Reconstruction after the Civil War promised black citizens of the United States equal rights under the law and opportunities unheard of during the slavery era. A group of powerful white New Orleans' residents would fight the changes and win.
As the head of Canal Bank, the largest bank in the South, and a member of the New Orleans Board of Liquidation of the City, James Pierce Butler was one of the most powerful men in New Orleans during the 1920s.
When the Louisiana legislature passed the Separate Car Act in 1890, mandating the racial segregation of railroad passengers, a group of black activists set out to challenge the law.
On November 14, 1960, a 6-year-old girl walked into William J. Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans. That seemingly mundane moment would shake the community and change the city forever.
