In 1919, an horrific event took place in the city of Chicago that became known as the Race Riot of 1919. It was sparked by the drowning of a black teenager who, along with his friends, had "trespassed" into the waters of an all-white beach. It was an unspoken rule that the blacks could swim on one beach in the area and the whites used the other. Neither race was supposed to infringe on the boundaries of the other. But, on one hot Chicago day, a group of Black teenagers were swimming in "forbidden" territory. The day ended in tragedy for one young man who died, and for the city, as a whole, which erupted into a terrible riot killing dozens and injuring hundreds.

"Hartfield writes a compelling story, full of facts and details. This book would make a great addition to any discussion of Black History Month...."

In A FEW RED DROPS, author Claire Hartfield not only tells about the events of that dark day in Chicago's history, but she goes to great lengths to provide the background and history of the riot, detailing the decades of events that led up to the turmoil. She provides many historical photos about this story that are scattered throughout the text. The end matter includes a copy of the poem, "I Am the People, The Mob," by Carl Sandburg (which is quoted some in the text), a detailed Notes section, a detailed Bibliography, a list of Picture Credits, an Acknowledgements page and an Index at the back of the book, showing the depth of the research and analysis that went into the writing of this book.

I wasn't familiar with this event, but I must say I have learned a lot about it. I read with interest the account of what happened that day and the events that led up to it. Hartfield writes a compelling story, full of facts and details.

This book would make a great addition to any discussion of Black History Month, particularly in regards to race riots and other clashes between African Americans and other groups of people.