From separate hotels to cemeteries, striking historical photos show what segregation looked like in Jim Crow-era America
Brianna Holt  Â
- Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, segregation laws, known as Jim Crow laws, created restrictions for Black Americans.
- While these laws were constantly challenged, it wasn't until 1964 that the discriminatory laws were outruled by Congress.
Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, segregation laws, also known as Jim Crow laws, were instated throughout most parts of the American South to separate white and Black Americans after the abolishment of slavery. From separate housing and education, to restrictions on transportation and restaurants, and even the prohibition of interracial marriage, segregation laws were proposed under the guise of "separate but equal." Instead, these regulations allowed continued racism and discrimination toward Black Americans and forced restrictions to keep them from being allowed to succeed or thrive.
Prior to Jim Crow, "Black Codes" were introduced throughout the South starting around 1865. These laws dictated where Black people could work and live, as well as ensured their availability for cheap labor. Many Black people were forced to sign annual labor contracts and risked being arrested, fined, and forced into unpaid work if they refused to sign.
Black Americans who challenged any of the unfair laws placed upon them often faced extreme consequences, like jail time, beatings, and lynchings.
Public transportation, including buses and trains, were segregated throughout the Jim Crow era with Black transients either sitting in the rear of the vehicle or completely denied entrance.
Even airports practiced segregation, despite airline companies following the practices more loosely.
Source: Conde Nast Traveler
In 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested after refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, catapulting the civil rights movement.
But aside from shared public transportation, driving while Black during Jim Crow remained a dangerous feat.
Discriminatory laws and practices, including Black travelers being denied access to services like gas, food, restrooms, and lodging, as well as unreasonable police stops, made driving solo a hazardous experience.
Making stops in unfamiliar cities or "sundown" towns increased the risk of threats and lynchings, Stopping in an unfamiliar place carried the risk of humiliation, threats, or worse.
Source: History.com
To counteract these issues, the Green Book, a Black travel guide was created, recommending safe accommodations, stops, and locations for Black travelers to use while on the road.
Source: History.com
White-dominant residential areas were also prohibited from Black families through various zoning laws across different cities.
Source: The Washington Post
It wasn't until 1917 that the Supreme Court decided this form of zoning was unconstitutional because it interfered with owners' property rights.
Later, in the 1920s, Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover established a federal zoning committee that proposed laws preventing lower-income families from moving into middle-income neighborhoods. Local boards agreed, and the updated rules directly targeted Black families.
Source: JSTOR Daily
In Richmond, Virginia, people were prohibited from residing on any block where they were not allowed to marry the majority of residents, leading to the state's anti-interracial marriage law.
Red-lining was introduced in the 1930s, by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and the Home Owners' Loan Corporation. Maps marked areas in red, which were considered risky and hazardous for mortgages, were created to keep whites from moving into impoverished areas. These neighborhoods were predominantly Black and its residents either had no access or expensive access to mortgage loans.
Source: History.com
Even as segregated housing laws were challenged, other tactics were used to keep Blacks and whites from living among each other.
In 1949, the Housing Act of 1949 was proposed to fix a housing shortage after an influx of soldiers returned from World War II, but the act subsidized housing for white people only. Additionally, Black families were prohibited from purchasing the homes even on resale, directly funding white flight from cities.
Source: History.com
From primary schools to colleges and universities, public educational institutions were segregated until 1954.
Black colleges like Howard University and Fisk University were created to address the fact that there weren't any establishments of higher education that Black Americans were allowed to attend.
In 1954, segregation of education was considered unconstitutional by the Supreme Court after Brown v. Board of Education.
However, decision-making was granted to local courts, which resulted in some districts defying school integration. The blurred lines resulted in federal troops accompanying nine Black students, known as the Little Rock Nine, in 1957, as they attended a high school in Little Rock, Arkansas after Governor Orval Faubus had called in the National Guard to block them.
However, the complete desegregation of educational institutions did not fully take place until the passing of the Civil Rights Act Of 1964.
Source: History.com
Restaurants, cafes, public parks, dance clubs, and theaters were all places of segregation.
At eateries, Blacks were often prohibited from dining in, usually being directed to the back of a restaurant to order and pick up food, only being served take out. Some restaurants would not service Blacks at all.
Violating these discriminatory laws could have resulted in jail time.
Public restrooms were also segregated.
At movie theaters, Black patrons were forced to sit on the balcony, which usually meant climbing several stairs.
Meanwhile, white patrons were seated on the main floor. Even concerts performed by Black musicians were segregated. Sometimes venues were classified as Black or white, other times, venue seating and standing areas were separated by race. Segregation laws were so strict that Black performers often were not allowed to look at or interact with white fans in the audience.
Source: Rolling Stone
Blacks and whites were prohibited from being in the same waiting room in professional offices.
Public phone booths and water fountains were also segregated.
Cemeteries, asylums, and even jails were segregated.
Segregated asylums often meant vastly different treatment. Reports of Black patients being sterilized without consent and forced to undergo inhumane treatments for mental illness revealed these institutions to be motives to eliminate Blacks suffering from mental health issues and increase the white American race.
Source: DailyMail
For cemeteries specifically, Black communities were forced to create their own, with very little funding, usually in potter's fields with terrible infrastructure and wooden paddles for identification.
Meanwhile, white people in the same city were often buried in proper cemeteries with manicured lawns and marble tombstones.
Source: AP News
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