Statue commemorating race riot to be unveiled

SPRINGFIELD -- During its quarterly meeting Saturday in Springfield, the Illinois State NAACP plans to unveil a bronze statue by sculptor Preston Jackson commemorating the Springfield Race Riot of 1908.

This is the centennial year of the NAACP, and former Springfield chapter president Ken Page says the riot was one of the reasons the civil rights organization was founded.

Jackson is a Decatur native who now works in Peoria. In creating the work, he drew on photographs of the Springfield riot.

Jackson's work was commissioned through a $300,000 grant from the Illinois Capital Development Board to the city of Springfield. Board spokesman David Blanchette says the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and the Springfield NAACP chapter also were instrumental in the project.