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This is a contributing entry for The Path of Houston's Camp Logan Riot of 1917 and only appears as part of that tour.Learn More.

Sara Travers' 1917 Home in the San Felipe District

Introduction

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Racial violence escalated in front of the home of a well-respected Black woman named Sara Travers in what was known as the San Felipe Fourth District. A hard-working laundress and mother of five, her treatment at the hands of two white Houston police officers—Lee Sparks and Rufus Daniels—is considered the final trigger in the chain of events that led to the mutiny of the 3rd Battalion 24th Infantry soldiers and the Houston Riots of 1917. In 1917, the San Felipe district was the epicenter of the Black community with Black-owned businesses, places of worship, the city's largest baseball venue and a library accessible to all set up at Booker T. Washington High School.

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Houston Police Officer Rufus Daniels

Houston Police Officer Rufus Daniels

Backstory and Context

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Around noon on August 23, 1917, two white policemen—Lee Sparks and Rufus Daniels— were searching for a man accused of shooting craps on a nearby street in the Fourth Ward. As part of their search, they entered the home of Sara Travers to look for him. Unable to locate their fugitive, the police officers grew angry with Travers, hit her and dragged her out of her home while wearing only her undergarments in front of her children and neighbors. Upset and confused, Travers had her baby ripped from her arms and thrown to the ground while the officers continued to berate her for her 'abusive language' to them.

As a crowd began to gather around outside the home, Private Alonzo Edwards from the 24th Infantry arrived to ask the officers to allow her to put on clothing and shoes. Before he was able to say or do anything else, he was pistol-whipped and badly beaten by both officers, telling him (according to witnesses interviewed by the NAACP Crisis Magazine), 'That's the way we do things in the South, WE are running things'. Edwards was then arrested and taken to the police station.

A short time later, in the same neighborhood near Travers' home, Corporal Charles Baltimore from the 24th approached the police officers seeking the whereabouts of Private Edwards. Again, Sparks and Daniels brandished their weapons, this time shooting at Baltimore, who tried to run away from their fire but was later pulled from a nearby home and assaulted in the street. Baltimore was arrested and news of the severity of his injuries made it to Camp Logan, where his fellow soldiers believed him to be dead and readied themselves to march to the police station for his body and for revenge. Later that day, Baltimore was released and returned to camp, but the emotional turmoil had set in and many in the Battalion were still eager for revenge.

Sources

Gruening, Martha. "HOUSTON. AN N. A. A. C. P. INVESTIGATION." The Crisis 15, no. 1 (1917): 14.

Additional Information