Civil rights leader Ethel Ray Nance to be honored in Duluth and in new biography
Ethel Ray Nance with Roy Wilkins and others at the San Francisco regional office of the NAACP in 1953.
Minnesota Historical Society
Saturday in Duluth will be Ethel Ray Nance Day, the birthday of a Duluth-born civil rights activist who would have been 125 years old.
Her father established the Duluth branch of the NAACP in 1920 after three Black men were lynched in the city. Ethel carved her own path, becoming the first Black woman to work as a stenographer at the Minnesota Legislature, an executive secretary for W.E.B Du Bois and one of the first Black policewomen in Minnesota.
She has been an unsung hero until now. Her story is now being published by her granddaughter, Karen Nance, the author of “Ethel Ray: Living in the White, Gray and Black.”
MPR News host Cathy Wurzer talked with Karen Nance about her grandmother and the book, out Saturday.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
CATHY WURZER: This Saturday marks Ethel ray Nance Day in Duluth. Ethel was a Duluth-born civil rights activist, and this Saturday, she would have been 125 years old. Her father established the Duluth branch of the NAACP in 1920 after the Duluth lynchings of three Black men. Ethel carved her own path, becoming the first Black woman to work as a stenographer at the state legislature. She was an executive secretary for W.E.B. Du Bois and one of the first Black policewomen in Minnesota.
She's an unsung hero until now. Her story is being published by none other than her granddaughter, Karen Nance. Karen is the author of Ethel Ray-- Living in the White, Gray, and Black," which comes out this Saturday, as a matter of fact. And Karen's on the line. What a story. Oh, my goodness, your grandmother sounded like a force of nature. My goodness. What prompted her to get into the civil rights movement, if I could ask?
KAREN NANCE: Thank you for having me. Her father William Henry Ray was a very devoted civil rights activist himself. So she got it directly from her father, and he was an encouraging factor throughout her life and very influential. So that's what got her on that path, and she remained that way through her life until she passed in 1992 at the age of 93 years old.
CATHY WURZER: Wow. Did your grandmother ever tell you about her story? Did you ever ask when she was alive?
KAREN NANCE: Well, she had two sons-- Thatcher, which is my-- her oldest son is my father, and she had a son Glen. And they were as different as night and day. So my father never shared her history, whereas my uncle shared my grandmother's history and followed in her footsteps, actually. And so I didn't really learn about all her wonderful accomplishments until I was out of high school and into college.
And so she was a very humble person and always focused her attention on her grandchildren and her children. And so she never talked about her great accomplishments. And it wasn't until later on in her life and when I was in my 30s, that I learned about her wonderful works and began to explore and learn about her work with W.E.B. Du Bois, who she worked with for over 40 years as his secretary and her many accomplishments. So I would call myself a late bloomer.
CATHY WURZER: The book title is about her. It's Living in the White, Gray, and Black, Living in the White, Gray, and Black. What do you mean by the title?
KAREN NANCE: Well, she was a child of a Swedish mom who came over from Sweden to Minneapolis, Minnesota when she was 17 or 18 years old. And her father was from the Raleigh area of North Carolina. That's where he was born. And most probably, his dad was a slave.
So they met at the Ardmore Hotel as workers in Minneapolis in the late 1800s. And so they had four children. Ethel was the youngest. The oldest was William. They had a daughter Aura, who died when she was a child at seven from pneumonia, and Oscar.
So the mother was Caucasian, and the boys passed for White, both William and Oscar. Whereas, Ethel always presented herself and worked for civil rights as a Black woman. So there was a lot of conflicting beliefs, I would say, or interest in the household. The sons had a really hard time identifying as Black.
And so the Living in the White is her ancestral-- from her mother's side as Swedish. Her mother didn't speak a lot of English, and she came over to Minnesota, and she practiced her beliefs in terms of how she was raised, working with her hands and supporting the family, cooking, cleaning, that type of thing, and was a very hard worker. And her father was a civil rights activist.
So she was torn a lot. She loved her family dearly, her mother and her father and her brothers. And so in the household, there were a lot of Caucasian influences. There was a lot of African-American influences. And then she was very well aware that her brothers tried to pass for White as they were trying to maneuver through their life in Duluth, Minnesota in the early late 1800s, early 1900s.
CATHY WURZER: And we should say that in Duluth at that time, there weren't very many folks of color really beyond Native individuals. I'm betting, doing the math here, she would have been a young woman at the time of the Duluth lynchings, right?
KAREN NANCE: Absolutely. She was actually living in Moose Lake as a result of the fires in the-- I think it was like 1918, 1919. And she was a stenographer, so she did a lot of the documentation of the lives lost and that type of thing. So she was in Moose Lake at the time.
Her older brother was on the West Coast. After the war, he left. But her mother still lived here, her father and her brother Oscar. So building on the magnificent work of Mike Fedo, who wrote the book The Duluth Lynchings, I was able to interview with him and saw that there was some more I could add by the diversity of her immediate family and their experiences. So that's also included in the book.
And she was able to convince W.E.B. Du Bois to come to Saint Mark's AME Church to speak after the lynchings. That would have been in March 2021, a little bit less than a year after the lynchings occurred in June of 1920.
CATHY WURZER: Oh my goodness, I wonder how she was changed by that time. Do you have any diary entries, any letters, any knowledge of that?
KAREN NANCE: Yes, luckily because she was a stenographer, she kept copious notes and journal entries and letters that she wrote back and forth from her parents when she was in Moose Lake, and they were in Duluth. So I had the benefit of probably over 1,000 pieces of documentation between her and the boys, her and her parents. And when her parents passed, she also maintained those letters that her father had written to her and the ones she had written her dad. So those were the basis of the book in terms of her early life and then the other information that I was able to obtain from just the documents that she kept of her father's. So that was great.
CATHY WURZER: When you look at her life in totality, Karen, what do you want folks to take away from her story?
KAREN NANCE: That she was an amazing person, that she didn't come from riches. She didn't come from a lot of money, but she was a very hard worker and that anyone can succeed. She did very, very well in school. She studied French, and she was a musician, as was her dad.
And neither her father nor her mother graduated from high school. And so just to put out there that there was this amazing person that through perseverance and love for her family and support, that you can do anything and be anything that you want in your life. So she's a story of hope and someone that has overcome a lot of obstacles. And so she's a beacon of life and hope for not just African-Americans, but for all people.
CATHY WURZER: Sometimes, when we look at our family history, obviously, you can see yourself reflected in your ancestors. How do you see yourself reflected in Ethel Ray Nance?
KAREN NANCE: Well, I would like to think that I followed in her footsteps. But I think those are big shoes to fill. I would like to look at it as her opening the door and allowing the rest of us to walk through it. I am a licensed attorney. I do mediation and restorative work and also, have a lot of interests. But subtlely, she was supportive. She was subtle in her involvement in civil rights movement, but very encouraging.
And so I see myself and my other family members that are here to celebrate her 125th birthday as just an example of how family perseverance and love can go very far. And you don't have to be the smartest kid in the class, the one voted most likely to succeed. But just having heart and a dedication to what you believe in, which is basically, everyone should be treated equally and fairly, that goes a long way. And that's the cornerstone of my belief. And I attribute that to her life and want to celebrate her legacy in that way.
CATHY WURZER: And a final question for you, Karen, where can folks find the book?
KAREN NANCE: The book is published through an organization, a wonderful nonprofit, in Saint Paul. It's called In Black Ink. And it's going to be available, obviously, in the Twin Cities area. But in Duluth, we have them dispersed through-- there's some independent booksellers, as well as the Nordic Center will be appearing there on Saturday before the celebration of her birthday, so in various places. And it's available online. If you go to InBlackInk.org, the book is available there as well.
So I'm really excited to have the support of the Twin Cities because she spent some time there as well. She's the first Black policewoman in the state. So it's great to have both Duluth and Minneapolis and Saint Paul supporting the book.
CATHY WURZER: Well, what a story. Karen, thanks for telling us about your grandma. We appreciate it.
KAREN NANCE: Thank you for having me. Appreciate you. You take care.
CATHY WURZER: Karen Nance is the granddaughter of Ethel Ray Nance, a Duluth-born civil rights activist, the author of Ethel Ray-- Living in the White, Gray, and Black.
She's an unsung hero until now. Her story is being published by none other than her granddaughter, Karen Nance. Karen is the author of Ethel Ray-- Living in the White, Gray, and Black," which comes out this Saturday, as a matter of fact. And Karen's on the line. What a story. Oh, my goodness, your grandmother sounded like a force of nature. My goodness. What prompted her to get into the civil rights movement, if I could ask?
KAREN NANCE: Thank you for having me. Her father William Henry Ray was a very devoted civil rights activist himself. So she got it directly from her father, and he was an encouraging factor throughout her life and very influential. So that's what got her on that path, and she remained that way through her life until she passed in 1992 at the age of 93 years old.
CATHY WURZER: Wow. Did your grandmother ever tell you about her story? Did you ever ask when she was alive?
KAREN NANCE: Well, she had two sons-- Thatcher, which is my-- her oldest son is my father, and she had a son Glen. And they were as different as night and day. So my father never shared her history, whereas my uncle shared my grandmother's history and followed in her footsteps, actually. And so I didn't really learn about all her wonderful accomplishments until I was out of high school and into college.
And so she was a very humble person and always focused her attention on her grandchildren and her children. And so she never talked about her great accomplishments. And it wasn't until later on in her life and when I was in my 30s, that I learned about her wonderful works and began to explore and learn about her work with W.E.B. Du Bois, who she worked with for over 40 years as his secretary and her many accomplishments. So I would call myself a late bloomer.
CATHY WURZER: The book title is about her. It's Living in the White, Gray, and Black, Living in the White, Gray, and Black. What do you mean by the title?
KAREN NANCE: Well, she was a child of a Swedish mom who came over from Sweden to Minneapolis, Minnesota when she was 17 or 18 years old. And her father was from the Raleigh area of North Carolina. That's where he was born. And most probably, his dad was a slave.
So they met at the Ardmore Hotel as workers in Minneapolis in the late 1800s. And so they had four children. Ethel was the youngest. The oldest was William. They had a daughter Aura, who died when she was a child at seven from pneumonia, and Oscar.
So the mother was Caucasian, and the boys passed for White, both William and Oscar. Whereas, Ethel always presented herself and worked for civil rights as a Black woman. So there was a lot of conflicting beliefs, I would say, or interest in the household. The sons had a really hard time identifying as Black.
And so the Living in the White is her ancestral-- from her mother's side as Swedish. Her mother didn't speak a lot of English, and she came over to Minnesota, and she practiced her beliefs in terms of how she was raised, working with her hands and supporting the family, cooking, cleaning, that type of thing, and was a very hard worker. And her father was a civil rights activist.
So she was torn a lot. She loved her family dearly, her mother and her father and her brothers. And so in the household, there were a lot of Caucasian influences. There was a lot of African-American influences. And then she was very well aware that her brothers tried to pass for White as they were trying to maneuver through their life in Duluth, Minnesota in the early late 1800s, early 1900s.
CATHY WURZER: And we should say that in Duluth at that time, there weren't very many folks of color really beyond Native individuals. I'm betting, doing the math here, she would have been a young woman at the time of the Duluth lynchings, right?
KAREN NANCE: Absolutely. She was actually living in Moose Lake as a result of the fires in the-- I think it was like 1918, 1919. And she was a stenographer, so she did a lot of the documentation of the lives lost and that type of thing. So she was in Moose Lake at the time.
Her older brother was on the West Coast. After the war, he left. But her mother still lived here, her father and her brother Oscar. So building on the magnificent work of Mike Fedo, who wrote the book The Duluth Lynchings, I was able to interview with him and saw that there was some more I could add by the diversity of her immediate family and their experiences. So that's also included in the book.
And she was able to convince W.E.B. Du Bois to come to Saint Mark's AME Church to speak after the lynchings. That would have been in March 2021, a little bit less than a year after the lynchings occurred in June of 1920.
CATHY WURZER: Oh my goodness, I wonder how she was changed by that time. Do you have any diary entries, any letters, any knowledge of that?
KAREN NANCE: Yes, luckily because she was a stenographer, she kept copious notes and journal entries and letters that she wrote back and forth from her parents when she was in Moose Lake, and they were in Duluth. So I had the benefit of probably over 1,000 pieces of documentation between her and the boys, her and her parents. And when her parents passed, she also maintained those letters that her father had written to her and the ones she had written her dad. So those were the basis of the book in terms of her early life and then the other information that I was able to obtain from just the documents that she kept of her father's. So that was great.
CATHY WURZER: When you look at her life in totality, Karen, what do you want folks to take away from her story?
KAREN NANCE: That she was an amazing person, that she didn't come from riches. She didn't come from a lot of money, but she was a very hard worker and that anyone can succeed. She did very, very well in school. She studied French, and she was a musician, as was her dad.
And neither her father nor her mother graduated from high school. And so just to put out there that there was this amazing person that through perseverance and love for her family and support, that you can do anything and be anything that you want in your life. So she's a story of hope and someone that has overcome a lot of obstacles. And so she's a beacon of life and hope for not just African-Americans, but for all people.
CATHY WURZER: Sometimes, when we look at our family history, obviously, you can see yourself reflected in your ancestors. How do you see yourself reflected in Ethel Ray Nance?
KAREN NANCE: Well, I would like to think that I followed in her footsteps. But I think those are big shoes to fill. I would like to look at it as her opening the door and allowing the rest of us to walk through it. I am a licensed attorney. I do mediation and restorative work and also, have a lot of interests. But subtlely, she was supportive. She was subtle in her involvement in civil rights movement, but very encouraging.
And so I see myself and my other family members that are here to celebrate her 125th birthday as just an example of how family perseverance and love can go very far. And you don't have to be the smartest kid in the class, the one voted most likely to succeed. But just having heart and a dedication to what you believe in, which is basically, everyone should be treated equally and fairly, that goes a long way. And that's the cornerstone of my belief. And I attribute that to her life and want to celebrate her legacy in that way.
CATHY WURZER: And a final question for you, Karen, where can folks find the book?
KAREN NANCE: The book is published through an organization, a wonderful nonprofit, in Saint Paul. It's called In Black Ink. And it's going to be available, obviously, in the Twin Cities area. But in Duluth, we have them dispersed through-- there's some independent booksellers, as well as the Nordic Center will be appearing there on Saturday before the celebration of her birthday, so in various places. And it's available online. If you go to InBlackInk.org, the book is available there as well.
So I'm really excited to have the support of the Twin Cities because she spent some time there as well. She's the first Black policewoman in the state. So it's great to have both Duluth and Minneapolis and Saint Paul supporting the book.
CATHY WURZER: Well, what a story. Karen, thanks for telling us about your grandma. We appreciate it.
KAREN NANCE: Thank you for having me. Appreciate you. You take care.
CATHY WURZER: Karen Nance is the granddaughter of Ethel Ray Nance, a Duluth-born civil rights activist, the author of Ethel Ray-- Living in the White, Gray, and Black.
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