Dedicated by President William Howard Taft in 1909, the Main Post Chapel on the Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston has served tens of thousands of soldiers as a place for multiple faith communities to worship. Also known as the "Gift Chapel", the land and funding for the chapel construction was donated by 1,000 San Antonio's residents and area military families who wanted to provide a place of peace for those stationed at the base. In late 1917, the chapel took on an entirely new duty as the location of 3 separate courts-martial trials of the accused soldiers from the 24th Infantry after the August 23, 1917 Camp Logan Riots. As the only meeting space large enough to accommodate so many soldiers on trial, the chapel was home to the largest murder trial in United States history.
Located in Houston's Fourth Ward, this is Houston's oldest cemetery housing Houston co-founders John Kirby Allen and his brother George Allen as well as numerous Texas revolutionaries. During the Camp Logan Riot of 1917, this cemetery acted as a battleground and a pivotal moment for men in the 24th Battalion as the violence against Houston police officers and citizens continued.
Very near the current Shepherd Dr. overpass and pedestrian bridge spanned the thin Shepherd's Dam Bridge, allowing safe and dry passage over the Buffalo Bayou. During the Camp Logan Riot of 1917, the soldiers used this footbridge to continue along their way during the August 23rd mutinous march on Houston police and citizens.
This is the location of the 3rd Battalion 24th Infantry Soldier's Camp, located approximately 0.5 miles away from Camp Logan. While stationed in Houston to protect the Camp Logan construction site, the soldiers of this Battalion were required to live offsite and march to and from the larger camp every day due to the military's agreement with the City of Houston that only white men would live within Camp Logan itself. This was the launching point of the Camp Logan Riots on the evening of August 23, 1917. After weeks of being called derogatory names, suffering from physical attacks and fending off other racism-fueled moments of danger, a group of soldiers had enough of the disrespect and danger. A group of uncertain numbers took up arms and set off on an evening march that would ultimately leave 50 dead (21 dead during the riot and 19 executed afterward) and dozens of citizens gravely wounded.
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.
This is the original location of Camp Logan, a military training camp that stretched over what is now known as Houston's Memorial Park. As the United States entered World War I in 1917, the U.S. War Department ordered two new emergency military training camps to be built. Realizing the financial boon that two military camps would be for the local economy, the city of Houston lobbied for Camp Logan to be built. On July 28, 1917, the all-Black soldiers of the 3rd Battalion of the 24th Infantry were stationed at Camp Logan to guard the camp as it was under construction. With proven skills in the field of battle in the Philippines, the troops were eager for the opportunity to fight in France and many looked forward to that posting after their duty at Camp Logan was complete. Stepping off the train in Houston from Columbus, New Mexico, these soldiers could scarcely have anticipated the bloodshed that they would encounter on American soil only weeks after their arrival.
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On a hot summer's night in 1917, a deadly riot broke out on the streets of Houston as the city's police, citizens and the all-Black soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, 24th Infantry clashed over racial tension.
