Primary Resources

The Culture of Jim Crow

• Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University
• From the Jim Crow Museum website, “Why I Collect Racist Items”. David Pilgrim, founder and Curator of the museum writes: “The mission of the Jim Crow Museum is straightforward: use items of intolerance to teach tolerance. We examine the historical patterns of race relations and the origins and consequences of racist depictions. The aim is to engage visitors in open and honest dialogues about this country's racial history…Many Americans understand historical racism mainly as a general abstraction: Racism existed; it was bad, though probably not as bad as blacks and other minorities claim. A confrontation with the visual evidence of racism -- especially thousands of items in a small room -- is frequently shocking, even painful.”

The Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia offers images of a vast collection of racist material and print culture. The museum is organized by stereotype/caricature (ie: “Mammy”, “Uncle Tom”). In addition to images, each stereotype has a contextualizing essay that will help teachers to frame their discussions.

Without Sanctuary

• From the website: Searching through America's past for the last 25 years, collector James Allen uncovered an extraordinary visual legacy: photographs and postcards taken as souvenirs at lynchings throughout America. With essays by Hilton Als, Leon Litwack, Congressman John Lewis and James Allen, these photographs have been published as a book "Without Sanctuary" by Twin Palms Publishers . Features will be added to this site over time and it will evolve into an educational tool. Please be aware before entering the site that much of the material is very disturbing. We welcome your comments and input through the forum section.
  
  Experience the images as a flash movie with narrative comments by James Allen, or as a gallery of photos which will grow to over 100 photos in coming weeks. Participate in a forum about the images, and contact us if you know of other similar postcards and photographs.

 

• The AHA Guide to Teaching with New Media

This AHA publication features discussions of how to use internet, movie, and other “new media” sources in your classroom.

 

Selected YouTube Videos

Billie Holiday singing “Strange Fruit”

“Strange Fruit” was not written by Billie Holiday but rather was the work of Jewish Union activist Abel Meerpool. Meerpool saw a photo of a lynching and was so disturbed by it that she penned the poem about the “strange fruit hanging form the poplar trees” and later put the poem to music. Though Holiday’s label refused to record it, she eventually recorded it on an independent label. The song became the anthem of the anti-lynching movement.

Blackface Montage from Spike Lee’s Bamboozled

Spike Lee’s 2000 movie Bamboozled is the story of a black television writer who, when his idea for a wholesome comedy about a black family is continually rejected, proposes reviving blackface minstrelsy. Instead of white actors in blackface however, he uses black actors in blacker face. The show is an instant success but has major ramifications for the writer. The end of the movie features a montage of actual blackface performances.

 

Andover Historical Society

“The Original Jim Crow” A.K. Johnson to Joseph Farnham, 1834.   The lyrics to T.D. Rice’s minstrel song - “The Original Jim Crow” are included in this letter to Andover’s Joseph Farnham.

 

Courtesy of Boston Public Library Rare Books and Manuscripts

“The First Annual Convention of the National Federation of Afro-American Women: Organized in Boston, July 31, 1895.”  Boston: (no publisher), 1896.  Call #: Ms.Am 1543
This broadside advertises the First Annual Convention of the National Federation of Afro-American Women.  Organized by Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, the Federation was part of a larger club movement that sought to provide women with educational and social outlets

“Report of a Special Committee of the Grammar School Board Presented August 29, 1849, on the Petition of Sundry Colored Persons Praying for the Abolition of the Smith School, With an Appendix.”  Boston: J.H. Eastburn, 1849.  Call #: 6357.50
This petition, circulated by black Bostonians, calls for the abolition of the Smith School (an African-American school) and the integration of its students into various white schools.  The arguments of the petitioners present a perspective on the position of African-Americans in Massachusetts and their relative rights. This perspective is significantly different than that of Thomas Smith – see “An Address Delivered Before the Colored Citizens of Boston…” below.

Roberts, Benjamin F. “Report of the Colored People of the City of Boston, on the Subject of Exclusive Schools.  Submitted by Benjamin F. Roberts to the Boston Equal School Rights Committee.”  Boston: (no publisher listed), 1860.  This report asserts that African-Americans are denied equal rights because they are only allowed to attend the Smith School, a school specifically for African-Americans. 

Russell, Charles Theo.  “Report of the Minority of the Committee: Upon the Petitions of John T. Hilton and others, Colored Citizens of Boston, Praying for the Abolition of the Smith School, and that Colored Children May be Permitted to Attend the Other Schools of the City.  Submitted by Charles Theo. Russell, at a Meeting of the School Committee of Boston, Holden August 29th, 1849.”  Boston: Printed by Order of the School Committee, 1849.  Call #: XbH.A849.R91R
Russell’s minority report sides with the petitioners on the question of whether to close the Smith School.

Ryder, C.J., Acting Treasurer of the American Missionary Association.  “Receipt: Boston, Mass, 1891 April 29.”  Call #: Ms. 3517 
This receipt acknowledges a donation of $299.23 for the purpose of “educating, instructing, and improving the colored population of the South (in the United States of America)”.

Smith, Thomas P.  “An Address Delivered Before the Colored Citizens of Boston in Oppposition to the Abolition of Colored Schools, on Monday Evening, Dec. 24, 1849.”  Boston: Bela Marsh, 1850.  Call #: LC2803.B7 S2 1850x c.1
Smith makes the argument that abolishing the “colored schools” in Massachusetts in favor of integration would be “uncalled for, unjust, inexpedient, and injurious”.  In making his case, Smith ponders the general condition of African-Americans in Massachusetts. 

Winston, Henry. “Old Jim Crow Has Got to Go!” New York: New Age Publishers, 1941.  Call #: E185.61.W77  Henry Winston, a member of the Communist Party and National Administrative Secretary of the Young Communist League wrote this pamphlet in 1941.  The pamphlet protests the discriminatory hiring practices in defense industries and the segregation of the armed forces.

Courtesy of Boston Public Library, Music Department

Branen, Jeff.  Denison’s Minstrel Opening and Finale Choruses.  Chicago: Denison & Co., c. 1921.  Call #: 8053.1340 c.1
Branen’s sheet music was published by Boston’s Walter Baker Theatrical Publishers in 1921.  Each of Branen’s five options of minstrel opening and finale choruses features a stereotyped image of African-Americans in minstrel shows on the cover.  The songs themselves feature the nostalgia for the Old South and racist imagery common in minstrel songs. Page 2.

The Humorous Narrative of Jim Crow.  Glasgow: A. Donald, 1836.  Call #: M.129.145
A broadside advertising a minstrel show. Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5

Rice, Thomas D.  American Bibliopolist.  “Jim Crow.”  New York: Riley, c. 1840.  Call #: 8054.200
This article from American Bibliopolist gives a brief history of TD Rice, the originator of the Jim Crow character.  Rice was a New York performer who became famous as an “Ethiopian Delineator”, the term used before minstrel performers. Unfortunately, the final page of the history is missing from the manuscript. Page 1, Page 2

Internet Archive (archive.org)

Mickey Mouse and the Boy Thursday – In this 1948 book, Mickey receives a package containing an African native.  The bulk of the book revolves around Mickey trying to teach the native (Thursday) American customs.   The book contains a stereotypically racist depiction of people of African descent.