Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 24, 2016)
February 24, 2016 - Black History Edition The Skanner Page 15 Black History Oakland Cemetery - Atlanta Atlanta’s Oakland Cem- etery, with 70,000 graves dating to 1850, shows that segregation was meant to last eternally in the Jim Crow South, and op- erators don’t shy away from its history. The city-owned ceme- tery was divided by race for generations until the City Council ended the practice in 1963. Today, some Black people are buried in previously all- white sections, including Atlanta’s first Black may- or, Maynard Jackson, who died in 2003 and lies in an ivy-covered grave. Explaining this segre- gated past is part of the educational mission at Oakland, said executive director David Moore. A brochure, guided tours and audio exhib- its explain the ceme- tery’s Black section, which holds about 12,000 graves, and signs denote the Black section, a Jew- ish section and a mixed- race “Potter’s Field” for indigent burials. A recent visitor com- plained that the story of slave burials and seg- regation was “sad” and shouldn’t be discussed. Moore disagrees. “Cemeteries provide a great place for people to look and try to figure out what happened before,” he said. Montpelier Train Depot - Orange, Virginia Built in 1910 when laws prevented whites and blacks from mingling in many public spaces across the South, the Montpelier Train Depot at Orange, Virginia, was constructed with sepa- rate waiting rooms for whites and blacks. Pres- ervationists at President James Madison’s Mont- pelier estate, where the white-and-yellow depot is located, decided to keep the rooms as they were during a 2010 reno- vation. The depot remains an active U.S. Post Office, and some favored tak- ing down the “WHITE” and “COLORED” signs that hang over the wait- ing room entrances. In- stead, the depot has been equipped with exhibits that explain the legal history of “separate but equal” laws and their ef- fects on Black residents during the Jim Crow era. Jones County Courthouse - Ellisville, Mississippi The metal plaques at- tached to two concrete water fountains outside the Jones County Court- house in Ellisville, Mis- cont’d from pg 10 sissippi, hide an ugly truth: one fountain was exclusively for Whites and the other for Blacks. The National Associ- ation for the Advance- ment of Colored People sought the removal of the dual fountains in 1989, calling them a painful reminder of segregation, but the White-controlled board of supervisors re- fused. Instead, officials plastered over the “COL- ORED” and “WHITE” in- scriptions, which reap- peared once rain washed away the plaster. County leaders then decided to cover the old racial inscriptions with plaques denoting the year the courthouse was built, 1908. Today, the twin water fountains still flank the courthouse stairs. Nearby on the lawn stands a monument to Confederate veterans. Butler Beach - St. Augustine, Florida There’s little to let vis- itors know that Frank B. Butler County Park was once a thriving resort for blacks located just south of segregated St. Augus- tine Beach, Florida. The park’s website tells the story of Butler, a Black businessman who saw the opportunity for a Black beach in the South during the first half of the 1900s. The At- lantic Coast resort grew to include bathhouses, a casino, pavilions, a mo- tel and other amenities for Blacks who weren’t allowed at White-only beaches in the South. Those structures disap- peared generations ago, and black historian Ber- nadette Reeves laments the lack of markers at the site on scenic A1A to ex- plain its significance. “Can you imagine that the whole Atlantic Ocean wasn’t big enough for Whites and Blacks to swim together?” she said. Rosenwald Schools - Regionwide Philanthropist Julius Rosenwald spurred the construction of more than 5,300 schools for blacks across the South over a two-decade period ending in 1932. Efforts to save the buildings are spotty. Rosenwald built the schools at the urging of Black leader and educa- tor Booker T. Washing- ton, who founded Tus- kegee University in east Alabama and had a first- hand view of the inherent inequality of “separate but equal” schools for Blacks and Whites. Ros- enwald’s schools bridged a gap that White-con- trolled governments wouldn’t fill. Today, some communi- ties and groups have em- braced the preservation of these schools, typically wood-frame structures built along rural roads. The National Trust for Historic Preservation es- timates that fewer than 450 survive today. AP PHOTO/BRYNN ANDERSON Architecture In this Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016 photo, Birmingham, Ala., Mayor William Bell, looks up at the stairs of the Historic Colored Entrance at the Lyric Theatre during renovations, in Birmingham, Ala. Bell says he remembers running up and down the stairs as a child.
