Black, White, Colored: The Hidden Story of an Insurrection, a Family, a Southern Town, and Identity in America

An absorbing investigation into a little-known historical tragedy—an insurrection which upended a resilient and wealthy Black community who found themselves in the clutches of an insurrection at the turn of the twentieth century in Laurinburg, North Carolina.

In the late nineteenth century, Laurinburg, North Carolina, was a beacon of racial calm—a place where Blacks and whites could live and work together. Black families like the Malloys became landlords, business owners, and doctors, thriving together and changing the economic landscape. But that progress was shattered on the eve of Election Day, 1898, when supremacist groups launched a bloody attack, forcing Laurinburg’s Black citizens to flee. This riot marked the beginning of the only recorded insurrection, stripping middle-class Blacks—who made strides during Reconstruction—of their seats on every electoral board.

With meticulous research drawn from sources including The New York Age and census records, the descendants of the town’s early Black leaders, Lauretta Malloy Noble and LeeAnét Noble, uncover the trailblazing achievements of their ancestors. Piecing together proof of Black resilience in a region shaped by profound adversity, their contributions extended beyond Laurinburg to institutions including Howard University and Meharry Medical College.

Black, White, Colored is the first book to shine a spotlight on the events in Laurinburg and its impact on the town’s Black occupants, giving Laurinburg its rightful place in American history.