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A review by bethmitcham
Lizzie Demands a Seat!: Elizabeth Jennings Fights for Streetcar Rights by Beth Anderson, E.B. Lewis
4.0
More new history for me through picture books! This time I learned about an early (not the first) court case around segregated street cars -- 1854 in New York City. Lizzy Jennings was a Black women from a well-off family that was involved in abolition work. When she was roughly tossed off a streetcar by an obnoxious conductor, she sued and won damages, which started the momentum for more lawsuits that ended with New York having desegregated cars in 1873. (not quite 20 years!) The text ends with the idea that Jennings was part of a wave of courageous push-backs that lasted years and decades and centuries, building forward. The afterward gives more details about dates of actual cases, through the Montgomery cases of Colvin and Parks.
The illustrations are vivid watercolor (?) -- always take my naming of techniques as guesses rather than real life. The artist does mention that she reached for more vivid colors because she wanted to reflect how outspoken Jennings and her story should appear. I appreciate the rich use of browns for the main characters (especially because of the my recent read of [b:Beautiful Shades of Brown: Laura Wheeler Waring, Artist|51793374|Beautiful Shades of Brown Laura Wheeler Waring, Artist|Nancy Churnin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1573866043l/51793374._SX50_SY75_.jpg|71338384]).
The back matter has rich primary and secondary sources and discusses the limits of the court record as well as what is known vs assumed, and then discusses the overall history of public transport legislation. Apparently Lizzie Jennings is now honored at the spot where she was assaulted by the conductor thanks to repeated efforts by school children, and she is also one of the first women honored by the "She Built NYC" program with a statue.
The illustrations are vivid watercolor (?) -- always take my naming of techniques as guesses rather than real life. The artist does mention that she reached for more vivid colors because she wanted to reflect how outspoken Jennings and her story should appear. I appreciate the rich use of browns for the main characters (especially because of the my recent read of [b:Beautiful Shades of Brown: Laura Wheeler Waring, Artist|51793374|Beautiful Shades of Brown Laura Wheeler Waring, Artist|Nancy Churnin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1573866043l/51793374._SX50_SY75_.jpg|71338384]).
The back matter has rich primary and secondary sources and discusses the limits of the court record as well as what is known vs assumed, and then discusses the overall history of public transport legislation. Apparently Lizzie Jennings is now honored at the spot where she was assaulted by the conductor thanks to repeated efforts by school children, and she is also one of the first women honored by the "She Built NYC" program with a statue.