indian laborers from Everett on November 2, 1907 https://www.historylink.org/File/21247 January 9, 2024 HistoryLink.org Essay 21247 Similar riots occurred during this period in Vancouver, BCVancouver Courier Vancouver Courier August 31, 2007 Two-day conference examines city's 1907 race riot http://www.canada.com/vancouvercourier/news/story.html?id=27e737a2-acbb-4671-a6c1-5f39adaee1d8&k=77221 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20121104211807/http://www.canada.com/vancouvercourier/news/story.html?id=27e737a2-acbb-4671-a6c1-5f39adaee1d8&k=77221 2012-11-04 canada.com and California.McMahon Suzanne The Great White Wall https://archive.org/details/echoesoffreedoms0000mcma/page/22/mode/2up registration 2001 Echoes of freedom: South Asian pioneers in California, 1899-1965 https://archive.org/details/echoesoffreedoms0000mcma registration Center for South Asian Studies, University of California Berkeley, CA, US Internet Archive 978-0-944613-41-2 1341891513 23–-24 Legacy To acknowledge and atone for the riots, Whatcom County Executive Pete Kremen and Bellingham Mayor Tim Douglas jointly proclaimed the 100th anniversary of the riots, Sept. 4, 2007, a "Day of Healing and Reconciliation."Human Rights Commemorative Project leaflet http://archofhealing.org/archwp/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Proclamation-Day-of-healing-reconciliation-Sept-4-2007.pdf 2007-09-04 2010-09-20 https://web.archive.org/web/20140309005304/http://www.cob.org/documents/features/hrcp-leaflet.pdf March 9, 2014 Arch of Healing and Reconciliation Bellingham, WA A granite monument, the Arch of Healing and Reconciliation, was erected in downtown Bellingham and dedicated in 2018 in memory of the three groups of Asian immigrants who were expelled from the region: the Chinese in 1885, the Indians in 1907, and the Japanese in 1942.Arch of Healing and Reconciliation to Honor Diversity and Immigrants in Washington State Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism 2017-10-03 https://www.bellingham.org/press-releases/arch-healing-reconciliation-honor-diversity-immigrants-washington-state/ https://web.archive.org/web/20200920172702/https://www.bellingham.org/press-releases/arch-healing-reconciliation-honor-diversity-immigrants-washington-state/ 2020-09-20 dead See also 1907 Vancouver anti-Asian riots, which followed those in Bellingham List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States Pacific Coast race riots of 1907 References Further reading Englesberg Paul The 1907 Bellingham Riot and Anti-Asian Hostilities in the Pacific Northwest Canadian Sikh Centre 2013-03-01 http://www.canadiansikhcentre.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Paul-Englesber-Bellingham-Riots-read-on-9.22.12.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030641/http://www.canadiansikhcentre.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Paul-Englesber-Bellingham-Riots-read-on-9.22.12.pdf 2016-03-04 dead Hallberg Gerald N. Bellingham, Washington's Anti-Hindu Riot Journal of the West 12 1973 163–175 1783221 0022-5169 Jensen Joan M. Joan M. Jensen Passage from India: Asian Indian immigrants in North America Yale University Press New Haven 1988 978-0-300-03846-0 1342141898 https://archive.org/details/passagefromindia0000jens registration Internet Archive Lee Erika Erika Lee Hemispheric Orientalism and the 1907 Pacific Coast Race Riots Amerasia Journal 33 2 2007 0044-7471 10.17953/amer.33.2.y263745731125524 19–48 1259572954 McMahon Suzanne 2001 Echoes of freedom: South Asian pioneers in California, 1899-1965 https://archive.org/details/echoesoffreedoms0000mcma registration Center for South Asian Studies, University of California Berkeley, CA, US Internet Archive 978-0-944613-41-2 1341891513 External links http://www.saadigitalarchive.org/collection/bellingham-riot Bellingham Riot materials South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA) June 2026 InternetArchiveBot This includes a video documentary and archival print materials. Koritala Srirajasekhar Bobby A historical perspective of Americans of Asian Indian origin infinityfoundation.com December 13, 2016 https://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/h_es/h_es_korit_histical.htm 2024-01-10 The Racial Politics of Empire: South Asian Revolutionaries on the Pacific Coast Sixth European Social Science History Conference 2005-12-17 http://www2.iisg.nl/esshc/programme.asp?selyear=8&pap=3720 https://web.archive.org/web/20051217160400/http://www2.iisg.nl/esshc/programme.asp?selyear=8&pap=3720 2005-12-17 dead Category:1907 in Washington (state) Category:1907 riots Category:Anti-Indian sentiment in the United States Category:Asian-American culture in Washington (state) Category:Asian-American riots in the United States Category:History of Bellingham, Washington Category:Indian-American history Category:Racially motivated violence against Asian Americans Category:Riots and civil disorder in Washington (state) Category:September 1907 in the United States Category:Sikhism in the United States Category:White American riots in the United States