Right To Ride: African American Citizenship, Identity, And The Protest Over Jim Crow Transportation

FAIN: FT-54670-06

Blair Lynne Kelley
North Carolina State University (Raleigh, NC 27695-0001)

The project describes the struggle of black Americans who refused to accept the segregation of trains and streetcars at the turn of the twentieth century. When railroads instituted policies barring black riders, passengers challenged unequal conditions, culminating in the U.S. Supreme Court case of PLESSY V. FERGUSON. Despite the legal defeat, black southerners continued to contest Jim Crow laws, boycotting streetcars in twenty-five cities. This project is a comparative study of protest in three southern cities, New Orleans, Richmond, and Savannah. By recasting this important chapter in the history of civil rights, the project uncovers the complexities of black leadership, institutional development, and community life.