Iberville in New Orleans in Orleans Parish, Louisiana — The American South (West South Central)
Homer Adolph Plessy
1862-1925
Photographed By R. E. Smith, March 1, 2008
1. Homer Adolph Plessy Marker
Inscription.
Homer Adolph Plessy. 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 "Comité 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 Comité 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. Tourgée of New York.
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 "Comité 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 Comité 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. Tourgée of New York.
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. Marker 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.
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 4,029 times since then and 43 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.
