For much of its history—from the mid-1800s until 1978—The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did not ordain men of Black African descent to the priesthood or allow Black members to participate in temple ordinances. During the Church’s first two decades, a few Black men were ordained to the priesthood, including Elijah Abel, who participated in temple ceremonies in Kirtland, Ohio. However, in 1852, President Brigham Young publicly announced that men of Black African descent could no longer be ordained to the priesthood, and subsequent Church Presidents later extended this restriction t
The restriction on Black members holding the LDS priesthood and entering temples was not part of the original Mormon practice under Joseph Smith, but rather was instituted two decades after the Church’s founding. During the 1830s and 1840s, Smith ordained at least two Black men—Elijah Abel and Q. Walker Lewis—to the priesthood, and Abel subsequently served multiple missions and remained a faithful member despite later restrictions. However, following Smith’s death in 1844, Brigham Young instituted a comprehensive ban in 1852 that prohibited all Black men of African descent from priesthood ordi