April 20, 1904: Richmond Streetcar Boycott

In April 1904, coming nearly 40 years after a massive streetcar protest in Richmond over Jim Crow segregation, Virginia passed legislation allowing transportation companies to determine if they would have segregated or integrated seating. The Virginia Passenger and Power Company of Richmond had had integrated seating for 40 years but decided to segregate its cars given the new law. This led to a boycott starting April 20, 1904, of Richmond streetcars by Black patrons that lasted until the fall of that year.

The Richmond Planet, a Black-owned paper, promoted the streetcar boycott. Source: The Uncommonwealth

As reported by Kelley Ewing for The Uncommonwealth, several local Black leaders called for people “to stay off the cars” while white politicians and the press played down the significance of this historic boycott.

Megan Brooks writes,

Source: The Uncommonwealth

In July of 1904, the Virginia Passenger and Power Company filed for bankruptcy and in December the streetcar company was sold to auction. Mitchell’s boycott of walking instead of riding met with a reward. The situation of the streetcar allowed the community of the Richmond Planet and the black community to rally around a cause that every member could join to prove that their race was respectable in its long-suffering but that it would prevail.

Unfortunately, in 1906 the Virginia Assembly passed stricter laws that again enacted segregation on a more extreme level and the “Jim Crow law” was reinstated. While the streetcar situation may have eventually ended in defeat, the triumph of the streetcar boycott was an exemplary movement for more movements to come, such as the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott where Black citizens of Montgomery were encouraged “to stay home from work or school, take a cab or walk to work.” Read more.