Founder of the Jim Crow Museum to visit Kent State
David Pilgrim will speak at 7 p.m. Feb. 11 in the Kiva about the racist images he has collected over the years.
Pilgrim is the founder of the Jim Crow Museum, which is home to a 9,000-piece collection of racist memorabilia that portray African-Americans in a negative way. The images include those on breakfast food packaging and caricatures used in television shows.
Pilgrim began collecting when he was around the age of 12 or 13, according to an account he wrote for the Jim Crow Museum site. He also wrote about the first item he collected, a mammy saltshaker. He smashed it into pieces.
The name “Jim Crow” comes from Thomas Dartmouth Rice, who was one of the first to darken his skin and make a show exaggerating the characteristics of a black character, according to the Jim Crow Museum website.
Contact Alyssa Flynn at [email protected].