Third Annual African American Family History Open House

The following articles reported on the Church's Third Annual African American Family History Open House, keynoted by Dr. Ronald Coleman. Slaves Were Early Converts to LDS Church by Julie DeHerrera The Salt Lake Tribune Green Flake. Elijah Able. Oscar Crosby. These were the names of three African-American pioneers who settled in Utah in 1847 after they traveled with Brigham Young's caravan of Saints, said Ronald Coleman, who spoke at The Family History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' third annual African-American open house Saturday. Known as "colored servants," the slaves were early converts to the LDS Church. Much like the Mormon pioneers, African-Americans headed west to escape religious persecution and to build Utah and become part of Zion, he said. "By 1850, there were between 75 and 100 slaves residing in Utah Territory," Coleman said. "The majority were in Salt Lake County and small numbers in Davis and Utah County." An Act in Relationship to Service legalized slavery in Utah in 1852. Congress abolished slavery in the territories 10 years later, Coleman said. "Did slavery really discontinue? No idea," he said. Some slaves who fled their Utah masters sought refuge at Brigham Young's home, he said. "Slavery was never meant to flourish in the valley," said Coleman, a longtime history professor at the University of Utah, who received the governor's award for contributions to humanities in 2000. The descendants of African-American pioneers still remain in the valley today, Coleman noted. Following Coleman's speech, workshop participants could look for long-lost ancestors using the library's wealth of resources—among them, census records, Freedman's Bank records and the African-American Research Guide. Dorothy Lamb, 73, was armed with a sheath of papers and a book of her family's history ready to go in search of her father's genealogy. A native of Louisiana, she has lived in Utah since 1959 when she came to visit her sister. She began her research at the Family History Library some years ago. "I have gone back to five generations in my family's life," said Lamb. Some of her ancestors were slaves on the Linwood Plantation in Louisiana. The book that she toted to the library contained a number of records, including census reports, photos of past and present relatives and the Linwood Plantation home. Several years ago, Lamb was shocked to find the military records of her father, William Carter, at the library. Throughout the years, Lamb has made it a point to tell her family's history to the younger generation in her family. On a trip to Louisiana in 1996, Lamb took her teenage grandsons to visit a slave house. "They cried," she said.   Effects of Segregation Linger in Utah by Brooke McIlvain Associate Copy Chief Throughout Utah’s history, blacks have never made up more than 1 percent of Utah’s total population, and as an extreme minority they have suffered the pains of discrimination and segregation. Ronald Coleman, professor of history at the University of Utah, was inspired to be a lifelong activist during his undergraduate work studying Utah’s history. Later, when he decided to become a writer, the story of blacks in the West was still a story that needed to be told. Among other things, Coleman has written an article called “Blacks in Utah History: An Unknown Legacy.” “For many years many Americans were not fully aware of the breadth as well as the depth of race discrimination as it existed outside of the former slave-holding states,” Coleman said. Coleman said the lack of awareness about discrimination in Utah and the impact of segregation on the state is what drew him to the topic. According to Coleman’s article, three black men entered Utah with the initial Mormon pioneer group. Folk tradition holds that Green Flake drove the wagon that brought Brigham Young into the valley along with African-Americans Oscar Crosby and Hark Lay. Their names are engraved with those of the first pioneers on a tablet on the Brigham Young Monument at the intersection of Main and South Temple streets in Salt Lake City. When people think of segregation, Utah is not likely to be the first state to come to mind; however, during the 1940s and 50s nationally known entertainers were frequently discriminated against. White people would flock to black performers’ shows but not allow them to stay in their hotels or eat at their restaurants. Coleman documents one such example where Marian Anderson, a famous concert singer, was allowed to stay at Hotel Utah on condition that she use the freight elevator. In 1948 and 1951, conditions had changed so much that when Anderson returned, the Hotel Utah accommodated her without question. Moreover, she sang to a standing-room-only audience at the LDS Salt Lake Tabernacle. Other examples of segregation include a 1939 petition initiated by Sheldon Brewster, a realtor and bishop of a Mormon ward, that was sent to Salt Lake City Commissioners with 1,000 signatures. The petition asked that blacks be restricted to one residential area. When the petition failed, real estate companies added a clause in contracts that read: “The buyer, his heirs, executors, administrators, successors, or assigns agree that no estate in possession of the said premises shall be sold, transferred, granted or conveyed to any person not of the Caucasian race.” Although restrictive clauses like these were ruled unconstitutional in 1948, many deeds continued to include them, Coleman wrote. Alan Barnett, of the Utah History Research Center, said it was uncommon to find “No Blacks Allowed” signs in Utah, a trait associated with segregation in other parts of the country. However, this was only because the state’s black population was so small that no such signs were needed. Segregation was simply understood. Lagoon, the summer entertainment park in Farmington, banned blacks from the swimming pool and ballroom to comply with a town ordinance. This continued until the late 1940s when Robert Freed, a civil rights leader, succeeded in changing it. “The existence of racial discrimination is surprising,” Coleman said. “The belief in white superiority and black inferiority dominated. The changes in Utah were influenced in part by changes nationally.” Unlike the southern states, Utah never legally segregated their schools, colleges, or universities. Most children attended neighborhood elementary and junior high schools. Schools were open to everyone, but schools were partially segregated as much by economic status as by race through residential living patterns. Though much progress has been made since the days of segregation, Coleman reminds us there is still a lack of inclusion. “There is not a person of color that sits on the state supreme court,” he said. “And how many seats in the legislature? It’s easy to forget or ignore the big picture.”