Segregation was Pervasive. During the Jim
Crow period there were separate
hospitals for blacks and whites, separate
prisons, separate public and private
schools, separate churches, separate
cemeteries, separate public restrooms, and
separate public accommodations. In most
instances, the black facilities were
grossly inferior -- older, smaller, less
well-kept, and less conveniently located.
In other cases, there were no black
facilities -- no Colored public restroom, no
public beach, and no place to sit or eat.
The segregation laws written on this
wall are a sample of the thousands of
laws that existed during the Jim Crow
period. This list was compiled by the
Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic
Site interpretive staff.
