Ira Henry

Born: 1877
Occupation: Laborer
Killed: July 30th, 1919
Cause of death: Shot

Ira Henry, an African American, was born in 1877 in Mississippi. Never married, in Chicago Henry lived at 6017 S. Dearborn Avenue. He worked as a laborer. During the riots, on July 30th, Henry was involved in an altercation with Chicago Police officers.


According to the Chicago Commission on Race Relations report, Officers Keal and Sullivan were escorting three Jewish families to their homes on S. State Street. According to the report, “as the party passed 4957 (South State Street) saw a Negro in an alley.”[1] Upon investigation, shots were fired, and Sullivan was struck. Keal shot Henry, who died instantly. Despite claims that Sullivan had fired first, the coroner’s jury found no such evidence and, instead, judged the officers were performing their duties so were innocent of murdering Henry. Henry died of his wounds in the alley on July 30th at the age of forty-two.


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