Home » Illinois » Sullivan

James W. Loewen (1942-2021)

We mourn the loss of our friend and colleague and remain committed to the work he began.

Sullivan

Illinois

Basic Information

Type of Place
Independent City or Town
Metro Area
Politics c. 1860?
Unions, Organized Labor?

Sundown Town Status

Sundown Town in the Past?
Probable
Was there an ordinance?
Yes, Strong Oral Tradition
Sign?
Yes, Strong Oral Tradition
Year of Greatest Interest
Still Sundown?
Probably Not, Although Still Very Few Black People

Census Information

The available census data from 1860 to the present
Total White Black Asian Native Hispanic Other BHshld
1860
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910
1920
1930
1940
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990 4354
2000 4326 4269 13
2010
2020

Method of Exclusion

Main Ethnic Group(s)

Group(s) Excluded

  • Black

Comments

2/2008 email

I am from Sullivan, IL. I grew up hearing other kids tell about the sundown rule. When Guy Little, Jr. started a summer stock theater in Sullivan, out of town actors arrived. As I recall the first black actors stayed at Dr. McLAughlin’s house. He was highly respected and everyone new that no harm would come to a guest at his home. One of the Black actors had role in Music Man. But he appeared in “white face.”

***

There are a lot of residents who state that Sullivan was indeed sundown, if not by ordinance than by attitude.