Mar 1915
Johnson Defends
Jack Johnson defends his heavyweight title while in exile from the United States due to pending charges related to his sexual relationship with a white woman. He loses to his white opponent, Kansas-born Jess Willard. Black boxers will be excluded from title bouts against whites for the next 22 years.
Nov 14, 1915
Washington Dies
Booker T. Washington dies at the age of 59 in his home in Tuskegee, Alabama.
1917
Du Bois Marches
In New York City, W. E. B. Du Bois leads a silent march in protest of Jim Crow laws and lynching crimes.
1918
Virginia Separates Prisons
A Virginia law requires penitentiaries to separate black and white prisoners.
1919
Texas Separates Libraries
A Texas law requires public libraries to maintain separate branches for blacks.
1920
Lynching Still
During the 1920s, at least 281 blacks are lynched or burned alive in the United States.17
1921
Oklahoma Restricts Teachers
An Oklahoma statute prohibits schoolteachers from instructing white and black students in the same facility. Anyone who violates the law will be charged with a misdemeanor and will lose his or her teaching certificate for one year.
1921
Tennessee Restricts Coal
A Tennessee law requires all coal mining companies to build separate restrooms for black employees.
1923
New Mexico Restricts Students
New Mexico passes a law that forbids black students from entering schoolrooms designated for whites. It requires the creation of separate facilities for black pupils that “shall be as good and well-kept as those used by pupils of Caucasian or other decent.”18
1925
Oklahoma Restricts Boxers
In Oklahoma, black boxers are forbidden from sparring with whites.
1925
Connecticut Prohibits Ridiculing
A Connecticut law prohibits movie theaters from featuring films that ridicule African Americans.