Mrs. Carl Perlstrom, operator of a rural Ramsey County cafe, was bound over to District Court yesterday on charges of racial discrimination for allegedly refusing to serve a group of persons of Jewish faith.
The charge, a gross misdemeanor, carrying a penalty up to a year in jail and up to a $1,000 fine, was based on the race discrimination law in Minnesota’s Hotel and Public Resorts code. It is believed the first time a case of this type has been prosecuted under the law.
Samuel Tucker of Los Angeles, stationed at Fort Snelling with a medical detachment, signed the complaint. He claimed he was in uniform with a party of four when Mrs. Perlstrom refused to serve them. He declared a waitress told him, “We don’t serve Jews here.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
