Homer A. Plessy did not act alone.
A group of 18 prominent New Orleans citizens formed the “Comité des Citoyens” to fight for civil rights. This group planned the challenge to the new Separate Car Act. The group raised money, hired attorneys, and recruited players. Louis Martinet, an attorney, was a key leader of the group.
Besides recruiting Homer Plessy, who could pass as white, they hired Christopher C. Cain, who ran a detective agency, to be present at the train station and arrest Plessy. Martinet had already made arrangements for the arrest with the railroad, which was opposed to the Separate Car Act, as it did not want the expense of adding extra train cars.
On June 7, 1892 Homer Plessy purchased a ticket at the Press Street depot for a trip to Mandeville and Covington. He sat in the first class train car. The conductor, J.J. Dowling, asked Plessy if he was “a colored man.” Plessy answered that he was, and refused to leave the whites-only car. The train stopped. Dowling got Cain, who entered the train car and arrested Plessy.
Cain took Plessy from the intersection of Royal and Press Streets to the Fifth Precinct, where he was booked for violation of the Separate Car Act. Martinet and other members of the committee were there to bail him out. The next morning he would have to appear in court.
Link to a Google map of the Press Street train station area.
