State of Iowa v. Katz
Encyclopedia
State of Iowa v. Katz' was a landmark civil rights
victory involving the Katz Drug Store in downtown Des Moines, Iowa
.
, her infant daughter Phyllis, John Bibbs, and Leonard Hudson entered the Katz Drug Store in Des Moines, Iowa, and ordered ice cream
at the lunch counter
. The manager refused to serve them, saying, "It is the policy of our store that we don't serve colored." Outraged members of the community responded with sit-in
s and picketing directed at Katz and other local lunch counters that refused to serve people because of race.
The Polk County
Attorney's Office prosecuted the Katz manager under Iowa's only civil rights law, a criminal statute
prohibiting discrimination
in public accommodations. The manager was found guilty by a jury and fined $50. The Iowa Supreme Court upheld the conviction on December 13, 1949.
On December 2, 1949, civil rights attorneys Charles P. Howard and Henry T. McKnight, who was head of the local NAACP Legal Redress Committee, negotiated an agreement, which successfully ended Katz’s discriminatory practices.
enacted a law making it a crime to deny any individual "The full and equal enjoyment of the accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges of inns, restaurant
s, chophouses
, eating houses, lunch counters, and all other places where refreshments are served, public conveyances, barber
shops, bathhouses
, theaters
, and all other places of amusement," on the basis of such factors as race, religion, or ethnic background.
Prior to 1884, only Massachusetts
, New York
, and Kansas
had enacted statutes that guaranteed African American
s and other minority groups equal opportunity in "places of public accommodation."
The Iowa state courts, however, tended to interpret narrowly the legislative intent
of the 1884 Act. Because the public accommodations provision specifically enumerated types of facilities, the court construed that it necessarily meant to exclude from its operation those facilities not so listed. Many kinds of establishments catering to the public were therefore left untouched by this provision; these establishments retained an unfettered discretion to discriminate among their patrons on such bases as race, religion, or ethnic background. Among establishments that were exempt from the proscriptions of the 1884 Civil Rights Act, were retail stores, beauty shops and salons
, parking lot
s, gas stations
, school
s, health clinic
s, doctors'
and dentists'
offices, hospital
s, bank
s, loan
companies, lawyer
s' offices, real estate broker
s' offices, employment agency
offices, as well as many others.
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
victory involving the Katz Drug Store in downtown Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
.
Case synopsis
On July 7, 1948, at 3:45 p.m., Edna GriffinEdna Griffin
Edna M. Griffin was an American civil rights pioneer and human rights activist. Known as the "Rosa Parks of Iowa" Her court battle against the Katz Drug Store in Des Moines in 1948, State of Iowa v. Katz, foreshadowed the civil rights movement and a landmark case before the Iowa Supreme Court...
, her infant daughter Phyllis, John Bibbs, and Leonard Hudson entered the Katz Drug Store in Des Moines, Iowa, and ordered ice cream
Ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
at the lunch counter
Lunch counter
A lunch counter is a small restaurant, much like a diner, where the patron sits on a stool on one side of the counter and the server or person preparing the food serves from the other side of the counter, where the kitchen or limited food preparation area is. As the name suggests, they were most...
. The manager refused to serve them, saying, "It is the policy of our store that we don't serve colored." Outraged members of the community responded with sit-in
Sit-in
A sit-in or sit-down is a form of protest that involves occupying seats or sitting down on the floor of an establishment.-Process:In a sit-in, protesters remain until they are evicted, usually by force, or arrested, or until their requests have been met...
s and picketing directed at Katz and other local lunch counters that refused to serve people because of race.
The Polk County
Polk County, Iowa
Polk County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 430,640 in the 2010 census, an increase from 374,601 in the 2000 census. The county seat is Des Moines, which is also the capital city of Iowa...
Attorney's Office prosecuted the Katz manager under Iowa's only civil rights law, a criminal statute
Statute
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. The word is often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from case law, decided by courts, and regulations...
prohibiting discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
in public accommodations. The manager was found guilty by a jury and fined $50. The Iowa Supreme Court upheld the conviction on December 13, 1949.
On December 2, 1949, civil rights attorneys Charles P. Howard and Henry T. McKnight, who was head of the local NAACP Legal Redress Committee, negotiated an agreement, which successfully ended Katz’s discriminatory practices.
Iowa Civil Rights Act
In 1884, the Iowa General AssemblyIowa General Assembly
The Iowa General Assembly is the legislative branch of the state government of Iowa. Like the federal United States Congress, the General Assembly is a bicameral body, composed of the upper house Iowa Senate and the lower Iowa House of Representatives respectively...
enacted a law making it a crime to deny any individual "The full and equal enjoyment of the accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges of inns, restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s, chophouses
Steakhouse
A steakhouse is a restaurant that specializes in beef steaks. The same type of restaurant is also known as a chophouse.The steakhouse started in the USA in the late 19th century as a development of traditional inns and bars....
, eating houses, lunch counters, and all other places where refreshments are served, public conveyances, barber
Barber
A barber is someone whose occupation is to cut any type of hair, and to shave or trim the beards of men. The place of work of a barber is generally called a barbershop....
shops, bathhouses
Public bathing
Public baths originated from a communal need for cleanliness. The term public may confuse some people, as some types of public baths are restricted depending on membership, gender, religious affiliation, or other reasons. As societies have changed, public baths have been replaced as private bathing...
, theaters
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, and all other places of amusement," on the basis of such factors as race, religion, or ethnic background.
Prior to 1884, only Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
had enacted statutes that guaranteed African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s and other minority groups equal opportunity in "places of public accommodation."
The Iowa state courts, however, tended to interpret narrowly the legislative intent
Legislative intent
In law, the legislative intent of the legislature in enacting legislation may sometimes be considered by the judiciary when interpreting the law...
of the 1884 Act. Because the public accommodations provision specifically enumerated types of facilities, the court construed that it necessarily meant to exclude from its operation those facilities not so listed. Many kinds of establishments catering to the public were therefore left untouched by this provision; these establishments retained an unfettered discretion to discriminate among their patrons on such bases as race, religion, or ethnic background. Among establishments that were exempt from the proscriptions of the 1884 Civil Rights Act, were retail stores, beauty shops and salons
Beauty salon
A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment dealing with cosmetic treatments for men and women...
, parking lot
Parking lot
A parking lot , also known as car lot, is a cleared area that is intended for parking vehicles. Usually, the term refers to a dedicated area that has been provided with a durable or semi-durable surface....
s, gas stations
Filling station
A filling station, also known as a fueling station, garage, gasbar , gas station , petrol bunk , petrol pump , petrol garage, petrol kiosk , petrol station "'servo"' in Australia or service station, is a facility which sells fuel and lubricants...
, school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
s, health clinic
Clinic
A clinic is a health care facility that is primarily devoted to the care of outpatients...
s, doctors'
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and dentists'
Dentistry
Dentistry is the branch of medicine that is involved in the study, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body. Dentistry is widely considered...
offices, hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
s, bank
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
s, loan
Loan
A loan is a type of debt. Like all debt instruments, a loan entails the redistribution of financial assets over time, between the lender and the borrower....
companies, lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
s' offices, real estate broker
Real estate broker
A real estate broker, real estate agent or realtor is a party who acts as an intermediary between sellers and buyers of real estate/real property and attempts to find sellers who wish to sell and buyers who wish to buy...
s' offices, employment agency
Employment agency
An employment agency is an organization which matches employers to employees. In all developed countries there is a publicly funded employment agency and multiple private businesses which also act as employment agencies.-Public employment agencies:...
offices, as well as many others.
See also
- Greensboro sit-insGreensboro sit-insThe Greensboro sit-ins were a series of nonviolent protests which led to the Woolworth's department store chain reversing its policy of racial segregation in the Southern United States....
- International Civil Rights Center and MuseumInternational Civil Rights Center and MuseumThe International Civil Rights Center and Museum is located in Greensboro, North Carolina. The museum building is the former location of the Woolworth's in which the Greensboro sit-ins took place, beginning February 1, 1960...
- F. W. Woolworth Building (Lexington, Kentucky)F. W. Woolworth Building (Lexington, Kentucky)The Woolworth, F.W., Building was a historic department store building located in Lexington, Kentucky, that served as a retail location for the F. W. Woolworth Company from 1946 to 1990. It was designed by Frederick W...
- Nashville sit-insNashville sit-insThe Nashville sit-ins, which lasted from February 13 to May 10, 1960, were part of a nonviolent direct action campaign to end racial segregation at lunch counters in downtown Nashville, Tennessee...