Hateful Things: An Exhibit from the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia

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An NAACP flyer campaigning for the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives in 1922, but was filibustered to defeat in the Senate. Dyer, the NAACP, and freedom fighters around the country, like Flossie Baily, struggled for years to get the Dyer and other anti-lynching bills passed, to no avail. Today there is still no U.S. law specifically against lynching. In 2005, eighty of the 100 U.S. Senators voted for a resolution to apologize to victims' families and the country for their failure to outlaw lynching. Courtesy of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Some Exhibits to Come – One Hundred Years of Jim Crow

Bibliography – One Hundred Years Of Jim Crow

Claude, age 23, just months before his 1930 murder. Courtesy of Faith Deeter.

Freedom’s Heroes During Jim Crow: Flossie Bailey and the Deeters

Souvenir Portrait of the Lynching of Abram Smith and Thomas Shipp, August 7, 1930, by studio photographer Lawrence Beitler. Courtesy of the Indiana Hisorical Society.

An Iconic Lynching in the North

Claxton Dekle – Prosperous Farmer, Husband & Father of Two

Ancient manuscripts about mathematics and astronomy from Timbuktu, Mali

Some Exhibits to Come – African Peoples Before Captivity

Shackles for Adults & Children from the Henrietta Marie

Some Exhibits to Come – The Middle Passage

What I Saw Aboard a Slave Ship in 1829

Life After Hate: A Former White Power Leader Redeems Himself

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In 2006, ABHM brought the traveling exhibit Hateful Things from the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia. Two Milwaukee teens made this excellent short video about the exhibit and what they learned from it.

Below, you see some typical Jim Crow images. Some, like the lawn jockies and Aunt Jemima, you may have seen before. Others, like the shooting target in the shape of a running black man, might be new to you.

On April 26, 2012, the Jim Crow Museum, located on the campus of Ferris University in Big Rapids, Michigan, inaugurated its beautiful new expanded facility.

The museum's exhibits include:

Dr. David Pilgrim, founder and director of the Jim Crow Museum, explains the pervasive impacts of Jim Crow images and offers a tour of this unique facility.

6 Comments

Natasha on November 29, 2012 at 7:59 PM

To be honest, I try not to feel much anger when it comes to that but I am angry and I feel disgust and sadness when I see cartoons, art, pictures, read articles or see movies that portray us in these ways. Today media is used in the same ways but the sad thing is our people dont realize the fact that we are making ourselves look back now, instead of them making us look and sound bad. I say be your self but we are supposed to be being the best individuals we can through God. Too many of us dont care about ourselves, dont love ourselves and dont care about others enough to correct what needs to be changed.

Dead Butterfly on February 12, 2014 at 6:58 AM

I agree

Dead Butterfly on February 12, 2014 at 6:59 AM

I agree…… seriously! I don’t like racist people!!!!

catherine on February 19, 2015 at 8:28 PM

honestly, how do these thing and others like it make any one a better person? how do they improve any one’s lives? it’s really all a big waste of people’s potential to spend time and effort on things like this. i hope that one day people will learn and that soon there will be no racisim whatsoever.

Richard A Germer on November 16, 2020 at 11:51 PM

If you have friends that are white, asian black, native Americans, etc…
..Then you racist.
…I call my friends Tom, Tu, Shavon, Running Deer

That Guy on September 17, 2021 at 1:47 AM

It’s funny how white people always have tons of opinion when the atrocities of other nations are discussed. They always come in blazing. But are always mute when the atrocities of White Christian Taliban, both past and present, are discussed.
White Christian America is always quick to condemn Communism, China, Russia, Hitler, Arabs, Muslims but always mute on Issues relating to Native Americans, Blacks, Lynchings, atrocities in Gaza, racism, slavery, colonialism, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These are no-go areas for the White Christian Taliban of America.

Comments Are Welcome

Note: We moderate submissions in order to create a space for meaningful dialogue, a space where museum visitors – adults and youth –– can exchange informed, thoughtful, and relevant comments that add value to our exhibits.

Racial slurs, personal attacks, obscenity, profanity, and SHOUTING do not meet the above standard. Such comments are posted in the exhibit Hateful Speech. Commercial promotions, impersonations, and incoherent comments likewise fail to meet our goals, so will not be posted. Submissions longer than 120 words will be shortened.

See our full Comments Policy here.

Natasha on November 29, 2012 at 7:59 PM

To be honest, I try not to feel much anger when it comes to that but I am angry and I feel disgust and sadness when I see cartoons, art, pictures, read articles or see movies that portray us in these ways. Today media is used in the same ways but the sad thing is our people dont realize the fact that we are making ourselves look back now, instead of them making us look and sound bad. I say be your self but we are supposed to be being the best individuals we can through God. Too many of us dont care about ourselves, dont love ourselves and dont care about others enough to correct what needs to be changed.

Dead Butterfly on February 12, 2014 at 6:58 AM

I agree

Dead Butterfly on February 12, 2014 at 6:59 AM

I agree…… seriously! I don’t like racist people!!!!

catherine on February 19, 2015 at 8:28 PM

honestly, how do these thing and others like it make any one a better person? how do they improve any one’s lives? it’s really all a big waste of people’s potential to spend time and effort on things like this. i hope that one day people will learn and that soon there will be no racisim whatsoever.

Richard A Germer on November 16, 2020 at 11:51 PM

If you have friends that are white, asian black, native Americans, etc…
..Then you racist.
…I call my friends Tom, Tu, Shavon, Running Deer

That Guy on September 17, 2021 at 1:47 AM

It’s funny how white people always have tons of opinion when the atrocities of other nations are discussed. They always come in blazing. But are always mute when the atrocities of White Christian Taliban, both past and present, are discussed.
White Christian America is always quick to condemn Communism, China, Russia, Hitler, Arabs, Muslims but always mute on Issues relating to Native Americans, Blacks, Lynchings, atrocities in Gaza, racism, slavery, colonialism, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These are no-go areas for the White Christian Taliban of America.