Springfield race riot of 1908
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. The alleged victim later confessed to lying. 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. 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.
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, as dozens of black homes and businesses were destroyed, as well as three white-owned businesses.
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 convicted 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. The alleged victim in the latter case later admitted that she had lied.
The riot was a catalyst for the formation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which was organized to work on civil rights for African Americans. Near the 100th anniversary in 2008, the City of Springfield erected historical markers and a memorial statue. Part of the site of the riots was established as the Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument in 2024.
Background
In 1908, Springfield was a transportation hub, connected by railroad to other major cities such as Indianapolis, Louisville, and Kansas City, etc. Illinois is often considered a microcosm of the U.S. and Springfield, with about 45,000 people at the time, most of whom were working class, was described as an "average American community".Economy
In July 1908, the US was pulling itself out of the Panic of 1907, which occurred during a lengthy economic contraction between May 1907 and June 1908. This contraction led to suspension of cash payments by banks, a halt in lending, and a fall in the stock market, all resulting in significant economic disruption. Industrial production dropped, and the period saw the second-highest volume of bankruptcies to that date, with the dollar volume increasing nearly 50 percent. Production fell over 10 percent, commodity prices dropped by more than 20 percent, imports fell by over 25 percent, and unemployment, which had been less than 3 percent prior to the panic, increased to 8 percent, resulting in fierce job competition. As of April 1908, there were 200,000 unemployed men in Illinois, with 55 percent of those residing outside of Chicago. Comparatively, neighboring Iowa and Missouri, which had populations that were 40 percent and 60 percent of Illinois', had 2,000 and 43,000 unemployed men, respectively.Due to its dependence on mines, railroad, and vice industries, such as saloons, Springfield was largely insulated from much of the contraction. However, the city still could not escape the economic downturn of the region, including new alcohol policies passed in 1908 that suddenly put the employees at nearly 2,000 bars across the state out of work, including 20 percent of the saloons across Sangamon County.
There was growing unrest among railroad workers after the Illinois Central Railroad began a "retrenchment" policy in December 1907. For example, men in nearby Clinton saw their work week drop from seven to four days a week by March 1908. That same month, the railroad also began streamlining positions to further cut expenses, which caused many to be "bumped down" to lower jobs, affecting younger workers.
There was also uncertainty among Springfield's miners at the local and national level. In November 1907, 4,000 miners in Danville went on strike when coal operators stopped paying workers in cash and began issuing checks. Five months later, on April 1, 1908, Springfield's miners were nearly part of the 250,000 miners across the country who went on strike after their contracts expired and coal operators showed "no inclination" to make new contracts with the union. Illinois' 60,000 miners subsequently "declared war" against coal operators. The unrest led to the shut down of Illinois' mines for a month, which had a significant negative impact on the freight business for the railroads as coal cars sat idle during that time. The lack of coal movement also impacted road workers, who could not pave the roads without the coal. In early May, while over 35,000 of Illinois' miners voted to return to work, miners in two districts voted to move forward with the strike – Peoria and Springfield. Around the same time, miners in neighboring Decatur voted to go on strike and, on June 8, 1908, roughly 500 miners called off two separate strikes, at the Pawnee and Pana mines, over work conditions.
Ultimately, these events created a Springfield workforce where workers by and large had jobs, but the earning power of those jobs was being diminished, the security of those jobs was laced with uncertainty, and the respect paid to those who held those jobs was seemingly being diminished. In surrounding counties the job prospects were similar or worse and the workforce was less diverse.
Immigrants and race
At the turn of the century, Springfield's population was about 35,000 people and growing. In 1900, the immigrant population, which prior to 1890 had only grown at a rate of 0.15 percent per year and remained stagnant at roughly 4,500, began to grow at a rate of 4 percent per year – a 300,000 percent increase.According to the United States Census Bureau, in 1908, nearly 35 percent of these immigrants were unable to speak English, and nearly 15 percent were illiterate. This created tension between white immigrants and white Americans, who feared their growing political presence. White Americans were increasingly more negative, fearful, and xenophobic toward the immigrants, who they deemed to be biologically inferior, culturally and religiously odd, and generally substandard with a proclivity to filth, laziness and violence. Within the country's racial hierarchy, European immigrants were perched below whites, but above black people, fending off degrading ethnic slurs such as "Hunky", "Guinea", and "Polack".
Such attitudes presented new immigrants with a choice — fight to become socially "white" or align with politically and economically disadvantaged black people. In an atmosphere where immigrants heard statements like "One white man is as good as two or three Italians", and where whites were bringing lawsuits against their own family members who they suspected of having "tainted" black blood, immigrants opted to strive to become "white":
The pressure to become "white" led to many immigrants seeking ways to "prove" their whiteness. Protecting and expanding the notion of white supremacy was deemed convincing evidence.
At the time, black people were expected to be subservient, agreeable and deferential to whites or be subject to verbal abuse, threats or physical violence. Whites who viewed black people as being "uppity" would often impose quick and harsh retribution against them. As immigrants observed how white Americans treated black people, they began not only mimicking such treatment, but also distancing themselves from black people geographically and socially. For example, in the particularly distressed economy of 1908, many European immigrants opted for unemployment over taking jobs that perpetuated stereotypes of them, or taking "nigger jobs" that would associate them with black people.
In Springfield, such attitudes were inflamed by white Americans who had immigrated from Kentucky, from the border area of southern Illinois, and also from other areas across the south, seeking work in the mines and railroads. These southern immigrants brought the heightened racial animus with them that was associated with the segregated racial culture of the region.
Springfield racial dynamics
Following the Civil War, black people began migrating north for work and also in search of areas less socially oppressive than the south. In the post-Reconstruction years of the late 19th century, Springfield, as a rapidly growing industrial center, was one of those places black people sought refuge and prosperity, with the city's black population growing by 4 percent per year. By the turn of the century, there were nearly 2,500 black people in the city, representing about 7 percent of the population, which was about 35,000.The same level of growth had not been true for Springfield's European immigrant population in this period. The annual growth rate of the immigrant population was 0.15 percent, not growing beyond roughly 4,500 people. But after the turn of the century, immigrant settlement in Springfield increased rapidly.
Around 1890, the migration of black people to Springfield began to slow. In the early 20th century, black people from the rural South began the Great Migration, and many began moving to larger cities, such as New York and Chicago. Between 1900 and 1908, the annual black migration rate in Springfield decreased from 4 percent to 3 percent. Meanwhile, for European immigrants, the trend was the reverse.
By July 1908, Springfield's population was over 45,000. Of those 45,000, nearly 6,500 were European immigrants, who together with their first generation American offspring accounted for 40 percent of Springfield's population, while native white Americans made up just under 55 percent and black people about 6 percent.
These population shifts had economic, political and social implications, particularly as the unemployment rate increased from under 3 percent to 8 percent between May 1907 and June 1908, during the Panic.
In 1908, there were slightly more than 1,000 black men in Springfield's workforce. About 50 percent were porters and laborers; only 150 were employed as miners. Most of the rest were restricted to lower-class and unskilled jobs Black people generally lived in the racially segregated neighborhoods of "The Levee" and "The Badlands". Realtors used restrictive covenants that prevented black people from purchasing property elsewhere.
Social tensions rose due to the swelling immigrant population, the decrease in job stability, and the movement of a few upper middle class black people into white neighborhoods. Resentment among white immigrants ran high against black people. Whites resented upward mobility among black people as a threat to a social order in which they should always be superior, and white business owners often exploited this resentment for their own economic benefit. For example, some industries used black workers as strikebreakers during labor strikes, pitting black people and immigrants against each other in an effort to prevent unionization. Stories of black strikebreakers were carried by numerous newspapers in Illinois. The disproportionate coverage of these instances fueled white antagonism against the black workers. In 1898, labor violence broke out in what was called the Battle of Virden, resulting in 11 deaths.
Springfield's immigrants were anxious about competing with the city's black minority, and the city's native whites worried about growing political power among the city's black people. Black people had no allies among the whites, and were caught between the suspicions of native-born and immigrants.