Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow
Ticket price includes admission to all Minnesota History Center exhibits. MNHS Members get in free.
Explore the African American fight for full citizenship and racial equality that unfolded in the 50 years after the Civil War.
When slavery ended in 1865, a period of Reconstruction began, leading to such achievements as the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution. By 1868, all persons born in the United States were citizens and equal under the law. But efforts to create an interracial democracy were contested from the start. A harsh backlash ensued, ushering in a half century of the “separate but equal” age of Jim Crow.
This exhibit follows the journey of Black advancement from the end of the Civil War through World War I in the face of opposition from many white Americans.
Art, artifacts, and photographs highlight Black resilience and resistance through these transformative decades in American history, while underscoring their relevance today.
This exhibition has been organized by the New-York Historical Society.
Unidentified artist. Dred Scott, after 1857. Oil on canvas. Reproduction. New-York Historical Society
United States Congress. Thirteenth amendment resolution, 1865. Reproduction. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC00263.
John Rogers. Uncle Ned’s School, 1866. Bronze. New-York Historical Society, gift of Mr. Samuel V. Hoffman
Charles Gustrine. True Sons of Freedom, 1918. Reproduction. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC09121.
Minnesota in the Age of Jim Crow
This book contains stories about the Black experience in Minnesota. It was created as a supplement to the national traveling exhibit Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow.
Additional resources
- African Americans in Minnesota (MNopedia)
- African Americans in WWI: Storied (MNHS YouTube)
- Dred and Harriet Scott Freedom on the Trail (MNHS YouTube)
- Duluth Lynchings (MNHS YouTube)
- Racial Housing Covenants in the Twin Cities (MNopedia)
- Rondo Neighborhood (MNopedia)
- Slavery's Reach: Southern Slaveholders in the North Star State (MNHS Press)
- Whiteness In Plain View (MNHS Press)
Lead support for the exhibition provided by National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor. Major support provided by the Ford Foundation and Crystal McCrary and Raymond J. McGuire.
Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in these programs do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Funding provided by the State of Minnesota's Legacy Amendment, through the vote of Minnesotans on Nov. 4, 2008, and our generous donors and members.