The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library (ALPLM) is holding a ceremony honoring two men who were killed during Springfield’s 1908 race riot will be held Friday, August 14, with community members invited to help collect soil from the locations where the men were lynched.

The ceremony is being coordinated by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Springfield’s Lincoln Library and organizers of the city’s “3 Hot Days in August” commemoration. The event will begin at 11 AM at the northwest corner of 11th and Madison Streets in Springfield.

The event will honor 80-year-old William Donnegan and Scott Burton, two African American residents who were lynched during the Springfield race riot, which took place August 14 through August 16, 1908.

Donnegan was killed on land where the Illinois State Museum now stands. Burton, a barber, was taken from his home near 11th and Madison Streets, dragged to a tree near his barbershop and hanged.

During Friday’s ceremony, soil will be collected from the location associated with Burton’s lynching. Soil from the site of Donnegan’s lynching will also be present.

The soil will be placed in jars and displayed as a community memorial at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum as part of its special exhibit, “The Second American Revolution.”

After the exhibit closes in January, the soil will be given to the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum, which has collected approximately 800 soil samples honoring victims of racial terror lynching through its Community Remembrance Project.

Community members are welcome to attend and participate in collecting the soil. Organizers will also be available for questions, photos and video.

Parking is available at the HSHS St. John’s Hospital lot at 10th and Madison Streets.

More information is available online at www.presidentlincoln.illinois.gov.