A construction boom followed the Depression of 1893. By 1899, demand for bricks is high enough that brickyards are recruiting workers from the South to expand their operations in the North — especially along the Hudson River, where companies are supplying New York City’s growth. Though brickyards have employed a mix of races for decades, the influx of Southern black workers heightens tensions. Non-black workers stage several strikes in protest. Incidents of violence become more common.

On July 27, at a brickyard in Newburg, New York, about 100 Arab and 100 black brick workers fight each other with knives, clubs and pistols. The fight lasts hours. Many people are injured. At least two black men are injured by gunfire.

Brickyards maintain a heavy police presence for the rest of the summer.