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James W. Loewen (1942-2021)

We mourn the loss of our friend and colleague and remain committed to the work he began.

Nauvoo

Alabama

Basic Information

Type of Place
Independent City or Town
Metro Area
Politics c. 1860?
Unions, Organized Labor?

Sundown Town Status

Sundown Town in the Past?
Surely
Was there an ordinance?
Don't Know
Sign?
Perhaps, Some Oral Evidence
Year of Greatest Interest
Still Sundown?
Probably Not, Although Still Very Few Black People

Census Information

The available census data from 1860 to the present
Total White Black Asian Native Hispanic Other BHshld
1860
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910
1920
1930
1940
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990 240 0
2000 284 279 0 0 0 5 3
2010
2020

Method of Exclusion

  • Unknown

Main Ethnic Group(s)

  • Unknown

Group(s) Excluded

  • Black

Comments

In approximately 1930, “the blacks lived in a small
area near the mining camp about 5 miles out of town
and there were no restrictions until a black man broke
into the house of a prominent citizen of Nauvoo with
the intention of harming his wife (or so the story goes)
and after that blacks had to be out of town by 6 in the
evening. There was a sign in the town that did say,
‘Don’t let the sun set on your heels in this town
Nigger.’
“I don’t have any idea when the sign came down. I
think I remember it in the early 50’s but it must have
come down with civil rights. I do remember very
clearly that blacks were not allowed to eat in
restaurants and had to eat at picnic tables out back.
And of course the restrooms and water fountains were
marked whites only.
“My grandparents had a cotton farm and hired many
black men and women to help picking and according
to my 82 year old mother they were treated as equals
on their farm and served dinner (noon meal) along
with everyone else on the farm. She did say that
churches and schools were definitely segregated, no
surprise there.”
-former resident of Nauvoo