Alert!

March 12, 2025: Click here to read an important letter from the Library Director.

We are experiencing network disruptions affecting our catalog and Internet. Our Technology Team is actively working to resolve the issue. Check back for updates; we appreciate your patience!

  • Books can still be checked out with an FBCL library card
  • eBooks ARE AVAILABLE on OverDrive/Libby and hoopla; click here for instructions.
  • Overdue fines are waived until the network issue has been resolved
  • Most online resources are now available
  • Not available: Catalog & access to your account, Wall Street Journal, LinkedIn Learning, Hotspots & Launchpads

Black History Month: Jaybird-Woodpecker War

Program Type:

Lectures, History/Genealogy

Age Group:

Young Adult, Adult
Please note you are looking at an event that has already happened.
Registration for this event is no longer open.

Description

Dr. Nicholas Cox, from the Houston Community College, will be talking about the Jaybird-Woodpecker War, which took place in Richmond, TX, in 1889. 

"The Jaybird-Woodpecker War was a feud between two political factions for the control of Fort Bend County. The Jaybirds, representing the wealth and about 90 percent of the White population, were the regular Democrats who sought to rid the county of the Republican government that had gained control during Reconstruction. The Woodpeckers, numbering about forty persons and also claiming to be Democrats, were the officials and former officials who held office as a result of the Black vote for the Republican ticket. Former friends, neighbors, and relatives became bitter enemies as a result of the feud."

Pauline Yelderman, “Jaybird-Woodpecker War,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed December 28, 2022, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/jaybird-woodpecker-war.

Published by the Texas State Historical Association.

Chat