Louisiana Separate Car Act Passed, Sets Up Plessy Test Case

Louisiana passes the Separate Car Act, requiring railroads to provide 'equal but separate' accommodations for Black and white passengers, with fines up to $500 or 20 days' imprisonment for violations. New Orleans' Citizens' Committee, a Creole civil rights organization, immediately organizes a legal challenge. They recruit Homer Plessy — one-eighth Black and visually white — specifically to test the law's racial classification logic.