Emerson Bentley was a white Republican newspaper editor in Opelousas, Louisiana. He was outspoken in his support for black civil rights and his opposition to the Ku Klux Klan. In 1868, he was abducted and murdered by a group of white supremacists, who then burned down his newspaper office.
Henry Clay Warmoth was the Republican governor of Louisiana at the time of the Opelousas Massacre. He was criticized for not doing more to protect Bentley and other black Republicans from violence.
The St. Landry Progress was a black Republican newspaper in Opelousas. It was edited by Bentley and was a vocal advocate for black civil rights. The paper was destroyed by the Ku Klux Klan after Bentley's murder.
The Opelousas Massacre was a major event in the history of the Reconstruction Era. It was a reminder of the violence and intimidation that black Republicans faced in the South after the Civil War.