Plessy’s act of civil disobedience led to court decision that legalized ‘separate but equal’ doctrine and ushered in Jim Crow era The Homer Plessy community school in New Orleans. Plessy bought a ticket for a whites-only train cabin and was arrested for violating Louisiana’s Separate Car Act. Photograph: Barry Lewis/Getty Images In front of the old New Orleans train station where, in 1892, Homer Plessy engaged in a trailblazing act of civil disobedience that led to the landmark Plessy v...