The Legacy of Resilience project explores the Black community in Springfield, Illinois, before, during, and in the wake of the August 1908 race riot. In the past, there have been attempts to interpret the violence of this race massacre, but little work has been done to understand and interpret the Black Springfield community that was impacted by this violence. This project centers the Black Springfield community鈥攖heir joy, their strife, and their everyday lives鈥攁s a way to understand what was lost through violence as well as the community鈥檚 resilience.
Research on this project began in Fall 2024 and when completed it will use digital methods to make our research searchable and available to the public, display that data in a digital map that will give the public a better understanding of Black Springfield before, during, and after the race riot, and include interpretive elements helping the public better understand key people and places within Springfield鈥檚 Black community in the early 1900s.
Project Team
Jacob K. Friefeld, Project Co-Director
Devin Hunter, Project Co-Director
Brian Mitchell, Public Humanities Fellow
Anna Newby, Graduate Research Assistant