Oct 28, 2008

From Racial Segregation to the Oval Office (1 of 3)

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms STREETCAR, WATER and COOLERA streetcar terminal in Oklahoma, 1939. (Russell Lee)

The United States appears poised to elect its first president of African-American descent. To appreciate the magnitude of this event, let's time-travel back to the 1930s and '40s, courtesy of photos from the American Memory collection.

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms RESTAURANT, SIGN and OHIOA 1938 restaurant window in Ohio. (Ben Shahn)

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search terms CHILDREN, CONCRETE and WALL This half-mile long concrete wall was erected in Detroit, Michigan in 1941. Photographer John Vachon explains its purpose was "to separate the Negro section from a white housing development going up on the other side."

to locate this image on the American Memory website use search temrs FLAG, SIGN and DETROIT Feb. 1942 in Detroit. (Arthur S. Siegel)

to locate this image on the American Memory website, use search terms MILK, COMPANY and SIGN1941 Chicago. (John Vachon)


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[Part 2] ... [Part 3] ... [American Memory link]
Posted by TripodGirl at 6:00 AM
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