SIGNS OF JIM CROW from the Library of Congress Collection

Journal Write November 16, 2009 Please try to respond to each question in at least 2 sentences. Based on the movies and poems that we looked at last week, what do you think of the Civil Rights Movement so far? What do you think the “Jim Crow Laws” were? What do you think the phrase, “separate but equal” means?

14 th Amendment Below is the 14 th Amendment to the Constitution, added on July 9, 1868, just after the Civil War. Let’s read it together, and try to figure out what it means. Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws Plessy v. Ferguson (1896),

What were Jim Crow laws? From the 1880s into the 1960s, most American states enforced segregation through "Jim Crow" laws (so called after a black character in minstrel shows). From Delaware to California, and from North Dakota to Texas, many states (and cities, too) could impose legal punishments on people for mingling with members of another race. The most common types of laws forbade intermarriage and ordered business owners and public institutions to keep blacks and whites separated. As we look at the following pictures...please write a 1-sentence reaction (tell me what you think) to each photo.

Some Facilities that Were Separate:  Bus station waiting rooms and ticket windows  Railroad cars or coaches  Restaurants and lunch counters  Schools and public parks  Restrooms and water fountains  Sections of movie theaters  There were even separate cemeteries

At the bus station, Durham, North Carolina, 1940.

Greyhound bus terminal, Memphis, Tennessee

A rest stop for bus passengers on the way from Louisville, Kentucky to Nashville, Tennessee, with separate entrance for Blacks

A sign at bus station, Rome, Georgia

A highway sign advertising tourist cabins for Blacks, South Carolina

Cafe, Durham, North Carolina

Drinking fountain on the courthouse lawn, Halifax, North Carolina

Movie theater’s "Colored" entrance, Belzoni, Mississippi

The Rex theater for colored people, Leland, Mississippi. June 1937.

Restaurant, Lancaster, Ohio

Water cooler in the street car terminal, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Sign above movie theater, Waco, Texas

Beale Street, Memphis, Tennessee Let’s take a closer look at what these laws looked like...

Reflection… What were the “Jim Crow Laws”? How did the “Jim Crow Laws” affect the lives of African Americans from ? Why do you think it’s important for us to learn about this today?