Jim Crow Laws: Tennessee Code, Colored, Constitution, Descendant, Felony, Intermarriage, Legislature, Mulatto, Negro, Nurse, Ordinance, Penal Code, Public Transportation, Railroads, Schools, Segregation, Separate But Equal, Slavery, Statute, Supreme Court, Voting, Waiting Rooms

Jim Crow Laws: Tennessee [The editors of Americans All ] (c.1877 - c.1967) Code, Colored, Constitution, Descendant, Felony, Intermarriage, Legislature, Mulatto, Negro, Nurse, Ordinance, Penal Code, Public Transportation, Railroads, Schools, Segregation, Separate But Equal, Slavery, Statute, Supreme Court, Voting, Waiting Rooms

TENNESSEE

Background information is provided to put the Jim Crow laws in context and explain how minorities were treated prior to the Civil War. In a few cases, the dates of specific information also have been provided. Like other states of the American South, Tennessee has a history which includes both slavery and racial segregation. In some ways, however, the history of the relationship between the races in the Volunteer State more closely resembles that of a border state than those of the Deep South. Nevertheless, the bloody clash between North and South did not alter most white Tennesseans’ belief in the racial inferiority of African Americans, no matter where they lived. Source 

The state of Tennessee enacted 23 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. Typical of anti-miscegenation legislation is the Constitution of Tennessee, Article 11, Section 13, "The inter-marriage of white persons with negroes [sic], mulattoes or persons of mixed blood, descended from a negro [sic] to the third generation inclusive or their living together as man and wife in this state is prohibited." Source 

Many of these entries came from an inactive website—www.jimcrowhistory.org—though much of the data previously posted on that website has been reproduced on other websites. To avoid repeating the source of information for these entries, we have added the symbol “#” at the end of each of them. Capitalization of words follows the original usage, and many of the entries have been edited for clarity.

1866: An education Statute mandated separate schools required for white and black children. #

1868: The 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. #

1869: A Statute declared: 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." Source 

1870: The Constitution prohibited intermarriage between white persons and Negroes, or descendants of Negro ancestors to the third generation. Source It also included a provision that revenue from the poll tax would go to support schools, but not schools that were integrated. Source 

1870: A Statute mandated the penalty for intermarriage between whites and blacks was labeled a felony, punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary from one to five years. #

1870: Schools for white and colored children to be kept separate. Source

1870s: A Tennessee law made it possible for illiterate voters to obtain help marking their ballots . . . if they had voted in 1857! Thus, black voters were not permitted to receive help, while illiterate white voters were protected, at least for a while. Source 

1873: An education Statute declared: "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: A public accommodations Statute (House Bill 527) mandated that 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." Source 

1881: A Statute required railroad companies 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. #

1885: A public accommodation Statute mandated that 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. Source 

1889-90: the 46th General Assembly (1889-1890), which had no African American members, enacted a statewide poll tax as the first of several measures designed to disfranchise black voters. Source 

1891: All railroads carrying passengers in the state (other than street railroads) shall provide equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races, by providing two or more passenger cars for each passenger train, or by dividing the cars by a partition, so as to secure separate accommodations. Source 

1901: An education Statute made it 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. #

1901: A Statute required all street cars to designate a portion of each car for white passengers and 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. Source 

1925: A Statute mandated that separate elementary and high schools to be maintained for white and Negro children. #

1932: A State Code classified "Negro" as any person with any Negro blood. #

1932: A State Code declared miscegenation a felony. #

1932: A State Code required racially segregated high schools. #

1950: The Constitution prohibited marriage of whites to Negroes or Mulattoes or persons descended from a Negro to the 3rd generation inclusive. Source is: TENN. CONST., Art. 11  & 14;

1955: A State Code mandated that public carriers to be segregated. #

1955: A State Code required separate washrooms in mines. #

1955: A State Code required separate buildings for black and white patients in hospitals for the insane. #

1955: A State Code prohibited marriage or living together as man and wife between racially mixed persons. Penalty: One to five years imprisonment in county jail, or fine. #

1955: It was 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. Source 

1961: In the summer, two young African-American men decided to go swimming at one of Nashville’s municipal pools—one that was reserved by Jim Crow for whites only. Days later, the city closed all its public pools—and left them shut for three years. Source