1912

November
Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat, is elected to his first term as President. Although he later becomes famous for his support of progressive legislation and his promotion of the League of Nations, Wilson sympathizes with the Southern cause and once describes Reconstruction as the overthrow of civilization in the South. As President of Princeton University, he barred the entry of black students. As President of the United States, he presides over the extensive expansion of segregationist practices in the federal government, helping to make Washington, D.C. one of the most segregated cities in America. The Post Office begins to segregate black clerks, the Treasury Department establishes segregated toilets, and Wilson defends segregation as being to the advantage of blacks themselves.

Year: 
1912
Decade: