Categories: Articles, Black History & Culture,
In 1854, Elizabeth Jennings challenged the segregation of New York City’s transportation system.
Elizabeth Jennings was born in New York City in 1826 to Thomas and Elizabeth Jennings, prominent members of New York City’s Black community.
Her father was a tailor by trade. He was the first African American to hold a patent in the United States for garment altering and one of the founders of New York’s Abyssinian Baptist Church in 1808. He and his daughter engaged in many social and religious organizations.
On Sunday, July 16, 1854, Elizabeth Jennings boarded a streetcar of the Third Avenue Railway Company. She was on her way to the First Methodist Congregational Colored Church at 23 East 6th Street, lower Manhattan, where she served as the church organist.
At the time, New York City and New York State had no laws regarding segregation on streetcars. It was a decision mandated by the Third Avenue Railway Company, and others.
Soon after boarding the streetcar, she was forcibly removed by the conductor and thrown to the ground by a policeman.
Elizabeth told her story in a church meeting and wrote a letter about this experience which was published by Frederick Douglass and Horace Greeley in the New York Tribune.
Jennings sued the company, the driver of the streetcar, and the conductor. She was represented by Chester A. Arthur, a young lawyer, and future President of the United States.
The violent physical removal of Elizabeth from the streetcar because of her race caused a massive protest against the streetcar company by New York’s African American community.
Support for the protest came from across the country, including from as far as San Francisco.
Consequently, the court ruled that it had been illegal to forcibly evict Elizabeth Jennings from the streetcar solely because she was African American and awarded her $225 in damages.
As stated by the court, “Colored persons if sober, well behaved and free from disease, had the same rights as others and could neither be excluded by any rules of the Company, nor by force or violence.”
After the trial, Elizabeth continued her career as a church organist and teacher. She opened a kindergarten for African American children in her home. The school operated from 1895 until her death on June 5, 1901.
While the Jennings case did not prevent future instances of African Americans being denied the use of public transportation, it did impact and set precedent for transit discrimination trials.
Before Claudette Colvin refused to give up her seat on March 2, 1955, and Rosa Parkes refused to be moved from her seat on December 1, 1955, there was Elizabeth Jennings demanding her human rights after being physically thrown off a streetcar in 1854.
Remember to uphold Black women in the annals of American history. Celebrate organist, teacher, activist, Abyssinian ELIZABETH JENNINGS.
