ALABAMA #9

The new 1901 Constitution of Alabama effectively disenfranchised large portions of the population including nearly all African Americans, Native Americans, and tens of thousands of poor whites.  They did this by making voter registration very difficult, requiring a poll tax and a literacy test.  There were 181,000 African Americans eligible to vote in 1900 and only 2,980 in 1903.  These poll taxes in effect disenfranchised poor whites although they actually voted to pass the laws against their own self interest.

In addition most public facilities were segregated.

The Rosenfeld Fund provided millions of dollars to build and maintain schools for black children as the public funding was grossly inadequate.   There were a total of 387 schools built.