The Greensburg, Indiana, Race Riot of 1907: Race and a Sundown Town

Abstract

In April 1907, John Green, a Black resident of Greensburg, Indiana, was accused of robbing and raping white widow Caroline Sefton. Unable to lynch Green, who had been removed from the town, white residents rioted, attacking and injuring several Black men and threatening at least one Black family. Some accounts claim that in response to the riot African Americans fled Greensburg, and it became a sundown town. Author Robert White examines the history of racism in Greensburg and Decatur County and demonstrates that the riot was a symptom of a broader racial intolerance. Racism, which existed prior to the riot and persisted after the riot, drove African Americans from Greensburg, Decatur County, and surrounding counties. Racism created an almost entirely white area of southeastern Indiana that persisted as a sundown region for decades.