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Iberville in New Orleans in Orleans Parish, Louisiana — The American South (West South Central)
 

Homer Adolph Plessy

1862-1925

 
 
Homer Adolph Plessy Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by R. E. Smith, March 1, 2008
1. Homer Adolph Plessy Marker
Inscription. On June 7, 1892, Homer Adolph Plessy defied a Louisiana law that segregated railroad trains on the basis of race. He was arrested and became the defendant in the May 18, 1896 United States Supreme Court decision of Plessy v. Ferguson, which condoned "separate but equal" facilities in the United States. Sponsored by a New Orleans group, called the "Comitι des Citoyens," Plessy's civil disobedience marked one of the first legal challenges to the separation of races in the South following the Reconstruction period. Though he lost the case in 1896, the court later upheld Plessy's Fourteenth Amendment arguments in 1954 in Brown v. Board of Education. The Comitι des Citoyens included Louis Andre Martinet, attorney and publisher of The Crusader newspaper, and Randolphe Desdunes, a writer for The Crusader, who is entombed in St. Louis cemetery No. II. Lead attorneys in the case were James Walker of New Orleans and the noted Reconstruction author, Albion W. Tourgιe of New York.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African AmericansCemeteries & Burial SitesCivil RightsCommunicationsRailroads & Streetcars. A significant historical date for this entry is May 18, 1896.
 
Location. 29° 57.553′ N, 90° 4.311′ W. Marker is in New Orleans,
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Louisiana, in Orleans Parish. It is in Iberville. It can be reached from Basin Street. Marker is in St. Louis Cemetery Number One. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: New Orleans LA 70112, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Louisiana’s River Parishes. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Deep South, on the Gulf Coast, and in the Great River Road Region. Globally, it is in North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain, the Viceroyalty of New France, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, the Louisiana Purchase, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Bernard de Marigny (here, next to this marker); General Humbert (a few steps from this marker); Pons Family (a few steps from this marker); Louisiana Revolutionary War Patriots (a few steps from this marker); Probably The Oldest Extant Wall Vaults (a few steps from this marker); Italian Mutual Benevolent Society Tomb (a few steps from this marker); Barthιlιmy Lafon (within shouting distance of this marker); Orleans Battalion of Artillery (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in New Orleans.
 
Also see . . .  Wikipedia entry for St. Augustine Church (New Orleans). (Submitted on August 13, 2009, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland.)
 
Additional keywords. Plessy v. Ferguson
 
Homer Adolph Plessy Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by R. E. Smith, March 1, 2008
2. Homer Adolph Plessy Marker
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on February 12, 2023. It was originally submitted on October 27, 2008, by R. E. Smith of Nashville, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 4,373 times since then and 21 times this year. Photos:   1, 2. submitted on October 27, 2008, by R. E. Smith of Nashville, Tennessee. • Kevin W. was the editor who published this page.
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Jun. 9, 2026