Title

Sign from a segregated bus station in Birmingham, Alabama, ca.1957. Creator: Unknown.

Caption

This bus station waiting room sign, circa 1957, is from the Birmingham AL, Greyhound Bus Station. It is a standard train or bus station sign from a southern state prior to 1964 restricting the seating of non-white passengers. The sign consists of a piece of plywood painted white with black stenciled text that reads: [ WAITING ROOM / (INTERSTATE AND WHITE INTRASTATE PASSENGERS) ]. The lower right hand corner of the sign has been splintered off. During the period of racial segregation in the United States, signs were used to indicate where African-Americans could legally walk, talk, drink, rest, or eat.

Credit line

Photo12/Heritage Images/Heritage Art

Reference

HRM21A73_264

Model release

NA

Property release

NA

License type

Rights managed

Available size

25,0Mb (1,2Mb) / 26,5in x 3,7in / 7944 x 1098 (300dpi)

Keywords

transport transportation education country sign museum paper location century public transport papers waiting room paperwork document concept bus station African American African-American B&W afro-american fifties 1950s racism United States of America Smithsonian Institution rights black & white black and white B W Educational Institution 20th century civil rights Civil Rights Movement racist heritage American America USA decade scientific institution segregation waiting-room united states Unknown cultural heritage Black History Heritage Art National Museum of African American History and Culture NMAAHC plywood and paint signs