The Citizens’ Committee (Comité des Citoyens) was formed in 1891 as a response to the Separate Car Act of 1890 that dictated the separation of whites and African Americans on public transportation. The Committee entered into history by choosing Homer Plessy to challenge the constitutionality of the Separate Car Act, which resulted in the Supreme Court case of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). Many of its members consisted of some of the most prominent Creoles of New Orleans including lawyer Louis Martinet, funeral director Alcee Labat, and author and activist Rodolphe Desdunes. Rodolphe Desdunes, member of the Citizens’ Committee, circa 1890s.