"Mulatto" means "some proportion or perceptible trace of negro blood" (United States, 1910 and 1920)
Record: the document says itPattern: documents line upLens: our readingOpen: not yet proven
Year: 1910
SUMMARY6. "Mulatto" means "some proportion or perceptible trace of negro blood" (United States, 1910 and 1920) [Connections: Who decided who's Indian, Nov 5, 2026]
RECORD1910, par. 109: "the term 'black' (B) includes all persons who are evidently full-blooded negroes, while the term 'mulatto' (Mu) includes all other persons having some proportion or perceptible trace of negro blood." 1920, par. 121: "'black' (B) includes all Negroes of full blood, while the term 'mulatto' (Mu) includes all Negroes having some proportion of white blood." Neither instruction set says how to code a person of mixed Indian and Black ancestry
PATTERNThe 1920 wording quietly assumes every "mulatto" is Negro-plus-white. A Native-plus-Black person has no rule, so the enumerator's eye decides
LENS (WW9)The silence is the instruction: no rule for Aboriginal-Black meant the default was Black
OPENWhether separate 1910 Indian-schedule instructions (not on the IPUMS page) asked about "negro blood" proportions; needs the full 1910 instructions