A Day of Blood At Wilmington: November 10, 1898 lecture by LeRae Umfleet
Presented by the Foundation of Wayne Community College
In this presentation, Umfleet will explain her findings from years of research to explore the causes and effects of the violence that unfolded in Wilmington, North Carolina. Neither isolated or spontaneous, the multiple tragedies on November 10th were the result of an effort by white leaders to regain control of government on both local and state levels. As the state’s largest city led by a bi-racial coalition, Wilmington became the focus of a successful statewide white supremacy campaign to force African American voices out of political and economic life. In addition to murder in the streets, Wilmington experienced the United States’ only successful coup de ‘etat and a full change in the lives of African American residents in ways that researchers are still trying to quantify a full ten years after Umfleet’s groundbreaking work was published.
LeRae Umfleet currently works with the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources to develop outreach and specialty programming projects on behalf of the Secretary’s office. Throughout her career in public history, she has worked with a multitude of sites in a variety of capacities, including the Office of Archives and History and the North Carolina Collection and Davis Library in Chapel Hill. Originally from Bath, North Carolina, Umfleet graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1991 with a Bachelor’s Degree in History. She then attended East Carolina University where she graduated with a Master’s Degree in 1998. Reflecting her personal interest in plantation slavery, her thesis was entitled “Slavery in Microcosm: Bertie County, North Carolina 1790-1810.” She also published A Day of Blood: The 1898 Wilmington Race Riot, based on research for which she was awarded the American Association of State and Local History Award of Merit and their prestigious WOW Award.
