Illinois history demands protection

Originally published September 11, 2008.

Kickapoo State Park will close November 1.

Hopefully that grabbed your attention. Many students have already heard about it, and the topic was the primary focus of the Buzz’s cover story last week. But there’s more to this than Kickapoo.

By Nov. 1, 24 state sites will close. In four state agencies, 450 employees are slated for layoff.

Now do I have your attention?

Students’ beloved Kickapoo is just one of 11 state parks set to close Nov. 1 because of the loss of 39 employees at the Department of Natural Resources.

In addition, the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency will cut 80 employees and close 13 state historic sites, an oft-unmentioned addition to the park closures. The layoffs will only result in roughly $180,000 of the $2.8 million that the new budget demands IHPA cut. These 13 sites, including tourist favorites, such as Springfield’s Dana-Thomas House, are scheduled to close on Oct. 1.

After reading extensively about the closures, I’ve watched in dismay as less of the information trickles to the ears of the campus population. Kickapoo seems to be our only concern. Even in the papers, the state parks have taken precedence. The Buzz’s article offered one sentence about historic sites. Why aren’t we concerned about them?

The question deserves more consideration, especially when five of these 13 locations are expressly advertised as regional “high points” on the official Illinois tourism Web site. And they aren’t the only ones impacted by the budget cuts; numerous other sites have restricted their hours, even heavyweights like the Old State Capitol and Lincoln’s tomb in Springfield.

Some Lincoln-related sites (including the two previously mentioned, as well as Lincoln’s New Salem, the Ulysses S. Grant home and the Lincoln-Herndon law offices) will receive additional funds for 2009 from the Lincoln Bicentennial Commission to remain open 7 days a week. After the Bicentennial, however, everything is up in the air.

From the state park end, complaints have been voiced regarding the difficulty of reopening. People speculate as to whether the number of visitors who return will be as great as the attendance rates prior to closure. At least for Kickapoo, I doubt this will present much of a problem. Being so close to Champaign-Urbana will bring the crowds back in droves, between outdoorsy college students and organizational excursions. I would venture to guess that more than one UI attendee would advertise a countdown to reopening, were it assured.

We also have to remember that we live in Illinois, and many of these parks offer opportunities for hunting and fishing. The state will have more than just angry college nature-enthusiasts on its hands if it opts to maintain the 11 closures over an extended period of time.

The historical sites are another matter. The time and money necessary for upkeep at the sites may not be considered worth it by the state (or rather, the governor) for locations that only attract a few thousand visitors.

It becomes easy to reconcile any semipermanent closure with the public by saying that the money invested in historic sites is a loss and the cost will not be justified by attendance numbers. Tourists begin to lose interest quickly, and sites forgotten. Who cares about a house where some dead poet lived anyway?

We are as misguided as the governor if we allow ourselves to measure the benefit of a preserved historical location by the number of visitors it receives. The point of historic preservation lies in education and providing that education to any and every person willing to seek it. Do people view the Carl Sandburg home (with 8,598 visitors in 2007) and Lincoln’s New Salem (with 432,176 visitors in 2007) as equally interesting? Probably not. Are their continued existences equally important? Absolutely. We cannot assess the significance of personally experiencing these places by staring at numbers on the page of a report.

History itself is a refusal to forget. If we didn’t recognize its importance, we wouldn’t have protected any of these places to begin with. So who is Rod Blagojevich to arbitrate which locations we remember of the vast number of histories embodied in the sites of Illinois (particularly when the blame for the budget imbalance rests mostly on his shoulders)?

If we can refuse to forget what’s in our elementary school history textbooks, then certainly we can refuse to forget what’s right in front of our eyes. Certainly we can fight for the future of the past.

Chelsea is a senior in English and music and will consider believing in God if he spares her from one more parking ticket.

Remember race riot in Springfield

Originally published September 4, 2008.

This August marked the 100th anniversary of the race riot that occurred in Springfield. That itself may be a shocking statement. Few people even in the state’s capital know much about the two-day riot that occurred in their hometown in 1908, much less those outside the community. Probably fewer still are aware that, despite a low death toll, Springfield’s riot essentially led to the formation of the NAACP.

So what has Springfield done to raise awareness of the string of events which devastated the now-downtown area?

After 100 years, this year they erected informational markers denoting important locations during the rioting. Currently, there are weekly speaker panels discussing historical and cultural issues related to and stemming from the events of 1908. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library also hosts a small, temporary exhibit inside with scattered facts and photos during, after, and about the riot.

Sadly, even with these small efforts on the part of the city of Springfield, people have complained-not only complained, but argued against any commemoration at all. Yes, racism is alive and well.

Many people voiced complaints (especially on the State Journal-Register Web site, as the Internet gives voices to all people, especially obnoxious ones) that there were bigger riots to talk about (not in Springfield, however), that it’s depressing and annoying to continue to bring up the event, and that discussion of the riot would simply be the cause of further racial tension and division in the present.

None of these is a legitimate reason to cease discussion about the Springfield riot. In fact, they create incentive for further, more in-depth conversation. No matter how much we complain or choose to ignore them, horrific injustices occurred in those two days.

The point of commemorating them isn’t to elicit guilt or apologies from anyone. It is to promote understanding between people, understanding of where and what we’ve developed from, and ultimately understanding how far we still have to go in the fight for equality.

In conjunction with people’s unwillingness to actively discuss the riot, another problem arises: the serious lack of information available. Upon visiting the exhibit hosted by Lincoln’s library, I found it unorganized and inconsistent in providing a full account of events of the riot. Many of the quotes used in the displays provided clarity, but were attributed to speakers from 1975. Again, it seems invalid to complain that the details and history of the riot are being shoved down your throat in the present when nobody has discussed it for 33 years.

What is it, exactly, that keeps us from talking about it? Even in an academic setting, the anniversary of the riot has not seemed to incite much discussion. The U of I home page offered a quick blurb from its “Minute With” professor, Clarence Lang, and nothing more. We are apparently so terrified of any missteps in a dialogue regarding racial historical issues (and, for that matter, just racial issues in general) that we opt instead to eliminate talk of them whatsoever.

I get the feeling that following this year, despite next year being the 100th anniversary of the formation of the NAACP, nothing will be left of this year’s efforts except the concrete markers and the mediocre amount of information they provide. The downtown walking tour that was offered this summer will likely be discontinued, due to the negative reception it has received from the community and the lack of attendance. The exhibit will vanish. And with 13 state historic sites already slated to close on October 1 due to lack of funds, it’s highly doubtful that the state will shell out the necessary green to host anything else.

Thus the lack of information will continue, unless we decide differently. Next year’s Lincoln Bicentennial could and should be used to enhance public knowledge of the two-day tragedy in 1908. After all, the riot came as such a shock in part because it took place in Lincoln’s honorary hometown. The ongoing interest in and celebration of Lincoln’s life should focus our attention on the fact that the issue of American racial equality, made mainstream by the events of the Civil War, has yet to be fully resolved.

Chelsea is a senior in English and music and is still living out of a suitcase, despite moving in a month ago.