page_title: Springfield race riot of 1908
section_title: Indictments
hierarchical_section_title: Springfield race riot of 1908 / Aftermath / Indictments
caption_attribution_description: English: The Decatur Herald. 23 Aug 1908.
context_page_description: The Springfield race riot of 1908 were events of mass racial violence committed against African Americans by a mob of about 5,000 white Americans and European immigrants in Springfield, Illinois, between August 14 and 16, 1908. Two black men had been arrested as suspects in a rape, and attempted rape and murder. The alleged victims were two young white women and the father of one of them. When a mob seeking to lynch the men discovered the sheriff had transferred them out of the city, the whites furiously spread out to attack black neighborhoods, murdered black citizens on the streets, and destroyed black businesses and homes. The state militia was called out to quell the rioting.
  The riot, trials and aftermath are said to be one of the most well-documented examples of the complex intersection of race, class, and criminal justice in the United States. In 2008 an NPR report on the centenary of the race riot said that the fact of its taking place in a Northern state, specifically in "The Land of Lincoln", demonstrated that blacks were mistreated across the country, not just in the South, and described the event as a proxy for the story of race in America.
context_section_description: By August 17, over 200 people had been arrested in connection with the attacks.  The State Attorney General, Frank L. Hatch, said that he had evidence to charge "at least 15 people" with murder.  Hatch filed a motion for a special jury.
  On the morning of August 17, because the jails were overflowing, Judge James A. Creighton, granted the special jury to move the process along.  Creighton asked Sheriff Werner how quickly he could get 23 men together.  Werner responded that he could corral men by 2:00 p.m. that afternoon.  Creighton set the jury investigations to begin at that time, and ordered that the investigations be conducted in secret.  At 2:00 p.m., Werner returned to the courthouse with the same 23 men who constituted the special grand jury that indicted Joe James four weeks prior.
  By early September, the grand jury, "seeking to place blame for the deaths and the destruction of property", brought 117 indictments against dozens of individuals.  In late October, the grand jury brought an additional 32 indictments against mob participants for "malicious mischief," bringing the total of indictments to 149.
  Four of the indictments were against police officers – Oscar Dahlcamp, Joseph Fernanmes, George Pohlman and George W. Dawson – for "grossly neglecting any efforts to suppress the riot."
  The special grand jury said of the police:
  After the most diligent inquiry we condemn, in unmeasured terms the cowardly, contemptuous actions of those members of the police force, who having taken the oath of office, failed to do their duty; men who are paid from money obtained from the pockets of the people of this city to protect life and property; men who were ordered by the heads of departments of the police to go out and disperse the mob and who not only failed to use a club, handle a pistol or raise a voice against the mob on the side of the law and order, but some who are show to have assisted by act and word in doing the work that has brought the blush-shame to every law-abiding citizen of this city.
  Approximately 10 percent of the indictments were against black men, who were charged with crimes such as "assault with a deadly weapon," "assault to intent to murder," "or "robbery."  Most white men were charged with lesser charges of "mischief," "riot," or "larceny."  For example, Andrew J. Gordon, a black former St. Louis detective who then resided in Springfield, and who local whites referred to as "Big Nigger Gordon," was indicted for the attempted murder and robbery of William H. Bowe.  Gordon denied the charges. Former detective Gordon ended up working as a janitor the following year, according to the city directory.
  Most of the black men arrested for Bowe's shooting were known to be politically influential "among colored voters."  They were held in jail on bench warrants, from August 14 until November 3, past voter registration day in the city.  Because they were in jail, they were prevented from registering.  But on November 2, some of the black men were released, if they could post a $1,000 bond, "with the understanding that they were to boost for [Fred] Mortimer," who was running for "the most important county office," State Attorney, in an election taking place the following day.
caption: Decatur Herald. Aug 1908
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