Budzinski, Duckworth, Durbin Secure Monument Designation for 1908 Springfield Race Riot

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, during the 116th anniversary of the Springfield Race Riot, which occurred August 14-16, 1908, President Joe Biden signed a proclamation designating the Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument. In December, Congresswoman Budzinski led a letter with U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin and 12 Illinois colleagues calling for President Biden to take today’s action.

The new national monument will tell the story of a horrific attack by a white mob on a Black community that was representative of the racism, intimidation and violence that Black Americans experienced across the country. National outrage at the attack – which occurred just blocks away from President Abraham Lincoln’s home – spurred action on civil rights, including the creation of the organization now known as the NAACP.

“It was an honor to join President Biden in the Oval Office as he designated the 1908 Springfield Race Riot site as a national monument – a critical step forward to honor those killed and acknowledge the impact this tragedy had on the Springfield community and our nation as a whole,” said Congresswoman Budzinski. “While the 1908 Springfield Race Riot demonstrates our nation’s deep history of racial violence, it also sparked the creation of the NAACP – reflecting the strength and resilience of Black Americans in the tireless fight for civil rights. It is critical that we preserve this history for future generations. Since coming to Congress, I’ve been pushing for this recognition and I couldn’t be more excited to see it come to fruition.”

“The 1908 Springfield Race Riot site is of extraordinary cultural and historical importance to our state and to this country—a searing, horrific incident that galvanized the creation of the NAACP,” said Senator Duckworth. “I’ve been working for years to designate this site as a national monument to help ensure the painful lessons learned here will not be lost for the generations of Americans to come. I’m proud that President Biden is taking action to help ensure this history is properly honored and making our national parks better reflect our nation’s people and stories.”

“The 1908 Springfield Race Riot was a violent and hateful tragedy, but it’s a part of Illinois’ and our nation’s history that we cannot turn a blind eye to.  The story, which led to the creation of the NAACP, must be told,” said Senator Durbin. “I have worked with Senator Duckworth and Rep. Budzinski to push for this historical site to be recognized as a national monument, and I’m grateful that President Biden understands the gravity of designating this site in Springfield. Together, we can honor the lives lost during the deadly riots and reaffirm our commitment to fighting prejudice in Illinois and across the country.”

The Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument will protect 1.57 acres of federal land in Springfield, Illinois, and will be managed by the Department of the Interior’s National Park Service. Through the historical objects protected at this site, the monument will tell the story of the violent mob that attacked the Black community in Springfield and lynched two Black men. The Springfield 1908 Race Riot was both a tragic event, and it was emblematic of a larger series of lynchings and racist mob violence that targeted Black communities across the United States in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Between 1882 and 1910, there were 2,503 recorded lynchings of Black people in the United States.

During an excavation as part of the Springfield Rail Improvements project, foundations and artifacts from homes destroyed during the riot were uncovered. An agreement with community members was reached in 2018 to excavate the remains and designate the uncovered site a memorial.

Congresswoman Budzinski has advocated to make the site of the 1908 Springfield Race Riot a national monument since the beginning of her term in Congress, including as the lead of the bipartisan 1908 Race Riot National Monument Act with Congressman Darin LaHood. Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth lead companion legislation in the U.S. Senate. In December of 2023, Budzinski sent a letter to President Biden asking him to use his authority under the Antiquities Act to designate the site as a national monument. 

“Over a century ago, the NAACP originated in part due to the violent events in Springfield that harmed the Black residents and community at large. 116 years later, we are elated that the current Administration recognized the importance of acknowledging past harm to build spaces that resonate with the current community members. The NAACP has stood alongside Springfield community members and their demands for green spaces and a site that reflected their current needs. We also appreciate the Congressional support to ensure that protecting land means centering Black history, which is American history, for a better future,” said Abre’ Conner, NAACP’s Director for the Center for Environmental and Climate Justice.

“Our public lands tell a story, and this newest national monument finally adds this long-overlooked chapter. For more than a century, we ignored the memory of one of the worst episodes of racial violence in our country’s history, just steps from the home of Abraham Lincoln, but the Springfield community never forgot. Today, their resilience is not just recognized, but honored. Less than a quarter of our national monuments focus on commemorating the history of diverse peoples, movements, and cultures. Designating the site of the 1908 Springfield Race Riot as a national monument helps ensure that national monuments protect not just the most precious lands and waters of the United States, but the sites and legacies that make this country what it is. The fires that burned in Springfield in 1908 could have destroyed this community, but it has endured. It is an incredibly American story, and it shows not just how far we have come as a nation, but the work that still needs to be done,” said Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous. 

“Adding the 1908 Springfield Race Riot National Monument as a National Park unit helps us, as a nation, highlight the story of Black trauma and lift up Black resilience, putting us on a better path toward reconciliation and healing. The National Religious Partnership for the Environment joins the thousands of religious leaders and religious organizations that supported this important designation,” said Cassandra Carmichael, Executive Director of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment.

“It was a journey of 116 years to get to this day. We thank you Mr. President for acknowledging the importance of telling all of America’s History. The 1908 Springfield Race Riot was tragic. And out of this tragedy was the birth of the National Association for the Advance of Colored People. As we continue this journey, America can continue to live out her creed of Liberty, Equality, Justice and Humanity,” said Ken Page, President, ACLU of Illinois – Springfield Chapter.

The 1908 Springfield Race Riot: 

In August 1908, two Black men – 17-year-old Joe James and 36-year-old George Richardson –were being held in the Sangamon County Jail in Springfield based on the claims of white accusers, including one who later recanted. On Friday, August 14th, a crowd of largely young, white men gathered around the county jail demanding that the two men be released in order to be lynched. Fearing violence and hoping to defuse the situation, the county sheriff and a local white business owner worked together to have James and Richardson moved to a jail in Bloomington about 60 miles away.

Upon learning of the move, the mob became violent and began looting and burning Black-owned homes and businesses and attacking residents and business owners. Violence continued throughout the weekend despite the efforts of the Governor, state militia, and Black firefighters and community members to defend the local neighborhoods.

The riot was largely quelled by the morning of Sunday, August 16th, but not before two Black men, Scott Burton and William Donnegan, were brutally lynched. By the end of the weekend, almost three dozen businesses in the Levee neighborhood – half of them Black-owned and a majority of the rest Jewish-owned businesses – had been targeted, looted, and vandalized. In the Badlands neighborhood, dozens more homes of Black community members and Black-owned businesses were also destroyed.

Six months after these tragic days, on the centennial of President Lincoln’s birth and invoking what had happened blocks from the only home he ever owned, a diverse set of leaders from around the country, including Ida B. Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Mary Church Terrell, called to create a national organization that could counter racist policies and fight for equality across the United States. Soon after, civil rights leaders gathered in person and founded an organization that would become the NAACP. Since then, the NAACP has become a transformative and effective civil rights organization, playing key roles in successful lawsuits to challenge discrimination and segregation, including Brown v. Board of Education, and advocating to end racial injustice across America.

The Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument: 

The Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument will be the second national monument President Biden has designated using his authority under the Antiquities Act that commemorates and preserves a place significant to civil rights history. This action builds on President Biden’s leadership in also establishing or expanding the Blackwell School National Historic Site, the Amache National Historic Site, and the Brown v. Board National Historic Park – all units of the National Park System.

The Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument weaves together two important threads in our nation’s story: the hateful violence targeted against Black Americans, and the power of dedicated individuals to come together across racial lines to transform shock and grief into hope and action. Over the coming years, the National Park Service will work with the local community and organizations to plan for interpretation, commemoration, and visitor experiences associated with the new park site, which includes the charred foundations of five former homes that were never rebuilt. Just blocks from the Lincoln Home National Historical Site, the new national monument will help tell a fuller and more complete history about the tragedy that occurred in Springfield and the work of civil rights leaders to organize and create lasting change.

The new national monument is part of the National Park Service’s African American Civil Rights Network, which highlights sites of historic importance to the Civil Rights Movement. It also joins an extensive network of park sites dedicated to commemorating historic places integral to civil rights and equality, such as the Manzanar National Historic Site in California, the Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Park in Alabama, the Stonewall National Monument in New York, and the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument in Washington, D.C.

Background on Antiquities Act Designations: 

President Theodore Roosevelt first used the Antiquities Act in 1906 to designate Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming. Since then, 18 presidents of both parties have used this authority to protect natural and historic features in America, including the Grand Canyon, the Statue of Liberty, the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, the Pullman National Monument, and the César E. Chávez National Monument.

The 1908 Springfield Race Riot National Monument will be President Biden’s eleventh use of the Antiquities Act and his second new national monument commemorating a site of significance to the Civil Rights Movement, following the creation of the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument in Mississippi and Illinois last year.

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