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From Aunt Jemima advertisements to the board game Ghettopoly, American popular culture is replete with racist images. The Jim Crow Museum of Racist Imagery features an extensive collection of racist objects that trace the history of the stereotyping of African Americans. The museum, located at Ferris State University, is offering "Hateful Things," a traveling exhibition of these images to further the museum's mission of stimulating the scholarly examination of historical and contemporary expressions of racism, as well as promoting racial understanding and healing.

Who Was Jim Crow?

In the early 1830s Thomas Dartmouth Rice created the antebellum character Jim Crow. "Daddy Rice" was a white actor who performed, in blackface, a song-and-dance whose exaggerations popularized racially demeaning minstrel shows. The name "Jim Crow" came to denote segregation in the 19th century when Southern and Border states passed "Jim Crow laws," legitimizing a racial caste system.

The Exhibition

The 39 piece traveling exhibition contains items of material culture from the late 19th century to the present, embodying the terrible effects of the Jim Crow legacy. In addition to items from popular and commercial culture, the traveling exhibit also contains images of violence against African Americans as well as the Civil Rights struggle for racial equality.

The objects have been professionally framed. Plain black frames and brown backgrounds have been chosen to keep the emphasis on the objects as artifacts. Signage for each object places it in its proper cultural or political context.

The disturbing objects in "Hateful Things" have been lifted from their original purposes to now serve as powerful reminders of America's racist past. But more importantly, the exhibition gives viewers new eyes with which to see present-day images of racial stereotyping that might otherwise pass unchallenged.

Exhibition and Museum Contacts

For information on booking Traveling Exhibits, including scheduling and hosting costs, contact Lisa Kemmis at [email protected] or (231) 591-5873.

Exhibition includes:

• 39 pieces
• Didactic Panels

Installation requirements:

• Minimum linear wall space of 150 feet
• Minimum floor space of 300 square feet
• Proper lighting and security

• Museum staff members do not travel with the exhibition. Sponsoring institutions must provide qualified persons to unpack, install, and re-pack the exhibition. Unless specified, hanging structures or other exhibit furniture is not provided with the exhibition.

Exhibition period:

• Minimum 1 week
• Maximum 6 months

Host institution fees

• A $500.00 non-refundable deposit to book the exhibit is required. Reservations for the exhibit are on a first come, first served basis. An invoice for the reservation fee will be sent immediately following the booking.
• The rental fee is $1000.00 per week. Upon receipt of the reservation fee, the museum will send a Traveling Exhibition Service Contract that must be completed and signed, along with an invoice for the rental fee. This fee must be paid in full prior to the exhibition being shipped.
• All shipping costs. The sponsoring institution is responsible for arranging and paying the cost for transporting the exhibition from and returning it to Ferris State University. A professional shipping company must be used; trucks must be equipped with a power lift gate (preferred) or a ramp (at minimum). A climate controlled truck is required for shipments over one hour away from Big Rapids, Michigan. A minimum one week period is allowed on each side of the scheduled exhibition dates for shipping/pick-up and return; there is no charge for this period.
• Insurance covering the exhibition during shipping to and from the sponsoring institution as well as during the exhibition period is required. A complete inventory list with total value of the exhibition will be sent with the Traveling Exhibition Service Contract. A certificate of insurance is required to be on file with the museum prior to shipping.