List of Jim Crow law examples by state


This is a list of examples of Jim Crow laws, which were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. Jim Crow laws existed mainly in the South and originated from the Black Codes that were passed from 1865 to 1866 and from pre American Civil War. They mandated de jure segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for Americans of African descent. In reality, this led to treatment that was usually inferior to that provided for Americans of European descent, systematizing a number of economic, educational and social disadvantages.
State-sponsored school segregation was repudiated by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1954 in Brown v. Board of Education. Anti-miscegenation laws were repudiated in 1967 by Loving v. Virginia. Generally, segregation and discrimination were outlawed by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Alabama

1864: Miscegenation
Marriages between whites with "Black People, Indians, Mongolians" were declared illegal and void. The word "Descendants" does not appear in the statute.
1901: Miscegenation
Revision of the 1865 statute which added the word "descendants" to the list of minority groups. The revised statutes also stated that marriages would be valid if legal where they were contracted, but noted that Arizona residents could not evade the law by going to another state to perform the ceremony.
1909: Education
School district trustees were given the authority to segregate black students from white children only where there were more than eight Negro pupils in the school district. The legislature passed the law over a veto by the governor.
1911–1962: Segregation, miscegenation, voting
Passed six segregation laws: four against miscegenation and two school segregation statutes, and a voting rights statute that required electors to pass a literacy test. The state's miscegenation laws prohibited blacks as well as Indians and Asians from marrying whites, and were not repealed until 1962.
1927: Education
In areas with 25 or more black high school students, an election would be called to determine if these pupils should be segregated in separate but equal facilities.
1928: Miscegenation
Forbid marriages between persons of the Caucasian, Asian and Malay races.
1942: Miscegenation
Supreme Court of Arizona interprets anti-miscegenation statute in a manner which prohibits persons of mixed racial heritage from marrying anyone. Court acknowledges that its interpretation is "absurd" and recommends that Legislature pass amendment thereto.
1956: Miscegenation
Marriage of person of "Caucasian blood with Negro, Mongolian, Malay, or Hindu" void. Native Americans were originally included in an earlier statute, but were deleted by a 1942 amendment.

California

In this state, concern about Asian immigration produced more legislation against Chinese immigrants than against African Americans.
An 1850 California statute provided that "no black, mulatto person, or Indian, shall be allowed to give evidence in favor of, or against a white man." In 1854, the Supreme Court of California held that the statute precluded persons of Chinese descent from testifying for or against a white man. "It can hardly be supposed that any Legislature would.. exclud domestic negroes and Indians,... and turn loose upon the community the more degraded tribes of the same species, who have nothing in common with us."
California's constitution stated that "no native of China" shall ever exercise the privileges of an elector in the state." Similar provisions appeared in the constitutions of Oregon and Idaho...
1866-1947: Segregation, voting
Enacted 17 Jim Crow laws between 1866 and 1947 in the areas of miscegenation and education, employment and a residential ordinance passed by the city of San Francisco that required all Chinese inhabitants to live in one area of the city. Similarly, a miscegenation law passed in 1901 broadened an 1850 law, adding that it was unlawful for white persons to marry "Mongolians."
1860–1880; 1885: Education
Children of "Negroes, Mongolians, and Indians" must attend separate schools. Later amended in 1864 to enable a separate school to be established upon the written request of the parents of ten such children. "A less number may be provided for in separate schools in any other manner." Enrollment in public schools restricted to white children only in 1866, and the first mention of separate but equal was made. In 1870, the requirement to educate Chinese children was dropped entirely and separate schools were repealed in 1880, but reestablished for Chinese students in 1885.
1872: Alcohol sales
Prohibited the sale of liquor to Indians. The act remained legal until its repeal in 1920.
1879: Voter rights
"No native of China" would ever have the right to vote in the state of California. Repealed in 1926.
1879: Employment
Prohibited public bodies from employing Chinese and called upon the legislature to protect "the state…from the burdens and evils arising from" their presence. A statewide anti-Chinese referendum was passed by 99.4 percent of voters in 1879.
1880: Miscegenation
Made it illegal for white persons to marry a "Negro, mulatto, or Mongolian."
1890: Residential
The city of San Francisco ordered all Chinese inhabitants to move into a certain area of the city within six months or face imprisonment. The Bingham Ordinance was later found to be unconstitutional by a federal court.
1891: Residential
Required all Chinese to carry with them at all times a "certificate of residence." Without it, a Chinese immigrant could be arrested and jailed.
1894: Voter rights
Any person who could not read the Constitution in English or write his name would be disfranchised. An advisory referendum indicated that nearly 80 percent of voters supported an educational requirement.
1901: Miscegenation
The 1850 law prohibiting marriage between white persons and Negroes or mulattoes was amended, adding "Mongolian."
1909: Miscegenation
Persons of Japanese descent were added to the list of undesirable marriage partners of white Californians as noted in the earlier 1880 statute.
1913: Property
Known as the "Alien Land Laws," Asians immigrants were prohibited from owning or leasing property. The California Supreme Court struck down the Alien Land Laws in 1952.
1931: Miscegenation
Prohibited marriages between persons of the Caucasian and Asian races.
1933: Miscegenation
Broadened earlier miscegenation statute to also prohibit marriages between whites and Malays.
1945: Miscegenation
Prohibited marriage between whites and "Negroes, mulattos, Mongolians and Malays."
1947: Miscegenation
Subjected U.S. servicemen and Japanese women who wanted to marry to rigorous background checks. Barred the marriage of Japanese women to white servicemen if they were employed in undesirable occupations.

Colorado

1864: Miscegenation
Marriage between Negroes and mulattoes, and white persons "absolutely void." Penalty: Fine between $50 and $550, or imprisonment between three months and two years, or both.
1864–1908:
Passed three Jim Crow laws between 1864 and 1908, all concerning miscegenation. School segregation was barred in 1876, followed by ending segregation of public facilities in 1885. Four laws protecting civil liberties were passed between 1930 and 1957, when the anti-miscegenation statute was repealed.
1908: Miscegenation
Marriage between Negroes and mulattoes, and whites prohibited. Penalties: Punishable by imprisonment from three months to two years, or a fine of between $50 to $500. Performing a marriage ceremony punishable by a fine of $50 to $500, or three months to two years' imprisonment, or both.
1930: Miscegenation
Miscegenation declared a misdemeanor.

Connecticut

1879: Military
Authorized state to organize four independent companies of infantry of "colored men". Companies were to receive same pay as other companies, including one company parade in the Spring and one in September.
1925: Antidefamation
Prohibited motion picture theaters from showing any film which ridiculed the Negro race.
1935: Education
Upheld school segregation as originally authorized by statute of 1869.

Florida

– Black and White prisoners were not allowed in the same cell with each other.

Illinois

1927: Housing
1953: Housing
In August 1953, the first black family moved into Trumbull Park, a formerly all-white project of the Chicago Housing Authority.

Indiana

Enacted seven Jim Crow laws in the areas of education and miscegenation between 1869 and 1952. Persons who violated the miscegenation law could be imprisoned between one and ten years. The state barred school segregation in 1877, followed by a law giving equal access to public facilities in 1885.
1869: Education
Separate schools to be provided for black children. If not a sufficient number of students to organize a separate school, trustees were to find other means of educating black children.
1905: Miscegenation
Miscegenation prohibited.
1952: Miscegenation
Marriage between whites and Negroes void.
1955: Adoption
Required that due regard be given to race on adoption petition.

Kansas

Segregation laws in Kansas dealt primarily with education. The state constitution of 1859 specified separate African American schools. This practice continued until 1954.

Kentucky

1866: Miscegenation

This law prohibited whites from marrying any African American who is more than 12% African American. Penalty of not following this law was a felony that was punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary up to five years.
1866: Education

This gave all school district trustees the right to create separate schools for African American children.
1873: Education

It was unlawful for a black child to attend a white school, and vice versa. No separate colored school was allowed to be located within of a separate white school. This law excluded schools in cities and towns but did not allow the schools in those areas within six hundred feet of the other.
1890: Railroads

All railway companies were required to provide separate but equal accommodations for white and colored passengers. Penalty to do so resulted in the passengers or conductors receiving a fine of $25 or imprisonment for 20 days. Any officers and directors of railway companies that fail to follow this law were found guilty of a misdemeanor and could be fined between $100 and $500. This law excluded streetcars.
1892: Railroads

Railroads were to provide separate coaches for white and colored passengers. Signs stating the race for each car must be posted. Penalty to do so was railway companies that failed could be fined from between $500 to $1,500. Any conductors who failed to enforce the law were to be fined from $50 to $100.
1893: Miscegenation

Any marriage between a white person and an African American or mixed citizen was prohibited.
1894: Railroads

Railroad stations must provide separate but equal waiting rooms for the white and colored passengers. A sign posting what race was in what room was to be seeable by everyone. Penalty to do so would end in a fine $25 or imprisoned up to 30 days. Any agents failing to enforce the law were found guilty of misdemeanor that was punishable by a fine of $25 to $50.
1894: Miscegenation

Any marriage between a person of color and a white person was prohibited.
1902: Streetcars

All streetcars must provide separate but equal accommodations to a passenger of any race. The failure to do so ended with such penalties as passengers or conductors could receive a fine of $25 or imprisonment up to 30 days. Any railway company that refused to follow could receive a fine of $100 or imprisonment between two and six months.
1904: Education

It was unlawful to maintain or operate any college, school, or institution where persons of the white and African American races are both allowed to attend. This law did not prohibit private schools or colleges from maintaining a segregated school in a different location for each race no less than. The penalty for not following this law resulted in any violators receiving a $1,000 fine. The United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the statute in Berea College v. Kentucky.
1908: Public Accommodation

It was unlawful for whites and blacks to purchase and consume alcohol on the same location. Penalty for this act was a misdemeanor punishable by a fine from $50 to $500 or an imprisonment in the parish prison or jail up to two years.
1908: Miscegenation

Cohabitation of a white person and an African American without legal marriage is a felony. Penalty for committing such an act resulted in imprisonment from one month to one year, with or without hard labor.
1909: Health Care

An institution for the education of colored deaf mutes was to be established. But segregation in this school was to still be enforced.
1912: Residential

Building permits for building Negro houses in white communities, or any portion of a community inhabited principally by white people, and vice versa prohibited. Penalty: violators fined from $50 to $2,000, "and the municipality shall have the right to cause said building to be removed and destroyed."
1914: Public Accommodation

All circuses, shows and tent exhibitions were required to provide two ticket offices with individual ticket sellers and two entrances to the performance for each race.
1915: Education

No white children were allowed to attend any graded common school for colored children and vice versa.
1918: Prisons

This law allowed the segregation of races in all municipal, parish, and state prisons.
1921: Education

This law called for separate public schools for the education of white and black children between the ages of six and eighteen.
1921: Housing

This prohibited African American and white families from living in the same home.
1928: Education

This gave separate textbooks for white and African American school children.
1928: Public Carrier

Separate but equal accommodations were required to be provided on all forms of public transportation.
1932: Residential

No person or businesses were allowed to rent an apartment in an apartment complex or other housing buildings to a person who differs in race from the other occupants.
1932: Miscegenation

All interracial marriages were outlawed. Invalidated interracial marriages if the parties went to another legal power where such marriages were legal. Marriages between African Americans and Native Americans were also prohibited.
1933: Public Accommodations

Establishment of segregated libraries for different races was authorized.
1934: Education

All schools were required to be racially segregated.
1942: Health Care

There were to be separate but equal accommodations for whites and African Americans provided in nursing homes.
1944: Miscegenation

Any marriage between a white person and an African American or racially mixed citizen was prohibited. Penalty to follow this law was a fine of $500 to $5,000. If the people continued to be interracially married the result would be imprisonment in prison from three to twelve months.
1944: Railroads

Separate coaches for white and African American passengers were required.
1948: Barred School Segregation

This law did not allow African American physicians and nurses to take postgraduate courses in public hospitals and Louisville.
1950: Barred School Segregation

African Americans were allowed to attend colleges and universities under two conditions. These conditions are that if comparable courses were not available at Kentucky's African American College in Frankfort, KY and the school's governing body had to approve of this act.
1951: Miscegenation

Any intimate relation between whites and African Americans was illegal. Failure to follow this law ended in fines up to $1,000, up to five years in prison, or both.
1951: Adoption

Interracial adoptions were banned.
1952: Miscegenation

Interracial marriages were prohibited. Penalty of failing to follow this law was Up to $1,000 and/or five years in prison.
1953: Health Care

It was required to establish separate tuberculosis hospitals for each race. This law was then repealed in 1954.
1956: Public Carriers

This law revised older laws that required common carriers to provide separate waiting rooms for white intrastate passengers and for African American intrastate passengers.
1956: Employment

Provided that all persons, firms, or corporations create separate bathroom facilities for members of the white and African American races employed by them or allowed to come into the business. In addition, separate rooms to eat in as well as separate eating and drinking utensils were required to be provided for members of the white and African American races. Not following this law gave to offender a misdemeanor, a fine of $100 to $1,000, or 60 days to one year in prison.
1956: Recreation

All businesses were prohibited from permitting any dancing, social functions, entertainments, athletic training, games, sports or contests on their premises in which the participants are members of the white and African American races.
1956: Public Accommodations

All public parks, recreation centers, playgrounds, etc. were required to be segregated.
1956: Public Carrier

All forms of public transportation were to be segregated.
1957: Education

All public schools were required to be racially segregated.
1957: Education

There were to be no state funds to non-segregated schools.
1960: Voting Rights

The races of all candidates were to be written on the ballots.

Louisiana

The term "Jim Crow Law" was first used in 1841 in reference to a Massachusetts law that required the railways to provide a separate car for black passengers and the "separate but equal" doctrine, Massachusetts.
Four Jim Crow laws were enacted in Montana between 1871 and 1921. The school segregation act was repealed in 1895. A 1909 miscegenation law prohibited marriage between Caucasians and blacks as well as Chinese and Japanese.
1871: Education
Children of African descent would be provided separate schools.
1897: Voting rights
Excluded "any person living on an Indian or military reservation" from residency, unless that person had acquired a residence in a county of the state and is in the employment of the government while living on a reservation. Without residency, a person could not vote.
1897: Residency
An 1897 statute excluded "any person living on an Indian or military reservation" from residency, unless that person had acquired a residence in a county of MT and is in the employ of the government while living on a reservation."
1909: Miscegenation
Prohibited intermarriage between whites and Negroes, Chinese and Japanese. Penalty: Misdemeanor, carrying a fine of $500 or imprisonment of one month, or both.
1921: Miscegenation
Miscegenation prohibited. Nullified interracial marriages if parties went to another jurisdiction where legal. Also prohibited marriages between persons of the Caucasian and Asian races.

Nebraska

1865: Miscegenation
Declared marriage between whites and a Negro or mulatto as illegal. Penalty: Misdemeanor, with a fine up to $100, or imprisonment in the county jail up to six months, or both.
1911: Miscegenation
Marriages between a white and colored person declared illegal. Also noted that marriages between whites and those persons with one-quarter or more Negro blood were void.
1929: Miscegenation
Forbid marriages between persons of the Caucasian race and those persons with one eighth or more Asian blood.
1943: Miscegenation
Prohibited marriage of whites with anyone with one-eighth or more Negro, Japanese or Chinese blood.

Nevada

Enacted four miscegenation laws and a school segregation statute between 1865 and 1957. The education statute declared that blacks, Asians and Indians were prohibited from attending public schools, and that a separate school would be established for them if "deemed advisable." The state's miscegenation law offered an extensive list of inappropriate marriage candidates by race and color for Caucasians, including blacks, "Malay or brown race, Mongolian or yellow race, or Indian or red race." The miscegenation statute was repealed in 1959.
1865: Education
Negroes, Asians, and Indians prohibited from attending public schools. The Board of Trustees of any district could establish a separate school for educating Negroes, Asians, and Indians, if deemed advisable.
1912: Miscegenation
Unlawful for a white person to intermarry with any person of "Ethiopian or black race, Malay or brown race, Mongolian or yellow race, or Indian or red race, within the State." Penalty: Misdemeanor for participants and the minister who performs such a ceremony. White persons found to be living with the above-mentioned groups would be fined between $100 and $500, or confined in the county jail from six months to one year, or both.
1929: Miscegenation
Miscegenation declared a misdemeanor. Also forbade marriages between persons of the Caucasian, Asian and Malay races.
1955: Miscegenation
Miscegenation illegal. Penalty: $500 to $1,000 and/or six months to one year imprisonment.
1957: Miscegenation
Gross misdemeanor for white to marry person of black, brown, or yellow race.

New Mexico

The state passed three Jim Crow laws. A 1943 statute barring miscegenation was repealed in 1955. An 1899 Constitutional amendment gave the legislature authority to implement educational qualifications for electors.
1933: Education
Law stated that "it would not be expedient to have the Indian children mingle with the white children in our educational institutions by reason of the vastly different temperament and mode of living and other differences and difficulties of the two races.
1943: Miscegenation
Cohabitation between blacks and whites prohibited. Penalty: 30 days to one year imprisonment, or $100 to $500 fine.

Ohio

Enacted a miscegenation statute in 1877 and a school segregation law in 1878. Segregation of public facilities was barred in 1884, and the earlier miscegenation and school segregation laws were overturned in 1887. However, in 1953, the state enacted a law requiring that race be considered in adoption decisions.
1877: Miscegenation
Unlawful for a person of "pure white blood, who intermarries, or has illicit carnal intercourse, with any Negro or person having a distinct and visible admixture of African blood." Penalty: Fined up to $100, or imprisoned up to three months, or both. Any person who knowingly officiates such a marriage charged with misdemeanor and fined up to $100 or imprisoned in three months, or both.
1878: Education
School districts given discretion to organize separate schools for colored children if "in their judgment it may be for the advantage of the district to do so."
1953: Adoption
Race to be taken into account on adoption petitions.

Oklahoma

1903: Mining-bath facilities
"The baths and lockers for the Negroes shall be separate from the white race, but may be in the same building."
1904: Education-Teaching
"Any instructor who shall teach in any school, college or institution where members of the white and colored race are received and enrolled as pupils for instruction shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be fined in any sum not less than ten dollars nor more than fifty dollars for each offense."
1907: Voting
In 1907, an amendment passed requiring electors to read and write any section of the state constitution. Exempted were those who were enfranchised on Jan. 1, 1866, and lineal descendants of such persons. NOTE: The Amendment allowed Persons of Indian descent to vote.
1907: Funerals
Blacks were not allowed to use the same hearse as whites.
1908: Voting
In 1907, inmates of institutions were excluded from voting. "Any person kept in a poorhouse at public expense, except federal, Confederate, and Spanish-American ex-soldiers or sailors."
1928: Recreation—Fishing, Boating, and Bathing
"The Commission shall have the right to make segregation of the white and colored races as to the exercise of rights of fishing, boating and bathing."
1937: Telephone Booths
"The Corporation Commission is hereby vested with power and authority to require telephone companies...to maintain separate booths for white and colored patrons when there is a demand for such separate booths. That the Corporation Commission shall determine the necessity for said separate booths only upon complaint of the people in the town and vicinity to be served after due hearing as now provided by law in other complaints filed with the Corporation Commission."

Oregon

Enacted two miscegenation laws in 1867 and 1930 prohibiting intermarriage between whites and blacks, Chinese, Kanakas or any person having more than one half Indian blood. A 1953 statute required that adoption petitions note the race of prospective adopting parents. A 1924 statute required electors to read the Constitution in English.
1867: Miscegenation
Unlawful for any white person to intermarry with any "Negro, Chinese, or any person having one-quarter or more Negro, Chinese or kanaka blood, or any person having more than one-half Indian blood." Penalty: Imprisonment in the penitentiary or the county jail for between three months and one year. Those who licensed or performed such a ceremony could be jailed for three months to one year, or fined between $100 and $1,000.
1924: Voting rights
Required electors to read the Constitution in English and write their name.
1924: Voting
Statute and constitutional amendment passed in 1924 required electors to read the constitution in English and write their name.
1930: Miscegenation
Miscegenation declared a felony. Also forbid marriages between persons of the Caucasian race and those persons with one fourth or more Chinese or Kanaka blood.
1953: Adoption
Adoption petition must state race or color of adopting parents.

Pennsylvania

1869: Education
Black children are prohibited from attending Pittsburgh schools.

Rhode Island

1872: Miscegenation
Prohibited intermarriage. Penalty: $1,000 fine, or up to six months' imprisonment.

South Carolina

Enacted three miscegenation laws between 1809 and 1913, and a 1952 statute that required adoption petitions to state the race of both the petitioner and child. A 1913 miscegenation law broadened the list of races unacceptable as marriage partners for whites to include persons belonging to the "African, Korean, Malayan, or Mongolian race." This law reflected the nation's growing tension over the massive waves of immigrants entering the country during the early twentieth century. The miscegenation law was repealed in 1957.
1909: Miscegenation
Intermarriage or illicit cohabitation forbidden between blacks and whites. Penalty: Felony, punishable by a fine up to $1,000, or by imprisonment up to ten years, or both.
1913: Miscegenation
Law expanded to prohibit marriage between whites and persons belonging to the "African, Corean , Malayan, or Mongolian race." Penalty: Felony, punishable by a fine up to $1,000, or by imprisonment in state prison up to ten years, or both.
1929: Miscegenation
Miscegenation declared a felony. Also forbid marriages between persons of the Caucasian, Asian and Malay races.
1952: Adoption
Adoption petitions must state race of petitioner and child.

Tennessee

The state of Tennessee enacted 20 Jim Crow laws between 1866 and 1955, including six requiring school segregation, four which outlawed miscegenation, three which segregated railroads, two requiring segregation for public accommodations, and one which mandated segregation on streetcars. The 1868 law declared that no citizen could be excluded from the University of Tennessee because of race or color but then mandated that instructional facilities for black students be separate from those used by white students. As of 1954, segregation laws for miscegenation, transportation and public accommodation were still in effect.
1866: Education
Separate schools required for white and black children.
1869: Barred school segregation
While no citizen of Tennessee could be excluded from attending the University of Tennessee on account of his race or color, "the accommodation and instruction of persons of color shall be separate from those for white persons."
1870: Miscegenation
Intermarriage prohibited between white persons and Negroes, or descendants of Negro ancestors to the third generation.
1870: Miscegenation
Penalty for intermarriage between whites and blacks was labeled a felony, punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary from one to five years.
1870: Education
Schools for white and colored children to be kept separate.
1873: Education
"White and colored persons shall not be taught in the same school, but in separate schools under the same general regulations as to management, usefulness and efficiency."
1875: Public accommodations
Hotel keepers, carriers of passengers and keepers of places of amusement have the right to control access and exclude persons as "that of any private person over his private house."
1881: Railroads
Railroad companies required to furnish separate cars for colored passengers who pay first-class rates. Cars to be kept in good repair, and subject to the same rules governing other first-class cars for preventing smoking and obscene language. Penalty: If companies fail to enforce the law required to pay a forfeit of $100, half to be paid to the person suing, the other half to be paid to the state's school fund.
1882: Railroads
1881: law amended to state that railroads required to supply first-class passenger cars to all persons paying first-class rates. Penalty: $300 fine payable to the public school fund.
1885: Public accommodations
All well-behaved persons to be admitted to theaters, parks, shows, or other public amusements, but also declared that proprietors had the right to create separate accommodations for whites and Negroes.
1891: Railroads
Railways to provide equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races. Penalty: Railroad companies that failed to comply with law guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to fines from $100 to $500. Conductors could be fined from $25 to $50.
1901: Education
Unlawful for any school or college to permit white and colored persons to attend the same school. Penalty: $50 fine, or imprisonment from 30 days to six months, or both.
1905: Streetcars
All street cars required to designate a portion of each car for white passengers and also for colored passengers. Required signs to be posted. Special cars could be run for one race exclusively. Penalty: Streetcar companies could be fined $25 for each offense. Passengers who refused to take the proper seat could be fined $25.
1925: Education
Separate elementary and high schools to be maintained for white and Negro children.
1932: Race classification
Classified "Negro" as any person with any Negro blood.
1932: Miscegenation
Miscegenation declared a felony.
1932: Education
Required racially segregated high schools.
1953: Voting rights protected
Repealed poll tax statute.
1955: Public carriers
Public carriers to be segregated.
1955: Employment
Separate washrooms in mines required.
1955: Health Care
Separate buildings for black and white patients in hospitals for the insane.
1955: Miscegenation
Prohibited marriage or living together as man and wife between racially mixed persons. Penalty: One to five years imprisonment in county jail, or fine.

Texas

Twenty-nine Jim Crow laws were passed in Texas. The state enacted one anti-segregation law in 1871 barring separation of the races on public carriers. This law was repealed in 1889.
1865: Juneteenth
The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.
1866: Education
All taxes paid by blacks to go to maintaining African schools. Duty of the legislature to "encourage colored schools."
1866: Railroads
All railroad companies shall attach one passenger car for the special accommodation of freedmen.
1871: Barred segregation on public carriers
Public carriers prohibited from making any distinctions in the carrying of passengers. Penalty: Misdemeanor punishable by a fine from $100 to $500, or imprisonment from 30 to 90 days, or both.
1876: Voting rights
Required electors to pay poll tax
1879: Miscegenation
Confirmed intermarriage law passed in 1858. Penalty applied equally to both parties.
1889: Railroads
Railroad companies required to maintain separate coaches for white and colored passengers, equal in comfort. Penalty: Passengers refusing to sit where assigned were guilty of a misdemeanor, and could be fined between $5 and $20.
1891: Railroads
Separate coach laws strengthened. Separate coaches for white and Negro passengers to be
equal in all points of comfort and convenience. Designed by signage posted in a conspicuous place in each compartment. Trains allowed to carry chair cars or sleeping cars for the exclusive use of either race. Law did not apply to streetcars. Penalty: Conductors who failed to enforce law faced misdemeanor charge punish able by a fine from
$5 to $25. The railroad company could be fined from $100 to $1,000 for each trip. Passengers who refused to sit in designated areas faced fines from $5 to $25.
1907: Streetcars
Required all streetcars to comply with the separate coach law passed in 1889. Penalty: Streetcar companies could be fined from $100 to $1,000 for failing to enact law. A passenger wrongfully riding in an improper coach was guilty of a misdemeanor, and faced fines from $5 to $25
1909: Railroads
Depot buildings required to provide separate waiting areas for the use of white and Negro passengers.
1914: Railroads
Negro porters shall not sleep in sleeping car berths
nor use bedding intended for white passengers.
1915: Miscegenation
The penalty for intermarriage is imprisonment in the penitentiary from two to five years.
1919: Public accommodations
Ordered that Negroes were to use separate branches of county free libraries.
1922: Voting Rights
"...in no event shall a Negro be eligible to participate in a Democratic party primary election held in the State of Texas. " Overturned in 1927 by U.S. Supreme Court in Nixon v. Herndon.
1925: Education
Required racially segregated schools.
1925: Public accommodations
Separate branches for Negroes to be administered by a Negro custodian in all county libraries.
1925: Miscegenation
Miscegenation declared a felony. Nullified interracial marriages if parties went to another jurisdiction where such marriages were legal.
1926: Public carriers
Public carriers to be segregated.
1935: Health Care
Established a state tuberculosis sanitarium for
blacks.
1935: Public carriers
Directed that separate coaches for whites and blacks on all common carriers.
1943: Public carriers
Ordered separate seating on all buses.
1949: Employment
Coal mines required to have separate washrooms.
1950: Public accommodations
Separate facilities required for white and black citizens in state parks.
1951: Voting rights
Required electors to pay poll tax.
1951: Miscegenation Unlawful for person of Caucasian blood to marry person of African blood. Penalty: Two to five years' imprisonment.
1952: Health Care
Establishment of TB hospitals for blacks.
1953: Public carriers
Public carriers to be segregated.
1956: Public accommodations
Abolished previously required segregation in the city of San Antonio's swimming pools and other recreational facilities.
1958: Education
No child compelled to attend schools that are racially mixed. No desegregation unless approved by election. Governor may close schools where troops used on federal authority.
1960: Miscegenation
Strictly Prohibited marriage or living together as man and wife between racially mixed persons. Penalty: One to ten years imprisonment in county jail, or fine

Utah

Five miscegenation laws were passed in Utah between 1851 and 1953, prohibiting intermarriage between whites and those of African or Asian descent. School segregation was barred in 1895. The state's miscegenation law was repealed in 1963.
1851: Miscegenation
Prohibited sexual intercourse between any white person and "any of the African race".
1888: Miscegenation
Intermarriage prohibit between a Negro and a white person, and between a "Mongolian" and a white person.
1907: Miscegenation
Marriage laws amended, with earlier intermarriage provision remaining the same.
1933: Miscegenation
Prohibited marriages between persons of the Caucasian and Asian races.
1953: Miscegenation
Marriage between "white and Negro, Malayan, mulatto, quadroon, or octoroon void."

Virginia

  1. Be it enacted by the assembly of Virginia, That the State registrar of vital statistics may, as soon as practicable after the taking effect of this act, prepare a form whereon the racial composition of any individual, as Caucasian, Negro, Mongolian, American Indian, Asiatic Indian, Malay, or any mixture thereof, or any other non-Caucasic strains, and if there be any mixture, then, the racial composition of the parents and other ancestors, in so far as ascertainable, so as to show in what generation such mixture occurred, may be certified by such individual, which form shall be known as a registration certificate. The State registrar may supply to each local registrar a sufficient number of such forms for the purpose of this act; each local registrar may; personally or by deputy, as soon as possible after receiving such forms, have made thereon in duplicate a certificate of the racial composition, as aforesaid, of each person resident in his district, who so desires, born before June 14, 1912, which certificate shall be made over the signature of said person, or in the case of children under fourteen years of age, over the signature of a parent, guardian, or other person standing in loco parentis. One of said certificates for each person thus registering in every district shall be forwarded to the State registrar for his files; the other shall be kept on file by the local registrar. Every local registrar may, as soon as practicable, have such registration certificate made by or for each person in his district who so desires, born before June 14, 1912, for whom he has not on file a registration certificate, or a birth certificate.
  2. It shall be a felony for any person wilfully or knowingly to make a registration certificate false as to color or race. The wilful making of a false registration or birth certificate shall be punished by confinement in the penitentiary for one year.
  3. For each registration certificate properly made and returned to the State registrar, the local registrar returning the same shall be entitled to a fee of twenty-five cents, to be paid by the registrant. Application for registration and for transcript may be made direct to the State registrar, who may retain the fee for expenses of his office.
  4. No marriage license shall be granted until the clerk or deputy clerk has reasonable assurance that the statements as to color of both man and woman are correct. If there is reasonable cause to disbelieve that applicants are of pure white race, when that fact is stated, the clerk or deputy clerk shall withhold the granting of the license until satisfactory proof is produced that both applicants are "white persons" as provided for in this act. The clerk or deputy clerk shall use the same care to assure himself that both applicants are colored, when that fact is claimed.
  5. It shall hereafter be unlawful for any white person in this State to marry any save a white person, or a person with no other admixture of blood than white and American Indian. For the purpose of this act, the term "white person" shall apply only to the person who has no trace whatsoever of any blood other than Caucasian; but persons who have one-sixteenth or less of the blood of the American Indian and have no other non-Caucasic blood shall be deemed to be white persons. All laws heretofore passed and now in effect regarding the intermarriage of white and colored persons shall apply to marriages prohibited by this act.
  6. For carrying out the purposes of this act and to provide the necessary clerical assistance, postage and other expenses of the State registrar of vital statistics, twenty percent of the fees received by local registrars under this act shall be paid to the State bureau of vital statistics, which may be expended by the said bureau for the purposes of this act.
  7. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with this act are, to the extent of such inconsistency, hereby repealed.

    Washington State

Enacted a miscegenation statute in 1866 forbidding marriage between whites and Negroes or Indians. This law was repealed in 1887.
Six civil rights laws barring segregation were passed between 1890 and 1956.
1866: Miscegenation
Prohibited marriage between white persons and Negroes, Indians, or a person of half or more Negro or Indian blood.
1887: Barred anti-miscegenation
Repealed anti-miscegenation law.
1896: Voting rights
"Indians not taxed shall never be allowed the elective franchise."
1896: Voting
A constitutional passed in 1896 requiring electors to read and speak English. In 1912 a statute was passed noting, "If naturalized, must furnish satisfactory evidence that he is capable of reading and speaking the English language so as to comprehend the meaning of ordinary English prose."
1920: Restrictive Housing Covenants
Beginning in the 1920s, Seattle realtors frequently discriminated against minorities. In November 1927 the Capitol Hill development used a covenant that read: "The parties...agree each with the others that no part of the lands owned by them shall ever be used or occupied by or sold, conveyed, leased, rented or given to Negroes or any person of Negro blood." An April 1928 covenant for the Broadmoor subdivision read: "No part of said property hereby conveyed shall ever be used or occupied by any Hebrew or any person of the Ethiopian, Malay or any Asiatic race..."
Until 1950, Article 34 of the Code of Ethics for realtors in Seattle included the following clause: "A Realtor should never be instrumental in introducing into a neighborhood a character of property or occupancy, members of any race or nationality, or any individual whose presence will clearly be detrimental to property values in that neighborhood." Voluntary agreements between realtors and homeowners continued well into the 1960s.
In 1964, Seattle voters rejected a referendum that prohibited housing discrimination. In April 1968, the city council passed an open housing ordinance, making restrictive covenants illegal.

West Virginia

1863: Anti-miscegenation law included in the state constitution. Overturned by Loving v Virginia in 1967.
1872: "White and colored persons shall not be taught in the same school."
This point-blank requirement for segregated schools was proclaimed in West Virginia's State Constitution as Article XII Section 8. In a remarkable show of the persistence of such attitudes extending to the highest levels of state government, numerous attempts to remove this from the constitution were defeated in the state legislature until it was finally repealed in November 1994.
1873: Black citizens are prohibited from serving on juries. Overturned by Strauder v West Virginia in 1880.

Wyoming

"All marriages of white persons with Negroes, Mulattos, Mongolians, or Malaya hereafter contracted in the State of Wyoming are and shall be illegal and void."
1887: Education
Separate schools could be provided for colored children when there were fifteen or more colored children within any school district.
1889: Voting rights
Required electors to read the state Constitution.
1908: Intermarriage
All marriages of white persons with Negroes, Mulattos, Mongolians, or Malaya hereafter contracted in the State of Wyoming are and shall be illegal and void.
1931: Education
Schools to be segregated only when fifteen or more colored children were in a district.
1931: Miscegenation
Declared miscegenation a misdemeanor. Also prohibited marriages between persons of the Caucasian, Asian and Malay races.
1945: Miscegenation
Marriage of whites to Negroes, mulattoes, Mongolians, Malayans void. Penalty: $100 to $1,000 and/or one to five years imprisonment.