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Farming For A Better Future, page 255
(Top) Excerpt of 1940 Census Record, Whitesburg, Madison County, Showing Stella McWhorter, a 60-year-old White Woman. (National Archives and Records Administration via Ancestry.com) (Below) Excerpt from Madison County Land Books, 1933-1941. This Excerpt from the Area that is Now Redstone Arsenal has an Example of Discrimination of Females of Color. Stella McWhorter, a White Woman, is Recorded as “Mrs.,” while Mrs. Rhoda Barley, Wife of Dave Barley, a Couple of Color, has No Such Honorific. (Index of Land Records, Madison County, Alabama) families on the north side of the railroad that runs directly through town - it was even noted that the area along the railroad tracks was called “Negro Grove”; Madison Crossroads, a census district in the northwest corner of Madison County is divided in two- the north half contains Elkwood, a nearly all white community, and the south half contains Toney, a community of color with many farming landowners; finally, Rogersville in Lauderdale County is a town of nearly all white residents - only six of the 107 households are families of color, but the rural area just south of Rogersville is predominately African American. The best understanding of spatial segregation in the early 20th century comes from the census of 1940 because the census district map makes it easier to understand the boundaries. As the decades went by, the population grew and some of the more densely populated districts were divided into precincts. These can help to understand the divides that might illustrate segregation. For other census years it is possible to use street names or other available landmarks such as railroads or creeks when they are recorded, but sometimes streets and neighborhoods change names and matching the area to a modern map becomes difficult. Segregation and discrimination is also evident in the institution of public education throughout the South and in North Alabama. While it was illegal to teach enslaved persons to read or write, even after Emancipation the formal education of people of color was a slow forming institution. Education of African Americans was left to the philanthropic and religious organizations. The American Methodist Association and the Rosenwald Foundation were the most prolific and productive organizations for the education of people of color in North Alabama. When responsibility for education was pushed onto the state, it failed the communities of color terribly via chronic underfunding resulting in dilapidated schoolhouses, lack of supplies, underpaid teachers, and short school years. Segregation and discrimination of people of color was reinforced and sanctioned by the Alabama State Constitution of 1901. Among many things, it prohibited the burial of people of color in the same cemeteries as white people. This led to the necessity of exclusively African American cemeteries, some of which needed to be established anew. This required funds to buy land and someone willing to sell to someone of color. One of the best known instances of a prominent African American buying a parcel of land for the sole purpose of creating a cemetery for the community of color is Mr. J.J. Sykes and the Magnolia-Sykes Cemetery in West Decatur, Morgan County. Furthermore, numerous small family, community, and church cemeteries were established for this reason. The law also produced the need for undertakers of color and funeral homes that catered to the community of color, specifically. A particularly great resource of information about North Alabama in the early 20th century are the records of the Tennessee Valley Authority. In order to assess the needs of the valley, TVA conducted several socially based surveys which resulted in boxes upon boxes of archived 255 - LAWRENCE - (4783)