Timeline: 1870

The census recorded 233 African Americans in Champaign County.

Martin McDermot (1847-1898) moved to Condit Township in Champaign County. He served in the Union Navy during the Civil War. By 1885, he was operating a produce stand in downtown Champaign.

August 22: An African American celebration of the 15th Amendment occurred with a parade through Champaign and Urbana as well as a picnic at Stewart’s Grove. The speaker was Charles Jacobs from Decatur, IL.

October 7: “The citizens that lived in District No. 2 of Champaign made a demand for admission to the public schools. Admission had previously been denied.” – Champaign County Gazette, October 12, 1870, p. 1. Black citizens of Champaign responded with a resolution signed on their behalf by Young A. Wallace and J.W. Lewis which end with the following: “As we believe this to be an act in defiance of the constitutional laws of this State, we resolve to test this act before the Circuit Court of this District, and if justice cannot be obtained there, we will then appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States.”