Lincoln Presidential Foundation is proud to partner with the National Park Service at Lincoln Home National Historic Site, situated mere blocks from the proposed 1908 Springfield Race Riot National Monument.  The Foundation has also been honored these past few years to be part of a coalition of organizations advocating for federal designation, preservation, and interpretation of the site.

Establishing the 1908 Springfield Race Riot site as a National Monument is essential for representing our nation's complex history. The site is a memorial to the lives lost and highlights the event and chapter in our nation’s history that led to the founding of the NAACP. The decision to establish the NAACP on Abraham Lincoln's birthday in 1909 powerfully underscored the enduring connections between Lincoln's legacy and the ongoing struggle for equality. When writing about 1908 in her autobiography, Ida B. Wells reflected that the Black men were lynched “under the shadow of Abraham Lincoln’s tomb.” No other National Park Service site currently preserves and shares the story of Wells or the story of racist riots. Yes, the mob violence happened locally. The impact is national.  It is one of many incidents that occurred during what historians refer to as the ”Lynching Era,” and is as we have heard, the tipping point for the creation of the NAACP. We strongly support President Biden designating the 1908 Springfield Race Riot National Monument and adding the site to the National Park System. The site and its story must be preserved for future generations.  

Erin Carlson Mast
Lincoln Presidential Foundation