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The inspiring story of how Keith Plessy and Phoebe Ferguson, descendants of key figures in the infamous Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson, have come together to fight for racial equality.
Keith Plessy and Phoebe Ferguson were both born in New Orleans in 1957.
Sixty-five years earlier, in 1892, a member of each of their families met in a
Louisiana courtroom when Judge John Howard Ferguson found that Homer Plessy could be charged with
breaking the law by sitting in a train car
for white passengers. The case of Plessy v. Ferguson went all
the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that “separate-but-equal” was
constitutional, sparking decades of unjust laws and discriminatory attitudes.
In Together, Amy Nathan threads the personal stories of Keith and Phoebe into the larger history of the Plessy v. Ferguson case, race relations, and civil rights movements in New Orleans and throughout the U.S. This second edition includes a new epilogue describing a triumph that occurred a year after the first edition was published. In 2022, the Plessy and Ferguson Foundation, which was created by Keith and Phoebe in 2009 to change the legacy of the case that links their families, worked with a legal team and won a posthumous pardon for Homer Plessy.
Includes black and white photos throughout.
"Together has a second edition that adds a new coda to Homer Plessy's legal saga. Nearly 125 years to the day when [Homer] Plessy pled guilty in January 1897 and paid a $25 fine for violating the state's Separate Car Act, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards finally pardoned him for his act of civil disobedience. The book's author, Amy Nathan, recently spoke to Law360 about Keith Plessy and Phoebe Ferguson's shared history, their petition for Homer Plessy's pardon, and how they replaced the 'versus' of Plessy v. Ferguson with 'and' to form the Plessy and Ferguson Foundation in 2009 to help educate people about the case and the legacy of segregation."—Law360
"An ambitious account of the legacies of Plessy and Ferguson . . . Undeniably timely and representative of the necessary work ahead."—Kirkus Reviews
“In this transparent and multi-dimensional account, Nathan astutely examines the historical context and consequences of the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case of 1896. Past and present are intertwined to provide a reflective space about race in America and the decisive action of advocates who fought and continue to fight for equal civil rights.”—School Library Journal
"Nathan’s history of race in the South is detailed, honest, and multifaceted, and Phoebe and Keith’s story is inspiring. Together is an accessible multigenerational story that shows the importance of acknowledging the complicated past when building a stronger future."—Foreword Reviews
Chapter 1: Ruled Out
Chapter 2: Keith Plessy’s Long-Ago Relative
Chapter 3: When a Plessy First Met a Ferguson
Chapter 4: Forever Linked in History
Chapter 5: Courtroom Showdown
Chapter 6: The Rise and Fall of
“Separate-but-Equal”
Chapter 7: Homer Plessy—Vindicated
Chapter 8: Digging into Family Roots
Chapter 9: It’s Plessy and Ferguson Now
Chapter 10: Coming Together
Chapter 11: Inspiring Others
Afterword: Others Coming Together
Epilogue: The Pardon