On Aug. 14, 1908, Springfield’s racial tensions exploded.
A mob of about 5,000 white people gathered outside the county jail that evening. The mob was seeking to lynch two Black men held inside, one accused of raping a white woman, the other of murdering a white man.
Fearing potential violence, the sheriff secretly moved the two men outside of the city. When the mob found this out, destruction followed.
Over the next 48 hours, the mob moved into the city’s Black neighborhoods, destroying homes, leveling businesses and lynching Scott Burton and William Donegan. The riot only stopped when then-Governor Charles Deneen sent the National Guard to Springfield. In the aftermath, many families packed their things and left the city, some never to return.
Nearly 120 years later, historians say there are still things to be learned from the Springfield Race Riot.
The National Park Service is collaborating with several Springfield organizations for “Three Hot Days in August,” running from Thursday to Sunday.
Among other things, the four-day remembrance will feature exhibits, city tours, a candlelight vigil and performances of the play “Outraged: Terror in Springfield 1908.”
Historians and experts will be giving presentations throughout the event on the history and aftermath of the riots.
Fever River Research Director Floyd Mansberger will give a presentation on archaeological findings from the sites where the rioting happened. He said the findings help paint a more three-dimensional picture of the victims than what was given to them at the time.
“They were individuals who had religious conviction, community involvement and weren’t the individuals portrayed by the contemporary newsprint at the time,” Mansberger said. “They clearly didn’t deserve what they got and did not bring it upon themselves by any means.”
Although the riots only lasted three days, their effects resonated long after they were over. They served as the catalyst for the foundation of the NAACP, which was established in 1909. But some experts say that we’re still dealing with many of the issues that brought the riots about.
“We still have a lot of irrational fear around race (and) around the subject of race,” said Brian Mitchell, public humanities fellow for the Center for Lincoln Studies. “We still have a lot of competition across economic lines and we still have this justification that comes up for doing violence to others out of fear.”
Mitchell also will give a presentation during the event, his centered on what was damaged and taken during the riot. He said that, among other things, the killing of Sonya Massey in 2024 was driven by the same “irrational fear” that fueled them.
Studying them can provide some guidance on how to navigate a racially divided time in American history, he said.
"We're living through a period of time where people seem to be racially polarized (and) extremely divided across racial lines,” he said.
“These points still erupt in violence from time to time. So how do we defuse those points, how do we predict that there's going to be violence, and how can we, in the long term, teach people to be more tolerant of each other?"
Schedule of Events
Thursday, August 13th
- 9:30 am IDNR 1908 Race Riot Walking Tour, Lincoln Statue at 6th and Adams Streets
- 12:00 pm “The Springfield 1908 Race Riot: The Aftermath” presentation by Doris Bailey at the Illinois State Museum Auditorium, 502 S. Spring St.
- 1:15pm “The 1942 Lynching of James Edward Person” presentation by Dr. Renatto Carr at the Illinois State Museum Auditorium, 502 S. Spring St.
- Dr. Carr will present the Private James Edward Person, a Black WWII Veteran from Somerville, TN who was lynched in southern rural Illinois and about those who faced trial in East St Louis, IL.
- 5:00 pm Opening Reception at Lincoln Library. 326 S. Seventh St. Register here.
- Showing of the film Springfield Had No Shame
- Featured speaker Preston Jackson will share his inspiration and creation of the sculptures “Acts of Intolerance” in Union Square Park that pay tribute to the victims of the 1908 Race Riot
- Showing of the film Springfield Had No Shame
Friday, August 14th
- 9:00 am - 11:00 am Luminaria set-up at the Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument Volunteer Here
- 9:30 am IDNR 1908 Race Riot Walking Tour, Lincoln Statue at 6th and Adams Streets
- 11:00 am – 11:30 am The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (ALPLM), will host a Community Soil Collection Remembrance Event, on behalf of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), at 11th and Madison in remembrance of Scott Burton. The public is invited to participate in this remembrance ceremony by participating in the filling of a jar with soil on the grounds where the lynching took place.
- 12:00pm “Joseph James” presentation by Pastor Tim Good at Trinity Lutheran Church, 220 S. Second St.
- 2:00-3:00 pm “Park in Progress: Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument” presentation by Quinn Gilly of the National Park Service at Lincoln Home Visitor Center, 426 S. Seventh St.
- 5:00-6:00pm Reception at HSHS St. John's Hospital Bunn Auditorium, 421 N. Ninth St. - Parking at 9th St. Ramp
- 6:00-7:30pm 1908 Race Riot Memorial Service at HSHS St. John's Hospital Bunn Auditorium, 421 N. Ninth St. followed by Silent March from the Auditorium to the 1908 Race Riot Monument site
- 7:30 Outraged: Terror in Springfield 1908 by playwright Timothy Crawford at The Hoogland Center for the Arts, 420 S. Sixth St.
- 8:00 pm Vigil at 1908 Springfield Race Riot National Monument Site, 400 N. Ninth St.
Saturday, August 15th
- 9:00 am -11:00 am Luminaria tear down at Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument. Volunteer Here
- 9:30 am IDNR 1908 Race Riot Walking Tour, Lincoln Statue at 6th and Adams Streets
- 12:00 pm “The Aftermath Part 2” at Lincoln Library, 326 S. Seventh St.
- Dr. Brian Mitchell, Public Humanities Fellow at UIS, presents “In the Mob’s Wake: An Examination of the Damage Done by Rioters During the Springfield Riot of 1908”
- Floyd Mansberger, founder of Fever River Research, presents “Historical Archaeology: Giving Voice to the Victims of the 1908 Race Riot and Creation of a National Monument”
- 3:00 pm Closing Reception at the Springfield and Central Illinois African American History Museum, 1440 Monument Avenue
- 7:30 pm Outraged: Terror in Springfield 1908 by playwright Timothy Crawford at The Hoogland Center for the Arts, 420 S. Sixth St.
Sunday, August 16th
- 3:00 pm Outraged: Terror in Springfield 1908 by playwright Timothy Crawford at The Hoogland Center for the Arts, 420 S. Sixth St.
