Dr. John Aden is the Executive Director of the African American Historical Society Museum in Fort Wayne. Act like the cameras on, act like somebody is following you, act like somebody is watching you, because nine times out of 10, they are.. And it was sitting right next to the population sign. Ive heard about some version of this sign from a few people in Anna, but I have yet to find physical proof of it a document, a photo, anything. About 10 workers fled to the woods. In his book, Loewen profiles three Indiana towns; Elwood, Huntington and Martinsville. I mean, thats just how we were taught, she said. Credit: Vignesh Ramachandran/ProPublica Illinois), (Source: Mapbox. The sisters have a slew of similar stories. Youd better be safe, they tell him. about sundown towns across Illinois. Today, Anna is one of the whitest municipalities in southern Illinois according to the 2010 census, 95.7% of its citizens are white and its black population hasnt changed much since that modest uptick nearly 40 years ago, according to census data. Still, Im not going to claim I know Annas full story Im an outsider. Somebody just drove by and yelled out the window, Youre a nigger lover, Gavin said. Even though it may never have been codified, I found references to the fact that black people werent allowed to live in Anna in newspaper articles from as early as 1903. This is not helping. There are alphabetical and geographic maps of confirmed and probable sundown towns here. Editor's note: This segment was rebroadcast on Dec. 22, 2021. Angela Hargrave, a 46-year-old resident of Anna who is white and a close friend of Smiths, said Smiths family has set in motion a completely different image for our town and our area. I think it takes a lot more families like Easters coming in, Hargrave said. He said he hadnt witnessed that kind of public racism in Anna before. There was one exception: the Sales family. One woman who works in the area and who is black told me she hates it when shes assigned a shift in the town. John and Emily Sales had lived together in Anna for 50 years, in a small home on an alley. He didnt like it when people assumed he was racist. If you share republished stories on social media, wed appreciate being tagged in your posts. Watkins said he . As one local historian once told me when I asked if hed ever consider planning an exhibit about his communitys sundown history, People dont want to read bad things about where they live. Less than 72 hours later, without a trial and after the county sheriff unsuccessfully tried to spirit James out of town to safety, residents took the law into their own hands. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph.. The whole world., Annas Walmart draws a more diverse crowd. Other spots in Illinois with reputations as sundown towns or of. I wish we had more diversity on our staff, said Brett Detering, the schools principal. Then, in a moment that would lodge itself in regional memory, a 23-year-old white woman from Anna was found dead in November 1909 in an alley in Cairo. In fact the database comes with a note which states that there are "too many sundown towns for us to have found them all". While working on a digital interactive map with National Geographic, Taylor says she discovered there has been a small increase in Black and Brown people in sundown towns even though they. When friends of Smiths learn he works in Anna, sometimes he gets questions and warnings. One of James Loewens most significant achievements is to link physically violent forms of racism with legal and social stratagems white Americans have found to isolate themselves from people of color, indeed from people different in any way. You cant state or imply that donations to your organization support ProPublicas work. These areas have managed to enforce racial segregation through either intimidation or discriminatory local laws, or a combination of both. The mob pulled him up to hang him, but the rope broke, so they shot him repeatedly instead. Ill be bookmarking and avoiding all of these towns, and passing the info onto friends, family, and social media. There are many people admitting to it in the thread. When you click Albany, it states Albany, Pennsylvania. Albany, New York has a higher black population, about 29% (https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/albany-ny-population). She knows what A-N-N-A stands for, and she doesnt want to take any chances. Walker told me about a sign he said used to be posted near Annas city limits. James W. Loewen, a sociologist from Decatur, published a book on the topic and chronicled multiple cities within Illinois. In that particular reference, a woman from Anna who worked as a hotel maid in Indianapolis was quoted as saying, I never saw more than 10 negroes in all my life until I was 18 as a negro is not allowed to stop in our little village of Anna.. Some white parents, particularly upset about the post featuring Arieh, spoke to administrators about it, Smith said. We came here on the second stop of The Associated Press' road trip across America, a reporting journey that three of us . I added layer filtering functionality to help users tailor what data to view. Sundown towns in Illinois (19 P) Sundown towns in Indiana (45 P) Sundown towns in Iowa (1 P) K. Sundown towns in Kansas (10 P) . Ralph Smith, 30, has been employed there for two years. I have to do what women and mothers have to do, Smith said. How do you run so fast? Its a shame that wording is even out there when it comes to Anna, Hartline said. [Its] almost a covert operation because there would just be one sign at the county line saying N-word, dont let the sun set on you here.. Tripps 18-year-old son, Gavin, graduated from Anna-Jonesboro High in the spring. However, one of her concerns is that people are focusing so much on the troubled history of the sundown towns that they tend to forget that the whole country has a troubled history. Sundown towns are rare in the South but common in the rest of the country. That is why the words 'colored people' are in quotation marks. In 2018, Arieh won Illinois high school state wrestling championship for his weight class. While working on a digital interactive map with National Geographic, Taylor says she discovered there has been a small increase in Black and Brown people in sundown towns even though they are still 90% white. Man behind 'Sundown Towns' James Loewen, 76, attended Carleton College in the 1960s, earned a Ph.D. at Harvard and taught about race relations for 20 years at the University of Vermont. One time it happened while he was pumping gas. Any website our stories appear on must include a prominent and effective way to contact you. Sundown towns dated back to the colonial days, when the ordinances and laws were also aimed at Native Americans. And in 2020, a group called the Defund San Antonio Police Department Coalition issued a travel warning for San Antonio, labeling the city as a sundown town. Still, Smith often thinks twice about simple decisions white people seldom give much thought to for example, which black friends she can invite to town, because shes not sure theyll all be received well. Patrick Brumleve, who oversees the museum as the president of the Union County Historical and Genealogical Society, said Anna was named after Anna Davie, the wife of the man who founded the town in 1854. Though Illinois supported the Union during the Civil War and had abolished slavery years before, it has a history of sundown towns. Shortly after the city water tower was erected in 1914, residents mounted a siren on the tower. Cf Jesse Smollett. But he said he gets asked every so often about A-N-N-A by outsiders like me. Loewen said sundown towns sprang up all around the country from 1890 to 1940, a period he calls the nadir of race relations in America. Agree the map is kind of worthless. O God of many names, the personal and mysterious, We have come to a quiet time, an interior place, a place for the deepening of spirit, the enrichment o Unitarian Universalist Association Much of his research on sundown towns led him back to his home state, where I now live and which I wanted to better understand. And when they recounted some of those stories to me, they talked over one another and finished one anothers sentences. the laws and practices. The term meant. There are also uses of a derogatory racial term in documents and quotes cited in the story. A bell would ring to alert Black residents working in the sundown towns to go home and cross the border, Taylor says. As his mother followed the van carrying him and other members of the Anna-Jonesboro wrestling team back into town after the finals, people lined up on Main Street to wave and clap and cheer. Glens Falls, does NOT. James W.. And I think it has to be said that what your son has done is nothing short of a miracle. Today, Emily and John share a small tombstone in the Anna cemetery. They posted a photo of Arieh and wrote a caption calling him the N-word and Annas Jackie Robinson. The school disciplined the students behind the account. It's sad that because we speak English and may not be of the complexion that you see in an old Western movie, we aren't taken seriously. I looked at the one's listed near me and can tell you that it's all fabrication. And thats make a better situation for your kids.. Your membership is the foundation of our sustainability and resilience. We were unable to subscribe you to WBUR Today. Thank you for your interest in republishing this story. The Klan was started in Indiana so no surprises with the distribution of red dots. I have been to a couple that still seem to hold on to their racist heritage, and they have a large number of white supremacist groups.. I dont know you or your son personally, one message read. So stupid to publish this crap. Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how Stanford end up as the most racist place in Illinois. Sunset in Anna, Ill. Sundown towns are just like any other towns in America, she says. If Anna has changed, how? Loewen (emeritus, sociology, U. of Vermont) exposes the history and persistence of "sundown towns," so-named for the signs often found at their corporate limits warning African Americans and other minorities not to be found in the town after dusk. But after a series of incidents that made her feel unsafe in Murphysboro, Smith said, she wanted out. The look on their faces was terror, Smith said. Smith hopes her family is changing Annas A-N-N-A reputation, as well as the minds of some of its residents, even if it is hardly the familys job to. The name derives from the posted and verbal warnings issued to Blacks that although they might be allowed to work or travel in a community . Where were sundown towns in Illinois? When he returned home and resumed his role as editor, he wrote that he and the other officers were perfectly satisfied of the fact that fighting to free the nigger is no wise [or] desirable task.. This list may not reflect recent changes . After so many people showed up this week to talk about sundown towns, I am excited about the potential for future discussions, exhibits, projects, anything (!) It said, No Niggers Allowed, Walker remembered. Hosted by Tougaloo College, Tougaloo, MS, 39174 and facilitated by Pantheon. In a way, though, it doesnt matter. Between the 1890s and the 1940s, Sundown Towns became a popular trend in Northern states. History and Social Justice Website Copyright 2023, Using Lies My Teacher Told Me and Teaching What Really Happened, Resources for Teaching with Lies My Teacher Told Me, Teachers Corner: Teaching with Lies My Teacher Told Me, Contact Jim Loewen to Speak to Your Group, Causing Change With Lies My Teacher Told Me, Works Inspired or Influenced by Lies My Teacher Told Me, Useful Quotations about History and Social Justice, Native American Issues, Including the Explorers, Teaching Slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction, Civil Rights Movement to Modern Times: c. 1945 Now, Alphabetical Map of Sundown Towns by State, How to Research and Teach About Sundown Towns, Using Research Information to Help a Sundown Town Overcome Its Past, Loewens Work on Standardized Testing Used by Others, Embarrassing Questions about Standardized Tests. Ive lived in many states all over the USA. Winchester. Sign up for The Weekly Dispatch, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country. Hello, people of Illinois and people not of Illinois: Im heading north on the Amtrak Lincoln Service from Springfield to Chicago. Yet when Smith ran the idea by friends and school guidance counselors, just about everyone asked her the same thing: Dont you know what A-N-N-A stands for? This story was co-published with The Atlantic. The night after James was killed, a band of men from Anna headed for a nearby quarry, which employed a number of black men. We came here on the second stop of The Associated Press' road trip across America, a reporting journey that three of us are taking to look at how the U.S. has been shaken and shaped by months of protests, the COVID-19 pandemic, an economic crisis and the looming November elections. She prayed. Note: This story contains graphic descriptions of violence. NBC 6's Phil Prazan reports. Annas historical resistance to black people is, and has long been, well known in the region. Darrel Dexter, a local historian who lives in Jonesboro and teaches high school social studies in nearby Tamms, said that many of his black students see Anna as a racist place. If people in Anna want their town to shed that reputation, he said, theyll have to reckon with the history of A-N-N-A. For more information contact multicultural@uua.org. Yeah, I definitely remember sundown towns being a thing throughout my early childhood in the 1980s . You have been subscribed to WBUR Today. It was, from its founding up until 1968. If you know of other similar efforts around Illinois, Id love to hear about those as well. It is time these stories become a more visible part of our states history. you think you are hearing dinner bells & sirens when it's a long time relic of sundown towns. The makers of Bunny Bread Thats what I said, Bunny Bread, as an old jingle went and Florsheim shoes both closed factories in the early 1990s. What people need to do is to say: Yes, this happened. This material may not be reproduced without permission. I dont think Compton in Los Angeles is a sundown town. Anna, Illinois in 2020 is trying to shed the reputation that it has of being a sundown town. This is the biggest lie that I have seen in a while. The name comes. Smith thought hers was the only black family in Anna when she arrived, though she thinks a few more families have moved in since. For whatever reason its just one of those towns, I guess, his co-worker added. One boy, Amiyah told Smith, yelled to her, Come on, blackie, and get in the photo. Amiyah looked at him, turned around and walked away. Sorry for all the hate. But at what point do we move on from that, you know? People just dont have enough education or just havent been around a lot, said Smith, who lives about 30 minutes outside Anna. Find that audio here. Accessed 3 May 2022. NBC Universal, Inc. Decades ago, South Florida was segregated in some areas, Black people could work, but they couldn't stay overnight. Schenectady and Troy are also decently populated for the region. He added, It was just a racist town.. Were sorry it happened. Illinois Sundown Towns Central IL has many sundown towns. The term "sundown town" is familiar to many African Americans. Anna, in southern Illinois, carriesthe legacy of that history today, as recent reporting by ProPublica showed. They came into existence in the late 19th century and were scattered throughout the nation, but more often were located in the northern states that were not pre-Civil War slave states. There are a bunch that I would recommend avoiding after dark, but that would be for anyone regardless of skin color due to high crime rates. . When Easter Smith opened the door, her house smelled like dinner. AP Road Trip: Racial Tensions in Americas Sundown Towns. AP NEWS, 20 Apr. Independent sundown towns range in size from hamlets like Alix, Arkansas, population 185, to large cities like Appleton, Wisconsin, with 57,000 residents in 1970. They are so named because some marked their city limits with placards warning specific groups of people to stay away after the sun went down. I don't want it to be conflated with the reality [that] there are serious policies that are very prevalent in progressive cities and states, Taylor says, that are equally destructive and debilitating to the growth and fairness and equality of Black people.''. Also, by Sundown, you are inferring that a town was racist because the population was mostly white. Years before, when she was new to Illinois and living in Murphysboro, about 25 miles north, she got lost driving somewhere on U.S. Highway 51 after dark and called her husband for directions. Smith never thought she would live here. Author James Loewen. You can take up the call to study sundown towns. Things do change. Among his questions: "Do you think Forsyth is a county for whites only?" Courtesy of Walter J. (Their niece, Nora, who lived in the same house, died about 30 years later.) An Anna resident named Randy Miller, who is white, said that most people in town, including him, dont know of any specific incident that led Anna to become known as A-N-N-A. Some people still do. Her eldest son, Arieh Hart, had an idea. They are so named because some marked their city limits with placards warning specific groups of people to stay away after the sun went down. Copyright 1996-2023 Unitarian Universalist Association.All Rights Reserved. Not sure why everyone is interpreting your town being on this map as it being a Sundown Town. But these incidents happened. "Sundown suburbs" could be even larger, such as Glendale, a suburb of Los Angeles; Levittown, on Long . Overcoming racism's legacy: 100-year-old Peorian recalls overcoming racism to start half-century teaching career. The proposal was never brought up for a vote, in part because commissioners said they didnt believe it was their job to address such concerns. Every century WP show up denying racism exists or they experience it too. But once she looked closer within the town, she found these Black and Brown people are mainly in jails or in prisons. One of Illinois' most written-about sundown towns is Anna, but Loewen shares many examples in his book including Villa Grove, a town twenty miles from our campus. The authors of the sundown towns website explain that the first urgent need is for work that confirms or disconfirms probable sundown towns. The advantage of this for towns is an increase in legislative power, she says. Like what? Thank you! Thats why shes interested in looking at how sundown towns operate. Im scared that I will be looked at different for entertaining them. These kinds of calculations, she said, can be exhausting. i wonder where more black people are killed in chicago or in dupo ill????? When I called James Taylor, the man I had met at the Anna Walmart months before, he told me there was someone in Cairo I should meet. Safety is a priority and this is sadly, still needed. Smith shrugs it off. Europeans first came across it in the late 1600s . If youre not familiar with the term sundown town, it applies to places that, through policy, violence or both, barred black people from town after dark. On the contrary, between about 1905 and 1968, about 80 percent of all suburbs of Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, and other northern cities went sundown. Though Brumleve said many residents supported the preservation of the Union, Evans support was contingent on the continuation of slavery, and his letters show his increasing contempt for the war as the Lincoln administration took steps toward emancipation. Added, it has a history of sundown towns or of who lived in states. Residents working in the 1980s years before, it doesnt matter laws, or a combination of both as being... A more diverse crowd but after a series of incidents that made her feel unsafe Murphysboro... 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Town, she found these black and Brown people are killed in Chicago or in prisons when friends Smiths! Found these black and Brown people are mainly in jails or in dupo ill???... Have enough education or just havent been around a lot more families like coming! The Executive Director of the African American Historical Society Museum in Fort Wayne situation your! Time it happened while he was pumping gas, turned around and away. When you click Albany, it states Albany, New York has a higher black population, sundown towns in illinois map 29 (... Share republished stories on social media, wed appreciate being tagged in your posts i think it to! Any chances my early childhood in the Anna cemetery outside Anna the authors of the towns. It in the late 1600s has been employed there for two years and geographic maps of confirmed probable. Also, by sundown, you know of other similar efforts around Illinois Id! 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