[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 166 (Thursday, September 24, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E884]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    SPRINGFIELD RACE RIOT STUDY ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. RODNEY DAVIS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 21, 2020

  Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of 
my bill H.R. 139, the Springfield Race Riot National Historic Monument 
Act, to designate the site of the 1908 Springfield Race Riots as a 
National Historic Monument to preserve and recognize it as an important 
part of our nation's history. I am proud of the support this bill has 
received, and that the House Natural Resources Committee came together 
in a bipartisan way to amend this bill to pass it as the Springfield 
Race Riot Study Act, the next step in designating it as part of the 
National Park System (NPS).
  This site represents one of the three worst race riots in our 
nation's history, where terrible and appalling events of racially 
motivated mass violence were committed against African Americans for 
merely existing in their own community, destroying an entire 
neighborhood as a result. The site and artifacts were unearthed during 
construction of the Carpenter Street segment of the Springfield Rail 
Improvements Project and consists of the remains of five homes that 
were burned during the 1908 Springfield Race Riot. This event, and 
others like it in Illinois demonstrated that racial injustice was not 
an isolated issue only in the South, but one that must be addressed 
across the country.
  Ultimately the riots that occurred at the site played an integral 
role in the formation of the National Association for the Advancement 
of Colored People (NAACP) when Ida B. Wells-Barnett, a key leader in 
the African American civil rights movement, launched an anti-lynching 
campaign to end violence against African Americans as a result of the 
horrific events that occurred in Springfield. In 1909, just a year 
later, the NAACP was established, working tirelessly to improve race 
relations and to ensure that the events that happened just over a 
hundred years ago would never happen again.
  Just last month, we were successful in adding the Springfield Race 
Riot site to the African American Civil Rights Network in order to give 
it proper recognition immediately while we continue our work to 
designate the site as part of the NPS. The Site is now among several 
other important places that serve to commemorate and interpret the 
history of the African American Civil Rights movement. Also included in 
the Network is the Pullman National Monument in Chicago, which 
recognizes the first major labor agreement between a company and the 
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first African American led 
labor union; the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail, which 
traces the route of the 1965 Voting Rights March in Alabama; and the 
A.P. Tureaud House in Louisiana, which was the home of the prominent 
civil rights attorney and legal counsel for the NAACP for more than 
three decades; along with many others.
  I thank the bipartisan group of my colleagues who supported this 
bill, Rep. Darin LaHood, Rep. Albio Sires, Rep. John H. Rutherford, 
Rep. Robin L. Kelly, Rep. Bob Gibbs, Rep. Andre Carson, Rep. Don Bacon, 
Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, Rep. Mike Bost, Rep. Mike Quigley, Rep. Val 
Butler Demings, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Rep. Alma S. Adams, Rep. Raja 
Krishnamoorthi, Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Rep. Marcia L. Fudge, Rep. 
Steve Cohen, and Rep. Sean Casten.
  I also thank Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay, who co-sponsored my bill and led the 
African American Civil Rights Network Act of 2017, which was signed 
into law in January 2018. This Act established this important Network 
that I am proud the Springfield Race Riot Site is now part of. Thank 
you to House Natural Resources Chairman Raul Grijalva and Ranking 
Member Rob Bishop for their support and moving this bill through their 
Committee.
  Thank you to the Springfield Branch of the NAACP, the Illinois NAACP, 
the Central Illinois African American Museum, and the Library of 
Congress, for their efforts to preserve the artifacts, and raise 
awareness regarding the importance of this site.
  We must continue this work to preserve and protect this site for 
present and future generations. It is imperative that we never forget 
the work that's been done or the innocent lives that were lost, and the 
work we must continue to do.

                          ____________________