New York was already a center of industry for the war—factories made uniforms, the Brooklyn Navy Yard built warships, Wall Street financed the war—but a drafty lottery on July 13 became a flashpoint. A crowd of 500 threw bricks at a draft location—Third Avenue and 47th Street—and set fire to the building. Stores were ransacked, and riots spread. Police officers were beaten, including police superintendent John Kennedy, who was only saved when someone said he was dead—he actually had 20 wounds and over 70 bruises.
By the afternoon, blacks started to become targets—the Colored Orphan Asylum (Fifth Avenue between 43rd and 44th Streets) was looted and burned down by thousands of angry men and women. Two hundred thirty-three orphans, who were essentially unharmed, were moved to the 35th Street Police Station, and they were lucky—many blacks (including children) were beaten and eleven were killed, including a disabled black man who was beaten, hanged and then dragged through the mud and a seven-year-old who was caught while trying to flee a fire and beaten to death. Tenements occupied by blacks were set on fire.
READ ENTIRE ESSAY @ THE GOTHAMIST
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