"In the summer of 1922, two tragic events occurred in Louisiana, one in the North, the other in the South. Together, the events dramatically changed the state's racial and political climate. In the south, 26-year-old Emile Hebert, an African American farmer, was indicted for murder and assault, including the injury of Lafayette Sheriff Felix Latiolais. The trial marked the first time that the National Guard was present in connection with a criminal trial in Louisiana. Two months later in the north, two white men, F.W. Daniel, age 35, and Thomas Richards, age 31, mysteriously disappeared in the plantation village of Mer Rouge. The Ku Klux Klan stood at the center of both events, as did Louisiana Governor John M. Parker. History takes no note of Hebert's ordeal. Here, the Hebert criminal trial takes center stage"--