Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness Interrupted: Springfield, IL 1908 Race Riot

This discussion will look at what life was like for the many African Americans living in Springfield before the riots occurred and life after the riots. Doris Bailey will also briefly discuss what happened during the riots.   

Doris Bailey works for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) at the Illinois State Museum as Operations Manager. Before starting at the Illinois State Museum, she worked at the State Historic Sites of IDNR. Prior to joining IDNR, Ms. Bailey was the Museum Coordinator for the Springfield and Central Illinois African American History Museum where she also served as a board member and volunteer. Ms. Bailey received her Bachelor’s in Sociology/Anthropology with a minor in African American Studies and her Master of Arts in Public History from UIS in 2017 and 2021, respectively. She has a great passion for history, with a particular interest in African American history, authoring her master’s thesis on the Springfield 1908 Race Riot.

This program is the first in the summer lunchtime lecture series, Stories of Freedom in Central Series hosted by Looking for Lincoln and the Springfield State Historic Sites.  This weekly lecture series will be hosted on Wednesday's at 12:30 PM in Theater 1 at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site Visitor Center.  The series will start on June 5, 2024 and conclude on July 31, 2024.