Mary Miles and the Doctrine of Separate But Equal

I saw this sign while walking to the train station from work one afternoon. It is located on a bridge overlooking a set of train tracks near Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station. At first glance the sign looked like one of the many historical markers found throughout the region but something seemed odd about the sign. While I could not figure out what was wrong with the sign I did stop to read what it said. From it I learned of Mary Miles, a name from history whose story seemed important. This was enough for me to do a little research where I found a woman whose legacy might have matched that of Rosa Parks if not for the fact that Miles’ fight contributed to one of the great wrongs from the history of the United States.

In 1866 Mary Miles’ journey to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court started innocently enough with a train ride to her home in Hinsonville Pa. Hinsonville was a community of free blacks, where Miles lived while applying for a teaching position with a Quaker group called the Friends Freedmen’s Association (According to a report on mainlinetoday.com). Traveling back to Hinsonville from Philadelphia Mary took a seat on the West Chester & Philadelphia Railroad. Like Parks, Miles was asked to get up. A representative from the railroad confronted Mary Miles suggesting she either move to the section of the train car designated for “...persons of her race” or get off of the train. (Swarthmore College Bulletin). Eventually Mary was left at one of the train stations along the line.

A year later Mary Miles sued the railroad in a Philadelphia court. The court decided against the railroad on the basis that skin color was not a valid reason to force someone to change seats. Mary was awarded $5 but would see the verdict overturned on appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. In that case the court ruled that the railroad could ask someone to move on the basis of race as long as the person was offered a seat that was equal to the seat they were being forced to leave. This case would later be cited in the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Plessy vs. Ferguson where the court said that segregation was constitutional.

Unfortunately not only did Mary Miles lose her case but in part her actions helped move the country into decades of court sanctioned segregation under the idea of “separate but equal” accommodations. This wrong would continue from 1896 until Brown vs. The Board of Education was decided in 1954. Ms. Miles' courageous stand was, for those 58 years, lost behind an outcome which lives as one of many negatives when it comes to race relations in this country.

Though the outcome was not what she intended, Mary Miles should be remembered for taking a stand. Yet, there was still something about that sign that just seemed out of place. Not until passing it several times did I realize that the sign was held up using plastic zip ties. This was odd even for a city that seems to pride itself on oddities. Fortunately, my research for this post led me to the answer behind the zip tied sign.

Turns out the sign honoring Mary Miles was not installed by the city. It is the creation of Ali Roseberry-Polier, a local author and activist, who wanted others to know about Mary Miles. Hence the use of zip ties holding the sign up. Unfortunately the sign is beginning to fall apart, having survived a year where it seemed as if it rained every four days here in Philly. It may also have fallen prey to someone whose motives were less than honorable. Hopefully one day Mary Miles can get a more permanent sign. Until then I’ll join in telling others about Mary Miles’ ill fated attempt to undo separate but equal before it became law.

(Update: Unfortunately the makeshift sign is no longer hanging near 30th Street Station, having finally succumb to the elements.)