Signs of the Times: The Visual Politics of Jim Crow

(University of California Press) This book explores the history and cultural significance of Jim Crow signs. Abel explores the meaning and existence of these signs, from their intellectual and political origins in the second half of the 19th century, to their eventual dismantling by civil rights activists in the 1960s and ’70s. The book includes photographs of the signs, illustrating Abel’s analysis. Abel is an English professor at University of California, Berkeley.