In my latest project I’ve been collecting some of the most fantastic information about African American economic history and political participation. It’s been very exciting. It’s also helped me to realize the limited confines of contemporary economic history.
Exhibit A: I was graciously granted access to the poll tax receipts of Frank and Doris Conic. They lived in Jackson, MS. Mr. Conic died in 2005. This a poll tax receipt from 1940: 
There is a lot of information on that poll tax receipt. We have his name, his address, and the poll tax, which was $2.00. Many economic historians would take this information and locate Frank and Doris in the census. In 1940 that would give us additional information.
We can fast forward and see the poll tax receipt from 1965:
There’s some interesting information. First, the Conics moved. Second, the law enforcing the poll tax had been revised by the Mississippi legislature in 1950. Third, the poll tax remained $2.00, so the real poll tax declined precipitously over time.
It’s useful to note that the Conics voted under the poll tax all the way until the end. This is the tax paid in 1966, just a few weeks before Mississippi would be forced to end the poll tax (they were the last state to do so in April of 1966):
African Americans voting so consistently in such a regime is very interesting in and of itself. And finding out more about the Conics from the census is also useful— and we could think of a number of questions about the poll tax and why it remained the same over time.
But none of this answers the more important question: WHY did the Conics keep these receipts? What was their story? (And who were they voting for?!?)
Frank and Dorris Conic were entrepreneurs. They brought the perm to Mississippi! They were a black beauty supplier. Mr. Conic traveled the entire state as part of that enterprise. They were the most successful black business in Jackson, MS.
This business (and many black entrepreneurs at this time) did not have to worry about white customers and appeasing a white public. This is important because it gave them more agency. And his travels expanded his network of contacts. He helped to start several beauty shops.
They were also civil rights activists. They worked closely with Medgar Evers. And Frank could be very bold. He wrote a letter dated June 10, 1960 to the mayor of Jackson (the full letter is in the book “Church Street” by Grace Sweet and Benjamin Bradley— picture below).
Note that he is saying that he will support the bond measure for the city even though it will fund discriminatory public accomodations! And he explicit in noting how white political leaders would attempt to co-opt black entrepreneurs for political purposes.
He is serving notice that he’s a registered voter, that he understands public goods, and that he understands that public goods should be public. This is a radical statement to make in June of 1960 in Jackson, MS. Even if you had the highest revenue of any black business in town.
Collecting this type of primary data is very tough and time consuming, but it’s incredibly valuable because the data is never the object— the receipts are a nice picture, but knowing who the Conics were, why they were activists, and how they were activists adds to our knowledge
I learned more about Mr. and Mrs. Conic by having dinner with their niece this week. And I mean learned. There is no RCT, RD, DD, or any other causal estimate which can compare to what I now know. The “data” we prize so much is actually a much less important than the story.
Given all of this new information I’ve gathered I’m very worried that we tell many stories in economic history (especially about black people) that are grounded in conventional wisdom as opposed to facts. We must seek out the narrative or we run the risk of making errors.
Even worse, we can perpetuate stereotypes or even miss the opportunity to seriously contemplate black agency, which is sorely missing from economic history. As Ralph Ellison once noted, black people have not existed simply by reacting to the world. So what have we done?
I’m on the hunt to dig out the small little details that mattered at the margin. There are so many and it’s fascinating. And it’s been a very, very beautiful experience.
