About Riot and Revolutionaries in 1910 St. Johns
Presented by Johanna Ogden, independent historian
On March 21, 1910, some 200 residents of St. Johns, Oregon, rioted
against the so-called “Hindu” mill workers working and living in town. While
this little-known riot lasted two hours, its aftershocks reverberated for
years. East Indians and Portland authorities pursued prosecution of the town’s
mayor, several police officers, and multiple white laborers, their trials
sprawling over two years. More significantly, following the trials, St. Johns
became a center of East Indian anti-colonial organizing focused on the
overthrow of British rule of India. This talk will explore the colonial roots
of the riot and East Indian’s radical response.
About the Speaker:
Johanna Ogden is a local, independent historian. She has spoken
from British Columbia to California, and in India, on Indians' Oregon legacy in
the context of global empire, and is currently completing a book manuscript on
the topic.
Photo Credit: St. Johns, summer 1908, OHS Research Library, photo file 1698, neg. no. 45949