Timeline: 1924

April: African American Republican George Persons was elected Committeeman in the 1st Precinct of Champaign, IL. That same month the Ku Klux Klan burnt a cross on his lawn.

May 3: Daily Illini editorial condemned newly revised Interfraternity Council at the University of Illinois’ constitution which provided admittance to Jewish fraternities but not to African American fraternities.

July 25: News-Gazette reports several thousand people attended a large Ku Klux Klan rally/picnic at Crystal Lake Park where hundreds of Klansmen were initiated. It ended with fireworks and an evening parade.

October 18: Memorial Stadium was officially dedicated at the University of Illinois as a memorial to the Illinois men who gave their lives during World War 1. Each of the columns on the east and west side of the stadium has the name of one of the student athletes who died during the war. William F. Earnest, who was attending the university when he enlisted, is memorialized on one of the columns on the east side of the stadium, the only Black student to be so recognized.

1924 into 1925: George Kyle competed as a non-lettered sprinter on the track and field teams of the University of Illinois. He was the first Black athlete to acquire both his bachelor’s degree in 1926 and a master’s degree in psychology in 1930.