Episode
The only successful coup in American history: how white supremacists 'stole a city,' and the 1898 Wilmington massacre
- Podcast
- Due South
- Published
- Jul 22, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3027
- Processing state
not_requested
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Summary
Four families, one stolen city The Wilmington massacre and coup d'état of November 10, 1898 is widely known as the only successful coup in American history. Black elected officials were forced to resign office at gunpoint. Dozens, if not hundreds, of Black Wilmingtonians were killed during a day of premediated white supremacist terror. New Yorker staff writer Lauren Collins grew up in Wilmington, where the little she learned about November 10, 1898 characterized the bloody day as a "race riot." When she realized she had not been taught anything close to the whole story, she got to work researching and writing about it. The resulting book focuses on four Wilmington families living the legacy of the massacre across the generations. Jeff Tiberii speaks with Collins about the long lead up to the Wilmington coup and massacre, and the unending impact on the city and the nation more than a century later. Lauren Collins , staff writer for The New Yorker and author of They Stole a City: Wilmington’s White Supremacist Coup and the Families Who Live with Its Legacy.