Real (Nonfiction) Facts Behind the Historical Fiction Novel
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
prepared by Mrs. Dorsey
Period A3
December 5, 2009
Facts:
1. PBS explains that the Jim Crow Laws this way: "Jim Crow was not a person, yet affected the lives of millions of people. Named after a popular 19th-century minstrel song that stereotyped African Americans, "Jim Crow" came to personify the system of government-sanctioned racial oppression and segregation in the United States."
2. On the PBS webite about Jim Crow Laws, information about the Ku Klux Klan stated that six confederate war veterans in Tennesse organized the Ku Klux Klan in the winter of 1865-1966. It started out as a secret men's club, and later became a terrorist organization mainly aiming their terrorist acts at African-Americans and anyone who was trying to help the African-Americans.
3. Another fact that I found on the PBS website states that the fourteenth amendment (passed by Congress in June of 1866 and ratified by the states in 1868) granted citizenship to African-Americans, and was designed to protect the civil rights of former slaves.
4. Also from PBS, the thirteenth amendentment had abolished slavery, and the fifteenth amendment would guarantee voting rights to black men.
5. The glossary of Biography for Beginners tells us that in 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court in (Brown vs. Board of Education) declared it unconstitutional to segregate blacks from whites in public schools.
6. I found one of the Jim Crow laws that was mentioned in my novel quoted at American Radio Works: "North Carolina: School textbooks shall not be interchangeable between the white and colored schools, but shall continue to be used by the race first using them.
7. , 8., 9. Here are some more (unbelievable to me) Jim Crow laws as quoted on American Radio Works:
"Louisiana: All circuses, shows, and tent exhibitions, to which the attendance of more than one race is invited shall provide not less than two ticket offices and not less than two entrances.""Texas: Negroes are to be served through a separate branch or branches of the county free library, which shall be administered by a custodian of the negro race under the supervision of the county librarian."
"Mississippi: Any person guilty of printing, publishing or circulating matter urging or presenting arguments in favor of social equality or of intermarriage between whites and negroes, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor."
10. According to the American Academy of Achievement's biography of Rosa Parks, it was on December 1, 1955 that she refused to give up her bus seat to a white man, eventually leading to the Supreme Court decision to strike down laws that segregated public bus transportation.
11. An institute at Stanford University reports that on November 13, 1956, the Supreme Court decided the case of Browder v. Gayle, which was the case that struck down laws segregating public transportation.
12. The World Book Encyclopedia verifies that Medgar Evers was a leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement who was shot down (murdered) outside his home on June 12, 1963. (In my historical novel, his wife and children see it happen.)
13. According to an article on the NPR website, Medgar Ever's killer was not brought to justice for 31 years.
14. I also found out on the NPR website that at the time of Ever's murder, Mississippi was the state that led the nation in the lynching of black Americans. Today it is the state with highest number of black elected officials.
15. Articles published with in the last ten years and reported on the internet, including a report on CBS News, one on a Florida television station, and one from an African American news source, complained of U.S. companies that had segregated (based on race or ethnicity) bathrooms in 2000, 2005, and 2007.
Works Cited
"BlackNews.com - Tyson Foods Sued For Maintaining Segregated Work Areas." BlackNews.com - Black News | African American News | Black America. Web. 07 Dec. 2009. .
Evers, Medgar. Garrow, David J. Web. 6 Dec. 2009. .
First Coast News | WTLV NBC12 | WJXX ABC25 | Jacksonville, FL | St. Augustine, FL | Brunswick, GA |. Web. 07 Dec. 2009. .
Harris, Laurie L. BIOGRAPHY FOR BEGINNERS--AFRICAN-AMERICAN LEADERS. Vol. 1. 2007. SIRS Discoverer. Web. 6 Dec. 2009.
"King Institute Encyclopedia." King Institute Home. Web. 06 Dec. 2009. .
"The Legacy of Medgar Evers : NPR." NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR. Web. 06 Dec. 2009. .
"Remembering Jim Crow : Presented by American RadioWorks." American RadioWorks from American Public Media. Web. 06 Dec. 2009. .
"The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow |." PBS. Web. 06 Dec. 2009. .
"Rosa Parks Biography -- Academy of Achievement." Academy of Achievement Main Menu. Web. 06 Dec. 2009. .
"Segregated Bathrooms At Halliburton - CBS News." Breaking News Headlines: Business, Entertainment & World News - CBS News. Web. 06 Dec. 2009.
Note: The facts would also be accompanied by illustrations, and I'd tell where I found my illustrations.
See also
