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1908 Springfield Race Massacre
Part of the Nadir of American race relations
Burned black residences in "The Badlands"
Location
Springfield, Illinois, US
Date
August 14–16, 1908
Target
Black residents
Attack type
Arson
Assault
Battery
Criminal Intimidation
Home Invasion
Larceny
Lynching
Mayhem
Obstructing a Firefighter
Robbery
Slashing
Vandalism
Weapons
Brickbats
Clothesline
Clubs
Guns
Razor
Torches
Deaths
17 (at least)
8 black men
1 black infant (died from exposure)
6 white mob participants
1 white mob participant (suicide)
1 white witness (suicide)
Victims
2,000 black refugees
Assailants
White mob
No. of participants
est. 5,000 whites
Motive
False accusation
Racial hoax
Racial persecution
Vigilantism
White supremacy
Convictions
1
Charges
117 indictments (total reported)
150+ indictments (total accounted)
Part of a series on the
Nadir of American race relations
Violence in the 1906 Atlanta race massacre
Historical background
Reconstruction era
Voter suppression
Disfranchisement
Redeemers
Compromise of 1877
Jim Crow laws
Segregation
Anti-miscegenation laws
Convict leasing
Practices
Common actions
Expulsions of African Americans
Lynchings
Lynching postcards
Sundown town
Whitecapping
Vigilante groups
Black Legion
Indiana White Caps
Ku Klux Klan
Red Shirts
Lynchings
Andrew Richards
Michael Green
Nevlin Porter and Johnson Spencer
Eliza Woods
Amos Miller
George Meadows
Joe Vermillion
Jim Taylor
Joe Coe
People's Grocery
Ephraim Grizzard
Alfred Blount
Samuel J. Bush
Stephen Williams
Frazier B. Baker and Julia Baker
John Henry James
Sam Hose
George Ward
David Wyatt
Marie Thompson
Watkinsville
Ed Johnson
William Burns
Walker family
Laura and L. D. Nelson
King Johnson
John Evans
Jesse Washington
Newberry Six
Anthony Crawford
Ell Persons
Jim McIlherron
George Taylor
John Hartfield
1920 Duluth
James Harvey and Joe Jordan
Joe Pullen
Massacres and riots
Opelousas massacre
Rock Springs massacre
Thibodaux massacre
Spring Valley Race Riot of 1895
Phoenix election riot
Wilmington insurrection of 1898
Pana riot
Robert Charles riots
Evansville race riot
Atlanta Massacre of 1906
Springfield race riot of 1908
Johnson–Jeffries riots
1912 racial conflict in Forsyth County
1917 Chester race riot
East St. Louis riots
Elaine massacre
Red Summer
Chicago race riot of 1919
Washington race riot of 1919
Ocoee massacre
Tulsa race massacre
Perry race riot
Rosewood massacre
Reactions
Anti-lynching movement
Exodusters movement
Great Migration
Back to Africa movement
Related topics
Black genocide
Civil rights movement (1865–1896)
Civil rights movement (1896–1954)
Mass racial violence in the United States
v
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The Springfield race riot of 1908 consisted of events of mass racial violence committed against African Americans by a mob of about 5,000 white Americans and European immigrants in Springfield, Illinois, between August 14 and 16, 1908. Two black men had been arrested as suspects in a rape, and attempted rape and murder. The alleged victims were two young white women and the father of one of them. When a mob seeking to lynch the men discovered the sheriff had transferred them out of the city, the whites furiously spread out to attack black neighborhoods, murdered black citizens on the streets, and destroyed black businesses and homes. The state militia was called out to quell the rioting.
The riot, trials and aftermath are said to be one of the most well-documented examples of the complex intersection of race, class, and criminal justice in the United States.[1][2] In 2008 an NPR report on the centenary of the race riot said that the fact of its taking place in a Northern state, specifically in "The Land of Lincoln", demonstrated that black people were mistreated across the country, not just in the South, and described the event as a proxy for the story of race in America.[3]
At least 17 people died as a result of the riot: nine black residents, and eight white residents who were associated with the mob, six of whom were killed by crossfire or state militias and two who died by suicide. It was misreported for decades that only militia were responsible for white deaths and that more whites than black people had died. Personal and property damages, suffered overwhelmingly by black people, amounted to more than $150,000 (approximately $4 million in 2018), as dozens of black homes and businesses were destroyed, as well as three white-owned businesses of suspected black sympathizers.[4][5][6]
As a result of the rioting, numerous black people left Springfield, but it is unclear how many moved away permanently. Although in the following months over 100 riot-related indictments were issued and some pleaded guilty to minor violations, only one alleged rioter went to trial and conviction for lesser offenses. Of the two accused black men, who were the initial focus of the lynch mob, one was eventually tried, convicted and hanged, the other was set free. Near the 100th anniversary in 2008, the City of Springfield erected historical markers and a memorial statue. The riot was a catalyst for the formation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), organized to work on civil rights for African Americans.[7]
^Senechal de la Roche, Roberta (2008). In Lincoln's Shadow: the Springfield, Illinois, Race Riot of 1908. Southern Illinois University. p. 10.
^"The So-Called Race Riot at Springfield, Illinois". Charities and the Commons. XX. New York, NY: 709–711. 1908.
^Cheryl Corley (14 Aug 2008). "Springfield, Ill., Marks Centenary Of Riots". NPR.
^"Mob Begins During After Negroes are Taken from Jail by Ruse: Woman Leads Rioters Who Wreck Big Restaurant; Nominee Chafin Protects Negro and Then is Stoned". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, Missouri. 15 Aug 1908.
^"Springfield's Riot Bill". The Times-Democrat. New Orleans, Louisiana. 19 Sep 1908.
^Himmick Becker, Helen (1975). "Becker, Helen - Interview and Memoir" (Interview). Interviewed by Kay MacLean. Oral History Collection, Archives/Special Collections, University of Illinois at Springfield.
^"Oldest and Boldest". National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Archived from the original on 2016-11-28. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
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