KiraHutchinson4 at 18:08, 18 December 2025

2025-12-18T18:08:16Z

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{{Short description|Riots against Americans of Asian descent in Bellingham}}

{{use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{use American English|date=January 2024}}

{{Infobox civil conflict
| title = 1907 Bellingham Race Riot
| subtitle =
| partof = [[Anti-Indian sentiment]]
| image =
| caption =
| date = September 4, 1907
| place = [[Bellingham, Washington]], United States
| coordinates =
| causes = Racial prejudice against South Asian immigrants, labor competition in the lumber mills
| goals = Expulsion of [[South Asian]] Indian immigrants from Bellingham
| methods = [[Mob violence]], [[Assault|beatings]], [[intimidation]]
| status = Ended by September 5, 1907
| result = Indian immigrants expelled, no prosecution of mob members
| side1 = White mob (predominantly [[Asiatic Exclusion League]])
| side2 = South Asian Indian immigrants (mostly [[Sikhs]])
| side3 =
| leadfigures1 =
| leadfigures2 =
| leadfigures3 =
| howmany1 = 400-500
| howmany2 = 125+
| howmany3 =
| casualties1 = None
| casualties2 = 6 hospitalized (disputed)
| casualties3 =
| fatalities = None
| injuries = 6 hospitalized (disputed)
| arrests = 5 arrested, all released
| damage = None reported
| detentions = 100 held overnight in Bellingham jail
| charged = None
| fined = None
| effect = Migration of victims to other areas, lasting racial tension
| effect_label = Long-term racial tension
| casualties_label =
}}

The '''Bellingham riots''' occurred on September 4, 1907, in [[Bellingham, Washington]], United States.<ref name="1907 Bellingham riots by UW">{{cite web |url=https://depts.washington.edu/civilr/bham_intro.htm |title=The 1907 Bellingham Riots |website=Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project |publisher=University of Washington |accessdate=2024-01-09}}</ref> A mob of 400–500 white men, predominantly members of the [[Asiatic Exclusion League]], with intentions to exclude [[Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin|Indian]] immigrants from the work force of the local lumber mills, attacked the homes of the South Asian Indians.<ref name="Lieb 2006">{{cite web |last=Lieb |first=Emily |date=December 26, 2006 |title=White workingmen attack Bellingham's East Indian millworkers on September 4, 1907 |url=http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=8039 |access-date=2024-01-09 |website=HistoryLink.org |id=Essay 8039}}</ref> The Indians were mostly [[Sikhs]] from [[Punjab]] but were labelled as [[Hindus]] by much of the media of the day.<ref name="depts.washington.edu 1907">{{cite web |title=The 1907 Bellingham Riots: News Coverage 1907-2007 |url=https://depts.washington.edu/civilr/bham_news.htm |website=Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project |publisher=University of Washington |accessdate=2024-01-09}}</ref>

[[File:Article from the 16 September 1906 Puget Sound American issue describing recent "Hindu" immigration to Bellingham, Washington, featung illustrations depicting Sikhs.jpg|thumb|Article from the 16 September 1906 Puget Sound American newspaper incorrectly describing turbaned Sikhs as "Hindu" and their unfavorable immigration to Bellingham]]

==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.<ref name="Cahn 2008">{{cite web |last=Cahn |first=David |url=http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/bham_history.htm |title=The 1907 Bellingham Riots in Historical Context |year=2008 |website=Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project |publisher=University of Washington |accessdate=2024-01-09}}</ref> "By the next day 125 South Asians had been driven out of town and were on their way to British Columbia".<ref name="Lee 2007">{{Cite journal |last=Lee |first=Erika |author-link=Erika Lee |date=2007-11-01 |title=The "Yellow Peril" and Asian Exclusion in the Americas |url= |journal=Pacific Historical Review |language=en |volume=76 |issue=4 |pages=537–562 |doi=10.1525/phr.2007.76.4.537 |issn=0030-8684 |jstor=10.1525/phr.2007.76.4.537 |oclc=6965417308}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Wynne 1966">{{Cite journal |last=Wynne |first=Robert E. |date=1966 |title=American Labor Leaders and the Vancouver Anti-Oriental Riot |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40488175 |journal=The Pacific Northwest Quarterly |volume=57 |issue=4 |pages=174 |issn=0030-8803 |jstor=40488175 |oclc=9972703563}}</ref>

Some victims of the riots migrated to [[Everett, Washington]] where two months later, they received similar treatment.<ref name="Labovitch 2021">{{cite web |last=Labovitch |first=Lisa |date=June 4, 2021 |title=White mob gathers to expel Asian Indian laborers from Everett on November 2, 1907 |url=https://www.historylink.org/File/21247 |access-date=January 9, 2024 |website=HistoryLink.org |id=Essay 21247}}</ref> Similar [[riot]]s occurred during this period in [[Vancouver]], BC<ref name="Vancouver Courier 2007-08-31">{{cite web |last=Vancouver Courier |author-link=Vancouver Courier |date=August 31, 2007 |title=Two-day conference examines city's 1907 race riot |url=http://www.canada.com/vancouvercourier/news/story.html?id=27e737a2-acbb-4671-a6c1-5f39adaee1d8&k=77221 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104211807/http://www.canada.com/vancouvercourier/news/story.html?id=27e737a2-acbb-4671-a6c1-5f39adaee1d8&k=77221 |archivedate=2012-11-04 |website=canada.com}}</ref> and [[California]].<ref name="McMahon 2001">{{Cite book |last=McMahon |first=Suzanne |chapter=The Great White Wall |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/echoesoffreedoms0000mcma/page/22/mode/2up |chapter-url-access=registration |date=2001 |title=Echoes of freedom: South Asian pioneers in California, 1899-1965 |url=https://archive.org/details/echoesoffreedoms0000mcma |url-access=registration |access-date= |publisher=Center for South Asian Studies, University of California |language= |publication-place=Berkeley, CA, US |via=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-944613-41-2 |oclc=1341891513 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/echoesoffreedoms0000mcma/page/22/mode/2up 23]–[https://archive.org/details/echoesoffreedoms0000mcma/page/24/mode/2up -24]}}</ref>

==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."<ref name="Human Rights Commemorative Project 2010">{{cite web |title=Human Rights Commemorative Project leaflet |url=http://archofhealing.org/archwp/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Proclamation-Day-of-healing-reconciliation-Sept-4-2007.pdf |orig-date=2007-09-04 |date=2010-09-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309005304/http://www.cob.org/documents/features/hrcp-leaflet.pdf |archive-date=March 9, 2014 |website=Arch of Healing and Reconciliation |publication-place=Bellingham, WA}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Bellingham 2017">{{cite web |title=Arch of Healing and Reconciliation to Honor Diversity and Immigrants in Washington State |website=Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism |date=2017-10-03 |url=https://www.bellingham.org/press-releases/arch-healing-reconciliation-honor-diversity-immigrants-washington-state/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920172702/https://www.bellingham.org/press-releases/arch-healing-reconciliation-honor-diversity-immigrants-washington-state/ |archive-date=2020-09-20 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==See also==
* {{annotated link|1907 Vancouver anti-Asian riots}}, which followed those in Bellingham
* [[List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States]]
* {{annotated link|Pacific Coast race riots of 1907}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite web |last=Englesberg |first=Paul |title=The 1907 Bellingham Riot and Anti-Asian Hostilities in the Pacific Northwest |website=Canadian Sikh Centre |date=2013-03-01 |url=http://www.canadiansikhcentre.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Paul-Englesber-Bellingham-Riots-read-on-9.22.12.pdf |archive-url=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 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=dead}}
* {{cite journal |last=Hallberg |first=Gerald N. |title=Bellingham, Washington's Anti-Hindu Riot |journal=Journal of the West |volume=12 |year=1973 |pages=163–175 |oclc=1783221 |issn=0022-5169}}
* {{cite book |last=Jensen |first=Joan M. |author-link=Joan M. Jensen |title=Passage from India: Asian Indian immigrants in North America |publisher=Yale University Press |publication-place=New Haven |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-300-03846-0 |oclc=1342141898 |url=https://archive.org/details/passagefromindia0000jens |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}
* {{cite journal |last=Lee |first=Erika |author-link=Erika Lee |title=Hemispheric Orientalism and the 1907 Pacific Coast Race Riots |journal=Amerasia Journal |volume=33 |issue=2 |date=2007 |issn=0044-7471 |doi=10.17953/amer.33.2.y263745731125524 |pages=19–48 |oclc=1259572954}}
* {{Cite book |last=McMahon |first=Suzanne |date=2001 |title=Echoes of freedom: South Asian pioneers in California, 1899-1965 |url=https://archive.org/details/echoesoffreedoms0000mcma |url-access=registration |access-date= |publisher=Center for South Asian Studies, University of California |language= |publication-place=Berkeley, CA, US |via=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-944613-41-2 |oclc=1341891513}}

==External links==
* {{cite web |url=http://www.saadigitalarchive.org/collection/bellingham-riot |title=Bellingham Riot materials |website=South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)}} This includes a video documentary and archival print materials.
* {{cite web |last=Koritala |first=Srirajasekhar Bobby |title=A historical perspective of Americans of Asian Indian origin |website=infinityfoundation.com |date=December 13, 2016 |url=https://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/h_es/h_es_korit_histical.htm |access-date=2024-01-10}}
* {{cite web |title=The Racial Politics of Empire: South Asian Revolutionaries on the Pacific Coast |website=Sixth European Social Science History Conference |date=2005-12-17 |url=http://www2.iisg.nl/esshc/programme.asp?selyear=8&pap=3720 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051217160400/http://www2.iisg.nl/esshc/programme.asp?selyear=8&pap=3720 |archive-date=2005-12-17 |url-status=dead}}
{{Bellingham}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellingham Riots}}
[[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]]

1907 Bellingham race riot - Revision history

KiraHutchinson4 at 18:08, 18 December 2025