This Day in History: 1941-04-28

In Mitchell v. United States, a case brought by and co-argued by Congressman Arthur Mitchell (the first African American elected to Congress from Illinois as a Democrat), the United States Supreme Court unanimously rules that African Americans are entitled to equal passenger accommodations on the nation’s railroads. As later described by Congressman Mitchell, his legal victory was a “step in the destruction of Mr. Jim Crow himself.” Learn more about Congressman Mitchell and about Mitchell v. United States, here and here.