State Historical Society of Iowa
Courtesy of Library of Congress, Twice-a-week plain dealer, "Court is Divided," November 30, 1909
In 1909, the Des Moines Retail Grocers' Association held a food show. J.H. Bell Company, a company that sold coffee, signed up and paid money to have a stand at the show in order to promote its coffee. Mrs. Brown and her husband, both African American, attended the show. The couple stopped at the booth where J.H. Bell Company was giving away free coffee samples. When they asked to try one of the free coffee samples, J.H. Bell refused to serve them because Mrs. Brown and her husband were African American. J.H. Bell was the only exhibitor at the show that refused the Browns service.
According to Iowa's civil rights act of 1884, discrimination in "inns, public conveyances, barber shops, theaters, and other places of public amusement," was outlawed however, the Iowa Supreme Court held that the Iowa Civil Rights Act of 1884 must be narrowly interpreted because it was a punitive statute — a law created to punish people. It interpreted the Act to apply only to those establishments open to the general public. The Court held that the food show was run by the Grocers' Association and not J.H. Bell. It distinguished the food show from the booth, which J.H. Bell leased from the Grocers' Association to provide free beverages as advertisements. The Court ruled that the booth was not a "place where refreshments are served" or a "place of amusements under the act." The booth and coffee being given away were a form of advertising for a private business not covered by the Act.
Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa), 30 Nov. 1909. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Courtesy of Library of Congress Courtesy of Library of Congress
