This followed race riots that occurred in Omaha Nebraska the prior day which saw violence on a large scale. It was based on a similar accusation but required military intervention to be put down and saw the horrific lynching of Willie Brown, whose body was subsequently burned, resulting in a widely distributed photograph.
The news from Omaha made front page news in Wyoming, but interestingly would be remarkably different from the front page that was found in Omaha. There, the victim of the lynching was simply proclaimed to be guilty and the mob enacting vigilante justice. In Wyoming, the heroic actions of the mayor in attempting to stop the mob were the focus.
While a 1919 act of racial violence in Montgomery Alabama isn't surprising to read about today, many would be surprised to learn of one in Omaha. But Omaha was and is a Midwestern city and had a large black minority that had been drawn to the location due to the manual labor opportunities it afforded. Racial tension in the city was high in the town and would remain so for many years.
Indeed, while we don't association him with the city, it's worth noting that Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little, was born and grew up in Omaha. His father was an outspoken black Baptist minister and there's always been some suspicion that the streetcar accident he died in was actually a murder.
In other events, on this day a special session of Utah's legislature the state's Senate voted in favor of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution granting women the franchise. The House would do the same the following day.
