Springfield Race Riot of 1908
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The Springfield Race Riot of 1908 was a mass civil disturbance in Springfield, Illinois, USA sparked by the transfer of two African American prisoners out of the city jail by the county sheriff. This act enraged many white citizens, who responded by burning black-owned homes and businesses and killing black citizens. By the end of the riot, there were at least seven deaths and US$200,000 in property damage. The riot led to the formation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a civil rights organization.
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[edit] Background
At the turn of the century, Springfield, Illinois, was a rapidly-growing industrial center, with the highest percentage of African Americans of any comparably-sized city in Illinois. Racial tensions were high at the time due to fierce job competition and the use of black workers as "scabs" during labor strikes [1].
On July 4, 1908, someone broke into the home of mining engineer Clergy Ballard. Ballard awoke and rose to investigate, finding a man standing near his daughter's bed. The intruder fled the house and Ballard gave chase. After catching up with the intruder, Ballard's throat was slashed with a straight razor. Before he died, Ballard identified the assailant as Joe James, a black man with a long record of minor crimes. White citizens of the town were enraged by this crime, thinking that the murder was the result of a thwarted sexual assault of a white woman by a black man. A crowd of whites caught James and beat him unconscious. The police rescued James, arrested him, and locked him in the city jail [2].
On Friday, August 14 of that year, the local Illinois State Journal newspaper ran the story of a white woman, Mabel Hallam, who had allegedly been raped by a local black man, George Richardson. The 21-year-old wife of a well-known streetcar conductor claimed that the black caretaker had dragged her out of bed and assaulted her the night before. Police arrested Richardson and took him to the city jail as well [3].
[edit] Mob action
Later on August 14, a crowd of white citizens gathered in downtown Springfield, outraged by the fact that two black men had allegedly committed brutal crimes against white townspeople. The crowd demanded the release of the prisoners, but Sheriff Charles Werner was able to remove the two from jail and transport them to safety in nearby Bloomington, with the help of restaurant owner Harry Loper [4].
When the crowd learned that the two black prisoners had escaped with the help of Loper, they walked to his restaurant to exact revenge. Despite the fact that Loper stood in the doorway, the mob trashed the building and torched his expensive automobile [5]. Realizing that the local authorities were overwhelmed by the crowd, Governor Charles S. Deneen activated the state militia [6].
The crowd now directed their anger toward the rest of Springfield's minorities. They proceeded to Fishman's Hardware, owned by a Jewish businessman, and stole weapons to use in the further destruction of homes and businesses. Then the mob moved on the Levee, a predominantly African American area, and destroyed numerous black-owned businesses [7].
As the crowd moved on towards the Badlands, another black neighborhood, they encountered a black barber named Scott Burton. Burton attempted to defend his business with a warning shot from a shotgun, and was killed when the crowd returned fire. Burton's shop was burned and his body was dragged to a nearby saloon, where it was hung from a tree [8].
The mob then burned black-owned homes in the Badlands. By this time, an estimated 12,000 people had gathered to watch the houses burn. When firefighters arrived, people in the crowd impeded their progress and cut their hoses. African American citizens were forced to flee the town, find refuge with sympathetic whites, or hide in the State Arsenal. The National Guard was finally able to disperse the crowd late that night [9].
The next day, August 15, as thousands of black residents fled the city, five thousand National Guard troops marched in to keep the peace, along with curiosity seekers and tourists who had read about the riots in the newspaper [10]. The peace was soon broken, however, when a new mob formed and began marching toward the State Arsenal, where many black residents were being housed. When confronted by a National Guardsman, the crowd changed direction and instead walked to the home of 84-year-old black resident William Donnegan. Although he had committed no crime, Donnegan had been married to a white woman for 32 years. When Donnegan came outside, the mob captured him, cut his throat, and lynched him in a tree in the schoolyard across the street from his home [11].
[edit] Aftermath
The riots ended at this point, leaving 40 homes and 24 businesses in ruins, and seven people confirmed dead: two black men and five white people who were killed in the violence. Some of the white casualties were shot by blacks defending their homes and businesses. There were rumored to have been several more unreported deaths.
A grand jury brought 107 indictments against individuals who had allegedly participated in the riots, but only one man was convicted. His crime was stealing a saber from a guard. Kate Howard, a white woman who had directed much of the violence, committed suicide before facing the charges against her. Mabel Hallam later admitted that her accusation of rape against George Richardson was false, and Richardson was released from jail. Joe James was convicted of the murder of Clergy Ballard [12].
As a direct result of the Springfield Race Riot, a meeting was held in New York City to discuss solutions to racial problems in the U.S. This meeting led to the formation of the NAACP, a well-known civil rights organization [13].
Visitors to Springfield, Illinois, can take a self-guided tour of nine historical markers that describe key moments in the Springfield Race Riot of 1908.
[edit] References
- Krohe, James. Summer of rage; the Springfield race riot of 1908. Springfield, Ill., Sangamon County Historical Society [1973]
- Madala, D., Jordan, J., and Appleton, A. "Springfield Race Riot of 1908."
- Senechal, Roberta. 1996 "The Springfield Race Riot of 1908." Illinois History Teacher, 3:2. Illinois Historic Preservation Agency: Springfield, IL.
- Senechal, Roberta. The sociogenesis of a race riot : Springfield, Illinois, in 1908. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990.
- Senechal, Roberta. "In Lincoln's shadow : the Springfield, Illinois, Race Riot of 1908." Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Virginia, 1986.
- Walling, William English. "The Race War in the North." Independent 65 (3 September 1908): 529-534.
- Rasenberger, Jim. "America 1908: The Dawn of Flight, the Race to the Pole, the Invention of the Model T, and the Making of a Modern Nation," pp. 173-183.
