McMillan v. School Committee: the court polices the line between "Croatan" and "negro" (Robeson County, NC, 1890)

SUMMARYMcMillan v. School Committee: the court polices the line between "Croatan" and "negro" (Robeson County, NC, 1890) [Connections: Carolinas, Nov 5, 2026]

RECORDNathan McMillan, admitted to have been enslaved before 1865, sued to enroll his children in the Croatan Indian school. The jury found the children were not Croatans, were not in the census enumeration, and were "in fact, negroes within the fourth generation." The NC Supreme Court upheld the 1885 Croatan school act (ch. 51, amended 1889 ch. 60), which barred from Croatan schools persons of Negro descent "to the fourth generation," and ruled the Board of Education could not override it. McMillan v. School Committee of District No. 4, 107 N.C. 609, 12 S.E. 330 (1890). Hostile witness: a state court enforcing segregation

PATTERNThe state made Indian status depend on proving no Black ancestor within four generations. Families had to deny Black kin to keep Indian schools, and the formerly enslaved were shut out. The law drove the wedge from above

LENS (WW9)The state built a wall between Aboriginal and "Negro" family lines, and made people pick a side to keep a school

OPENWho McMillan's children's ancestors were is unknown; check the trial record and 1880 Robeson census. Name the legislators who wrote the 1889 amendment

SOURCEMcMillan v. School Committee (Hall Approved). Primary: 107 N.C. 609 (1890).