An archaeological site near Madison Street and the 10th Street rail corridor meets all four criteria necessary to be eligible for inclusion in the National Park Service to commemorate the 1908 Springfield Race Riot, federal officials said June 13.
The announcement was an important next step in the effort to persuade Congress to pass a bill that President Joe Biden could sign into law as soon as this year to give the site a national designation, according to Teresa Haley, president of the Springfield NAACP and Illinois State Conference NAACP.
“This is monumental for us,” said Haley, who has spearheaded the effort in partnership with the city of Springfield, Hospital Sisters Health System, political leaders and other groups, including Springfield Urban League, ACLU and Black Lives Matter Springfield.
Word from the National Park Service comes ahead of this year’s Juneteenth celebrations commemorating the end of slavery in the United States after the end of the Civil War in 1865.
Haley said the country needs to know more about the race riot in Abraham Lincoln’s hometown, an event that led to the formation of the NAACP in a country where race relations remain tense.
“We want people to know this history so it’s not repeated again,” she told Illinois Times. “We believe the site is a place of healing – not only Springfield to heal but the nation to heal. … It’s another step for us to move forward in the right direction.”
Haley said in a park service news release, “The study confirms that this site is nationally important to tell the whole story of America’s history, including the 1908 Race Riot, leadership of Ida B. Wells and the founding of the NAACP in 1909.” Wells was a Black journalist who led an anti-lynching crusade in the United States in the 1890s.
Haley said there could be hearings in Congress on the site’s potential designation as soon as next week. She specifically thanked U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Springfield, and Tammy Duckworth, D-Hoffman Estates, along with U.S. Reps. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield, and Darin LaHood, R-Dunlap, for their support of the effort.
Durbin and Duckworth have introduced legislation since 2019 to establish the site as a national monument to be managed by the park service. Former U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, also supported the effort when he served in Congress.
Duckworth and Durbin reintroduced the legislation in February.
The site would cost $10 million to $15 million to establish, mostly with federal funds, Haley said, and organizers hope it could open to the public in 2025.
Land owned at the archaeological site by the city and HSHS would be turned over to the park service if the designation proceeds, Haley said.
A 2020 federal law directed the secretary of the interior to conduct a special resource study of the site and evaluate four criteria that would need to be met: national significance, suitability, feasibility and the need for NPS management.
Haley said the park service received more than 5,000 letters, emails and comments in support of the designation for the site.
The site was unearthed in 2014 as part of excavation work for a project to establish high-speed rail through Springfield. The site contains the foundations of five of the dozens of homes that were destroyed during the two-day riot.
A mob of white residents killed at least six Black people, burned Black homes and businesses and attacked hundreds of Black residents during the riot.
Park service Director Chuck Sams said in the news release: “The 1908 Springfield Race Riot was a pivotal moment in our nation’s history. That day of horrific anti-Black violence resulted in a call to action and spurred a movement dedicated to fighting for civil rights. Preserving and commemorating the site would contribute to the National Park Service’s commitment to recognizing the civil rights movement in the U.S. and the sacrifices made by those who fought against discrimination and desegregation.”
The resource study said the park service manages sites associated with the founding of other civil rights organizations, but none is connected with the founding of the NAACP.
“Furthermore, the study area is powerful as a place that can help contextualize systemic anti-Black violence and, in particular, Jim Crow-era race riots,” the study said.
The study doesn’t identify a preferred course of action by the park service but identified two management options – a smaller and a larger boundary in which the park service could manage the site, protect resources and provide opportunities for visitors.
“The larger boundary would likely be the most effective and efficient option and allow for the site to be managed in collaboration with a robust group of partners,” the park service news release said.
Durbin, Duckworth and Budzinski said in a joint statement they were pleased to hear from the park service and thankful to city officials, the Springfield NAACP, HSHS St. John’s Hospital and “countless others for their incredible work and support.”
Durbin, Duckworth and Budzinski said in their joint statement: “Commemorating this location and story of extraordinary cultural and historical importance is long overdue, and we’re eager to continue working with the National Park Service to see this designation through.”
The resource study is available online at bit.ly/raceriotstudy. A video and more information on the site proposal are available on the Springfield NAACP’s website at bit.ly/NAACPraceriot.
This article appears in Juneteenth 2023.
