Jim Crow Laws: South DakotaClose

Enacted three miscegenation laws between 1809 and 1913, and a 1952 statute that required adoption petitions to state the race of both the petitioner and child. A 1913 miscegenation law broadened the list of races unacceptable as marriage partners for whites to include persons belonging to the "African, Korean, Malayan, or Mongolian race." This law reflected the nation's growing tension over the massive waves of immigrants entering the country during the early twentieth century. The miscegenation law was repealed in 1957.

1909: Miscegenation [Statute]
Intermarriage or illicit cohabitation forbidden between blacks and whites. Penalty: Felony, punishable by a fine up to $1,000, or by imprisonment up to ten years, or both.

1913: Miscegenation [Statute]
Law expanded to prohibit marriage between whites and persons belonging to the "African, Corean, [Korean] Malayan, or Mongolian race." Penalty: Felony, punishable by a fine up to $1,000, or by imprisonment in state prison up to ten years, or both.

1929: Miscegenation [Statute]
Miscegenation declared a felony. Also forbid marriages between persons of the Caucasian, Asian and Malay races.

1952: Adoption [State Code]
Adoption petitions must state race of petitioner and child.

1957: Barred anti-miscegenation [Statute]
Repealed anti-miscegenation law.