Johnstown's Rosedale banishment, Tulsa Massacre occurred in same era of racial tension

The most infamous event in the history of Johnstown race relations occurred just two years after the Tulsa Race Massacre.

On Aug. 30, 1923, a shootout in the Rosedale neighborhood resulted in the death of Robert Young, a Black man, who, by accounts from the time, was drunk, as well as police officers Otto Nukem, Otto Fink, Joseph Louis Abrahams and John James.

In response, Johnstown Mayor Joseph Cauffiel issued an edict: “I want every Negro who has lived here less than seven years to pack up his belongings and get out.” He also called for banning any Black or Mexican laborers from coming to the city and prohibiting gatherings of Black citizens for any reason except church services.

Ku Klux Klansmen burned crosses around the city.

Pennsylvania Gov. Gifford Pinchot admonished Cauffiel, whose proposal never took legal effect. But an estimated 500 Black citizens nevertheless left the city within weeks after the edict.

“It stunted the growth of Black people in this town,” Alan Cashaw, current president of the NAACP Johnstown branch, said. “To me, it’s another insidious step to keep the population down.”

Cashaw described the edict as “not normal” and part of Jim Crow policy.

Cody McDevitt, author of “Banished from Johnstown,” a book about the Rosedale incident, called what happened “an ethnic cleansing.”

Rosedale took place amidst the racial tension of the early-20th century, which included the Tulsa Massacre, 100 years ago, on May 31 and June 1, 1921.

The events in Tulsa started when Dick Rowland, a 19-year-old Black shoeshiner, was arrested and accused of assaulting Sarah Page, a 17-year-old white elevator operator. Tension grew until a riot broke out, resulting in 35 blocks of the city’s Greenwood District — a prosperous community known as Black Wall Street — being leveled by forces on the ground and in aircraft. Approximately 10,000 Black citizens were left homeless and 6,000 were detained in internment camps.

Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 determined city officials conspired with the mob of white citizens. Officially, 38 people died. But unofficial estimates have the number ranging from 100 to 300.

McDevitt linked Tulsa to Rosedale.

“When I spoke to African-American historians, they actually encouraged me to make the connection between not only Tulsa, but also St. Louis, where there was also a race riot,” McDevitt said. “And when people say ‘race riot’ during that time, what they mean is white people attacking Black people. The term ‘race riot’ took on a new meaning after World War II, which is the understanding we have now, which is African-Americans destroying property as a protest of socioeconomic conditions.”

Both incidents were also downplayed in their own cities for decades.

More research has recently been done into the incidents.

“I think recovering these parts of history is something that Black and white people have to do together,” McDevitt said, “simply because the oral accounts from both groups are what permitted, for instance, Tulsa people to recover that as well.”