The Circus Comes to Town

1
The Circus Comes to Town It was the John
Robinson Circus that brought Elias Clayton, Elmer
Jackson, and Isaac McGhie to Duluth. They and
other young men were employed by the circus as
cooks and roustabouts, labourers who performed
a variety of physical tasks. Travelling by train,
the circus was greeted by an eager crowd upon
arrival in Duluth. They were in town for a free
street parade and one day of performances on June
14, 1920.
2
Boy meets girl On the warm summer night of June
14, Irene Tusken, age nineteen, and James
Sullivan, eighteen, went to the circus in Duluth.
At the end of the evening the pair walked to the
rear of the main tent.
Decision point 1 What happens next?
3
Accusations In the early morning of June 15th,
Duluth Police Chief John Murphy received a call
from James Sullivans father saying six circus
workers had held the pair at gunpoint and then
raped Irene Tusken. Little evidence would be
found to corroborate these claims. An examination
of Tusken that morning by Dr. David Graham, a
family physician, showed no physical signs of
rape or assault.
Decision point 2 What happens next?
4
ArrestsSix workers were immediately arrested
by the Duluth Police and held in the Duluth city
jail, located inside the police station on the
corner of Second Avenue and Superior Street. The
event was reported in the local newspaper, and
news of the alleged rape spread rapidly.
Decision point 3 What happens next?
5
The mob That evening a mob estimated between
1,000 and 10,000 people gathered on Superior
Street outside the police station. They met
little resistance from the police, who had been
ordered not to use their guns. Wielding bricks,
rails, and heavy timbers, the mob forced its way
into the jail, tearing down doors and breaking
windows. They pulled all six workers from their
cells. After a hasty mock trial, Clayton,
Jackson, and McGhie were declared guilty and
taken one block to a lamp post on the corner of
First Street and Second Avenue East. A few tried
to dissuade the mob, but their pleas were in
vain. The three men were beaten and then lynched.
Decision point 4 What happens next?
6
Next day The Minnesota National Guard arrived
the next morning to secure Duluth and protect the
three surviving prisoners. These prisoners, along
with ten additional suspects from the circus,
were moved under heavy guard to the St. Louis
County jail. Though the citys streets were now
calm, not everyone felt safe. Many residents
stayed inside and locked their doors, fearful of
further violence
How would people react? What would people say?
7
Reactions The lynchings made headlines in
newspapers throughout the country. Many were
shocked such an atrocity happened in Minnesota, a
northern state. The Chicago Evening Post opined,
This is a crime of a Northern state, as black
and ugly as any that has brought the South in
disrepute. The Duluth authorities stand condemned
in the eyes of the nation. An article in the
Minneapolis Journal accused the lynch mob of
putting a stain on the name of Minnesota,
stating, The sudden flaming up of racial
passion, which is the reproach of the South, may
also occur, as we now learn in the bitterness of
humiliation in Minnesota.
8
Many citizens of Duluth were similarly outraged.
Dentist Milton W. Judy, a prominent Duluthian
wrote, Duluth has suffered a horrible disgrace,
a blot on its name that it can never outlive.
Clergymen, including Reverend William M. Majors
of St. Marks A.M.E., spoke out against the
lynchings, calling for the severe punishment of
the mob members. The Duluth Rip-Saw strongly
condemned the lynchings, advocating the thorough
house-cleaning and elimination of every yellow
member of the police department who had failed
to protect the blacks from the mob.
9
More reaction. Despite lacking evidence, some
believed Irene Tusken was raped and that the
three victims, although never tried in court,
were guilty and deserving of their fate. The Ely
Miner, of nearby Ely, Minnesota claimed while
the thing was wrong in principle, it was most
effective and those who were put out of their
criminal existence by the mob will not assault
any more young girls.
10
From the Ely Miner, June 25, 1920.
11
In nearby Superior, Wisconsin, the Acting Chief
of Police declared, We are going to run all idle
negroes out of Superior and theyre going to stay
out. How many were forced out is not certain,
but all of the blacks employed by a carnival in
Superior were fired and told to leave the city.

• What do events in Duluth tell us about the
  Roaring Twenties?
• Small town America
• Entertainment
• Sex
• Race
• Justice