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Race Riots in America

Riots and other racial violence targeting Black communities have occurred in many US cities. Have they occurred in the city where you live? Why did they begin? What happened to the people affected by the riots? Why is it important that we tell this history today? 

 

The Illinois State Militia stands in the burned home of a Black resident at the corner of 9th Street and Madison in Springfield.

Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

History

Between August 14-16, 1908, Black Americans were targeted and victimized by a large White mob in Springfield, Illinois. The mob, consisting of thousands of White residents, destroyed Black homes and businesses, and lynched two Black men. It also targeted businesses owned by Jewish Americans and other White residents sympathetic to the Black community. Black businesses suffered damages estimated at $100,000 in 1908 dollars, the equivalent of over $3 million today. After nearly three days of violence, the state militia helped to restore order and approximately 150 participants were arrested. However, few were ever convicted of a crime.

The 1908 Springfield Race Riot was one of many late 19th and early 20th-century race riots. These were large racial terror events in which White mobs violently targeted Black communities across the country. The Springfield riot erupted after two Black men were accused of the murder and sexual assault of White residents. Scant evidence backed these accusations (the sexual assault accusation was later withdrawn). As with many other race riots of this era, the accusations served as a pretext to force Black residents from their communities.

 

View of archeological research at what is now Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument.

NPS

The riot was widely covered by the local and national press. Springfield captured national attention because it took place in Abraham Lincoln’s hometown. It highlighted how little progress had been made in race relations a century after Lincoln’s birth. The riot also caught the attention of prominent civil rights activists like William English Walling, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Mary White Ovington. It was a catalyst for the establishment of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909.

Today

Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument is also significant because of its archeological resources. The foundations of five homes and related artifacts show how residents lived in the predominately Black neighborhood called the “Badlands.” The site is very near where the riot started. Archeological evidence shows the buildings burned in the riot and never reoccupied. The site is a rare surviving resource directly associated with race riots in America.

The site became part of the African American Civil Rights Network in August 2020.

Park Establishment

The National Park Service completed an initial reconnaissance survey of the site in October 2018. It later completed a special resource study, evaluating sites in Springfield for potential inclusion in the National Park System.

Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument was established by presidential proclamation on August 16, 2024. This newest national park was made possible through land donations from the City of Springfield and HSHS St. John’s Hospital with technical support provided by the National Park Foundation. Federal Funds were not spent on the land acquisition.

 

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