By the turn of the century, Springfield, Illinois was no longer the small town in which Abraham Lincoln lived, but a growing industrial center. The population of Springfield had grown at an alarming rate; it had nearly doubled since the last shot of the Civil War was heard in 1865. The numbers of people moving into Springfield increased faster than the creation of new jobs. The new workers added more tension to an already tight job market. The southern blacks emigrants and new European immigrants vied with white workers for factory and coal mining jobs. Blacks were, in some instances, brought in as scabs (replacements for striking laborers). Springfield had the largest percentage of blacks of any comparable city in Illinois. This fierce competition for jobs created an enormous amount of strife between the established white population and the new influx of blacks.
During the miserably hot summer of 1908, the racial tension heightened. On the night of Independence Day, 1908, Clergy Ballard, a respectable mining engineer, had his home broken into. He was awakened from his sleep by some unfamiliar noises in his home. When investigating, he saw a stranger at the bedside of his young innocent daughter. The intruder, upon discovery ran out of the house. Ballard gave chase and caught the assailant who, unfortunately for Ballard, had a straight razor and slashed Ballard's throat. Clergy Ballard died the next morning from wounds received that horrible night.
The people of Springfield were led by the press to believe that the crime was a thwarted sexual assault attempt. The public was outraged by the ugliness of the crime. Before Clergy Ballard died he managed to identify the assailant as a Joe James, a local black man with a long police record of minor criminal offenses. He was later caught by a band of angry whites and beaten unconscious. The police rescued James from the crowd and carted him off to jail for murder and attempted rape.
Then the sheriff announced that the crowd might as well disperse because the men that they wanted were no longer in the jail. This apparently enraged the crowd and that's where the violent trouble began. Under the leadership of a few inspiring individuals like Kate Howard, a local rooming house owner who was notorious for her hatred of blacks, the crowd moved from the county jail down to Harry Loper's restaurant when it learned that his car was used in the escape plot. The crowd stalled at the sight of Harry Loper standing in the doorway with his rifle, but after he left by the back door the mob preceded to trash and destroy his stylish restaurant. They consumed the liquor, broke plate glassed windows, demolished the interior, and torched his five thousand dollar automobile.
The local authorities attempted to control the crowd, but were overwhelmed and outnumbered. Mayor Roy Reece of Springfield was forced into hiding by threats from the angry crowd. Fortunately for Springfield, Governor Charles Dedeen was in town and promptly activated the State militia. The crowd, however, was still on the move. Levee Destroyed
Urged on by shouts of "Women desire protection and this seems the only way to get it" the mob's intent had changed from the original purpose of seeking their own form of justice to clearing the entire town of blacks. Now the crowd headed toward the black commercial section of the city called the Levee where they broke into Fishman's pawn shop, a Jewish owned business, and stole weapons that would in the near future destroy many businesses, homes, and dreams. The mob now possessing guns, ammunition, and ropes, moved through the Levee, destroying all black businesses that were in sight. The violent crowd destroyed two or three blocks of the Levee. After having laid waste to a number of Negro established businesses in Springfield the mob then moved north heading toward the black residential section known as the Badlands.
On the way, however, a section of the angry crowd encountered the first resistance when they confronted a black barber named Scott Burton. When he saw the mob approach, Burton decided to protect his property and stood in the doorway with a shotgun. The mob wanted to destroy the barber shop because it was owned by a black man and because he had a white wife, but they did not want to get killed themselves. Out of fear Burton fired a blast of buckshot into the crowd. The crowd returned the fire and Burton was killed. His barber shop was burned and his body was paraded from his porch to a place several blocks away where it was hanged from a tree outside a saloon. Burton's corpse became the symbol of the mob's hatred of blacks and was riddled by bullets until the militia came and put a stop to that action.
But then the mob then moved on to the black residential area of Springfield. Rioters set fire to the houses of blacks avoiding only the homes with white handkerchiefs tied outside which signified they were homes owned or inhabited by whites. When firemen arrived, the crowd hindered their progress and even cut their hoses. It was estimated that a crowd of nearly 12,000 people had gathered to watch the Badlands burn. Black families were forced to run to surrounding towns or find refuge within the hostile city. Some blacks found safety with white people they knew, others went to the State Armory, and still others tried just to get out of town. Those that went to surrounding towns were met by signs that read, "All N-words are warned out of town by Monday, 12 Sharp!". By midnight some national guard units arrived and dispersed the mob and the violence ended for Friday night.
On Saturday there was a troubled sort of peace, but at the same time mass migrations of people out of and into of the city was taking place. Fleeing out of Springfield were an estimated two or three thousand Negro residents. A fair number never did return. Those who fled went on foot, on horse back, by truck, and or by train. Some blacks found sanctuary at Camp Lincoln and the State Arsenal. The State Arsenal was the State headquarters of the National Guard and this was where a good number of soldiers were stationed. In addition to that mass exodus of people out of town there were two distinct groups coming into Springfield. Curiosity seekers and tourists arrived because many of the state's newspapers carried the news of the race riots in headline fashion. The other group consisted of some five thousand troops of the Illinois National Guard who were brought here from various communities throughout the state and were eventually able to restore order in the Capitol. They were stationed around Springfield and headquartered at the State Arsenal. It was amazing that they were able to get organized and began to control the crowd as fast as they did late Friday and early Saturday. Prominent Resident Killed
However, the peace ended on Saturday evening. A mob gathered once again at the Old Court House Building and then began to move in the direction of the State Arsenal Building. A small group attempted to enter the State Arsenal where displaced blacks were being housed. The group was stopped by a militia guard, but the mob merely changed direction and proceeded to march across the capitol grounds and headed for the home of William Donnegan. He was an elderly long time resident of Springfield. Donnegan was eighty-four years old and a cobbler by trade; a respected resident of the community who owned his own home outside the Badlands and also owned some adjacent properties which were occupied by members of his family. He was known to be a friend and the cobbler of Abraham Lincoln. Donnegan made a small fortune bringing southern blacks to Springfield to find jobs. He had never been accused of a crime. He had however, broken the unwritten mores of being married to a white woman for the last thirty-two years. The mob approached Donnegan's home. When he came out to find what they were up to, they grabbed him, cut his throat, dragged his body across the street, and lynched him in the Edwards School yard. He was still alive when the national guard cut him down, but he died early the next morning. This lynching was the last mob action of the riot. Conclusion
By Sunday morning, much of Springfield laid in ruins. On Sunday more national guard troops arrived and in general the day was peaceful. The official death total was reported to be seven, two blacks and five accidental whites. It was rumored that there many more deaths as a result of the riot. Property damage was in excess of $200,000. Forty homes were destroyed and others were damaged while twenty-four businesses were forced to close their doors either temporarily or permanently.
Immediately after the riot, city officials expressed deep regret for the mob's actions and called for swift justice. The call for justice was left unanswered as the 107 indictments returned by the special grand jury granted only one conviction and that was for someone who stole a saber from one of guards. The murderers of Scott Burton and William Donnegan were left unpunished as were the arsonists who set fire to the homes in the Badlands. Kate Howard, one of the ringleaders of the mob, decided to commit suicide rather to face charges. Mabel Hallam later told the authorities she made up the story about being raped in order to cover up an affair she was having. George Richardson was therefore released from jail, but Joe James was tried and convicted of the murder of Clergy Ballard.
The Springfield Race Riot of 1908 was sparked by Mabel Hallam's false accusation and fueled by economic and racial tensions already brewing in the black and white communities. This riot also marked the last conflict between the races when the black people did not rise up as a group to defend themselves. As a possible result of the riots in the Great Emancipator's home town, an integrated group of concerned citizens gathered in the Big Apple, New York City. This group was seeking a solution to the growing problems between the blacks and the whites in America. How could a city that prided itself on the home of the man who set the slaves free also try to run blacks out of their town? If this could happen in Springfield, Illinois it could happen anywhere in the United States. Something had to be done. This idea gave rise to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Today as the most influential civil rights organization, it continues to strive for the civil liberties of African Americans.
Louis Proyect
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