President Joe Biden on Friday signed a proclamation establishing the 1908 Springfield Race Riot Monument, located at the site of a deadly attack on a Black community by a white mob 116 years ago.
In establishing the monument, the White House said in a statement, the president “recognizes the significance of these events and the broader history of the Black community’s resilience in the face of violent oppression.”
Biden was joined by civil rights leaders, community members and elected officials in the Oval Office.
“What excites me, beyond the details, is that we are rewriting history,” Biden said. “So that our children, our grandchildren — everybody understands what happened and what can still happen.”
Just before signing the proclamation, he explained how “a mob not far from Lincoln’s home started a race riot in Springfield.”
President Joe Biden, joined by civil rights leaders, community members and elected officials, signs a proclamation designating the Springfield Race Riots of 1908 National Monument, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 16, 2024.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin explained what he called the “national significance” of the attack’s ties to Abraham Lincoln.
“It was the Lincoln connection that really drove home the message that racism has to end in America,” he said at the signing ceremony. “And we’re still fighting that fight today.”
The monument will protect 1.57 acres of federal land in Springfield, Illinois, and will include the foundations of five homes that were destroyed in the violence.
“I know this may not seem important to you, to most Americans, but it is important. It is important, important, important,” Biden said.
The White House added that the incident was representative of the “racism, intimidation and violence faced by Black Americans across the country.”
Biden stressed the need for generations of Americans to understand this history. “In fact, something similar happened here recently,” he said.
He also highlighted how this horrific attack “triggered the creation of the NAACP,” which he considers “one of the most important organizations” in America.
“I’m very proud that Springfield, Illinois, is the birthplace of the NAACP,” added Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois. “Good things can come out of bad things, as long as we don’t forget what happened.”
Sculptures depicting charred chimneys rising from the smoldering rubble of burned buildings make up the 1908 race riots centennial memorial titled “Acts of Intolerance” by Preston Jackson in Springfield, IL on March 22, 2023.
John O’Connor/AP/ARCHIVES
Lawmakers have asked Biden to use his authority under the Antiquities Act to designate the site as a national monument.
Although legislation was introduced to achieve this goal, Duckworth explained how “it got stuck in the House.”
Accordingly, they felt that executive action was the “best chance to protect this area and mark this part of our history.”
The effort marks the eighth addition to the national park system under the Biden-Harris administration.
