Springfield race riot of 1908

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 Atlanta Compromise Niagara Movement NAACP 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
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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 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 riot was a catalyst for the formation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which was organized to work on civil rights for African Americans.^[7] 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.^[8]