- Thea Foundation
Their Voices
Little Rock Central High Drawing 1 Students Study the Elaine Massacre
Jessica Taverna wanted her students to have an experience in Drawing 1 that they would not forget. With the help of the Arkansas Humanities Council, National Endowment for the Humanities, and historian George West, Ms. Taverna and her students embarked on a journey to better understand the Elaine Massacre and how art can help tell the story of difficult moments in history. What they created was powerful, unique, and important. But most of all, an experience they will never forget. Thea Foundation is honored to host this show and share this time in Arkansas history.
THEIR VOICES
Working as partners, students in Jessica Taverna's Drawing I class
utilized art to interpret the history of The Elaine Massacre and social
injustice. The teams, working as researchers and artists, created
collages to depict a difficult chapter in Arkansas history.
Utilizing first person and journalist accounts, they learned about the
Elaine Massacre through the voices that were present. They then
created their pieces and paired them with artist statements to
describe how they achieved their work.
"Their Voices" is a way for students to learn from difficult history and
share their viewpoints with the community. By teaching lessons like
these, Mrs. Taverna is working to bring unity and cultural awareness to
her classroom.
This project is supported in part by a We The People grant from the
Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the
Humanities.
STUDENT ARTISTS
Blakely Campbell
Elena Coleman
Lindsay Collins
Emma Ebenezer
Gracie Foster
Ahona Ghosh
Hayden Glover
Hallie Johnson
Daijon McDaniel
William Onyango
Zachary Onyango
Bhavi Patel
Janae Porter
Brieanna Conley Smith
Noah Whitlow
Jessica Taverna, Instructor
Because of Her
Emma Ebenezer, William Onyango
Our work explores the Elaine Massacre and the biased coverage by the media in
comparison to the coverage done by Ida B. Wells, the journalist who interviewed prisoners
on trial. The actions of the Supreme Court ensured that the due process clause was not
only applied to groups of people who were powerful, but also to minorities who were on
trial. This ensured the Constitution was applied to all groups and that their constitutional
rights as citizens were protected.
While studying the events of the massacre, we discovered the media had a central role in
the severity of the situation for African Americans in the area. We burned the picture of
the police officers to depict the corruption of the American police department and the
failure in their responsibilities as defense for the public. We have the logo of the NAACP
to show they were a helping force of people of color and that their actions were
significant. The hand-drawn portrait of Ida B. Wells is the most colorful piece on the
poster to emphasize her importance as an activist and as an honest journalist. Because of
her, the twelve men who were on death row were saved.
We strongly feel that the police and the media, two institutions that are meant to protect
the people, did exactly the opposite when it came to Black people. The police, who are
meant to defend and protect all people, instead, attacked minority groups. The media
condemned Black people, leading to the entire nation siding against them. This made the
roles of Ida B. Wells and the NAACP all the more important as they brought national
attention to this issue which led to the involvement of the U.S. Supreme Court, allowing
the Elaine 12 to receive a fair trial.
Fading Memories
Noah Whitlow, Brieanna Conley-Smith
A group of sharecroppers who wanted better payments from white plantation owners held
a meeting at a church. This led to a tragic event where over 200 African Americans were
killed by a white mob. This spiked the interest of many activists such as Ida B. Wells and the
NAACP to fight the death sentences handed down in Helena, the NAACP hired the Little
Rock law firm of George C. Murphy as a counsel for the Elaine Twelve.
What we used to make this artwork was marker, pen, water color, vine charcoal, and
printouts. Our main focal points were the church and the men who were wrongly convicted
in 8 minutes without the legal requirement of due process. We used a printout of a
newspaper that says "SIX DEATH VERDICTS IN EIGHT MINUTES." Underneath it, my partner
drew an African American man in a jail cell. This is to portray one of the Elaine 12 who were
wrongly convicted. We decided to put Ida B. Wells beside the jail cell because when she
heard about the news, she immediately started to raise money to save them and bring
attention to their case. We decided to use brown watercolor to paint her because it ties
into the newspaper article about the death verdicts.
In the top right hand corner is the church and we outlined it because it's our focal point, and
it's where the movement started. We used the colors to make it stand out and draw the eye
directly to the church. In the center we put the memorial because it symbolizes the
grave of the victims that they didn't find. The stairs leading up to the memorial help to
connect the images in the two bottom corners to the memorial showing the connection and
emotion connected to the memory of this historic event.
Injustices at Hoop Spur
Elena Coleman, Daijon McDaniel
Our work dissects the brutal events of the Elaine Massacre. Through cut-outs, paper
clippings, drawings, and text, we attempt to convey a theme of injustice as well as the
realities of what the members of Elaine county experienced. The trials of the Elaine 12 did
not include the same level of due process that we have now. If they had, many more
rulings, if not all, would have gone in their favor. Without the U.S. Supreme Court,
the NAACP, and exposure from Ida B. Wells through pamphlets like The Arkansas Race
Riot, the court cases of the 12 would not have been repealed.
As this year moved into Black history month, we started thinking about the history of
African Americans in Arkansas and discovered this event. We knew immediately that this
was something that needed to be exposed. The viewer can understand what the victims
went through by reading the included quotes, such as the song lyric, "My heart is
overwhelmed with sorrow, my eyes are melted down with tears." By analyzing the
newspaper headlines, the viewer can understand the problems with the justice system
back then, as the event was spun to put the blame on the people of Elaine county. A
drawing of Hoop Spur Church, the location where the shootings were first seen and
heard, was also added to aid the viewer in visualizing the event by showing them where
it started. The names in the background are the names of the Elaine 12, along with other
known victims who lost their lives due to the shootings. We felt this was important
because it makes the aftermath seem more real, and names have a lot of power.
We hope that through the art of collage, people will be able to connect to this event on a
personal level because they will have a visual as they learn about it. This artwork will
shine a light on the problems that are still going on to this day in relation to the Elaine
Massacre, as well as inspire people to consider ways to spread awareness about modern
racial prejudices.
Not Forgotten
Johanna Weinheimer, Steven Davis
On the night of September 30, 1919, about 100 black sharecroppers held a meeting at a
church in Hoop Spur, Arkansas. This group called themselves the Progressive Farmers and
Household Union of America. This meeting was held to obtain better payments for their
labor and cotton crops. While it was taking place, a mob of armed white men came to the
church and fired at the black guards standing in front of the church. The shots were then
returned by the black guards, and a shootout began. During this shooting, a white agent of
the Missouri Pacific Railroad was shot and killed. This led to rumors that black people were
“attacking” the white people in Elaine. The next day, the sheriff of Phillips County sent men
out to arrest the suspects of the shooting. About 500-1000 armed white people began to
hunt down and slaughter the black residents around Elaine. It wasn’t until 2 days later that
the U.S. troops arrived and the white mobs began to go home. It was reported that many
of the black residents were tortured and killed by these soldiers. Several hundred African-
Americans were arrested and twelve men were sentenced to death. Civil Rights Movement
leader, Ida B. Wells interviewed the Elaine 12 in jail and helped bring their stories to light
for the rest of America. After the government failed the men, she was their last hope.
Without her, they would have been wrongfully put to death. Because of her importance in
the stories of the Elaine 12, we chose to make Ida B. Wells the focal point of our artwork.
Our work shows the historical Elaine Massacre through the use of important quotes
and images. We used watercolor, graphite, and ink in our work. The background was
made with a light brown watercolor to make the images in the foreground stand out.
The main focus of the piece is a picture of Ida B. Wells that we watercolored to give
an antiqued feel. On the left side, we drew a picture of an old church, similar to the
one where the Massacre took place. There is also a drawing of the Elaine Massacre
memorial which opened on September 29, 2019, in Helena, Arkansas. We chose to
include a drawing of the memorial because we wanted to show that the people who
died in the race riot are not forgotten. We decided to burn the edges of the picture of
Ida B. Wells and the church. Many white people hunted down the black people in
Elaine and burned their homes with the families still inside of them, so we wanted to
show the heartless acts that were committed. We also used newspaper headlines to
convey the depth of this tragedy. As artists, we want the viewer to feel the sorrow
that is attached to this event.
Remembrance
Lindsay Collins, Zachary Onyango
Throughout our experience creating this artwork we learned several new things that we
hadn't known before, like her fight for women's suffrage as well as blocking the
establishment of segregated schools in Chicago. There was even a Barbie doll fashioned in
her likeness to honor her accomplishments. We found images and articles from the event
and incorporated them into our artwork to provide a historical summary. We used
watercolor as the background, text as information, drawings as representations, and
printouts as headlines. In addition to this we added quotes into our collage to express the
viewpoints of the people during this time.
The composition of our artwork was used to show the pictures in a way similar to a bulletin
board or mood board about the event. The pictures are placed imperfectly at all different
angles, and are designed to look as though they are attached with tape. It gives a unique
perspective to the event by showing it in a way different to what you have probably seen
before. A very strong area of this piece is the title, which we chose to place in the corner in
front of shreds of different newspaper articles covering all perspectives of The Elaine
Massacre. There are also cutouts of flowers attached to the paper, acting almost like
stickers or drawings stuck to the board, were used to describe our feelings about the
event. The first flower that was chosen was a poppy. Red poppies signify remembrance,
which perfectly described the lens we wanted to create this piece under. This is why we
named our piece "Remembrance." The second flower is a chrysanthemum, which often symbolizes sorrow in settings like funerals. We chose to include this flower to show how heartbreaking the loss of these lives really were and to show our condolences for the loved ones of those who passed.
The Falling Church
Janae Porter, Blakely Campbell, Bhavi Patel
Our work portrays the event that occurred on September 30, 1919 in Elaine,
Arkansas by highlighting the attack on the peaceful union of sharecroppers that
were holding a meeting inside a church. During the meeting, they came into
conflict with a couple of white men resulting in one death that sparked rumors of
riots. This resulted in the deaths of hundreds of African Americans. The NAACP
played a role in calling out the unfairness of the Arkansas justice system. One of
these members was Michael Curry, the chair of the NAACP Advocacy and Policy
Committee. He said, "You had 12 black men who were clearly charged with murder
in a system that was absolutely corrupt at the time -- you had mob influence, you
had witness tampering, you had a jury that was all-white, you had almost certainly
judicial bias."
We were influenced by the stories of the 12 men that nearly met their deaths
sentenced from unfair trials. We decided to reflect this through displaying their
names as steps to the church and drawing 12 bullet holes on the sides. To bring
emphasis to the church fires we used bright warm colors of the flames to contrast
the monochromatic color of the background and the church. We created a collage of
newspaper headlines, photos of the victims affected by the massacre and important
figures in civil rights such as Ida B. Wells. The watercolor tree painted on the
background represents the African Americans lynched by the white mobs. The song
lyrics around the flames represented the songs that the wives and children of the 12
men convicted would sing to bring comfort through this harsh time.
As artists, we want the viewer to be left with a sense of sadness and confusion for
the deaths and the unfairness of how the justice system played a role in the
conviction and sentencing of 12 innocent African American men. This heartless
massacre left hundreds of families devastated by the tragic loss of life and feeling
hopeless.
The Memorial
Hayden Glover, Ahona Ghosh
Our work is about the Elaine Massacre and the memorial that was made afterwards. The
Elaine massacre occurred on September 30 through October 1, 1919 at Hoop Spur in the
vicinity of Elaine in rural Phillips County, Arkansas. A group of sharecroppers were
discussing ways of getting better payment for their cotton crops. During the meeting
there was gun fire and a mob made up of 500-1000 white people. As a result, as many as
several hundred African Americans and five white men were killed.
We have a picture of the memorial right in the middle because that was our main focus.
We also have a mixture of drawn pictures, quotes, and newspaper clippings from the time
of the massacre all around the sides. We added to the newspaper to the back of the
memorial image to make it stand out. The pictures were added to show what life was like
in Elaine. We also added the two drawings to show the location of Elaine and the
architect of Elaine during the time period. We used this quote "It is important that, by
telling stories of those who lived through the incredible violence in the summer of 1919
we seek to know, to understand and learn from what is now all of our story"- Christine
Drale. We think this is a great quote because more people should know about the
massacre. This project was the first time we learned about it. But, a lot of people don't
know about it and they should because it's an important part of our Arkansas history.
The Red Summer Post
Asher Simmons, Jack Tackett
This project was a learning experience for the both of us, I (Asher) was able to
learn more about how my people were treated in my own home state. It was very
interesting to see how things like this still go on. with police brutality and the
covering up of black hate crimes, massacres of black protesters who are labeled as
criminals and thugs by the press while white police officers and even racist
bystanders that murder these protesters are labeled as heroes. To this day white
people still have a strong grasp on the press, and since the murders of innocent
black people go hidden everyday it's up to us to be able to bring those stories to
the light and to let the black voices of today be heard.
Throughout this project, I (Jack) gained more knowledge on the terrible crimes
white people have committed against other races. I'm very glad that I was able to
learn about this massacre through the point of view of someone who isn't white,
and that made sure that I was not given a false account like the newspapers of the
time gave. As someone who is white, I feel very disappointed and sad that
something like this could have happened, and that it still continues today. There is
still murder being committed based on someone's race that is being justified
through the media as the victim's fault. As a society we need to continue showing
the truth behind these events that occur.
Our project portrays the truth of a horrific massacre that was hidden behind the
wall of the media, portraying the victims as evil and only wanting to steal money
from the whites. Using our more modern technology we can replicate things from
the past, with this we were able to use historical imagery to make a powerful
collage filled with actual news clippings that were posted during the time period of
the massacre. This artwork reveals the lies that were spouted out by newspapers,
showing the mobs of whites who gathered to go on ruthless killing sprees. We
drew nooses to bring attention to the 12 black men sentenced to death in trials
that lasted less than 8 minutes, there is a dead body in front of a building to show
that murder was the reality of this event, and a burning church to symbolize where
the massacre began and how the mobs of murderers attempted burn away the
hope of the black sharecroppers.
Their Voices
Rachel Laster, Ashley Lopez
Our work explored the voices of the victims and how the reporters were a voice for those
who were unable to be their own. The main voices were Ida B. Wells-Barnett, who was a
Black investigative journalist known for her utter fearlessness in her "crusade for justice"
for her people, and Robert Lee Hill, who was an African-American leader who was forced to flee Arkansas during the bloody Elaine Massacre of 1919. With the help of Ida B. Wells-
Barnett and the NAACP, it was ruled in the Moore v. Dempsey case that the state of
Arkansas had not established "a corrective process" that would have authorized the
defendants to exercise their constitutional right to due process of law on appeal, and the
original processes in Helena had been a "mask."
We used the composition mix of newspaper clippings, drawings of the victims and
reporters, in contrast to the information we put behind the images, as well as important
headlines being shown prominently. Although we didn't use a lot of variation of color, we
did use red, which brings the viewer's eye straight to it and the information it presents.
Inside the writing is the story of the massacre and the cause and result of the actions that
took place. In the drawings we made, we used watercolor to give age to them as well as
sprinkling red for the imagery it presented about the murders. We chose to highlight the
lost voices due to many people not knowing of this tragedy. We didn't want to show just
who they are but also what they did in support of the victims. By using newspaper
clippings, we were able to use real thoughts and reactions of the surrounding people
during the time of this massacre.
To Bring Awareness
Hallie Johnson, Gracie Foster
Our collage is based on the contrast of past and present. On one side we added the
church with rioters and harsh colors to show the bloodshed and fear during this event.
On the other side we focused towards the memorial of the 12 who were prosecuted with
lighter, pastel colors. We used a flower pastel background to bring a softer, more gentle
tone to contradict the harsh colors on the left. The right is more focused on the
memorial and the people whose lives were lost during the massacre. We used cut-outs
of the Elaine 12 and formatted them into the number 12 to show remembrance towards
them. We drew a picture of the church where the actual Elaine Massacre occurred to
show the extent of the massacre. We used images and drawings from the Elaine
Massacre Memorial to bring remembrance to the past while also reminding future
generations of the event.
Something that we felt passionate about during this project was the amount of victims
who still have not found justice. A step towards finding justice for those who were
known and unknown is to bring awareness. Most people that live in Arkansas are not
made aware of the Elaine Massacre. Hopefully our project will bring knowledge as well
as respect to those lost.