In the first photo, Mr. Eller's mother, Hattie Eller Frost, is flanked by nurses at her son's funeral. In the second photo, Mr. Eller's widow, Mollie Eller, is comforted by friends.

Over 300 people attended Mr. Eller’s funeral on November 2nd, and a rebellion erupted in East Winston and Downtown. 1,200 National Guard troops occupied the city for the next three days.
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Winston-Salem, North Carolina

The November 1967 Uprising in Winston-Salem

On October 15, 1967, Winston-Salem Police officer W.E. “Gene” Owens attempted to arrest 32 year old James Eller for alleged public drunkenness on his front porch at 2713 Patterson Ave. Owens fractured Mr. Eller’s skull with a blackjack.

The police provided no medical treatment. Instead, they released him the next morning. Eller then made attempts but was refused admission at Baptist hospital (now known as Atrium Wake Forest Baptist) and Forsyth Memorial (now known as Novant).
Finally, at 9:15 p.m. that night, he was admitted to Reynolds Memorial, the Black hospital. They performed surgery at 10:30 p.m. after a spinal tap revealed bloody fluid, but it was too late. He eventually died from his injuries on October 28th.

On October 30th, a judge dismissed a murder charge against Owens brought by Mollie Eller, Mr. Eller’s widow. On November 1st, over 400 Black residents gathered for an NAACP meeting. Attendees called for a march from Mr. Eller’s funeral to City Hall, but the NAACP quashed those plans. Instead, the next evening, after Mr. Eller’s funeral, people set fires to cars surrounding the courthouse and smashed windows at businesses across the city. The National Guard occupied the city for seven days.

Rev. J.T. McMillan, head of the local NAACP, blamed “…those who are not willing to follow the leadership of the NAACP” for taking matters into their own hands. Frustration with McMillan’s leadership would continue in the years to come, with editors of the local Black youth newspaper “The Souler” calling him “Tom of the Month” in November of 1968.

Mayor M.C. Benton claimed there was no connection between the police murder and the events that followed, stating, “This is just a bunch of hoodlums who have taken advantage of the situation. This is the excuse they’ve been waiting for.” Over 110 people were arrested and over $750,000 in damages were reported.

The solicitor of the Forsyth Superior Court reopened the case against Owens, but a grand jury refused to indict him, clearing him to be reinstated by the police department on December 16th, 1967.

Sourced from: A People's History of Winston-Salem