Through the 20th century, Dayton experienced significant racial tensions due to the white population's discrimination of African Americans in the city.
That year, in the early morning of September 1, Lester Mitchell, an African American man, was killed in a drive-by shooting, with eyewitnesses saying that the assailant had been white.
By 10:30 a.m., the mayor of Dayton arrived at the scene of the rioting and stated that he had requested the governor of Ohio to mobilize the National Guard to restore order.
[note 1] The riot caused about $250,000 in property damage, primarily to African American-owned businesses in west Dayton.
[6] These riots were often due to underlying social issues facing African American communities in these large cities and, according to academic Jonathon A. Cooper, were often triggered by "a confrontation between blacks and the police over a relatively trivial matter".
[5] A 1966 article in the Dayton Daily News identified four main issues that African American community leaders had with regards to west Dayton, which included worse educational opportunities than white schools offered, joblessness, lack of access to home loans due to discrimination, and a lack of concern for the neighborhood residents from city leaders.
[4] While there had been some integration in the previous years, such as the election of Dayton's first African American board of education member and city commissioner in 1952 and 1961, respectively, some in the west side felt that the progress was occurring too slowly.
[3][5] Over 100 protesters were involved,[1] and while 225 police officers set up a blockade around west Dayton, they were given orders to not engage with the rioters.
[2] During this time, some African American men sought to defuse the situation by attempting to negotiate concessions with Dayton's city manager and police chief, requesting that some of the protesters who had been arrested be released and that two white police officers who patrolled west Dayton be removed from that beat.
[5] Governor Jim Rhodes, who was at the Ohio State Fair when he received Hall's request,[4] approved it and deployed 1,000 soldiers.
[4] Additionally, liquor stores were closed, a curfew for everyone under the age of 15 was enacted,[2] some city services were temporarily suspended, and trains were rerouted.
[3][4] By 3 p.m., the National Guard had arrived in Dayton, led by Adjutant General Erwin Hostetler and composed of men from the nearby municipalities of Blanchester, Covington, Eaton, Middletown, and Xenia.
[3] The riot garnered national attention because U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson had been scheduled to speak at a Labor Day ceremony in Dayton the following weekend.
[4] Former NAACP President Jessie Gooding Jr. similarly stated that west Dayton had been economically more vibrant prior to the riot, but offered a different take on the reason for the decline, saying, "What led to their demise?
Before the riots, moves were being made by the city and the state to acquire land on the west side for the highway system.