Centreville, Mississippi
https://www.mississippimarkers.com/amite-county.html
This marker is at the corner of E. Howard Street and Richmond Drive in Centreville.
Census Data
https://data.census.gov/table?q=Centreville+town,+Mississippi&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P1
United States Decennial Census, 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL-94-171)
P1| Race
|
Centreville town, Mississippi |
|
|
Total: |
1,258 |
|
Population of one race: |
1,231 |
|
White alone |
322 |
|
Black or African American alone |
897 |
|
American Indian and Alaska Native alone |
4 |
|
Asian alone |
3 |
|
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone |
0 |
|
Some Other Race alone |
5 |
|
Population of two or more races: |
27 |
https://data.census.gov/all?q=Centreville+town,+Mississippi
U.S. Census Bureau
2020 Decennial Census
Place
Centreville town, Mississippi
Total Population: 1,258
Median Household Income: $32,563
Bachelor's Degree or Higher: 10.2%
Employment Rate: 47.6%
Total Housing Units: 686
Without Health Care Coverage: 9.2%
Total Households: 871
Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 6
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History
Mississippi by Call Number: Olin Library Level 3 Stacks F341 F45ISBN: 9781604732924Publication Date: New York : The Viking Press, 1938"Mississippi: The WPA Guide to the Magnolia State, was part of a nationwide series of guides in the 1930s that created work during the Depression for artists, writers, teachers, librarians, and other professionals. This classic book is a lively collaborative project that covers a distinct era in Mississippi from the hills to the Delta to the Gulf Coast. Even today this guide is an engaging look at the Magnolia State and includes driving tours featuring many of the state's treasures. Along these old roads, the heart of Mississippi comes to life. The guide explores Deep South folkways, frontier hamlets, vanishing homesteads, burgeoning communities, and the local points of pride. In a way that perhaps may never be duplicated, these authors capture state heritage, portray the trying economic systems and challenges Mississippi faced, and hint of a revolution in roadways and in mobility for its citizens. An introduction by Robert S. McElvaine places this historic volume in a modern context." [summary and book cover image from the University Press of Mississippi; Illustrated edition (July 30, 2009)
The Slaughter: An American Atrocity by Call Number: Olin Library Level A Stacks PS3553.A6637 S57 1998ISBN: 0966649907Publication Date: 1998-08-01This title is the true story of black soldiers who were killed by the US Army at Camp Van Dorn in southwestern Mississippi during World War II. The men were members of the 364th Infantry Regiment. Part II is a fact-based fictional account of the incident and its discovery.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Newspaper Article Title: Could the Military have Slaughtered 1,200 Black Soldiers?
Author: DeBose, Brian.
Source: Afro - American Red Star; Washington, D.C., Dec 16, 2000, page A1.
Accessed from the Ethnic NewsWatch Database
Abstract: "Bill confessed to me that he had taken part in the killing of over 1,000 Black soldiers at Camp Van Dorn," said Mr. Case. It was this confession incident that started Case on a path to write his book, The Slaughter, and tell the story of those brave soldiers at Camp Van Dorn.
Later, Mr. Case would enlist the services of an investigative reporter, and came in contact with one Luther Williams. "I asked Luther what his most vivid memory was while he was at Camp Van Dorn, and right away Luther says, `That's easy, the night they killed all those niggers,' and in 1986, Luther testified to this on tape," said Mr. Case.
Later, after gaining access to declassified documents with the help of his congressman Wayne Dowdy, and a letter from President Bill Clinton, Mr. Case was ready to write his book. "I found out that the 364th was originally an all Black troupe stationed in the North, and were sent to Centreville as punishment for their involvement in a shooting skirmish with white soldiers, in which three men were killed," said Mr. Case. There were 3,000 men in the 364th sent to Camp Van Dorn.
There have been many documentaries in recent times of atrocities that were committed against African Americans by White citizens, be it the four little girls killed in a Birmingham, Alabama church bombing, or the Race War in Tulsa, Okla., or the killings in Rosewood, Florida. But the worst inhumane act the country has ever seen was not committed by civilians, but by military officers in Centreville, Miss.
For years the story was only known to those living near and around the Camp Van Dorn Military base in Centreville, but one man, after hearing the story first hand from a participant, decided that this tragic tale should be written down and could no longer be a secret.
Carroll Case, a banker, and now an award winning visual artist and free-lance writer first heard this graphic tale growing up in Mississippi. "I first heard the story in the Early 50s when I was a child, about Blacks being killed in Centreville," said Mr. Case. But it wasn't until 1985 that the case encountered a retired policeman named Bill Martzall, that this story would finally take shape.
"Bill confessed to me that he had taken part in the killing of over 1,000 Black soldiers at Camp Van Dorn," said Mr. Case. It was this confession incident that started Case on a path to write his book, The Slaughter, and tell the story of those brave soldiers at Camp Van Dorn.
"Bill told me that the men of the 364th Infantry were defenseless, because the military officers had removed the firing pins from their weapons," said Mr. Case.
After the men were killed according to witness accounts the bodies were loaded onto a train and hauled off to an unknown burial site.
Later, Mr. Case would enlist the services of an investigative reporter, and came in contact with one Luther Williams. "I asked Luther what his most vivid memory was while he was at Camp Van Dorn, and right away Luther says, `That's easy, the night they killed all those niggers,' and in 1986, Luther testified to this on tape," said Mr. Case.
The next stop for Mr. Case was the Military, but unfortunately this is where the true subterfuge, lying, and intimidation began. Mr. Case would ask for the Morning report for the 364th, and out of 20, seven were missing, presumed destroyed in a St. Louis Fire. The military lied when they told Mr. Case that there were no classified documents relating to the 364th.
Later, after gaining access to declassified documents with the help of his congressman Wayne Dowdy, and a letter from President Bill Clinton, Mr. Case was ready to write his book. "I found out that the 364th was originally an all Black troupe stationed in the North, and were sent to Centreville as punishment for their involvement in a shooting skirmish with white soldiers, in which three men were killed," said Mr. Case. There were 3,000 men in the 364th sent to Camp Van Dorn.
The men arrived in Centreville, MS in 1943 and were immediately scrutinized, because most of them were from the North. "The military broke their own statute of not sending colored soldiers to an area unlike their home environment," said Mr. Case.
According to declassified documents found by Mr. Case riots broke out almost immediately, and one private William Walker was killed by the town sheriff for fighting with an MP. The MP started the altercation by harassing white about a missing button on his uniform off base grounds.
Walker was classified as Absent Without Leave. This is how the families were kept in the dark. "In 1943 if the military told you that your husband or son was AWOL, or killed in action, you really had no reason to disbelieve them and there was certainly no alternative for a Black family member," said Mr. Case. Of the 3,000 men in the 364th 1,227 were killed in that one night on the Camp Van Dorn Army Base.
Now despite the fact that this atrocity was originally an open incident and not covered up-that's how everyone in Centreville knew about the incident-the military denies it ever happening. To this day they refute all of the evidence and eyewitness accounts of those White soldiers who participated.
Most recently the History Channel was scheduled to do a documentary on this atrocity this year but cancelled it, according to Mr. Case due to military pressure. But the book is still available and can be bought in stores or on the Internet at www.theslaughter.com.