Judge John Howard Ferguson died in New Orleans at the age of 77 on November 12, 1915. The Plessy and Ferguson Foundation has been formed with the mission to teach the history of the Plessy vs Ferguson Federal Court case and why it is still relevant today. Can we bring a species back from the brink? At the same time, as my colleague at Harvard legal historian Ken Mackhas pointed outin the Yale Law Journal, we err in seeingPlessythrough the prism of the case that undid separate-but-equal a half-century later,Brown v. Board of Education(1954),so that the struggle becomesonlyone of securing civil rights in an integrated society instead of through multiple and sometimes contradictory paths: equality, independence, racial uplift, to name a few. Judge John Howard Ferguson died in New Orleans at the age of 77 on November 12, 1915. The case was brought by Homer Plessy and eventually led to the infamous Plessy v. Ferguson decision by the United States Supreme Court upholding the cons*utionality of racial segregation. There he met and married in July 1866, Virginia Butler Earhart, daughter of Thomas Jefferson Earhart, a staunch and outspoken abolitionist from Pennsylvania. Delegates from 14 states formed the Niagara Movement. Critically important to the legal team is Plessys color that he has seven eighths Caucasian and one eighth African blood, as Supreme Court Justice Henry Billings Brownwill write in his majority opinion, an observation that refers to the uniquely American one drop rule that a person with any African blood, no matter how little, is considered to be black. No one would be so wanting in candor as to assert the contrary. Sorry! Whatever a jurisdictions rule, to men like Plessy, Tourge and his legal associatesLouis Martinet, a Creole attorney and publisher of the New Orleans Crusader, and white attorney and former Confederate Army Pfc. The son, grandson, great-grandson, and great-great-grandson of Martha's Vineyard (Chimark & Tisbury) Master Mariners, John Howard Ferguson chose a different vocational path and taught school in his early years, finally setting about to study law. Ferguson was born the third and last child to Baptist parents (John H. Ferguson & Sarah Davis Luce) on June 10, 1838 in Chilmark, Massachusetts. I too lived in the shadow of Plessy v. Ferguson, said Louisiana pardon board member Alvin Roche when announcing his decision in November to recommend the posthumous pardon. Please contact Find a Grave at [emailprotected] if you need help resetting your password. Learn more about merges. He died in 1925 with the conviction on his record. Year should not be greater than current year. Death. and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print. Its defendant was John Howard Ferguson, the judge who had convicted Plessy. The ruling established a solid start of the Jim Crow era and legalizing apartheid in the United States. Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic SocietyCopyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. James C. Walker it was clear that a mans race was so essential to his reputation that it approximated a property right. While today we might call proponents of those theories quacks, they were regarded (for the most part) as leading scientists of their day men with college degrees and titles who, even in those rare cases when they were sympathetic to black people and their rights, felt strongly that mixing too closely with whites would lead either to black extinction through a race war or dilution by way of absorption. Department of Archives and Special Collections, Teachers' Domain Civil Rights Special Collection. This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates. The June 1892 incident played out just as expecteda clockwork application of a new Louisiana law that relegated Black passengers to racially segregated train cars. The house still stands today and is designated a historical landmark of the 1989 Orleans Parish Landmarks Commission. Young Ferguson's family was all but wiped out between 1849 and 1861, and after the Civil War ended, and he had completed his legal studies in Boston under the tutelage of Benjamin F. Hallett, Ferguson moved to New Orleans in 1865. Attorneys Louis Martinet and Albion Tourgee timed the action to coincide with the National Republican Convention in Minneapolis, as a prod for the party of Lincoln to focus more on civil liberties in the South. In addition, the Press Street Wharf, which is located near the Press and Royal Street site, was the busiest wharf in the city of New Orleans. If you think about some of the most important leaders in African-American history, W.E.B. During oral arguments, Albion W. Tourge, Plessys attorney, told the court that the law was unconstitutional and that it flew in the face of the 14th Amendments equal protection clause. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. That same year, both his son Walter Judson Ferguson in the month of June, and his wife, Virginia Butler Earhart Ferguson, in the month of September, pre-deceased him. Plessy was dragged off the car, charged with violating the Louisiana Railway Accommodations Act, and duly tried and convicted. Judge Ferguson had previously ruled the Louisiana Railway Car Act of 1890 (The Separate Car Act), a law declaring that Louisiana rail companies had to provide separate but equal accommodations for white and non-white p*engers, "uncons*utional on trains that travelled through several states". While many consider the civil rights movement to have begun in the 1950s, communities were organizing for equal rights much earlier in the U.S. Oral history interview with Charles McDew, 2001, Oral history interview with James Forman, 2001, Mendez v. 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In response to Plessys comparison of the Separate Car Act to hypothetical statutes requiring African Americans and whites to walk on different sides of the street or to live in differently coloured houses, Brown responded that the Separate Car Act was intended to preserve public peace and good order and was therefore a reasonable exercise of the legislatures police power. So devastating was it in drawing, and deepening, the color line, I venture that most of us, whenever we hear ofPlessy v. Ferguson(1896), immediately think of the slogan separate but equal, and, because of it, wrongly assume that the two named parties in this famous court case had to have been, on the one hand, the darkest of black people and the most Southern of whites. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel. Old cells hang around as we age, doing damage to the body. We will review the memorials and decide if they should be merged. Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you. NowPlessyslawyers had what theyd hoped for: an opportunity to argue on a national stage. This website is no longer actively maintained, Some material and features may be unavailable, Major corporate support for The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross is provided by, The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross is a film by. Ferguson served in the Louisiana Legislature and practiced law in New Orleans until he was tapped in 1892 for a judgeship at the criminal district court, Section A, for the Parish of New Orleans, Louisiana. The purpose is not to erase what happened 125 years ago but to acknowledge the wrong that was done, Phoebe Ferguson, the great-great-granddaughter of the county judge who imposed Plessys punishment, said during the ceremony. On February 12, 2009, they partnered with the Crescent City Peace Alliance and the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts in placing a historical marker at the corner of Press Street and Royal Street, the site of Homer Plessy's arrest in New Orleans in 1892.[3]. Read more. Making the Louisiana law even more absurd, in Harlans view, had been the sole exception the statute had carved out for nurses attending children of the other race. In other words, it was OK for black Mammies to ride white cars with white babies, but not with their own (or with white adults, for that matter), because in those instances alone, the unspoken racial hierarchy was clear: Black nurses, at least as a matter of perception, still bore the markings of slaves. They established The Plessy & Ferguson Foundation to educate and remind people about the impacts of the Plessy vs. Ferguson decision. Editor's note: This story was originally published on November 16, 2021. John Bel Edwards held the pardon ceremony near the spot near where Plessy was arrested. Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. Are you sure that you want to delete this memorial? John Bel Edwards posthumously pardoned Homer Plessy, the Black man whose arrest sparked the SCOTUS ruling that cemented separate but equal into law. John Howard Ferguson (June 10, 1838 November 12, 1915) was an American lawyer and judge from Louisiana, most famous as the defendant in the Plessy v. Ferguson case. I got some apologizing to do here," Phoebe told CBS News' David Begnaud. Relatives of Plessy and John Howard Ferguson, the judge who oversaw his case in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, became friends decades later and formed a nonprofit that advocates for civil . Foundation Board Members include: Raynard Sanders, Ph.D, John Howard Ferguson IV, Alexander Pierre Tureaud, Jr., Katharine Ferguson Roberts, Jackson Knowles, Phoebe Chase Ferguson, Keith M. Plessy, Brenda Billips Square, Keith Weldon Medley, Ron Bechet, Stephen Plessy, Judy Bajoie, and Neferteri Plessy. The case was brought by Homer Plessy and eventually led to the infamous Plessy v. Ferguson decision by the United States Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of racial segregation. Nearly 130 years later, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwardsgranted a posthumous pardonto Plessy on Wednesday near the spot where Plessy was arrested. It is. The Plessy v. Ferguson ruling allowing racial segregation across American life stood as the law of the land until the Supreme Court unanimously overruled it in 1954, in Brown v. the Board of Education. This dental device was sold to fix patients' jaws. ), While the constitutional arguments of Tourge et al are best left to legal experts, I continue to be fascinated by the one they crafted about the indeterminacy of race and the reputational risks (and rewards) posed to those who couldnt (and could) pass for white. Please be respectful of copyright. Dignitaries and descendants of both Plessy and John Howard Ferguson, the Louisiana judge who initially upheld the state's segregation law, advocated for the pardon. While Ferguson had dismissed an earlier test case because it involvedinter-state travel, the federal governments exclusive jurisdiction, in Plessys all-in-state case, the judge ruled that the Separate Cars Act constituted a reasonable use of Louisianas police power. There is no pretense that he [Plessy] was not provided with equal accommodations with the white passengers, Ferguson declared. You need a Find a Grave account to continue. There he presided over the case Homer Adolph Plessy v. The State of Louisiana. ), Reinforcing their views on race were legislators and judges. Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards signs a posthumous pardon for Homer Plessy, whose segregation protest led to the notorious 1896 Supreme Court decision Plessy v. Ferguson, on Jan. 5, 2021. Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters. The song that kept people going," Ferguson said. The foundation strives to teach the history of civil rights through film, art, and public programs designed to create understanding of this historic case and its legacy on the American conscience. Plessy then appealed the case to the Louisiana Supreme Court, which affirmed the decision that the Louisiana law was constitutional. Keith Plessy, whose great-great-grandfather was Plessys cousin, said donations collected by the committee paid the fine and other legal costs. John Howard Ferguson (June 10, 1838 - November 12, 1915) was an American lawyer and judge from Louisiana, most famous as the defendant in the Plessy v. Ferguson case. Failed to report flower. Ferguson, John H. (Judge) Biography: A Massachusetts native, Louisiana judge John Howard Ferguson presided over Homer Adolph Plessy's trial for violating the Louisiana law prohibited integrated rail travel in the state. He worked alternately as a laborer, warehouse worker and clerk before becoming a collector for the Black-owned Peoples Life Insurance Company, Medley wrote. I thought you might like to see a memorial for John Howard Ferguson I found on Findagrave.com. That movement, in turn, led to the formation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (the NAACP), which played a central role in the fight for federal Civil Rights legislation in the 1950s and 1960s. As Justice Joseph Bradleywrote for the majority,there must be some stage in the process of his elevation when he [a man who has emerged from slavery] takes the rank of a mere citizen and ceases to be the special favorite of the laws.. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. Civil rights leaders continued to mount legal challenges to the separate but equal doctrine. Why not require all colored people to walk on one side of the street and the whites on the other? Eight months after the ruling in his case, Plessy pleaded guilty and was fined $25 at a time when 25 cents would buy a pound of round steak and 10 pounds of potatoes. Du Bois in other regimes, in other nations, he might not be viewed as black. Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass father was white. He is buried with his wife and other Earhart family members in Lafayette Cemetery # 1 in the old part of New Orleans. It takes only 20 minutes for Homer Plessy to get bounced from his train, but another four years for him to receive a final decision from the United States Supreme Court. A mans world? As they expressed inPlessys brief: How much would it beworthto a young man entering upon the practice of law, to be regarded as awhiteman rather than a colored one? If the civil and political rights of both races be equal, one cannot be inferior to the other civilly or politically. You have chosen this person to be their own family member. As highlighted last week, the legal history of Jim Crow accelerated in 1883, when the Supreme Court struck down the federalCivil Rights Act of 1875for using the 14th Amendment to root out private (as opposed to state) discrimination. The decision legitimized the many state laws re-establishing racial segregation that had been . Are you sure that you want to delete this photo? Any attempt to disrupt the order of business there would be sure to be taken seriously. There he met and married in July 1866, Virginia Butler Earhart, daughter of Thomas Jefferson Earhart, a staunch and outspoken abolitionist from Pennsylvania. Eco-friendly burial alternatives, explained. Instead, as historian Keith Weldon Medleywrites, when train conductor J.J. Dowling asks Plessy what all conductors have been trained to ask under Louisianas 2-year-old Separate Car Act Are you a colored man? Plessy answers, Yes, prompting Dowling to order him to the colored car. Plessys answer started off a chain of events that led the Supreme Court to read separate but equal into the Constitution in 1896, thus allowing racially segregated accommodations to become the law of the land. The doctrine enabled the final full disenfranchisement of nearly all blacks throughout the South, wrote journalist Douglas A. Blackmon in his book Slavery By Another Name. To use this feature, use a newer browser. The presiding judge of the Orleans Parish criminal court told Begnaud that she plans to dedicate her courtroom's Section A to Homer Plessy and call it the Homer Plessy Courtroom. He is far from alone in the struggle. In 2009, descendants of Ferguson and Plessy formed the Plessy & Ferguson Foundation of New Orleans to honor the successes of the civil rights movement. Later, in 1895 Ferguson's decision was appealed to the Supreme Court of United States as the landmark Plessy vs. Ferguson case of 1896. The mixed-race mans insistence on riding in a whites-only car wasnt spontaneous: It was an act of civil disobedience that a local civil rights organization had organized to challenge the law. Try again later. His decision was upheld by the Louisiana Supreme Court. The Fergusons raised three sons (Walter Judson, Milo & Donald Ferguson) in Burtheville (Uptown New Orleans) at 1500 Henry Clay Avenue. John Howard Ferguson (June 10, 1838 November 12, 1915) was an American lawyer and judge from Louisiana, most famous as the defendant in the Plessy v. Ferguson case. Ferguson was born on June 10, 1838 in Chilmark/Tisbury, Massachusetts. The case became precedent for the official segregation of everything from dice tables to drinking fountains, streetcars, and schools. His case became the landmark Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson in where seven of eight justices ruled against him and established the precedent of separate but equal treatment for Black people in the United States. There is a problem with your email/password. Plessys act of civil disobedience followed a careful script and took place with the approval of the railroad company, which opposed the law because it would have required the purchase of additional cars to accommodate Black passengers. Although Plessy was 7/8 Caucasian, he replied, "Colored" and was instructed to go to the "colored only" train car. Keith Plessy, a cousin of Plessy's three generations removed, and Phoebe Ferguson, the great-great-granddaughter of Ferguson, gathered at the historic site in New Orleans. 1 Cemetery in New Orleans. (Why public swimming pools are still haunted by segregations legacy.). [1] The Committee's use of civil disobedience and the court system foreshadowed the Civil Rights struggles of the 20th century. Florida followed suit in 1887; Mississippi in 1888; Texas in 1889; Plessys Louisiana in 1890; Arkansas, Tennessee (again) and Georgia in 1891; and Kentucky in 1892. Had he answered negatively, nothing might have. [3], Last edited on 10 February 2023, at 18:37, Learn how and when to remove these template messages, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1899) (full text in one web page), "Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): Decision Established Doctrine of "Separate but Equal", "A Celebration of Progress: Unveiling the long-awaited historical marker for the arrest site of Homer Plessy", Plessy v. Ferguson at the Web Chronology Project, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Howard_Ferguson&oldid=1138630787, This page was last edited on 10 February 2023, at 18:37. At this point, Plessy petitioned the Supreme Court of the United States where Judge Ferguson was named as the defendant in the landmark decision. In our mans case, it happens to be true, and there is nothing mysterious about his plan. Of course discerning minds like Tourge saw through such theories, but, as Lofgren illustrates in a table summarizing a 1960 study by historian of anthropology George W. Stocking Jr., among 50 social scientists publishing journal articles in the years leading up toPlessy, 94 percent believed in the existence of a racial hierarchy and in differences between the mental traits (intelligence, temperament, etc.) You may not upload any more photos to this memorial, This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 20 photos, This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 5 photos to this memorial, This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 30 photos, This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 15 photos to this memorial. The Brown decision led to widespread public school desegregation and the eventual stripping away of Jim Crow laws that discriminated against Black Americans. There he presided over the case. The new year once started in Marchhere's why, Jimmy Carter on the greatest challenges of the 21st century, This ancient Greek warship ruled the Mediterranean, How cosmic rays helped find a tunnel in Egypt's Great Pyramid, Who first rode horses? First published on January 7, 2022 / 11:56 AM. [ John H Ferguson] Birth. Found more than one record for entered Email, You need to confirm this account before you can sign in. You are nearing the transfer limit for memorials managed by Find a Grave. He is buried with his wife and other Earhart family members in Lafayette Cemetery # 1 in the old part of New Orleans.
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