Searcy Designates Separate Drinking Facilities

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Collection:: Land of (Unequal) Opportunity: Documenting the Civil Rights Struggle in Arkansas
Title:: Searcy Designates Separate Drinking Facilities
Publisher:: Fayetteville, Ark. : University of Arkansas Libraries
Date of Original:: 1891
Subject:: African Americans--Arkansas
Civil rights--Arkansas
Race discrimination--Arkansas
Segregation--Arkansas
Location:: United States, Arkansas, 34.75037, -92.50044
Medium:: documents (object genre)
Type:: Text
Format:: application/pdf
Description:: In 1891, the small town of Searcy in White County, outlawed African-Americans from drinking from the same city spring as its white citizens.
Blacks -- African-Americans -- Searcy -- Segregation -- Searcy -- White County
Prohibited From Drinking Water Searcy, Ark., Special to the Freeman The situation of affairs in Arkansas is rather interesting. In a few days the Separate Coach law goes into effect. The summary process of lynching supposed criminals of African descent goes on in regular order. It is quite the fashion in the South. We had a case of it within a few miles of us very recently, but we have in the quiet and aristocratic town of Searcy, an entirely new phase of race hated and oppression. There is here a public park containing 4 available, and according to repute, health restoring springs; the owner of this property gave it over to the town with the understanding that all persons should have access to the springs thereof and drink of the beneficial waters. The town council has the power to pass ordinances for the regulation of the same. In the Spring Park is a sulphur spring, giving forth its water very feely, and many people resorted hitherto to drink but it came upon a time during the water-drinking, that some of our rank bourbons from some way-back Negro-killing counties came and took board at the hotels; as might be expected, they went to the spring to drink and undoubtedly they must have taken a great attachment to the waters, but much to the disgust, astonishment, and inconceivable chagrin of these most noble bourbons aforesaid, the Afro-Americans of the Community, came up also, drank of the water as if they too, enjoyed drinking it. The aforesaid bourbons were so exercised over the final conception of the fact, that they had drank from the same spring as a Negro, went back to the hotel and reported very indignantly against such unprecedented acts of humanity, threatening that if they must be wantonly subjected to the humiliation of drinking from the same springs as the Negroes, they would be deprived the town of the benefit of their board bill, and go home never return here any more. Suddenly many of the precious white church members and unbelievers of the won found out that they, too, did not like to drink from the same spring as their dark-skinned fellowman. The kind and considerate city fathers, hearing of the grievance of the people (that means the white inhabitants; black ones are never “the people,” or any part of the people, when it comes to legal consideration,) they very solicitously undertook the remedy. With characteristic mysteriousness of purposes, they went to work and had a pipe laid and an artificial sulphur springs was made. Then the council met and perambulated the “comfort of visitors and citizens of the town of Searcy” giving the colored man what he has never been changed with having-very much of a black eye, metaphorically speaking. They then formulated and finally passed an ordinance requiring the colored people to sit on the south side of the main ditch and drink water from and at the artificial sulphur spring. Imposing a fine upon those who should dare to drink at any of the other springs, which God had so arranged as to come on the north side of the ditch which they had cut and had now taken as the boundary (sic) line of their exclusive portion of the park. The black people held a public meeting and drew up resolutions protesting against such discrimination, in a manner that would have done credit to Benjamin Franklin or Thomas Jefferson, but these were referred to a committee and laid over. What will be done about it, we can’t say, but if we want any water now and don’t want to be outlawed, we must carry a bucket and dip it up and carry it away, our ebony hue making us entirely too much unqualified to drink it at the original spring. We see that one of your contributors is very much perplexed over the decreasing per cent of the Negro population of this country. If he will take a few plain facts into consideration, he will find out that the question is not so unfathomable. First, the people are populating this country by immigration for Europe; in the next place, in the Southern States where Negroes are most numerous, they don’t acre to
Metadata URL:: http://digitalcollections.uark.edu/cdm/ref/collection/Civilrights/id/1676
IIIF manifest:: https://digitalcollections.uark.edu/iiif/2/Civilrights:1676/manifest.json
Additional Rights Information:: Please contact Special Collections for information on copyright.
Original Collection:: The Indianapolis Freeman, August 15, 1891
Contributing Institution:: University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Libraries
Rights: