Cataloging Jim Crow Laws in Kentucky: Using machine learning to list Jim Crow laws in the Bluegrass (RPA Pilot / Seed Project)

To address the absence of comprehensive list of Kentucky’s 50 racial segregation laws on digital platforms, the faculty team of Documenting Racial Violence in Kentucky submits an application to UNITE-RPA pilot grant in support of “Cataloging Jim Crow Laws in Kentucky: Using machine learning to list Jim Crow laws in the Bluegrass.” This digital humanities project aims to use data mining and machine learning to unearth and document Kentucky’s legal and legislative history of Jim Crow laws. The project will not only list all Jim Crow laws passed in Kentucky between 1866 and 1965, it will also explore the roles played by state legislation and policy in the shaping of racial relations in Kentucky. There is a smattering of information about Jim Crow laws in Kentucky across several platforms, and while this information is important, the sources are not available for review. For example, a Google search of Jim Crow laws in Kentucky will produce a Wikipedia page on examples of Jim Crow laws, a 2011 site listing Jim Crow laws without sources, and a general list of Jim Crow laws in Kansas and Kentucky. These websites provide basic information for users who need data quickly. But for researchers and educators who seek independently fact-checked and sourced information, a complete website is needed, listing not only Kentucky’s racial segregation laws, but also connecting the laws to various aspects of social, political, and economic life.