Long before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on an Alabama bus, another civil rights hero made a similar stand in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
As part of its recognition of Black History Month, SEPTA honored the life and courage of Caroline Rebecca LeCount Wednesday morning at its headquarters on Market Street.<\/p>\n
As a distinguished student at the Institute for Colored Youth and the first Black woman in the Philadelphia area to pass the city\u2019s teacher exam<\/a>, LeCount was a civil rights advocate of many talents. She was also a part of an organization of women supporting the Union in the American Civil War.\u00a0<\/p>\n Beyond her activism in schools, LeCount\u2019s legacy is rooted in her work in desegregating public transit.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCaroline Lecount\u2019s work had many parallels to that of Rosa Parks, except that her efforts in 1867 were centered on streetcars that were still powered by horses,\u201d said SEPTA\u2019s General Manager Scott Sauer.<\/p>\n The state of public transit at the time frequently excluded Black riders, said SEPTA\u2019s Culture and Belonging Council President Tamla Ginyard.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the time, Philadelphia\u2019s streetcars were segregated, and Black passengers were often denied service or forced off cars,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n After a law was passed that made it illegal to segregate streetcars throughout Pennsylvania, LeCount continued to hold leaders and conductors accountable.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen conductors continued to refuse service to Black riders, she personally ensured that they were fined under the law,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n LeCount\u2019s work is frequently likened to that of Rosa Parks. But, many officials celebrated her work as a basis for Park\u2019s later work.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt has been suggested that Caroline LeCount was the Rosa Parks of her time, but since Caroline came before Rosa, I like to think that Rosa Parks was the Caroline LeCount of her time,\u201d said Marianne McQuaid, a senior designer on Maps & Schedules with SEPTA.\u00a0<\/p>\n Not always equal\u00a0<\/p>\n LeCount\u2019s work came at a time when Philadelphia did not offer equal opportunities to Black citizens in many realms \u2013 particularly transit.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to research,<\/a> in the late 1800s eleven of the nineteen streetcars and rail lines were \u201crefusing to admit Negroes into their cars.\u201d The others \u201creluctantly allowed\u201d Black citizens to ride, but forced them to ride up front with the conductor.\u00a0<\/p>\n One observer wrote that the \u201cworst classes of whites\u201d were still allowed to ride, including those who used swearing, showed intoxication, and smoked on board. However, they said the \u201crules which exclude all colored passengers were justified\u201d as they \u201cwould protect the comfort of passengers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Transit wasn\u2019t the only area where the lack of equal rights was on display. Civil Rights activist Fredrick Douglass recounted a trip<\/a> to Philadelphia in 1862, saying there is \u201cnot another city in which prejudice against color is more rampant than in Philadelphia.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n LeCount\u2019s advocacy started in schools. As a teacher at Ohio Street School, she made it a priority to stick up for fellow Black educators.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCaroline made her voice matter, staunchly defending Black teachers from accusations of inferiority,\u201d McQuaid said. \u201cShe pointed out that they were required to receive higher test scores than White teachers to become certified.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n When LeCount observed the state of transit for Black riders, she saw a new opportunity.\u00a0<\/p>\n Leveling the playing field\u00a0<\/p>\n When streetcars refused service to Black riders in the early 1860s, LeCount didn\u2019t want to comply. She became an outspoken advocate against these policies.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCaroline organized an act of civil disobedience,\u201d McQuaid said. \u201cShe organized a group of women to challenge these unjust laws, and they boarded streetcars.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Along with her fianc\u00e9, Octavius Catto, LeCount advocated and lobbied for equal transit rights at the state level. In 1867, the state passed a new bill <\/a>banning discrimination on the state\u2019s public transit systems.\u00a0<\/p>\n When LeCount later tried to board a streetcar after this law and was denied service, she continued to hold leaders accountable.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCaroline attempted to wave down a streetcar to test this, and the white conductor refused to let her board,\u201d she said. \u201cNot one to give up, Caroline tracked down a copy of the law and showed proof of the new law to a police officer who arrested the driver, who was then fined $100.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n