(Article Under Construction)
Segregation Laws in the United States
Alabama
Begin 1852--End 1967
Alabama Statutes (1927):
[tit. 14, sec.] 360. Marriage, adultery, and fornication between white persons and negroes. --If any white person and any negro, or the descendant of any negro intermarry, or live in adultery or fornication with each other,each of them shall, on conviction, be imprisoned in the penitentiary for not less than two nor more than seven years.
Arizona
Begin 1865--End 1962
Arizona Statutes (1942):
[Sec.] 25-101. Void and prohibited marriages
A. The marriage of a person of caucasian blood with a Negro, Mongolian, Malay, or Hindu is null and void.
Arkansas
Begin 1838--End 1967
Arkansas Statutes (1921):
[Sec.] 41-806. Concubinage--Penalty.--Concubinage between a person of the Caucasian or white race and between a person of the negro or black race, is hereby made a felony and whoever shall be convicted thereof in any court of competent jurisdiction shall, for each offense, be sentenced to imprisonment at the discretion of the court for a term of not less than one [1] month nor more than one [1] year in the penitentiary at hard labor.
[Sec.] 41-807. Concubinage--Proof of violation--Definition.--The living together or cohabitation of persons of the Caucasian and of the negro race shall be proof of the violation of the provisions of section...41-806 of this act. For the purpose of...sections 41-806--41-810, concubinage is hereby defined to be the unlawful cohabitation of persons of the Caucasian race and of the negro race, whether open or in secret.
[Sec.] 41-810. Delivery of mulatto child as prima facie evidence--Definition.--Any woman who shall have been delivered of mulatto child, the same shall be prima facie evidence of guilt without further proof and shall justify a conviction of the woman, but no person shall be convicted of the crime of concubinage upon the testimony of the female, unless the same is corroborated by other evidence.
Provided, that this act [sections 41-806--41-810] shall apply to cases of concubinage which is here defined to be the keeping and maintaining for immoral purposes persons of the opposite races named in this act.
[Sec.] 55-104. Whites and negroes or mullatoes forbidden to marry.--All marriages of white persons with negroes of mulattoes are declared to be illegal and void.
California
Begin 1850--End 1948
California Civil Code (1933):
60. All marriages of white persons with negroes, Mongolians, members of the Malay race, or mulattoes are illegal and void
Colorado
Begin 1864--End 1967
Colorado Statutes (1864, territory):
SEC. 2. That...all marriages between negroes and mulattoes, or either sex, and white persons, are...declared to be absolutely void....
Delaware
Begin 1807--End 1967
Delaware Statutes (1953):
[tit. 13, sec.] 101. Void and voidable marriages.
(a) A marriage is prohibited and void between--
(2) A white person and a negro or mulatto.
[tit. 13, sec.] Entering into a prohibited marriage; penalty.
The guilty party or parties to a marriage prohibited by [sec.] 101 of this title shall be fined $100, and in default of this payment of the fine shall be imprisoned not more than 30 days.
Florida
Begin 1832--End 1967
Florida Statutes (1903):
[Sec.] 2579. Marriages between white and negro persons.--It shall be unlawful for any white male person residing in or being in this State to intermarry with any negro female person; and it shall be in like manner unlawful for any white female person residing or being in this State to intermarry with any negro male person; and every marriage formed or solemnized in contravention of the provisions of this section shall be utterly null and void, and the issue, if any, of such surreptitious marriage shall be regarded as bastard and incapable of having or receiving any estate, real, personal or mixed, by inheritance.
[Sec.] 3529. Intermarriage of white and negro person.--If any white man shall intermarry with a negro, mulatto or any person who has one-eighth of negro blood in her; or if any white woman shall intermarry with a negro, mulatto or any person who has one-eighth of negro blood in him, either or both parties to such marriage shall be punished by imprisonment in the State prison not exceeding ten years, or by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars.
[Sec.] 3532. White persons and negroes living in adultery.--If any white person and negro, or mulatto, shall live in adultery or fornication with each other, each shall be punished by imprisonment not exceeding twelve months, or by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars.
[Sec.] 3533. Negro man and white woman or white man and negro woman occupying same room.--Any negro man and white woman, or any white man and negro woman, who are not married to each other, who shall habitually live in and occupy in the night time the same room shall be punished by imprisonment not exceeding twelve months, or by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars.
Georgia
Begin 1750--End 1967
Georgia Statutes (1967):
[Sec.] 53-106. Miscegenation prohibited.--it shall be unlawful for a white person to marry anyone but a white person. Any marriage in violation of this section shall be void.
[Sec.] 53-9903. Miscegenation: penalty.--Any person, white or colored, who shall marry or go through a marriage ceremony in violation of the provision of section 53-106 shall be guilty of a felony, and shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary for not less than one year and not more than two years.
[Sec.] 79-103. Persons of color, who are.--All negroes, mulattoes, and their descendants, having any ascertainable trace of of either Negro or African, West Indian, or Asiatic Indian blood in his or her veins, shall be known in this State as persons of color.
[Sec.] 105-707. Charge of intercourse with any person of color; proof of special damage.--Any charge or intimation against a white female of having sexual intercourse with a person of color is slanderous without proof of special damage.
Idaho
Begin 1864--End 1959
Idaho Statutes (1921):
[Sec.] 31-206. Miscegenation.-- ...All marriages hereafter contracted of white persons with mongolians, negroes, or mulattoes are illegal and void[.]
Illinois
Begin 1829--End 1874
Illinois Revised Statutes of 1845
No person of color, negro or mulatto, or either sex, shall be joined in marriage with any white person, male or female, in this State; and all marriages or marriage contracts, entered into between such a colored person and a white person, shall be null and void in law; and any person so marrying or contracting to marry shall be liable to pay a fine, be whipped not exceeding thirty-nine lashes, and be imprisoned, not less than one year; and shall be held to answer in no other than a criminal prosecution, by information or indictment.
Indiana
Begin 1818--End 1965
Indiana Statutes (1908)
[Sec.] 1059. Marriages void.--All marriages prohibited by law on account of...difference of color,...if solemnized within this state, shall be absolutely void without any legal proceedings.
[Sec.] 2641. Amalgamation.--No person having one-eighth part or more of negro blood shall be permitted to marry any white woman of this state, nor shall any white man be permitted to marry any negro woman or any woman having one-eighth part or more negro blood, and every person who shall knowingly marry in violation of the provisions of this section shall, on conviction, be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars, and imprisoned in the state prison not less than one year nor more than ten years.
[Sec.] 8360. Void marriages.--The following marriages are declared void:
Second. When one of the parties is a white person and and the other possessed of one-eighth or more negro blood.
Iowa
Begin 1839--End 1851
Iowa Territory Laws of 1839-1840
Section 13. All marriages of white persons with negroes or mulattoes are declared to be illegal and void
