The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum joined members of the Springfield community Friday to honor two Black men who were killed during racial violence in Springfield more than a century ago.

The ceremony marked the 118th anniversary of the 1908 Springfield Race Riot by filling two jars with soil from the locations where Scott Burton and William Donnegan were lynched. The jars will be displayed at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum as part of its special exhibit, “The Second American Revolution.”

The exhibit examines efforts to rebuild the nation following the Civil War, including the push to fulfill Abraham Lincoln’s vision, and the backlash that eventually led to Jim Crow laws and decades of oppression.

The jars will remain on display through January 17th before being sent to the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama. The museum is part of the Equal Justice Initiative and has collected about 800 soil samples from locations connected to lynchings across the country.

Burton was a Springfield barber who was attacked by a white mob during the first night of the 1908 violence. He was beaten, dragged to his barbershop and hanged.

Pictured below is soil being added to a jar to honor Scott Burton: Photograph courtesy of ALPLM

The following day, Donnegan, an elderly Black property owner, was attacked at his home. He was beaten and hanged and later died at a hospital.

Pictured below is community leader Candice Trees and ALPLM Executive
Director Christina Shutt gathering soil to honor William Donnegan: Photograph courtesy of ALPLM.

The 1908 Springfield Race Riot began after thousands gathered at the county jail seeking two Black men accused of crimes against white residents. Police secretly moved the two men to safety, but the mob then turned its anger toward Springfield’s Black community.

Black-owned businesses and homes were burned, residents were attacked and many fled the city. The National Guard was eventually called in to restore order. The violence shocked the nation and helped contribute to the creation of the NAACP. 

Officials at Friday’s ceremony emphasized the importance of remembering the events of 1908 as a way to better understand the consequences of racial violence and work toward a more just future.

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