Timeline of Black LDS history

See also: Black Mormons and Black people and Mormonism

This is a timeline of Black people and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and the views of top LDS leaders around Black people. The history of Black people in the LDS Church has been characterized by periods of changing policies and teachings around skin color, Black enslavement, and temple and priesthood eligibility. A racial restriction on temple and priesthood ordinances for Black people was removed in 1978. What began during Mormonism founder Joseph Smith's lifetime as an estimated 100 free and enslaved Black Mormons,[1]: 2  has grown to an estimated 400,000 to one million Black LDS Church adherents worldwide as of 2019.[a]

1830–1844: During Joseph Smith's leadership

See also: Joseph Smith's views on Black people and Curses of Cain and Ham (LDS Church)
  • 1830 – The Book of Mormon is published, containing verses describing a "skin of blackness" as a curse placed upon the Lamanites for their rebellion, while also stating that the Lord "denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free."[2]: 56 
  • 1830 – "Black Pete," a formerly enslaved man, joins the church in Kirtland, Ohio, becoming the first known convert of Black African descent.[2]: 107 
  • 1832 – Elijah Abel, a carpenter of Black African descent, is baptized in Maryland.[10]: 8 
  • 1832 – Joseph Smith authors what later became Doctrine and Covenants section 87 which stated that war would be poured out upon all nations, beginning with the rebellion of South Carolina, and that "slaves shall rise up against their masters."[11]: 50 
  • 1833 – W. W. Phelps publishes an article titled "Free People of Color" in the church newspaper inviting free Black people to worship with the Saints in Missouri. The article is interpreted by local non-Mormons as an invitation for free Black people to settle in the state, sparking mob violence and the expulsion of Mormons from Jackson County.[12]: 55 [13]
  • 1835 – The church issues an official statement (included in the Doctrine and Covenants as section 134) stating it is not "right to interfere with bond-servants, neither preach the gospel to, nor baptize them contrary to the will and wish of their masters."[11]: 13 
  • 1835 – Top LDS leader W. W. Phelps writes a letter theorizing that the wife of Ham was a descendant of Cain, introducing the idea that the "curse of Cain" was preserved through the Flood via an interracial marriage.[14]: 15 
  • 1836 – Elijah Abel is ordained to the priesthood office of Elder by Joseph Smith.[14]: 30  Later that year, he is ordained a Seventy, a missionary office.[2]: 109 
  • 1836 – In a letter to the editor of the Latter Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate, Joseph Smith expresses some of his views on Black people including opposition to the abolitionist movement and offers a justification for the enslavement of Black people based on the biblical Curse of Ham.[14]: 15–16 
  • 1842 – The church publishes the Book of Abraham, which contains verses stating that the Pharaohs of Egypt were cursed as to the priesthood because they were descendants of Ham. This text becomes a primary scriptural basis for the temple and priesthood ban.[13]: 238 
  • 1842 – Joseph Smith writes in his journal advocating for the end of slavery, stating that slaves should be brought into "free country and set ... free—educate them and give them equal rights."[11]: 18 
  • 1843 – Walker Lewis, a Black man, is ordained an Elder by Joseph's brother William Smith.[2]: 132 
  • 1844 – As part of his presidential campaign, Joseph Smith advocates for the abolition of slavery by 1850 through the sale of public lands.[14]: 20 
  • 1844 – Joseph T. Ball, a Black priesthood holder, serves as the branch president (local leader) of the Boston Branch, the largest congregation of the church outside of Nauvoo at the time.[10]: 19 
  • 1844 – As mayor of Nauvoo, Joseph Smith holds a trial and fines two African American men the modern equivalent of thousands of dollars for trying to marry White women.[15][16][13]

1845–1899

See also: Mormonism and slavery, Black people and temple and priesthood policies (LDS Church), and Interracial marriage and the LDS Church
  • 1845 – Orson Hyde speaks at a general conference, suggesting that the "cursed lineage" of Canaan was a result of neutral behavior in the War in Heaven, a concept that would later evolve into the "fence-sitter" doctrine.[2]: 208 
  • 1847 – Green Flake, Hark Lay, and Oscar Crosby, three enslaved men, are part of the vanguard pioneer company that enters the Salt Lake Valley in July.[18]: 111 [1]: 1 [17]
  • 1847 – William McCary, a Black convert, is excommunicated for apostasy after claiming to be a prophet and instituting his own unauthorized polygamous sealings with white women. This event contributes to rising racial tensions within the church leadership.[2]: 140 
  • 1847 – Young declares the punishment for Black–White interracial marriages was death.[19] He repeated this statement in 1852[20] and 1865.[21][14]: 42–43 
  • 1852 – In a speech to the Utah Territorial Legislature, Brigham Young publicly announces a policy restricting Black men from holding the priesthood. He teaches that Black people are the "seed of Cain" and are cursed to be servants until all other descendants of Adam receive the priesthood,[14]: 36–39  and the killing of a Black–White interracial couple and their children as part of a blood atonement would be a blessing to them.[14]: 37, 39 [22] He further stated that interracial children are sterile "like a mule".[19] This belief was repeated by George Reynolds in a church magazine in 1868.[23]
  • 1852 – The legislature passes the Act in Relation to Service, legalizing slavery in Utah Territory.[2]: 162 
  • 1853 – Elijah Abel requests to receive his temple endowment but is denied by Brigham Young.[10]: 37 
  • 1856 – Biddy Mason and 14 other Black enslaved people successfully sue for their freedom after being illegally held captive by white Mormons in San Bernardino, California.[24]: 17 
  • 1863 – Brigham Young states that the penalty for interracial marriage between a white person and a Black person is death, stating "this will always be so."[14]: 66 
  • 1879 – Elijah Abel serves a third mission for the church, preaching in Ohio, despite the priesthood ban preventing new ordinations.[10]: 38 
  • 1879 – A meeting is held at the residence of Abraham O. Smoot where Zebedee Coltrin and Smoot provide conflicting testimony claiming Joseph Smith was the originator of the priesthood ban, contradicting the documents of Elijah Abel's ordination. This meeting is instrumental in solidifying the memory of the ban as originating with Smith rather than Young.[25]: 369, 377 [26]
  • 1880 – Elijah Abel appeals to church president John Taylor for permission to receive his temple ordinances. His request is denied after an investigation into whether his priesthood was authorized.[14]: 50 
  • 1884 – Elijah Abel dies, remaining a priesthood holder in good standing until his death.[2]: 112 
  • 1890 – Jane Manning James, a Black woman who had lived with Joseph Smith's family in Nauvoo, repeatedly requests to be sealed to Smith as a child. She is eventually allowed a unique "attachment" ceremony as a servant in the Smith family, rather than a standard adoption sealing.[29]: 115 

1900–1977

See also: Civil rights and Mormonism, Black segregation and the LDS Church, and Black people and Mormonism
  • 1900 – Enoch Abel, the son of Elijah Abel, is ordained an Elder in the priesthood, an exception to the general policy.[10]: 84 
  • 1908 – Church president Joseph F. Smith decides that Elijah Abel's priesthood ordination was "null and void," reversing earlier acknowledgments. This cements the "one-drop rule" policy, barring anyone with any Black African ancestry from the priesthood or temple.[2]: 155 
  • 1934 – Elijah Abel, the grandson of the original Elijah Abel, is ordained to the office of Priest in the Aaronic priesthood.[10]: 86 
  • 1935 – The grandson Elijah Abel is ordained an Elder in the Melchizedek priesthood.[10]: 86 
  • 1945 – Abner Howell, a Black member in Utah, is given a calling card designating him as an "Honorary High Priest" by church leaders, allowing him to access some church privileges while strictly maintaining the temple and priesthood ban.[30]
  • 1947 – The First Presidency exchanges letters with sociologist Lowry Nelson, stating that the priesthood ban is not merely policy but a "doctrine of the Church" based on "divine laws" and "faithfulness in the premortal existence."[14]: 172–173 
  • 1949 – The First Presidency under George Albert Smith issues a statement asserting that the priesthood restriction is "the result of our conduct in our pre-existent life."[31]: 89 
  • 1954 – Church president David O. McKay visits South Africa and modifies the policy there to allow men to hold the priesthood unless they have proven Black ancestry, reversing the burden of proof required previously.[32]: 78 
  • 1960s – The church faces increasing pressure from the civil rights movement. The NAACP criticizes the church's stance on civil rights and priesthood restriction.[13]: 218 
  • 1963 – Church leaders in Nigeria attempt to set up an official mission where converts would be organized into auxiliaries without priesthood leadership, but the plan is halted by the Quorum of the Twelve.[33]: 201 
  • 1965 – Due to the church's policy on blood transfusions, which discouraged white members from receiving blood from Black donors, the LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City maintains a segregated blood bank until the policy is reversed around this time.[14]: 68 
  • 1967 – Stewart Udall, a prominent Mormon and U.S. Secretary of the Interior, publishes a letter in the scholarly Mormon journal Dialogue openly criticizing the church's racial restrictions.[32]: 95 
  • 1969 – The "Wyoming 14," a group of 14 Black football players from the University of Wyoming, are dismissed from their team for planning to wear black armbands in protest of the LDS Church's racial policies during a game against Brigham Young University.[34]
  • 1969 – Amidst external protests, the First Presidency issues a statement signed by Hugh B. Brown and N. Eldon Tanner re-affirming the restriction but removing references to pre-mortal unworthiness as the cause.[14]: 79, 134 
  • 1971 – The Genesis Group is established as a support auxiliary for Black members of the church, under the direction of Elders Gordon B. Hinckley, Thomas S. Monson, and Boyd K. Packer. Ruffin Bridgeforth serves as the first president.[14]: 85 
  • 1974 – The Boy Scouts of America policy prohibiting Black scouts from serving as senior patrol leaders in LDS-sponsored troops is challenged by the NAACP. The church agrees to change the policy, allowing Black scouts to hold leadership positions.[14]: 106 [35]: 143 
  • 1976 – Douglas A. Wallace is excommunicated after ordaining a Black man, Larry Lester, to the priesthood in an unauthorized attempt to challenge the church's ban.[35]: 143 
  • 1977 – Byron Marchant is excommunicated for casting the first opposing vote in modern General Conference history, citing the racial restriction as his reason.[35]: 145 

1978–Present

  • 1978 – On June 8, the First Presidency announces a lifting of the temple and priesthood ban (canonized as Official Declaration 2).[14]: 116 
  • 1997 – Singer Gladys Knight joins the LDS Church and becomes a prominent figure.[36]
  • 2013 – The church publishes the essay "Race and the Priesthood" on its official website, disavowing past statements that black skin is a sign of divine disfavor or curse, or that it reflects unrighteousness in a premortal life. The essay specifically rejects the Curse of Ham and Curse of Cain as justifications for the ban.[37]
  • 2015 – LDS member Mia Love becomes the first Republican Black woman elected to the US national Congress.[38]
  • 2018 – The church holds the "Be One" celebration to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the removal of the temple and priesthood ban for Black LDS members.[1]: 281 
  • 2020 – Church president Russell M. Nelson issues a joint statement with the NAACP calling for racial reform in the United States.[39]

Notes

  1. ^ The LDS Church does not keep records of the racial makeup of its membership,[2]: 269  but the worldwide number of 21st-century Black adherents has been estimated at 400,000,[3] 500,000,[4][5] over 700,000,[6][7] and one million.[8][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Harris, Matthew L. (2024). Second-Class Saints: Black Mormons and the Struggle for Racial Equality. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-769571-5.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Reeve, W. Paul (2015). Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness. New York City: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199754076.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-975407-6 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ Smith, Devyn M. (December 1, 2005). "The Diverse Sheep of Israel: Should the Shepherds Resemble Their Flocks?". Dialogue. 38 (4). Champaign: University of Illinois Press: 64. doi:10.2307/45227340. JSTOR 45227340. S2CID 254352025 – via Scholarly Publishing Collective.
  4. ^ Deseret News 1999–2000 Church Almanac. Salt Lake City: Deseret News. 2000. p. 119. ISBN 9781573454919 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ Perry Mueller, Max (March 2, 2012). "Is Mormonism Still Racist". Slate.
  6. ^ "African Americans and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints". BlackPast.org. 2019.
  7. ^ "Black Mormons Assess Church's Racial Progress". The New York Times. Associated Press. October 10, 2015. [S]cholars say blacks make up a small portion of the 15 million members worldwide. ... About 3 percent of Mormons in the United States are African-American, the Pew Research Center estimated in 2009. About 5 percent of all worldwide members [750,000] are of African descent, said Matt Martinich, a church member who analyzes membership numbers with the nonprofit Cumorah Foundation.
  8. ^ Reeve, W. Paul (August 23, 2019). "Century of Black Mormons A Preliminary Interpretation of the Data". Current Research in Digital History. 2. George Mason University. doi:10.31835/crdh.2019.03. S2CID 202353551. Dr. Jacob Rugh at Brigham Young University estimates that in 2018 there were one million black Latter-day Saints globally.
  9. ^ "Mormons grappling with race issues 40 years after church's ban on Black leaders was lifted". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. June 1, 2018. The number of black Mormons has grown, but still only accounts for an estimated 6% of 16 million [or 960,000] worldwide members. Not one serves in the highest levels of global leadership.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bringhurst, Newell G.; Smith, Darron T., eds. (2004). Black and Mormon. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-02947-X. ProQuest 2131367301 – via Google Books.
  11. ^ a b c Bush, Lester E. (1973). "Mormonism's Negro Doctrine: An Historical Overview" (PDF). Dialogue. 8 (1). University of Illinois Press.
  12. ^ Bush, Lester E. Jr.; Mauss, Armand L., eds. (1984). Neither White Nor Black: Mormon Scholars Confront the Race Issue in a Universal Church. Salt Lake City: Signature Books. ISBN 0-941214-22-2. Archived from the original on October 1, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
  13. ^ a b c d Mauss, Armand L. (2003). All Abraham's Children: Changing Mormon Conceptions of Race and Lineage. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-02803-1 – via Google Books.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harris, Matthew L.; Bringhurst, Newell G. (2015). The Mormon Church and Blacks: A Documentary History. Chicago: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-08121-7. ProQuest 2131052022 – via Google Books.
  15. ^ Smith, George (1948). History of the Church, Vol. 6. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book. p. 210 – via BYU.
  16. ^ Smith, Joseph. Journal, December 1842–June 1844. Vol. 3. LDS Church. 15 July 1843–29 February 1844 – via The Joseph Smith Papers.
  17. ^ a b "Century of Black Mormons: Flake, Green". J. Willard Marriott Library. University of Utah.
  18. ^ Ravage, John W. (2008). Black Pioneers: Images of the Black Experience on the North American Frontier. University of Utah Press. ISBN 978-0-87480-941-1.
  19. ^ a b Turner, John G. (September 20, 2012). Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet. Harvard University (1st ed.). Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press. p. 222. ISBN 978-0674049673. Retrieved August 28, 2017 – via Internet Archive. If they [the couple and child] were far away from the Gentiles [non-Mormons] they wo[ul]d all have to be killed[.] [W]hen they mingle seed it is death to all. If a black man & white woman come to you & demand baptism can you deny them? [T]he law is their seed shall not be amalg[a]mated. Mulattoes are like mules[,] they can't have the children, but if they will be Eunuchs for the Kingdom of God's Heaven's sake they may have a place in the Temple.
  20. ^ Collier, Fred C. (1987). The Teachings of President Brigham Young Vol. 3 1852–1854. Collier's Publishing. pp. 44, 49. ISBN 0934964017 – via Google Books. Were the children of God to mingle their seed with the seed of Cain [i.e. Black people] it would not only bring the curse of being deprived of the power of the Priesthood upon them[selves] but they entail it upon their children after them, and they cannot get rid of it. If a man in an unguarded moment should commit such a transgression, if he would walk up and say ["]cut off my head,["] and [one then] kill[ed the] man, woman and child, it would do a great deal towards atoning for the sin. Would this be to curse them? No, it would be a blessing to them—it would do them good, that they might be saved with their brethren. A many would shudder should they hear us talk about killing folk, but it is one of the greatest blessings to some to kill them, although the true principles of it are not understood. ... [I]f any man mingles his seed with the seed of Cane [sic] the only way he could get rid of it or have salvation would be to come forward & have his head cut off [and] spill his blood upon the ground. It would also take the life of his [c]hildren.
  21. ^ Young, Brigham (1865). "The Persecutions of the Saints—Their Loyalty to the Constitution—The Mormon Battalion—The Laws of God Relative to the African Race" (PDF). Journal of Discourses. 10: 110. Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so.
  22. ^ Schaeffer, Frank (January 12, 2009). "Perspectives on Marriage: Score 1 For Gay America — 0 To The Mormons". Huffington Post.
  23. ^ Reynolds, George (November 1, 1868). "Man and His Varieties: Mixed Races-The Effects of Climate". The Juvenile Instructor. 3 (21). Salt Lake City: 165 – via Internet Archive. Some writers deny the possibility of a mixed race of people existing for any great length of time upon the Earth. They say the race would entirely die out ... There is a great deal of truth in this ... We do not believe in the permanency of a race descended from people so wide apart as the Anglo-Saxon and Negro. In fact we believe it a great sin in the eyes of our Heavenly Father for a white person to marry a black one. And further, it is proof of the mercy of God that that no such race appear [sic] able to continue for many generations.
  24. ^ Thiriot, Amy Tanner (2022). Slavery in Zion: A Documentary and Genealogical History of Black Lives and Black Servitude in Utah Territory, 1847-1862. University of Utah Press. ISBN 978-1-64769-085-4.
  25. ^ Givens, Terryl L.; Barlow, Philip L., eds. (2015). "Chapter 24: Mormons and Race". The Oxford Handbook of Mormonism. Oxford Handbooks. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199778362.
  26. ^ Brooks, Joanna (October 1, 2018). "The Possessive Investment in Rightness: White Supremacy and the Mormon Movement". Dialogue. 51 (3). University of Illinois Press. doi:10.5406/dialjmormthou.51.3.0045. ISSN 0012-2157.
  27. ^ Bringhurst, Newell G. (1981). Saints, Slaves, and Blacks: The Changing Place of Black People Within Mormonism. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-22752-7 – via Internet Archive.
  28. ^ Coleman, Ronald G. (2008). "'Is There No Blessing For Me?': Jane Elizabeth Manning James, a Mormon African American Woman". In Taylor, Quintard; Moore, Shirley Ann Wilson (eds.). African American Women Confront the West, 1600–2000. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 144–162. ISBN 978-0-8061-3979-1 – via Google Books. Jane Elizabeth James never understood the continued denial of her church entitlements. Her autobiography reveals a stubborn adherence to her church even when it ignored her pleas.
  29. ^ Newell, Quincy D. (2019). Your Sister in the Gospel: The Life of Jane Manning James, a Nineteenth-Century Black Mormon. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-933866-5.
  30. ^ Reiter, Tonya S. "Century of Black Mormons: Howell, Abner Leonard". J. Willard Marriott Library. University of Utah.
  31. ^ Lund, John Lewis (1967). The Church and the Negro. Salt Lake City: Paramount Publishers – via Google Books.
  32. ^ a b Prince, Gregory A. (2005). David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press. ISBN 0-87480-822-7 – via Google Books.
  33. ^ Kimball, Edward L. (2005). Lengthen Your Stride: The Presidency of Spencer W. Kimball. Deseret Book. ISBN 1-59038-457-1.
  34. ^ "Saga of BYU and the 'Black 14′ comes full circle when protesting player's son becomes a Latter-day Saint". The Salt Lake Tribune. November 21, 2020.
  35. ^ a b c Brooks, Joanna (May 2020). Mormonism and White Supremacy: American Religion and The Problem of Racial Innocence. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190081751 – via Google Books.
  36. ^ "'Be One' celebration thrills the audience with stories of trailblazing black Mormons and songs of rejoicing and reflection from Gladys Knight, multiracial choirs and others". The Salt Lake Tribune. June 1, 2018. Archived from the original on June 20, 2018.
  37. ^ "Mormon church addresses past racism". The Guardian. December 10, 2013.
  38. ^ "Rising GOP star Mia Love glides into the spotlight at convention". Fox News. August 28, 2012. Archived from the original on November 5, 2014.
  39. ^ "NAACP, Latter-day Saints leaders: We must link arms to confront racial injustice together". USA Today. June 10, 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.