Paul Reeve

Martha Ann Leggroan Roberts Stevens's parents, Ned and Susan Leggroan, were both born into slavery and both previously married. Martha was their first child together. Susan gave birth to Martha in Utah Territory on 5 December 1870, after migrating from Mississippi that spring.

Today we remember Mary Willson even though we know very little about her. The only surviving source to name her and describe her as a “colored woman” is a list of rebaptisms performed in Nashville, Lee County, Iowa. 1/7

Even though Mary Bowdidge Berry Smith was a white woman, she nonetheless ran afoul of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ racial policies. LDS leaders barred Mary from receiving the crowning rituals of her faith because she had married a Black man & had children with him.

Ethel Irene Wells Burdette and her husband William were two of three Black converts to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, baptized on the same day in 1914 in Chester County, Pennsylvania where William worked in the coal mines. 1/5

Alex James Brooks grew to adulthood in southwestern Georgia during federal Reconstruction when southern Black people enjoyed some of the rights promised in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution, including citizenship and Black male voting rights. 1/4

Major Dorimus Church's mother was formerly enslaved to his father. Born in Tennessee in 1869, in the aftermath of the Civil War, he and his mother and his siblings were listed in the 1870 census as Black. 1/6

John & Laura Thorpe Fuller were both likely born into slavery in Granville County, North Carolina, before the Civil War began. After slavery was abolished, John worked on his father's farm from a young age & continued to do so well into adulthood, likely cultivating tobacco. 1/7

Lorah Jane Bowdidge Berry Barton’s life history illustrates the ramifications of the one-drop racial temple & priesthood ban that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints enforced on members who appeared to be white, but who actually had limited Black African ancestry. 1/5

Sylvester James, along with his mother Jane Manning James, his half-brother Silas, and step father Isaac James, was an 1847 pioneer into the Salt Lake Valley. He labored to establish a new settlement in the valley and with his family worked in Brigham Young's household. 1/6

A new painting at LDS Church History Library by Casey Lynn Childs depicts a singular day in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On September 3, 1875, 8 African American Latter-day Saints attended the Endowment House to perform proxy baptisms for deceased friends & family.

Albert Webb had a short-lived membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Only a couple of weeks after his baptism in 1872 in Tennessee, he returned to his previous religion, the Disciples of Christ. 1/4

Great 🧵. I've been urging them to quote Orson Pratt from his fantastic 1856 anti-slavery speech: "we have no proof that the Africans are the descendants of old Cain who was cursed." Even still what you've shared are important steps forward. Love that they quote D&C 101:79, which Pratt quoted in 1856

The Salt Lake Tribune Mormon Land podcast interviewed Professors Jenny Pulsipher and Paul Reeve about the new Century of Black Mormons bio of James Brown Jr., a captain in the Mormon Battalion and founder of Ogden, Utah. A link to the Mormon Land interview follows.

One public historian who wrote about Susannah Lucretia Tanner Christensen Stevens for a Las Vegas history project suggested that her long life embodied “much of western history.” 1/4

John Stewart Knight was beset by opposition for most of his life. As a mixed-race man & suspected homosexual, he faced considerable challenges. 1/3

2/2 More poignantly, these sources suggest a desire to fulfill the covenants she made on a spring evening in Texas, in which “many spoke by the spirit & prophesied” & the fervor of the event captivated the new converts until midnight. Meet Louisa here: exhibits.lib.utah.edu/s/century-of...

Without an 1853 journal entry from Texas and an 1857 entry in Latter-day Saint records in Utah, an enslaved woman named Louisa may have been lost to history. These two sources offer an intriguing glimpse into her life and her epic westward journey. 1/2

Something for Father's day:
open.substack.com/pub/wayfare/...

Looking for a Father's day gift? Nothing says "I love you dad" like a history of slavery in Utah. This Abominable Slavery won the Mormon History Association's Best Book Award & Amazon has it on sale for 21% off. Fathers everywhere are hoping for a copy instead of that boring tie you picked out

47 years ago today the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reintegrated its priesthood and temples and restored the Church to its universal roots. Today we remember some of those who slipped past the walls of exclusion to receive priesthood ordination or temple rituals before June 1978. 1/12

Holy Saturdays Blessed Art Thou of Little Faith

For those of you participating in Holy Week, here is a piece on Holy Saturdays, the day between the agony of the cross and the wonder of the empty tomb. Shout out to Matthew Wickman for introducing me to Holy Saturdays in his book, Life to the Whole Being. www.wayfaremagazine.org/p/holy-satur...

William Franklin Church was the first son born to his formerly enslaved mother following her emancipation at the end of the Civil War. Census records identified him as Black in Tennessee and white in Utah. 1/4

When Mary Church was born in 1863 in TN, her father was her enslaver. At age 16, she received LDS temple rituals & served as proxy when her father was vicariously sealed to his deceased first wife.

Meet Mary here & learn the rest of her remarkable story: exhibits.lib.utah.edu/s/century-of...

Standing with Ukraine is the most America first approach we can adopt. What we saw in the White House on full public display is a Russia first policy that ignores the lessons of history and undermines our foundational values.

Opinion: Why everyone should care about the Constitution’s separation of powers Constitutional separation of powers safeguards individual rights, limits private entities, promotes the rule of law and protects against the tyranny of unchecked power.

Grateful for these BYU law professors for speaking up. Worth a read.

www.deseret.com/opinion/2025...

George Jett and Alwilda Jackson Marriage Certificate, 1905

When Alwilda Jackson married George Jett she was 19 & George was 35. It was a 2nd marriage for both but one that lasted. Jett was a pioneering Black Latter-day Saint in KY & he must have shared his faith with Alwilda who also joined.

Meet Alwilda here: exhibits.lib.utah.edu/s/century-of...

John Taylor Church died in 1965, the son of a formerly enslaved mother and an ordained High Priest in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Read John's story here: exhibits.lib.utah.edu/s/century-of...

He spent decades outside of the faith before he returned and was ordained an elder in 1952, long before Church leaders lifted racial restrictions churchwide.

John Taylor Church’s mother was formerly enslaved to his father before the family moved to Utah Territory in 1878. Early in life John was promised priesthood ordination in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but was subsequently denied over questions about his racial ancestry.