Biden signs order to establish 1908 Springfield race riot monument as he looks to burnish legacy

WASHINGTON -- WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday designated a national monument at the site of the 1908 race riot in Springfield, Ill., a seminal moment in the United States' long and difficult history with racial violence targeting Black people.

Biden was joined in the Oval Office by lawmakers as well as civil rights and community leaders as he signed the proclamation establishing the monument on 1.57 acres of federal land. The monument is intended to be a solemn reminder of the two-day riot sparked by mobs of white residents tearing through Illinois’ capital city under the pretext of meting out judgment against two Black men — one jailed on a sexual assault charge involving a white woman, and the other jailed in the separate murder of a white man.

The Democratic president's effort to establish the monument comes as he looks to burnish his legacy in his final months in office. Biden is also looking to help Vice President Kamala Harris contrast herself with former President Donald Trump, who is aiming to cut into Democrats historic edge with Black voters.

“We can't let these things fade,” Biden said before signing the proclamation. He added, “I know this may not seem significant to most Americans, but it’s of great significance. ... It can happen again if we don’t take care of and fight for our democracy.”

The issue of racial violence continues to reverberate throughout the country. The monument designation was announced less than six weeks after the shooting death of Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman, by a white sheriff’s deputy in her Springfield home after she called 911 for help.

Biden said he saw the establishment of the Springfield monument as an opportunity to recognize a significant moment of the Black community's resilience. The event helped spur the creation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Still, Biden, who has repeatedly criticized Trump for sowing racial discord and failing to speak out against white supremacy, in his Oval Office remarks expressed concern that the country is at moment where he continues “worrying about people wanting to erase history.”

The 1908 riot was a chilling episode that started just blocks from where Abraham Lincoln had once lived.

After authorities secretly moved the prisoners from the jail and sent them to another lockup about 60 miles away, the mob took out their anger on the city’s Black population.

Two Black men, Scott Burton and William Donnegan were lynched, dozens of Black-owned and Jewish-owned businesses were looted and vandalized, and several Black-owned homes were damaged or destroyed. At least eight white people were also killed in the violence and more than 100 were injured, mostly by members of the state’s militia or each other, according to news articles from that period.

The National Guard was called in to restore order. White rioters were charged, but later acquitted for their roles in the lynching and destruction.

Fed-up civil rights leaders met in New York and chose the centennial of Lincoln’s birthday, Feb. 12, 1909, to form the NAACP, whose original board included scholar W.E.B. DuBois.

The National Park Service in 2018 completed a reconnaissance survey of sites associated with the Springfield riot and a special resource study in 2023 that found the sites met the criteria for inclusion in the National Park System.

“Good things can come out of bad things as long as you don’t forget what happened,” said Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., who was on hand for the signing.

Over the course of his presidency, Biden has signed into law legislation codifying lynching as a federal hate crime, established Juneteenth as a federal holiday, and signed a proclamation establishing the national monument across three sites in Illinois and Mississippi honoring Emmett Till, and his mother Mamie Till-Mobley.

The 14-year-old Emmett was tortured and killed in 1955 after he was accused of whistling at a white woman in Mississippi. His mother, Till-Mobley, insisted on an open casket at the funeral to show the world how her son had been brutalized. Jet magazine’s decision to publish photos of his mutilated body helped galvanize the Civil Rights Movement.