Abstract
The power and opportunities of African Americans in Florida between the 1880s and 1920s fluctuated across time and location and were affected by variations in local economic structures, migration patterns and cultural histories. Black property ownership, political participation and social prestige were in flux, impacted by such factors as the availability of public land for cultivation by blacks, the cultures of the places from which new residents had migrated, and whether the area was a new settlement or one that was carrying forward a set of social relationships that had been formed during the slavery period. Each of these factors can be documented in the case of Fort Myers in a way that throws additional new light on the nuances involved in racial interactions during this era. The picture that emerges is one in which the path to segregation was not a straight line, nor were African Americans passive in their responses to the processes taking place.
Recommended Citation
Harrison, Jonathan
(2015)
"The Rise of Jim Crow in Fort Myers, 1885-1930,"
Florida Historical Quarterly: Vol. 94:
No.
1, Article 4.
Available at:
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/fhq/vol94/iss1/4
