Letter from Vancouver Island

Title

Letter from Vancouver Island

Subject

Black race

Description

Inflammatory letter to the editor from a British subject in Victoria who believes that the negro riot in the Colonial Theatre shows that the black race is not ready to be integrated into society. This excited and angry description of the "riot" suggests that Victoria blacks were asserting their right to equal seating in the theater, rather than to seating in a set-aside section.

The recent escape of slave Charles Mitchell from Olympia to Victoria forms part of the context for this article. Victoria blacks had arranged the "underground railroad" by which Mitchell escaped.

Abstract

A reader responds to the riot in the Colonial Theatre in Victoria by a group of blacks by recounting the incident, as he witnessed it, and forcefully arguing that blacks are uncivilized.

Sub-head on the letter reads: "Practical demonstration of Abolition-Republican principles!"

On the same page, Presidential Election results from Oregon. Lincoln pulls in more votes than Breckinridge.

Creator

"A British Subject"

Source

Pioneer and Democrat

Publisher

Olympia, Wa.: Edward Furste

Date Issued

1860-11-16

References

Mitchell, Charles, born 1847

Medium

Web

Type

newspaper

Bibliographic Citation

Vol. 8, No. 52, col. E

Spatial Coverage

Victoria; British Columbia, Canada

Provenance

http://www.sos.wa.gov

URL

http://www.sos.wa.gov/history/newspapers_detail.aspx?t=3

Start Page

2

End Page

2

Geolocation