SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - President Joe Biden announced his plans to formally designate the site of the 1908 Springfield Race Riot as a nat
Carlee Bronkema at WAND:
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - President Joe Biden announced his plans to formally designate the site of the 1908 Springfield Race Riot as a national monument using his authority through the Antiquities Act. The monument will be located at the uncovered site of the race riot. This announcement comes after several actions by community members and organizations to push for national recognition of the site.
[...] The monument will have national impacts as well, as it is the first time the site of a lynching has been memorialized, according to Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (IL-13). She says it's important that we recognize the bad parts of our history.
[...] During the 1908 Springfield Race Riot, a mob of white residents attacked Springfield’s Black community, burning down homes and businesses and attacking hundreds of residents. Following the riot, the NAACP was formed. During an excavation as part of the Springfield Rail Improvements project, foundations and artifacts from homes destroyed during the riot were uncovered. An agreement with community members was reached in 2018 to excavate the remains and designate the uncovered site a memorial. Budzinski was the lead of the bipartisan 1908 Race Riot National Monument Act with Congressman Darin LaHood. Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth lead companion legislation in the U.S. Senate. In December of 2023, Budzinski sent a letter to President Biden asking him to use his authority under the Antiquities Act to designate the site as a national monument.
The Biden Administration has made the site of the 1908 Springfield Race Riot in Springfield, Illinois a national monument, 116 years after the anti-Black race riot occurred.
The Springfield Race Riot spawned the creation of the NAACP.










