204: 1919 – The United States II | The History of the Twentieth Century

In addition to the First Red Scare, discussed in the previous episode, the year 1919 saw the worst racial violence in US history. Hundreds were killed.

Some attempted to pin the blame on Bolshevik agitation of African Americans, although there was no evidence of that. Also, African Americans were far more often the targets, rather than the perpetrators, of the violence. Who was agitating white Americans to violence against their African-American fellow citizens went strangely unaddressed.

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Fanfare

Opening Theme

“U.S. Field Artillery March”
Composed in 1917 by Edmund Gruber and John Philip Sousa. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Goldberg Variations No. 25
Composed in 1741 by Johann Sebastian Bach. Public domain.
Performed by Shelley Katz. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

One thought on “204: 1919 – The United States II”

Yikes. Another disturbing episode. There is no reason to comment on the main topic of the episode. Rather, something you said at the very beginning of the episode triggered a childhood memory. You mentioned that in the early 20th century Harlem had a large Jewish and Italian population. I grew up in a Jewish household in the 1960s in southern California. My parents were New York Jews (the family moved to California in the 1950s as that state was booming in the decade after WWII). My grandparents were all born in Czarist Russia (think Fiddler on the Roof, but without the singing and dancing, and emigrated to NYC via Ellis Island around the year 1900). I knew my family had lived in the Bronx while in NYC, so I was surprised when my mother told me that she was born in Harlem. Also, my mother mentioned that as a young girl her best friend was from an Italian family. That information was counter to my sense of Harlem, but was perfectly in line with your introductory discussion. Thanks for reminding me of something my mother mentioned almost 60 years ago.

Spencer says:

April 13, 2026 at 1:38 pm

Yikes. Another disturbing episode. There is no reason to comment on the main topic of the episode. Rather, something you said at the very beginning of the episode triggered a childhood memory. You mentioned that in the early 20th century Harlem had a large Jewish and Italian population. I grew up in a Jewish household in the 1960s in southern California. My parents were New York Jews (the family moved to California in the 1950s as that state was booming in the decade after WWII). My grandparents were all born in Czarist Russia (think Fiddler on the Roof, but without the singing and dancing, and emigrated to NYC via Ellis Island around the year 1900). I knew my family had lived in the Bronx while in NYC, so I was surprised when my mother told me that she was born in Harlem. Also, my mother mentioned that as a young girl her best friend was from an Italian family. That information was counter to my sense of Harlem, but was perfectly in line with your introductory discussion. Thanks for reminding me of something my mother mentioned almost 60 years ago.