Basic Information
- Type of Place
- Independent City or Town
- Metro Area
- Politics c. 1860?
- Don’t Know
- Unions, Organized Labor?
- Don’t Know
Sundown Town Status
- Sundown Town in the Past?
- Possible
- Was there an ordinance?
- Don't Know
- Sign?
- Don’t Know
- Year of Greatest Interest
- Still Sundown?
- Don’t Know
Census Information
| Total | White | Black | Asian | Native | Hispanic | Other | BHshld | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1860 | ||||||||
| 1870 | ||||||||
| 1880 | ||||||||
| 1890 | ||||||||
| 1900 | ||||||||
| 1910 | ||||||||
| 1920 | ||||||||
| 1930 | ||||||||
| 1940 | 0 | |||||||
| 1950 | ||||||||
| 1960 | ||||||||
| 1970 | 0 | |||||||
| 1980 | 0 | |||||||
| 1990 | ||||||||
| 2000 | 626 | 624 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 181 | 0 |
| 2010 | ||||||||
| 2020 |
Method of Exclusion
- Unknown
Main Ethnic Group(s)
- Unknown
Group(s) Excluded
- Black
Comments
A longtime resident said there was only black student at her high school and that her school was all-white once he graduated. She also mentioned a time when a teacher mentioned dating blacks in the past%u2014another student in her class walked out of the room, verbally expressing a loss of respect for this teacher. Later when the teacher reported it to the principal, no action was taken and the principal had not response. This resident very firmly stated there is an informal consensus among residents that Sidell does not want any blacks living in town.
A longtime resident remembers many incidents of overt racism against blacks and Jews growing up in Sidell. It was common to hear adults and children use “n—–” as a slur. In high school, another student showed her a white hood he kept in his backpack and drew swastikas on her pencil case after learning about her dating relationship with a Jewish student from another town. Another student drew swastikas on the whiteboard of a classroom and was not punished for it.
When her African American boyfriend came to visit Sidell, a longtime resident recalls locking the doors of their car and rolling up the windows until they arrived at their destination for fear of people’s reactions.