On July 24, 1919, while walking the streets of Newberry, South Carolina he allegedly insulted a 14-year-old girl who promptly reported him to the authorities.

Soon a white mob had gathered and would have lynched Harper had Sheriff Blease not bundled and hid him away.

[2] This uprising was one of several incidents of civil unrest that began in the so-called American Red Summer, of 1919.

The Summer consisted of terrorist attacks on black communities, and white oppression in over three dozen cities and counties.

In some cases, black community groups resisted the attacks, especially in Chicago and Washington, D.C.