Ossian Sweet
Encyclopedia
Ossian Sweet was an American physician. He is most notable for his self defense in 1925 of his newly-purchased home in a predominantly white
neighborhood against a mob attempting to force him out of the neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan
, and the subsequent acquittal
by an all-white jury of murder
charges against him, his family, and friends who helped defend his home, in what came to be known as the Sweet Trials.
just eight days before the death of his oldest brother, Oscar. Henry Sweet was a former slave from Florida and was able to buy land in Bartow in 1898, where he moved his entire family. There they lived in a small farmhouse Ossian’s parents had built and all the children helped with the farm animals and in the fields. The Sweets had a total of ten children living in cramped quarters and living on the little money they could earn through their farm. At age six, Sweet witnessed the lynching
of Fred Rochelle who lived a few blocks away from the Sweets. Rochelle had been accused of raping a white girl and was set afire and murdered. Sweet watched traumatized from the bushes as the flames engulfed Rochelle's body. “He’d recount it with frightening specificity: the smell of the kerosene, Rochelle’s screams as he was engulfed in flames, the crowd’s picking off pieces of charred flesh to take home as souvenirs.” This memory would haunt Ossian Sweet throughout his life, especially in his later years.
in Xenia, Ohio
. Wilberforce University was one of few African American colleges
of that time and was funded by the African Methodist Episcopal Church
(AME). Wilberforce is where Ossian became a charter member of the Delta chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi
and was where he earned a Bachelors of Science at the age of 25. He would attend Wilberforce for eight years; the first four of which were spent in prep-school studying Latin, history, mathematics, English, music, drawing, philosophy, social and introductory science and foreign language (probably French). Sweet took work shoveling snow, stoking furnaces, washing dirty dishes, waiting tables, and carting luggage up hotel stairs to pay the US$
118 for his tuition and books. From Wilberforce University, Ossian attended Howard University
in Washington D.C. where he earned his medical accreditation.
Throughout Sweet's early life he demonstrated a very clear dedication to school and overcoming the life of a Southern black
. Sweet's parents were one of many families to suffer the tough goodbyes of sending young children away to be educated, but the hope that Ossian would be presented with opportunities not available in the South as well as the possibility of Ossian escaping the horrible things he had witnessed in Bartow, led his parents to this decision. Sweet became the leader in his family and paved the way for his younger siblings to work hard and become educated as well. One of the most pressing impacts of his experience at Wilberforce, and later at Howard, was his growing knowledge and goal to be recognized as part of the Talented Tenth.
, a leader in black medical education, in 1919 when he personally witnessed the Washington D.C. race riot. Like so many cities in the summer of 1919
, Washington D.C. had been stretched to its breaking point. Black migrants from the south had come pouring into the city's main black areas with the promise of wartime jobs, but in 1919 with the end of the war the promise was no longer there, although new migrants were pouring into the city everyday. Thousands of white soldiers were held on the outskirts of Washington D.C. while waiting to be discharged from their service in the World War I
. Boredom eventually hit; and when it did, a riot broke that lasted five days and left 6 dead and 150 wounded. Sweet was just four blocks from the riots, but could not leave his fraternity; Kevin Boyle, author of Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age, attributes his lack of composure in this harsh time to fear, and he had good reason. Sweet was “walking down the street when a gang descended on a passing streetcar, pulled a black passenger down to the sidewalk, and beat him mercilessly.” Boyle later states that Sweet did not venture from his house because he was escaping the memories of his past, a true emotion for Sweet, and one that would not leave him until his death.
"Despite its name, Black Bottom
wasn't really a colored area. Most of its residents were immigrants, not negroes," states Boyle. Black Bottom was a neighborhood of the poor working class people of Detroit. Boyle describes Black Bottom in his book as dingy and rundown, with rooms barely large enough to accommodate families. Homes in central Black Bottom were decaying. When it rained, water would flood through the ceilings, wind came through holes in the walls where the plaster had cracked off, and many of the windows had no glass. Boyle gives evidence that with discrimination in the real estate market, agents sometimes refused to even show homes in white neighborhoods, for they feared black occupancy would bring down property values. This kept migrants primarily in Black Bottom. With no place else to go, Black Bottom remained the home of the poor working class and landlords saw no need to make improvements to living quarters. The poor living conditions led to the constant threat of infection and spread of disease, and many died of smallpox, pneumonia, and syphilis. In the 1960s, Black Bottom was demolished during the city's urban renewal program. "Black Bottom" also became the name of a popular dance
in the Florida/New Orleans areas between 1926-27. It was performed at the Apollo Theater and was modeled after young black children’s imitations of cows stuck in the mud.
. These proto ghettos were extremely poor areas, being unsanitary with few sources of water, not to mention that they were mainly built in places that were environmentally unhealthy. Overpopulation and the steady influx of migrants, who lacked medical care amid cramped quarters, caused diseases and created imminent threats to life. According to Kevin Boyle in Arc of Justice, “rudimentary care could have saved some of them. But Black Bottom didn’t get even that.” Sweet saw this as an opportunity to practice his medicine. He gave US$100 to a pharmacy, “Palace Drugs”, in exchange for office space. His first client, Elizabeth Riley, feared she had contracted tetanus
because her jaw grew stiff. Sweet was able to diagnose that it was not an infection, but rather simply a dislocated jaw. He reset the bone which spread good publicity about his practice throughout the neighborhood. His list of patients grew, and "Ossian was named a medical examiner
for Liberty Life Insurance, an appointment that assured him a steady stream of patients he might not have otherwise have acquired." According to Boyle, Sweet earned the respect of his colleagues at Dunbar Memorial.
and Paris
in 1923. Although he did not receive a degree, Sweet furthered his education by attending lectures given by noted physicians and scientists, including Madame Curie. In non-segregated Paris, he and his wife were also treated as equals to Caucasians. His only experience with prejudice while in Europe was at the American Hospital in which he donated a relatively large amount of money, 300 francs, given his finances. When seeking to reserve space for his wife to deliver their baby, the American Hospital refused on the grounds that the white Americans in the hospital did not want to be mixed with black patients. On May 29, 1924, Gladys gave birth to Marguerite, who they later called Iva. The thought that the American Hospital had “imperiled the health, and perhaps the life of Gladys and Iva” infuriated him, and reminded Sweet of the world to which he would return.
By June 21, 1924, the Sweets returned to Detroit and Ossian began working at Dunbar Hospital
, Detroit’s first black hospital. Having saved enough money, he moved his family in 1925 from his wife’s parents home in an all-white neighborhood, to 2905 Garland Street, another all-white neighborhood at Garland and Charlevoix. Sweet was aware of the neighborhood's prejudice and of the probable danger he would encounter in purchasing the house, but liked it not only because of its appearance and size, but for what the house represented. Most African Americans lived in Black Bottom, but those who prospered moved to better neighborhoods, which is what Sweet wanted for his own family. Also, he felt he could not back down from buying the home because the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
had just been revived after two years of inactivity in Detroit. This meant that there was more of a push against the color line, to not surrender to it at that particular time. The Ossian H. Sweet House
is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
Upon his return to Detroit in 1924, Ossian started work at Dunbar Hospital
, Detroit's first black hospital. Because of his training in France, Ossian was more educated than many white men. A young professional of Ossian's status should have had no trouble finding a respectable home in a respectable neighborhood, but unfortunately the Sweets' race played a large role in their house hunting. The Sweets had a difficult time trying to find a realtor who would represent them and, when they finally did, they had an even more difficult time finding a family who would sell them a house. According to Kevin Boyle's account of the Sweets' first impression of the Garland house
, the Sweets were less than impressed. The area was a "workingman's" area filled with modest houses and two-family flats, but the location was ideal. It was close to Ossian's office and to Gladys's parents' home. The owners of the home saw the Sweets as an opportunity to make more than the bungalow would have brought if sold to a white family. On June 7, 1925, the Sweets bought the house for US$18,500, about US$6,000 more than the house's fair market value. The Sweets moved into the house on September 8, 1925.
Fearing an attack, Ossian had nine other men at his house on the night of the attack to help defend his family and property should any violence arise. The men included: Charles Washington (insurance man), Leonard Morse (colleague), William Davis, Henry Sweet (Ossian's brother), John Latting (Henry's college friend), Norris Murray (handyman), Otis Sweet (Ossian's brother) and Joe Mack (chauffeur). Gladys, too, was inside the bungalow. Inspector Norton Schuknecht had been placed outside the Sweet's house on the first night and he was to keep the peace and protect Ossian and Gladys from any angry neighbors. When a mob formed for the second night in a row in front of Dr. Sweet’s home, he knew that, “Somewhere out there, standing among the women and children, lounging on the porches, lurking in the alleys were the men who would incite the crowd to violence.” As the mob grew restless, people began to throw stones at the house, which eventually broke an upstairs window. Several of Dr. Sweet’s friends were waiting upstairs, armed with weapons that Sweet had purchased prior to moving in. Shots were fired from upstairs, hitting two of the attackers. One member of the mob, Eric Houghberg, suffered a minor injury. The other man, Leon Breiner, was killed. The eleven African Americans inside were later brought to police headquarters and interrogated for five hours. Interrogations would last for an extended period of time and the men would remain in the Wayne County Jail until the trial was over.
. Judge Murphy was considered to be one of the more liberal judges in the city, but with the media working the city into a frenzy, Murphy denied the defendant’s appeal to have the case dismissed. However, Ossian Sweet and his friends remained hopeful. When word reached the desk of James Weldon Johnson
, general secretary of the NAACP, Johnson knew that this case would be a major force in the acquisition of civil rights for African Americans.
With the help of the NAACP, Sweet and his friends gained the money and support that they needed, if there was to be any hope of winning this trial. The NAACP helped the Sweets and the rest as much as possible; they had James Weldon Johnson send Walter White to them in order to do some of his legendary investigations work. The Sweet trial was one of three main trials the NAACP supported in this year. The NAACP chose carefully which trials would have the most publicity and which trials, if won, would help the African American race and hopefully make steps towards social change. Funds were limited, and the selection of civil rights battles had to be chosen carefully to maximize the limited funds that were available.
As September passed on, life in the Wayne County Jail became slightly more comfortable for Ossian and the others. It was more difficult for jail officers to keep a close eye on them so the Sweets began seeing a steady stream of visitors, including the elder Henry Sweet, who was Ossian's, Otis's and Henry's father. In early October, Johnson invited Clarence Darrow
, who was for a period of time the most brilliant defense attorney in the country, to join the Sweets' defense team. Darrow previously had been an attorney in the Scopes Trial
. Publicity was what Johnson was looking for from Darrow. Darrow accepted and on October 15 it was announced he would be taking control of the defense. Several days prior to the announcement, on October 6, Gladys was released on bail by her parents' friends. This was a great relief for Ossian. On the morning of Friday, October 30, Clarence Darrow was ready for trial. As the end of November rolled in, and after the jurors' long deliberations, most came to an agreement that the eight remaining defendants should be acquitted; there were however, a few holdouts. At this point, Judge Murphy dismissed the deadlocked
jury and declared the court case a mistrial. Dr. Sweet and Gladys had expectations to head back to court within a few weeks, but there were delays. During the long delay between the first and second trial, Darrow did not devote much time to the Sweets' case. Eventually, almost three weeks after it was planned, the trial began on Monday, April 19, 1926. This shorter trial led to an acquittal
of Henry Sweet. The prosecuting attorney then elected to dismiss
the charges against the remaining defendants.
, which Gladys contracted during her incarceration. Two months after her second birthday, Iva died. During the two years following the loss of their daughter, Ossian and Gladys lived apart; he was back at the apartment near Dunbar Memorial and she went to Tucson
, Arizona
, in order to benefit from the drier climate. By mid-1928, Ossian finally regained possession of the bungalow, which had not been lived in since the shooting. A few months after Gladys returned home, she died, at the age of twenty-seven. After the death of his wife, Ossian bought the Garafalo's Drugstore. In 1929, he left his practice to run a hospital in the heart of the ghetto. He would eventually run a few of these small hospitals, but none ever flourished. As he began to approach the age of fifty, Ossian started to buy land in East Bartow, as his father had. Finally, in 1930, he decided to run for the presidency of the NAACP branch in Detroit, only to lose by a wide margin. In the summer of 1939, Ossian realized that his brother had also contracted tuberculosis; six months later, he died. By this point, Ossian's finances soon failed him. It took him until 1950 to pay off the land contract and he then assumed full ownership of the bungalow. He faced too much debt after that and, instead of losing the house, Ossian sold it in April 1958, to another black family. With the bungalow out of his possession, he transformed what had been his office above Garafalo's Drugstore into an apartment. Around this time, Ossian's physical and mental health began to decline; he had put on weight and had slowed in his motions. On March 20, 1960, he went into his bedroom and committed suicide
with a shot to the head.
. Boyle's book, Arc of Justice, won the National Book Award
for non-fiction and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
and the National Book Critics Circle Award
. On February 2, 2007, Boyle was honored after one of the performances of the play with a testimonial recognition from the city of Detroit in honoring civil rights.
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
neighborhood against a mob attempting to force him out of the neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, and the subsequent acquittal
Acquittal
In the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as the criminal law is concerned. This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned nolle prosequi...
by an all-white jury of murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
charges against him, his family, and friends who helped defend his home, in what came to be known as the Sweet Trials.
Early years
Sweet was born the second son to Henry Sweet and Dora Devaughn in Bartow, FloridaBartow, Florida
Bartow is the county seat of Polk County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1851 as Fort Blount, the city was renamed in honor of Francis S. Bartow the first brigade commander to die in combat during the American Civil War. According to the U.S. Census Bureau 2000 Census, the city had a...
just eight days before the death of his oldest brother, Oscar. Henry Sweet was a former slave from Florida and was able to buy land in Bartow in 1898, where he moved his entire family. There they lived in a small farmhouse Ossian’s parents had built and all the children helped with the farm animals and in the fields. The Sweets had a total of ten children living in cramped quarters and living on the little money they could earn through their farm. At age six, Sweet witnessed the lynching
Lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial execution carried out by a mob, often by hanging, but also by burning at the stake or shooting, in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate, control, or otherwise manipulate a population of people. It is related to other means of social control that...
of Fred Rochelle who lived a few blocks away from the Sweets. Rochelle had been accused of raping a white girl and was set afire and murdered. Sweet watched traumatized from the bushes as the flames engulfed Rochelle's body. “He’d recount it with frightening specificity: the smell of the kerosene, Rochelle’s screams as he was engulfed in flames, the crowd’s picking off pieces of charred flesh to take home as souvenirs.” This memory would haunt Ossian Sweet throughout his life, especially in his later years.
Education
In September 1909, Sweet left Florida at age thirteen. Sweet's parents had taught him everything they could, instilling in him religious traditions that had sustained the family through generations of struggle. That is why they wanted Ossian to go North and get an education. He was sent to Wilberforce UniversityWilberforce University
Wilberforce University is a private, coed, liberal arts historically black university located in Wilberforce, Ohio. Affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church, it was the first college to be owned and operated by African Americans...
in Xenia, Ohio
Xenia, Ohio
Xenia is a city in and the county seat of Greene County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio 21 miles from Dayton and is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area...
. Wilberforce University was one of few African American colleges
Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Historically black colleges and universities are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before 1964 with the intention of serving the black community....
of that time and was funded by the African Methodist Episcopal Church
African Methodist Episcopal Church
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the A.M.E. Church, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination based in the United States. It was founded by the Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the...
(AME). Wilberforce is where Ossian became a charter member of the Delta chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi
Kappa Alpha Psi
Kappa Alpha Psi is a collegiate Greek-letter fraternity with a predominantly African American membership. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never limited membership based on color, creed or national origin...
and was where he earned a Bachelors of Science at the age of 25. He would attend Wilberforce for eight years; the first four of which were spent in prep-school studying Latin, history, mathematics, English, music, drawing, philosophy, social and introductory science and foreign language (probably French). Sweet took work shoveling snow, stoking furnaces, washing dirty dishes, waiting tables, and carting luggage up hotel stairs to pay the US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
118 for his tuition and books. From Wilberforce University, Ossian attended Howard University
Howard University
Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
in Washington D.C. where he earned his medical accreditation.
Throughout Sweet's early life he demonstrated a very clear dedication to school and overcoming the life of a Southern black
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
. Sweet's parents were one of many families to suffer the tough goodbyes of sending young children away to be educated, but the hope that Ossian would be presented with opportunities not available in the South as well as the possibility of Ossian escaping the horrible things he had witnessed in Bartow, led his parents to this decision. Sweet became the leader in his family and paved the way for his younger siblings to work hard and become educated as well. One of the most pressing impacts of his experience at Wilberforce, and later at Howard, was his growing knowledge and goal to be recognized as part of the Talented Tenth.
Ossian Sweet and The Red Summer
Ossian Sweet was attending Howard UniversityHoward University
Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
, a leader in black medical education, in 1919 when he personally witnessed the Washington D.C. race riot. Like so many cities in the summer of 1919
Red Summer of 1919
Red Summer describes the race riots that occurred in more than three dozen cities in the United States during the summer and early autumn of 1919. In most instances, whites attacked African Americans. In some cases groups of blacks fought back, notably in Chicago, where, along with Washington, D.C....
, Washington D.C. had been stretched to its breaking point. Black migrants from the south had come pouring into the city's main black areas with the promise of wartime jobs, but in 1919 with the end of the war the promise was no longer there, although new migrants were pouring into the city everyday. Thousands of white soldiers were held on the outskirts of Washington D.C. while waiting to be discharged from their service in the World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Boredom eventually hit; and when it did, a riot broke that lasted five days and left 6 dead and 150 wounded. Sweet was just four blocks from the riots, but could not leave his fraternity; Kevin Boyle, author of Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age, attributes his lack of composure in this harsh time to fear, and he had good reason. Sweet was “walking down the street when a gang descended on a passing streetcar, pulled a black passenger down to the sidewalk, and beat him mercilessly.” Boyle later states that Sweet did not venture from his house because he was escaping the memories of his past, a true emotion for Sweet, and one that would not leave him until his death.
Detroit & Black Bottom
With little money, Ossian arrived in Detroit in the late summer of 1921, a time of speakeasies, jazz music, liquor, and slumming. It was also a time when drugs, gambling, and prostitution swept the city. According to Kevin Boyle, in 1910 Detroit was on its way to become an industrial powerhouse. A booming modern metropolis paved the way for the growth of the auto industry; around 1913, the pull for jobs on the assembly lines fueled enormous migration to Detroit. In 1910, the population of Detroit was approximately 485,000; by 1920 it had more than doubled. As migration increased, so did segregation."Despite its name, Black Bottom
Black Bottom, Detroit
Black Bottom was a predominantly black neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan, that was demolished for redevelopment in the early 1960s. It was replaced with Lafayette Park. It was located on Detroit's near East side bounded by Gratiot Avenue, Brush Street, Vernor Highway, and the Grand Trunk railroad...
wasn't really a colored area. Most of its residents were immigrants, not negroes," states Boyle. Black Bottom was a neighborhood of the poor working class people of Detroit. Boyle describes Black Bottom in his book as dingy and rundown, with rooms barely large enough to accommodate families. Homes in central Black Bottom were decaying. When it rained, water would flood through the ceilings, wind came through holes in the walls where the plaster had cracked off, and many of the windows had no glass. Boyle gives evidence that with discrimination in the real estate market, agents sometimes refused to even show homes in white neighborhoods, for they feared black occupancy would bring down property values. This kept migrants primarily in Black Bottom. With no place else to go, Black Bottom remained the home of the poor working class and landlords saw no need to make improvements to living quarters. The poor living conditions led to the constant threat of infection and spread of disease, and many died of smallpox, pneumonia, and syphilis. In the 1960s, Black Bottom was demolished during the city's urban renewal program. "Black Bottom" also became the name of a popular dance
Black Bottom (dance)
Black Bottom refers to a dance. which became popular in the 1920s, during the period known as the Flapper era.The dance originated in New Orleans in the 1900s. The theatrical show Dinah brought the Black Bottom dance to New York in 1924, and the George White's Scandals featured it at the Apollo...
in the Florida/New Orleans areas between 1926-27. It was performed at the Apollo Theater and was modeled after young black children’s imitations of cows stuck in the mud.
Career
Even with his extensive medical knowledge, Sweet encountered difficulty finding work at a hospital due to his race, but his summers waiting at Detroit restaurants instilled him with the knowledge of Black Bottom’s need for medical care. Black Bottom was an overpopulated black ghetto in which migrant workers from the South made their homes during the Great MigrationGreat Migration (African American)
The Great Migration was the movement of 6 million blacks out of the Southern United States to the Northeast, Midwest, and West from 1910 to 1970. Some historians differentiate between a Great Migration , numbering about 1.6 million migrants, and a Second Great Migration , in which 5 million or more...
. These proto ghettos were extremely poor areas, being unsanitary with few sources of water, not to mention that they were mainly built in places that were environmentally unhealthy. Overpopulation and the steady influx of migrants, who lacked medical care amid cramped quarters, caused diseases and created imminent threats to life. According to Kevin Boyle in Arc of Justice, “rudimentary care could have saved some of them. But Black Bottom didn’t get even that.” Sweet saw this as an opportunity to practice his medicine. He gave US$100 to a pharmacy, “Palace Drugs”, in exchange for office space. His first client, Elizabeth Riley, feared she had contracted tetanus
Tetanus
Tetanus is a medical condition characterized by a prolonged contraction of skeletal muscle fibers. The primary symptoms are caused by tetanospasmin, a neurotoxin produced by the Gram-positive, rod-shaped, obligate anaerobic bacterium Clostridium tetani...
because her jaw grew stiff. Sweet was able to diagnose that it was not an infection, but rather simply a dislocated jaw. He reset the bone which spread good publicity about his practice throughout the neighborhood. His list of patients grew, and "Ossian was named a medical examiner
Medical examiner
A medical examiner is a medically qualified government officer whose duty is to investigate deaths and injuries that occur under unusual or suspicious circumstances, to perform post-mortem examinations, and in some jurisdictions to initiate inquests....
for Liberty Life Insurance, an appointment that assured him a steady stream of patients he might not have otherwise have acquired." According to Boyle, Sweet earned the respect of his colleagues at Dunbar Memorial.
Personal life
Sweet married Gladys Mitchell in 1922. She was born in Pittsburgh and had been raised in Detroit, a few miles north of Garland, and came from a prominent middle class black family. Recognizing a need for further medical training, Sweet left his practice to study in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1923. Although he did not receive a degree, Sweet furthered his education by attending lectures given by noted physicians and scientists, including Madame Curie. In non-segregated Paris, he and his wife were also treated as equals to Caucasians. His only experience with prejudice while in Europe was at the American Hospital in which he donated a relatively large amount of money, 300 francs, given his finances. When seeking to reserve space for his wife to deliver their baby, the American Hospital refused on the grounds that the white Americans in the hospital did not want to be mixed with black patients. On May 29, 1924, Gladys gave birth to Marguerite, who they later called Iva. The thought that the American Hospital had “imperiled the health, and perhaps the life of Gladys and Iva” infuriated him, and reminded Sweet of the world to which he would return.
By June 21, 1924, the Sweets returned to Detroit and Ossian began working at Dunbar Hospital
Dunbar Hospital
Dunbar Hospital was the first hospital in Detroit, Michigan for the black community. It is located at 580 Frederick Street, and is currently the administrative headquarters of the Detroit Medical Society. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.- Building construction...
, Detroit’s first black hospital. Having saved enough money, he moved his family in 1925 from his wife’s parents home in an all-white neighborhood, to 2905 Garland Street, another all-white neighborhood at Garland and Charlevoix. Sweet was aware of the neighborhood's prejudice and of the probable danger he would encounter in purchasing the house, but liked it not only because of its appearance and size, but for what the house represented. Most African Americans lived in Black Bottom, but those who prospered moved to better neighborhoods, which is what Sweet wanted for his own family. Also, he felt he could not back down from buying the home because the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to...
had just been revived after two years of inactivity in Detroit. This meant that there was more of a push against the color line, to not surrender to it at that particular time. The Ossian H. Sweet House
Ossian H. Sweet House
The Ossian H. Sweet House is a privately owned house located at 2905 Garland Street in Detroit, Michigan. Designed by Maurice Herman Finkel, the residence's second owner was physician Ossian Sweet, an African-American, and the site of a confrontation in 1925 between the Sweet family and a mob...
is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Garland Avenue bungalow
Dunbar Hospital
Dunbar Hospital was the first hospital in Detroit, Michigan for the black community. It is located at 580 Frederick Street, and is currently the administrative headquarters of the Detroit Medical Society. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.- Building construction...
, Detroit's first black hospital. Because of his training in France, Ossian was more educated than many white men. A young professional of Ossian's status should have had no trouble finding a respectable home in a respectable neighborhood, but unfortunately the Sweets' race played a large role in their house hunting. The Sweets had a difficult time trying to find a realtor who would represent them and, when they finally did, they had an even more difficult time finding a family who would sell them a house. According to Kevin Boyle's account of the Sweets' first impression of the Garland house
Ossian H. Sweet House
The Ossian H. Sweet House is a privately owned house located at 2905 Garland Street in Detroit, Michigan. Designed by Maurice Herman Finkel, the residence's second owner was physician Ossian Sweet, an African-American, and the site of a confrontation in 1925 between the Sweet family and a mob...
, the Sweets were less than impressed. The area was a "workingman's" area filled with modest houses and two-family flats, but the location was ideal. It was close to Ossian's office and to Gladys's parents' home. The owners of the home saw the Sweets as an opportunity to make more than the bungalow would have brought if sold to a white family. On June 7, 1925, the Sweets bought the house for US$18,500, about US$6,000 more than the house's fair market value. The Sweets moved into the house on September 8, 1925.
Home invasion
There were dangerous occurrences happening to friends and acquaintances of Ossian in buying homes in white neighborhoods and then being attacked. There was even a group put together called the Waterworks Park Improvement, which happened to be run by real estate agents from Detroit and nearby cities, whose sole reason of existence was to create controversy against the idea of allowing blacks to move to white neighborhoods. These people were concerned with the belief that allowing blacks into their neighborhoods would lower property values. This was important because at this time, buying a home was a very difficult and lengthy process. The idea of buying land free and clear was no longer an option for most blacks, forcing them instead to take out multiple mortgages to buy a home, leading to even more debt. Also, the idea that an African American could afford what most were struggling to keep was insulting to many of the working class whites that lived in the neighborhood.Fearing an attack, Ossian had nine other men at his house on the night of the attack to help defend his family and property should any violence arise. The men included: Charles Washington (insurance man), Leonard Morse (colleague), William Davis, Henry Sweet (Ossian's brother), John Latting (Henry's college friend), Norris Murray (handyman), Otis Sweet (Ossian's brother) and Joe Mack (chauffeur). Gladys, too, was inside the bungalow. Inspector Norton Schuknecht had been placed outside the Sweet's house on the first night and he was to keep the peace and protect Ossian and Gladys from any angry neighbors. When a mob formed for the second night in a row in front of Dr. Sweet’s home, he knew that, “Somewhere out there, standing among the women and children, lounging on the porches, lurking in the alleys were the men who would incite the crowd to violence.” As the mob grew restless, people began to throw stones at the house, which eventually broke an upstairs window. Several of Dr. Sweet’s friends were waiting upstairs, armed with weapons that Sweet had purchased prior to moving in. Shots were fired from upstairs, hitting two of the attackers. One member of the mob, Eric Houghberg, suffered a minor injury. The other man, Leon Breiner, was killed. The eleven African Americans inside were later brought to police headquarters and interrogated for five hours. Interrogations would last for an extended period of time and the men would remain in the Wayne County Jail until the trial was over.
Trial
The Sweets and their friends were tried for murder by a young Judge, Frank MurphyFrank Murphy
William Francis Murphy was a politician and jurist from Michigan. He served as First Assistant U.S. District Attorney, Eastern Michigan District , Recorder's Court Judge, Detroit . Mayor of Detroit , the last Governor-General of the Philippines , U.S...
. Judge Murphy was considered to be one of the more liberal judges in the city, but with the media working the city into a frenzy, Murphy denied the defendant’s appeal to have the case dismissed. However, Ossian Sweet and his friends remained hopeful. When word reached the desk of James Weldon Johnson
James Weldon Johnson
James Weldon Johnson was an American author, politician, diplomat, critic, journalist, poet, anthologist, educator, lawyer, songwriter, and early civil rights activist. Johnson is remembered best for his leadership within the NAACP, as well as for his writing, which includes novels, poems, and...
, general secretary of the NAACP, Johnson knew that this case would be a major force in the acquisition of civil rights for African Americans.
With the help of the NAACP, Sweet and his friends gained the money and support that they needed, if there was to be any hope of winning this trial. The NAACP helped the Sweets and the rest as much as possible; they had James Weldon Johnson send Walter White to them in order to do some of his legendary investigations work. The Sweet trial was one of three main trials the NAACP supported in this year. The NAACP chose carefully which trials would have the most publicity and which trials, if won, would help the African American race and hopefully make steps towards social change. Funds were limited, and the selection of civil rights battles had to be chosen carefully to maximize the limited funds that were available.
As September passed on, life in the Wayne County Jail became slightly more comfortable for Ossian and the others. It was more difficult for jail officers to keep a close eye on them so the Sweets began seeing a steady stream of visitors, including the elder Henry Sweet, who was Ossian's, Otis's and Henry's father. In early October, Johnson invited Clarence Darrow
Clarence Darrow
Clarence Seward Darrow was an American lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union, best known for defending teenage thrill killers Leopold and Loeb in their trial for murdering 14-year-old Robert "Bobby" Franks and defending John T...
, who was for a period of time the most brilliant defense attorney in the country, to join the Sweets' defense team. Darrow previously had been an attorney in the Scopes Trial
Scopes Trial
The Scopes Trial—formally known as The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes and informally known as the Scopes Monkey Trial—was a landmark American legal case in 1925 in which high school science teacher, John Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act which made it unlawful to...
. Publicity was what Johnson was looking for from Darrow. Darrow accepted and on October 15 it was announced he would be taking control of the defense. Several days prior to the announcement, on October 6, Gladys was released on bail by her parents' friends. This was a great relief for Ossian. On the morning of Friday, October 30, Clarence Darrow was ready for trial. As the end of November rolled in, and after the jurors' long deliberations, most came to an agreement that the eight remaining defendants should be acquitted; there were however, a few holdouts. At this point, Judge Murphy dismissed the deadlocked
Hung jury
A hung jury or deadlocked jury is a jury that cannot, by the required voting threshold, agree upon a verdict after an extended period of deliberation and is unable to change its votes due to severe differences of opinion.- England and Wales :...
jury and declared the court case a mistrial. Dr. Sweet and Gladys had expectations to head back to court within a few weeks, but there were delays. During the long delay between the first and second trial, Darrow did not devote much time to the Sweets' case. Eventually, almost three weeks after it was planned, the trial began on Monday, April 19, 1926. This shorter trial led to an acquittal
Acquittal
In the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as the criminal law is concerned. This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned nolle prosequi...
of Henry Sweet. The prosecuting attorney then elected to dismiss
Nolle prosequi
Nolle prosequi is legal term of art and a Latin legal phrase meaning "to be unwilling to pursue", a phrase amounting to "please do not prosecute". It is a phrase used in many common law criminal prosecution contexts to describe a prosecutor's decision to voluntarily discontinue criminal charges...
the charges against the remaining defendants.
Aftermath
After Henry was acquitted, life for the Sweets was not as joyous as hoped. Both Gladys and her daughter, Iva, were suffering from tuberculosisTuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
, which Gladys contracted during her incarceration. Two months after her second birthday, Iva died. During the two years following the loss of their daughter, Ossian and Gladys lived apart; he was back at the apartment near Dunbar Memorial and she went to Tucson
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, in order to benefit from the drier climate. By mid-1928, Ossian finally regained possession of the bungalow, which had not been lived in since the shooting. A few months after Gladys returned home, she died, at the age of twenty-seven. After the death of his wife, Ossian bought the Garafalo's Drugstore. In 1929, he left his practice to run a hospital in the heart of the ghetto. He would eventually run a few of these small hospitals, but none ever flourished. As he began to approach the age of fifty, Ossian started to buy land in East Bartow, as his father had. Finally, in 1930, he decided to run for the presidency of the NAACP branch in Detroit, only to lose by a wide margin. In the summer of 1939, Ossian realized that his brother had also contracted tuberculosis; six months later, he died. By this point, Ossian's finances soon failed him. It took him until 1950 to pay off the land contract and he then assumed full ownership of the bungalow. He faced too much debt after that and, instead of losing the house, Ossian sold it in April 1958, to another black family. With the bungalow out of his possession, he transformed what had been his office above Garafalo's Drugstore into an apartment. Around this time, Ossian's physical and mental health began to decline; he had put on weight and had slowed in his motions. On March 20, 1960, he went into his bedroom and committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
with a shot to the head.
Arc of Justice
Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age was written by Kevin Boyle, a professor of history at Ohio State UniversityOhio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
. Boyle's book, Arc of Justice, won the National Book Award
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
for non-fiction and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
and the National Book Critics Circle Award
National Book Critics Circle Award
The National Book Critics Circle Award is an annual award given by the National Book Critics Circle to promote the finest books and reviews published in English....
. On February 2, 2007, Boyle was honored after one of the performances of the play with a testimonial recognition from the city of Detroit in honoring civil rights.
Malice Aforethought: The Sweet Trials
Malice Aforethought: The Sweet Trials was a play written by Arthur Beer, a professor and performing arts co-chair of the University of Detroit Mercy, which tells the story of Ossian Sweet and the murder trial he, his family, and friends faced, commonly known as the Sweet Trials back in 1924. This play serves an important historical role not only in the history of Detroit, where the incident and trials were held, but also in the History of the United States, since it was the first trial where any African American was acquitted of murder. Initially performed in 1987, the play was recently brought back in 2007, for its 20 year anniversary. The play offers a truly unique experience allowing guests to observe and “re-live” a trial of tribulations in which the Sweets and friends faced over 80 years ago.Legacy
- Ossian H. Sweet HouseOssian H. Sweet HouseThe Ossian H. Sweet House is a privately owned house located at 2905 Garland Street in Detroit, Michigan. Designed by Maurice Herman Finkel, the residence's second owner was physician Ossian Sweet, an African-American, and the site of a confrontation in 1925 between the Sweet family and a mob...
registered historical site #S0461 - Michigan Legal Milestones commemorative plaque in the Frank Murphy Hall of JusticeFrank MurphyWilliam Francis Murphy was a politician and jurist from Michigan. He served as First Assistant U.S. District Attorney, Eastern Michigan District , Recorder's Court Judge, Detroit . Mayor of Detroit , the last Governor-General of the Philippines , U.S...
, Detroit - The Sweet Trials: a play adapted by Kevin Boyle from his book, Arc of Justice
- Malice Aforethought: The Sweet Trials: a play written by Arthur Beer, adapted from Kevin Boyle's Arc of Justice.