A Brief History of Havana as a Sundown Town
Havana, IL has a history of racial segregation, degradation, and exclusion that has perpetuated to this day.
Sundown History of Havana & Mason County, IL
Sundown towns/counties1 (also known as sunset towns, gray towns, or sundowner towns), are all-white areas (municipalities, neighborhoods, territories, etc.) in the US that practice a form of racial segregation by excluding people of color by local law.
Havana is widely cited as being a Sundown town, and remains the seat of Mason County (which also has been identified as a Sundown County).2
"In 1863, white residents of Mason County forced out five African American residents; the county remained forcibly all-white for more than a century.”
Expulsion of African Americans throughout Illinois was widespread - as far as LaSalle (Northern Illinois), Union County (Southern Illinois), and Mason County (Central Illinois).
"According to an 83-year-old lifelong resident of Mason County, north of Springfield, the sheriff “would meet [blacks] at the county line and tell them not to come in.” “Mason County has remained all white for many decades.
Havana, IL is located along the Illinois River, a historically important trade route, and near sizeable interracial cities (Springfield and Peoria).
While it is unlikely that entire counties located near sizable interracial cities could show such a lack of Black residents without continuing enforcement. Enforcement in this area could range from law enforcement, residents, and radical anti-black and white supremacist groups akin to the KKK.
"In the 2000 census, Scott County, west of Springfield, Illinois, had not one black household, and Mason County, between Peoria and Springfield, where oral history says the sheriff used to tell black newcomers to move on, had not a single black family.
Based on further research, there is a written history of a previous city ordinance in Havana that prohibited any Blacks from living there.
"A 1988 graduate of Havana High School in western Illinois, wrote in 2002: 'I lived in Havana all my life and knew of no [African Americans] that lived there, and yes the rumor that you heard was a wide known fact amongst the community, that n—s were not welcome to purchase or live in our town.'"
“N— Lake,” Havana’s Racial Scapegoat for Destructive Flooding
“N— Lake seems to have been named by the overwhelmingly white community because a Black man once ran a grocery store nearby. “We suspect he avoided living in Havana (a river town) to escape racial prejudice and harassment,” note the authors. They date the man and his store to the mid-nineteenth century (1850s), pointing to “evidence that he both served whiskey and permitted card playing in the back of the grocery,” likely adding to whites’ perception that he was dangerous.”3 4
A Look Back at the Discussions of “N— Lake” in the Mason County Democrat.5 6
You can also find Havana listed on the Sundown Town Map here.
#HiddenHistory #sundowntown #SundownTowns #HiddenHistory
Note from the Writer:
This is a very brief history of racism that has permeated throughout Havana over the past 200 years - this is NOT a complete history. It is my hope that the historical evidence, as well as the strong written and oral history of racism in Havana will make others confront the past.
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Thanks for reading,
Ali Hart
Sundown Town Map > Illinois > Havana | James W. Loewen, PhD
https://justice.tougaloo.edu/sundowntown/havana-il/
Loewen, James W. (3 Oct. 2006) Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism. Print.
Amazon: https://a.co/19lQwG8
Willis, Matthew. (2021, Jan. 29) The Meaning of Racist Place Names. JSTOR.
https://daily.jstor.org/the-meaning-of-racist-place-names/
Brown, L. E., & Stivers, R. (1998). The Legend of “N—” Lake: Place as Scapegoat. Journal of Black Studies, 28(6), 704–723. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2784813
“Old Stories Talk About Negro Lake.” (1993, Sept. 15) Mason County Democrat. p.1. Microfilm.
Speckman, Fred C. “Facts About “Nigger” Lake” (1960, March 3) Mason County Democrat. p.6. Microfilm.