75 years ago today - Aug 18, 1939

A case had been referred to us in which a woman whose father and mother had been through the Temple was applying to go through the Temple herself. She was from the Southern States Mission, and the Church records showed that opposite her name someone had placed the endorsement, "negro blood." Brother [David O.] McKay talked with me yesterday or the day before about it, and I suggested that he get her patriarchal blessing and see what the patriarch said her lineage was. Brother McKay did that, and found the blessing had been given by Elder George F. Richards, that he had told her she was of the lineage of Israel through Joseph and Ephraim. We decided that under those circumstances she could not be denied admission to the Temple.

[Source: J. Reuben Clark office diary, Aug. 18, 1939 , Perry Special Collections as quoted in Anderson, Devery; The Development of LDS Temple Worship, 1846-2000: A Documentary History, http://amzn.to/TempleWorship]

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