State v. Treadaway: "there are persons of color, who are not negroes" (Louisiana Supreme Court, April 1910)

SUMMARYState v. Treadaway: "there are persons of color, who are not negroes" (Louisiana Supreme Court, April 1910) [Connections: Louisiana (deep), Nov 5, 2026]

RECORDThe Lafayette Advertiser (April 29, 1910) reported the Louisiana Supreme Court's 3–2 decision in State v. Octave Treadway and Josephine Treadway, an anti-concubinage case (the couple came to New Orleans from what the paper calls "Plaquemine Parish"). Justice O. O. Provosty framed the question as "whether an octoroon is 'a person of the negro or black race'." The court said "colored" covers pure and mixed African ancestry "no matter what may be the proportion of the mixture," and that "there are no negroes who are not persons of color, but there are persons of color, who are not negroes."

PATTERNThe state's highest court put in writing that "colored" and "negro" are different categories. "Colored" was the wider bucket that took in mixed people

LENS (WW9)Louisiana's top court said "colored" is not "negro." The bucket was always bigger than Africa

OPENThe full opinion and its reporter citation (not verified on a fetched page); whether the legislature then redefined "negro" in response

SOURCEConcubinage Law Reaches Negro Only (Mixed Race Studies, reprinting the Lafayette Advertiser, April 29, 1910, via Chronicling America).