'We can't let these things fade': Biden designates 1908 Springfield Race Riot as national monument

President Joe Biden designated the site of the 1908 Race Riot in Springfield as a national monument on Friday, following a years-long push by local activists to preserve its history.

The proclamation comes during 116th anniversary of the multi-day riot, which claimed the lives of at least five people in the city, caused millions of dollars of damage to Black-owned businesses and uprooted thousands of Blacks from the city. Two Black men — Scott Burton and William Donnegan — were lynched and the Illinois National Guard had to be activated to quell the violence.

During a ceremony at the White House, Biden said he saw the monument as a way to educate the public and to prevent similar tragedies from ever happening again. Members of his administration visited Springfield in June and witnessed the broad support to construct a memorial.

More: Days of continued licensing delays in Illinois could be coming to an end

"We will continue to have no safe harbor unless we continue to remind people what happened," the president said, adding later, "we can't let these things fade."

Joining Biden in the Oval Office were U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth and U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield. All, in addition to U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Peoria, had been involved in pushing legislation to create a new national monument. Biden exercised the Antiquities Act to make the monument possible.

Also in attendance were state Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield, Ken Page, president of the ACLU Illinois Springfield Chapter and Austin Randolph, Jr., president of the NAACP Springfield chapter. The riot ultimately served as the impetus of the national NAACP in 1909.

“It was a journey of 116 years to get to this day,” Page said in a statement. “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.”

The monument site will be located where the riot took place near Madison Street and the 10th Street Rail Corridor. The 1.57 acres of federal land will now be managed by the National Park Service, thanks to land donations from the City of Springfield and St. John's Hospital of the Hospital Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis. More donated land may be needed.

"This proclamation not only aids in safeguarding our historical heritage but also facilitates national introspection, creating advancement within our community," said Mayor Misty Buscher. "The establishment of the 1908 Race Riot National Monument serves as a testament to resilience, leadership, and the importance of addressing our history with transparency and integrity."

While working on the Springfield Rail Improvements Project, an archaeological team from Fever River Research, led by Floyd Mansberger, found seven homes, five of which were burned during the riot, and unearthed artifacts from a mid-1800s immigrant neighborhood known as the Badlands. The monument will include the foundations of those five homes.

The riot broke out on Aug. 14, 1908, when a mob called for the lynching of two Black men being held in the Sangamon County Jail: Joe James and George Richardson.

After it was discovered that restaurateur Harry Loper had taken James and Richardson to Bloomington at the sheriff's request, his business was torched and crowds descended on the Levee, where Black businesses operated, and the Badlands, initiating days of mayhem. James was executed later in the fall of 1908; Richardson was released from jail.

NPS has been involved in two studies evaluating the site to be included in the National Park System and concluded in a 2023 resource study that it met the criteria. It plans on providing temporary measures to tell the history of the site while construction is underway.

Steven Spearie of The State Journal-Register contributed to this report.

Contact Patrick M. Keck: [email protected], twitter.com/@pkeckreporter.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Ensuring its history is told, 1908 Race Riot site becomes national monument