October lecture

Our next lecture is on Wednesday, October 8, at 7pm at the Logan Library (285 N Main)!

“From Black to White: The Racial Passage of the Enoch and Mary Jordi Able Children” will be presented by W. Paul Reeve. The 1900 United States census for Cache County, Utah, listed a total of ten Black people in the entire county. Nine lived in Logan, one in Richmond, and eight belonged to the same household, that of Enoch and Mary Jordi Able. This presentation will explore the racial passage of the Enoch Able family, from “Black” in the 1900 census, to “mulatto” in 1910, to “white” by 1920. Enoch died in 1901, leaving his white, French-speaking, Swiss-born-wife a widow with seven children to raise. The Logan Journal newspaper announced his death in 1901 and then noted that “Able left a wife and large family in destitute circumstances.” The family’s difficulties navigating those circumstances will form the backbone of Professor Reeve’s presentation. The story that emerges represents the challenges of being of mixed racial ancestry in the Jim Crow era of racial segregation in the United States.

All CVHS lectures are free and open to the public!