While the dust was still settling from several divisive political primary races in early August, one Illinois legislator worked on healing measures.
On Aug. 16, U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield, saw the culmination of her ongoing efforts when President Joe Biden signed a proclamation designating the Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument.
The signing took place in the Oval Office, with Budzinski, U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth and other Illinois lawmakers in attendance.
“While the 1908 Springfield Race Riot demonstrates our nation’s deep history of racial violence, it also sparked the creation of the NAACP — reflecting the strength and resilience of Black Americans in the tireless fight for civil rights,†Budzinski said in a statement.
The presidential designation protects about 1.5 acres of federal land in Springfield, just blocks from the Lincoln Home National Historical Site. It will be managed by the National Park Service.Â
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The attack, which took place on Aug. 14-16, 1908, culminated in the lynching of two Black men.
Along with the lynchings, the mob also looted and burned Black- and Jewish-owned homes and businesses and attacked residents of the Levee and Badlands neighborhoods area of the city.
About six months after the riot, Black leaders such as W.E.B. DuBois and Ida B. Wells called for establishment of a national organization to fight for equality across the United States. Soon after, the NAACP was created.
Budzinski, whose district takes in parts of St. Clair and Madison counties, has been pushing for the site designation since she was elected in November 2022.