Making site of the 1908 Springfield Race Riot a monument would honor victims and inspire change

Share

Explore Our Galleries

A man stands in front of the Djingareyber mosque on February 4, 2016 in Timbuktu, central Mali. 
Mali's fabled city of Timbuktu on February 4 celebrated the recovery of its historic mausoleums, destroyed during an Islamist takeover of northern Mali in 2012 and rebuilt thanks to UN cultural agency UNESCO.
TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY SEBASTIEN RIEUSSEC / AFP / SÉBASTIEN RIEUSSEC
African Peoples Before Captivity
Shackles from Slave Ship Henrietta Marie
Kidnapped: The Middle Passage
Enslaved family picking cotton
Nearly Three Centuries Of Enslavement
Image of the first black members of Congress
Reconstruction: A Brief Glimpse of Freedom
The Lynching of Laura Nelson_May_1911 200x200
One Hundred Years of Jim Crow
Civil Rights protest in Alabama
I Am Somebody! The Struggle for Justice
Black Lives Matter movement
NOW: Free At Last?
#15-Beitler photo best TF reduced size
Memorial to the Victims of Lynching
hands raised black background
The Freedom-Lovers’ Roll Call Wall
Frozen custard in Milwaukee's Bronzeville
Special Exhibits
Dr. James Cameron
Portraiture of Resistance

Breaking News!

Today's news and culture by Black and other reporters in the Black and mainstream media.

Ways to Support ABHM?

By Walter Katz, Chicago Tribune

Scott Burton was a victim of racialized violence during the Springfield Massacre (Chicago Tribune)

U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth have introduced legislation to memorialize the 1908 Springfield Race Riot by making its site a national monument. It’s not a minute too soon. In fact, many outside of Illinois are unfamiliar with this tragic piece of American history — even after a renewed focus on historic racial violence including widespread commemoration of the century mark of the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921.

The terrifying event was incited by the arrest of two Black men after they were accused of crimes against two young white women and the father of one of the women. Before the two could be tried, an angry white mob, enraged by inflammatory press coverage, attempted to lynch them, only to learn the sheriff had secretly transferred them out of the city for their protection. The mob proceeded to burn and terrorize the Black neighborhoods of Springfield, killing residents and destroying businesses.

Over the past few years, Springfield residents, especially the local NAACP, have done a masterful job telling this story, remembering the victims and garnering bipartisan support for the Durbin-Duckworth legislation. Advocates are also urging the president to take executive action under the Antiquities Act.

While I have yet to find anyone who opposes these efforts, I’m sure some skeptics may ask, “Why insist on bringing up the past?”

The full article answers tis question.

Our memorial to lynching victims includes others whose lives were taken by white mobs.

Find more Black news.

Comments Are Welcome

Note: We moderate submissions in order to create a space for meaningful dialogue, a space where museum visitors – adults and youth –– can exchange informed, thoughtful, and relevant comments that add value to our exhibits.

Racial slurs, personal attacks, obscenity, profanity, and SHOUTING do not meet the above standard. Such comments are posted in the exhibit Hateful Speech. Commercial promotions, impersonations, and incoherent comments likewise fail to meet our goals, so will not be posted. Submissions longer than 120 words will be shortened.

See our full Comments Policy here.

Leave a Comment