In August 1908, race riots broke out in Springfield, Illinois. My report deals mainly with the outcome of this historic event. In order to understand my report on the outcome, I need to briefly explain some of the causes and events of the Race Riots.

Three of the main causes of the Race Riots were: the build-up of racial prejudice, the alleged assaults of to white persons by two black persons, and the inflammatory way in which the newspapers reported the assaults.

The population of Springfield grew from 25,000 to 49,000 between 1890 and 1908. This is important because the new residents of Springfield were mainly poor white and black people from the South and poor immigrants. There was a lot of competition for jobs in the factories and mining industry. Some white people resented black people who got these jobs and were prejudiced against them.

In July of 1908 Joe James, a black man, was arrested for allegedly killing Clergy Ballard, a white man, in his home. On August 13, Mrs. Mabel Hallam, a white woman, reported that she was assaulted in her home by a black man. She identified George Richardson as the man who attacked her. Both men were being held in the Sangamon County Jail.

The newspaper's reports of Mabel Hallam's assault used words like viper and Negro fiend to describe Richardson. Using words like these encouraged prejudice against Richardson even though he had not been proven guilty yet.

On August 14, a crowd of 400 men gathered in front of the County Jail. They demanded to see the prisoners James and Richardson. Sheriff Werner secretly removed the prisoners from town to avoid violence to them. The crowd turned into an angry mob.

The mob went to Loper's Restaurant and destroyed Mr. Loper's car that had been used to take the prisoners out of town. Then they destroyed his restaurant. Next they went to the levee and destroyed many black businesses. The Levee was a part of downtown where there were a lot of bars and gambling houses. Finally they went to the Badlands where they burned the homes of the black people who lived there and this is when they lynched Scott Burton, a black barber who was defending his property.

The mob was broken up by the militia who were sent by the Governor of Illinois. The next day, August 15, a mob reformed and lynched William Donnegan, an 80 year old black man. The militia again broke up the mob.

Finally, the days of rioting were over. The militia helped keep peace and order. leaders in the community urged that the rioters be brought to justice. A special grand jury was formed and it brought 107 indictments against 80 people. Out of the indictments, including murder charges, only one conviction was made. One of the rioters was convicted of theft, and given a light sentence. This person had been indicted for the murder of William Donnegan.