That is just one way that karl jacoby exciting new book, the strange career of William Ellis, the texas slave who became and mexican millionaire is so important. He is at Columbia University in new york where he lives with his wife and son. Two previous books, two tells to adjust some of the largest issues in American History. From the role of the environment in shaping human power relations to the challenges representing phone. This indigenous people. Jacoby brings life the story of ellis. The book strips away the layers of mysteries surrounding ellis, revealing a history of slavery and emancipation of racial mixing and racial segregation in the us mexico borderlands. The result is a study that casts into sharp relief the intimate and tangling across National Boundaries that have rented mexico and the United States inseparable element of a shared north American History. So please join me in welcoming karl jacoby. [applause] good morning everyone. When michael and thought we would do is that i would give a very brief overview about the book and i wanted to read a short excerpt for you. There will have a very short conversation up here. Then we wanted to get some questions from the audience. Hope this sounds okay with everyone. And for me, i am a historian. As michael mentioned a teach at Columbia University. It was a real pleasure for me to get after the classroom the attic book festival this one. The movie because i think about history as literature. I think it really can be told in a very creative sort of way. Think about the book that i wrote here although it is technically a history. I like to think about it as a nonfiction novel. I think that what historians are forced to do is that we are supposed to tell a true story. And i really think that we need to think about both of those terms. We need to think about what makes it true. We also need to think about the story aspects of history. The narrative aspects that really have an appeal and can draw people in to the lessons we are trying to impart from the past. In terms of my book, the same title in many respects given away the plot of the book. It is called the strange career of William Ellis the texas slave who became a mexican millionaire. It is about someone named William Henry ellis who was born in a small texas town not to from here. Victoria, texas which some of you may know. And he eventually moved to san antonio and has an office here on military plaza in san antonio. Along the way, and that he moves on to new york city. Along the way he ends up changing himself from William Henry to this other character who ever thinks of as an incredibly wealthy mexican from mexico city. In new york city he lives on Central Park West which if you know new york city, it is one of the main most prestigious avenues overlooking central park. As the name one of implied is in office on wall street next to j. P. Morgan. He is really in the seat of power during that time period. I like to think about him as a real life great gatsby. He is this person from the sort of small town anywhere usa that comes new york and bmx himself. She can think about it. Hes a selfmade man. He is a selfmade man into senses. In the sense that he went from rags. Born into slavery and eventually is able to become quite wealthy and live in the sort of most prestigious addresses in new york city. He is also selfmade and that he recreates the image of himself during this time from someone who is seen as africanamerican to someone who is then seen by most as a mexican. And so this is in many respects a story about passing. About rachel not. And this is actually little sense as michael who is an expert can tell you. It is about the issue of passing or James Weldon Johnsons novel, the autobiography of a coated man. This is a very common theme in a lot of fiction from the early 20th century. Initially, it was curious to me. I was wondering why is it that historians, theres almost no histories about rachel passing. And i thought why is it that there are no histories about this when fiction writers are talking about so much . Then of course i tried to research this and found that now i know why. The paradox about doing a history of this is that youre trying to write the life story of someone who is trying to hide his life story. So it is not like you know George Washington reflect all of his papers and theres a big library and you can just go find everything. This really was a Treasure Hunt or a detective story in terms of finding out all of the background about him. This is why think that is much more common that people have dealt with the issue of this in novels. Because as a novelist you can invent all the details and fill all of the missing pieces in using your imagination. Of course as a historian, im not allowed to do that. And it took me as a result, 10 years to write the book because it had to do so much searching around to find the tiniest scraps of evidence and put them together into the story that i am sharing with you. One of the key parts in terms of making the book reality for me was tracking down some of william alices family members. And they eventually was able to do this both family members who were from victoria and moved to san antonio and then part of the great migration moved west to los angeles. Then other parts of his family had gone down and moved to mexico. One of the ending part of the book actually, the final is that the two branches of he family have lost touch with one another. It is a very common story after that the borderlands of divided families and they can get out of touch. And when i finally contacted them is able to put the two halves of the family back together. So the point of the book is basically a transporter, transnational Family Reunion with these two parts of the family had been out of touch for 75 years time back and get to read acquainted with one another. When i wanted to do was just read you an excerpt from the opening of the book. And just to set the scene for you a little bit, the scene would take place in 1909. In that take place on electric train. Electric train that is going from mexico city to new york city. These two great metropolises of north america. During this time. And the moment that the opening talks about is what happens when you cross the border from mexico into texas. And this is a very key moment on the train because in the whole question emerged, what race are the passengers . Because mexico had no jim crow, it had no segregation. Texas of course and 99 had segregation in virtually all aspects of life to try and keep the socalled racist separate from one another. One of the questions that comes up as they would have to reshuffle passengers when they cross the border. So music the border then now it has this question were issues of identity, they become you have the figure who is this person where my going to categorize them . Because of this traveling a few feet from onset of the border to the other. A few other details to make the exit make sense. The train cut through the border and on the other side is eagle pass. In the transouth is followed the aztec. This was a deluxe train. That let me read a quick excerpt. Present important was that once routine yet momentous for some. After the train journeyed across the bridge expanding the rio grande and pulled into the onestory depot on the eastern edge of will pass, agents of the recently created department of commerce and labor addressed in the regulation directly uniforms with brass buttons climbed aboard to inspect passengers and their luggage. Agents had no interest in narcotics. All legal and 99. But instead they sought imported delicacies in an era of high tariffs and no federal income tax. Meant raise the duties on luxuries such as lace, self, jewels, lodges and cigars. Next and imagine it spoke volumes as to the borders role in establishing personal identity as well as national territory, the same ages can file a part of inspection on all incoming passengers. Detail in future articles name, place of birth, occupation and final destination. The United States would not require passports until 1914. Rather than focusing on reading one documents, the procedure was on eading ones person. And ordinary passenger train, they exercise vigilance against chinese and japanese laborers who in an effort to evade us restrictions and asian often disguise themselves as mexicans. As well as immigrants considered anarchists, or the possessors of dangerous diseases. But on electric train like the aztec limited, catering to welltodo businessmen and upperclass terrorists, agents more often than not to give individuals identity at face value. In 1909 however, tommy with penetrating brown eyes and catholic limbs mustache, turned in the latest fashion with the top hat, tailored threepiece suit, gold watch, jane and jeweled bob kendrick tequesta powerful chest caught the eyes of authorities in the past. Like the others on the aztec limited the passenger began his journey from mexico city in first class. He wants across the border into the us a new question arose. What race was he . Despite his elegant appearance, his skin had a somewhat worthy tone. And in 1909 had laws to separate people. When asked the newcomer insisted he was a mexican entrepreneur in his way back to his office on wall street after negotiating the purchase of several rubber plantations in his homeland. The navy offered was narrow henrique. For those who might have trouble can be translated into english as William Henry ellis. Moreover, he was legally white and not subject to texas is segregation statutes. And a few on the train got wind of rumors. For all his obvious wealth and sophistication, he may not be the welltodo mexican he claimed to be. Could it be that his off complexion was a product of hispanic background but rather a covert africanamerican one . Dismisses such assertions he resisted attempts for them to relocate him into the negro section. Some of the local sheriff charged with enforcing texas the second patient statute did he urgently oblige. But not before going to open your shot and he would spend hundreds of thousands of dollars if necessary to soothe irreverently humiliation forcing him to write in the jim crow car. Who was this man . A lot of people asked at the turn of the last century as his figure went in and out in astonishing rate of that most noteworthy events. Scandalous trials, unexpected disappearances, diplomatic controversy. Most linkedin one way or another to latin america. Uncertainties about is that the city did nothing from themselves to the 99 Border Crossing in eagle pass. During his years in the public and commentators preferred a kaleidoscope of possibilities. The new york world observed that he had the looks and aof a spaniard and speak several languages. Danvers post said he was a wealthy mexican. Others maintained he was of hawaiian blood or transport one deeply suspicious respondents to the Baltimore Sun discomfort the rumors that he was an cuban, brazilian, mexican and who knows what other latin american extraction. Concluded, the new york sun. Just where he came from, no one seems to know. [applause] [inaudible question] i understand his benign he has been on your mind. Way back when i was in graduate school, i was looking at some records on, from us consuls in northern mexico. All of the settlement and discovered there was this event that happened in 1895. Which was hundreds of africanamerican sharecroppers from alabama and georgia. They were relocating to northern mexico and along the border between durango and. I thought this was interesting. Levy took the immigration between the mexico we always talk about mexicans coming to the us. We never think about why would americans go to mexico . Although of course if you are thinking about the 1890s. This one year before the separate but equal ruling by the supreme court. Just the presence of jim crow. There are lots of reasons why africanamericans would actually find mexico a potentially attractive place to be. And so i got very interested in thinking about this sort of hit another migration we dont think about. At that very interested once i was looking for the record trying to see who is behind this. He would realize that with the new train system between us and mexico that it did not necessarily only need to go from north to south. It connects to go from south to north. And it was a very mysterious figure went by these various names and that was the initial spark. The interest in trying to figure who is this person with this very interesting vision of the board and what the relationship between the us and mexico could be. Today relocate downtown the main branch of the san antonio, parfum where ellis lived and worked. Since he spent so much time immersing yourself in 19th and early 20th century life as you research the book. I would like to take us back there for a moment. What was this place like then . Thats a great question. Really, one thing that is really fascinating is that san antonio was this hub of trade across the border into mexico connected particularly for monterey. And so i dont think it is all accidental that William Ellis and moving here. There are a couple of things that were happening. He grows up in victoria. You cant pass as it were in your own hometown. Everyone knows you and your family. You need to go Someplace New when you are not known. The closest big city will san antonio and there was a train both in the 1880s that allows you to relocate to san antonio. Once youre here theres a large one third mexicans to tejanos. So he can blend in and no one knows who he is. It is not only the closest big town but the most connected with mexico. So throughout his life he is always at these places are very much on the frontier between and relationships between the us and mexico. He was born in victoria which is really where the southern plantation belt ends and in northern mexican sort of cattle ranching frontier begins. In those two places really overlap in a small portion of texas. Billing the heart of it being victoria. Here in san antonio is at the heart of where there is transported trade. So using military plaza and all of the buildings around military plaza would have been traders involved mexico and the buildings within the storehouses where they store things that, in the end cattle and Everything Else for the trade back and forth across mexico. And the thing is most will know also military classes every evening they would actually come out and have mexican food and sell that their military plaza. Later in his life when he moves to new york it means, in macy mecca nothing but new york, wall street is completely fascinated with mexico during this time. Everything happening in the economy is one way or another connected to mexico. The early 1900s is a where does rubber oil come from . Mexico. Given the rights of junk food and chocolate and vanilla and chewing gum. Where does this come from . It comes from mexico. So by being in new york city, he is once again at the place where the relationship between mexico and the United States is at its most articulated format. Slave narratives are obviously foundational to the africanamerican literary tradition and the theme of racial passing as he mentioned a moment ago plays a central role in the emergence of what we now call africanamerican literature. Including fiction and nonfiction about this impasse, not but as latino. He mentioned in the book, Langston Hughes and you just mentioned James Weldon Johnson. He also mentioned larson. When i think about the work of who depicts this effort to pass as latino infection. Is there any evidence of ellis at all being witness of the tales of slavery are passing . That was great question. It is fascinating. I have to believe that he was on them at the same time the trickiest part about the book as he is living in new york city during the harlem renaissance i feel that some level he is participating in that although he has to be careful in how much he gets involved. He is trying to hide certain aspects of his bathroom. Fascinated things. Sort of one of the themes that talk about in the book is the notion of him as a trickster. Which i think comes from africanamerican folklore. I have to believe that these trickster stories which were really central to folklore from slavery in this aftermath. In some way that they get formed his perspective on the world. That is a leap of faith that im making in his cultural background. As a read your book. He struck me as someone who can easily be a character in the work of James Weldon Johnson. Because he deploys some of the strategies that johnson himself in his own autobiography confesses to deploying when he would occasionally pass as cuban. What were alices strategies for you asked unscented them. It is a great question. I think we think about passing as there is a little bit of that of course. He is relatively lightskinned so it allows them to say that he would be mexican. If you can look at the cover of the photo he also cultivates one of his big mexican style mustaches. But there is a lot more to just your physical experience involved. Part of it is of course stress and doing addresses invokes a upperclass form of very much in touch with european models at this time. And that language is a big part as well. Theres a great line that i put in the book. And James Weldon Johnson does the same thing. You have to go buy your ticket on the railroad and the railroads are one of the places that are segregated during this time. You buy your ticket in spanish. In the ticket taker will often make the assumption because theres really no way to prove and known at this time has a drivers license or passport or anything. So they will make an assumption if the person is talking in spanish they will sell you a ticket for the first class car because you must be mexican. So language can be a really useful tool. And it does that where he is speaking spanish on the train in the not throw him out of the first class car because they think he is cuban. This is one of things i think he first learned spanish because he was picking cotton along the mexican field hands in victoria. And that interesting, early interaction allows him to do all of his other things. And really an nteresting way play on the stereotypes of white texans who have a certain sense of what a mexican is supposed to do and what an africanamerican is supposed to be. And he is able to manipulate the stereotypes to his own advantage. Im going to ask one more question but that we will invite questions from the audience. If you do have a question, we ask that you use the microphone so that the t. V. Audience can hear what youre asking as well. He mentioned a moment ago that you analyze the photograph of ellis in much the same way that a ticket seller would read his character. What were some of the other tools of evidence that you deploy in the book to get at this very tricky and elusive story . That is a great question. In many respects this book i think wouldve been impossible without the digitization of the archives that we encountered. I am one of those people who uniformly love this embrace of the web in we must digitize everything. But the tricky thing that im saying about William Ellis, because he is im trying to write this about someone trying to hide the life story. There is none obvious source. We have a lot of data that has been digitize and a lot of newspapers have been digitized. They completely his name in various pseudonyms and get all sorts of stories about him popping up all over the country and also its about expensive places. Eventually using the digitized discrepancy was able to track down family members. That was really important because it allowed me to match up, see what his public persona was. This is with the newspapers are giving impurities or public images. And what you can hear the family, you can get a sense of what the actual family background was like. And they had lots of great funds including the one on the cover. There was an interesting combination of bringing together the Family History and then there is much more Public Record of what he was imagined to be. And seen the gap that existed and how to navigate between the gap of what his background was and the elevated image in public life during that time period. Do we have any questions from the audience . Please join us at the microphone. He did mention that you started the book 10 years ago. You have been thinking about it since graduate school. Since it has been published, having learned more about the subject . Have people come forward in giving you more information that you wish you had for the book . So far not too much. Although generally that is one of the things that is fascinating. That does shake this whenever you write a book. In this case, one of the things i did is, i created a website about this first. So the people i wanted to contact, particularly family in mexico who is hard to track down. I was able to track them down before the book came out which was really transformative for the book. And it enabled me to do that Family Reunion. I dont know if this is an exact answer but one of the things im looking forward to is next month in mexico, outside of mexico city william alices greatgranddaughter is getting married. And i am invited to the wedding. And then as well as some of the family members on the us side of the family. So we will be a combination of wedding, Family Reunion and the new generation. In that respect the book has had this afterlife that has been really fascinating. Im not exactly sure where it will all go. But i think something will happen. The other part about the book that is fascinating, he is involved in ethiopia. I do think that the way he thought about it ethiopia, he was the first africanamerican to go to ethiopia. And the way he thought about ethiopia, i am curious to see what ethiopians think. I think that will eventually emerge as well. I know you are anticipating my question. It has been a while since i opened the file. That is a cousin of mine. A subject of the most infamous murder on a family tree and William Ellis was his traveling companion to ethiopia. He was a newspaper editor in west virginia. But his brother was Francis Loomis was assistant secretary of state under Teddy Roosevelt. And they traveled together and he fell off of the queen mary, i cant remember if that was it. I think it was the hindenburg. It has a german name. He ends up washed ashore on the southern cost of transport has been a wild since i seen the file. But after the death i assume that ellis went on to have the treaty signed. Was he in contact with Francis Loomis about that about the death . And in terms of the difficulty of piecing together his life, what was the timeline for two years afterward . Did that stick to him in some sort of specter fashion in terms of his reputation . And also ahead also looked into the colony. I dont know if there is a city in mexico where they were taking the africanamericans but seem but some of them were not happy there. And wanted to come back to the United States. When you adjust that as well . Let me give you a little background. One of the interesting chapters in the book is that William Ellis is involved in bringing the first us treaty to ethiopia. In the early 1900s. He is traveling on a steamship across the atlantic with the brother of the secretary of state. And somehow inserted himself into the state department. In this case he is passing some of the diplomat. He has no diplomatic background was somehow attached himself to this diplomatic mission. And at some point, the gentleman hes with, he either is pushed or falls off the steamship. And his dead body washes up on the shore of great britain. And theres a lot of controversy. Did William Ellis push him over . Especially when people dig into the background and realize he may not be this mexican figure that we thought he was. And it may be something else. So that is the big, whether he is a murderer or not. That is one of the big mysteries in the book. I believe afterwords william alices blend into the state department and debriefed also by Teddy Roosevelt was president at the time. Since he, this of course brings him notoriety. This is one of the paradoxes. Only in exploring his back when can he rise to this station in being involved in diplomacy at the same time becoming more visible he rest being unmasked and his background being revealed. That is one of the real sort of paradoxes he has to navigate during this particular time. And he is extremely nervous and anxious after this murder accident takes place because there is the risk of him being unmasked in a way. And then to follow up on the threat about the, in some ways i opened the questions about here, in 1895 when he is behind bringing all these africanamericans some of them, there are some people in the area today who still trace themselves back to that original migration. There are also some who basically realizing even though mexico doesnt have segregation, basically they are calling from being sharecroppers in the us to working in mexico. Classifies it is really not much of a benefit one way or the other. All of the challenges that africanamericans are facing during this time so there is tremendous excitement in the United States especially in the south because they realize theyre not treating africanamerican as well that they have that possibility that thousands if not the majority might move to mexico and that is an alternative history that is interesting to contemplate. There is an enjoyable book the United States, a texas was this your first connection to San Antonio Texas . Yes. Thats a great question. Im not from texas and i had actually, when i thought about Texas History at about the alanon and i thought im not sure i want to be a texas historian. I should i shouldnt say that here, im sorry. Gh theres a but which is important to get across. Initially i was just trying to trace his character and i didnt know where he was from. As ive been tracing him backward and i found myself in san antonio and then victoria texas. In retrospect i thought of course that makes sense. Where would in a after american be from who would be really familiar with mexican culture and with spanish. What im trying to get across to in the book, we need to bring it to the history of the border much more than weve done. Tensions us sold. The slavery was booming and then to move down. You cannot grow cotton in kentucky. So they all come down to participate in a cotton boom. But then the more it grows the closer you get to the of border then the closer that slaves can escape. And then as they do escape across the border into mexico so i came away from this completely that Texas History that almost all of the most important issues of American History could be found in texas. I dont know what i will do next. Have a second question. The part is the related to the jefferson huntings group treks. So the question is of all this stuff going on at the same time and then going to northwestern for one year than they discover she is africanamerican. And then to go to vassar and disabled to get her degree. And then to disappear. Man bade the Anita Henning was from. How did he make his money . To be a black African American in theory the first on wall street bet it would have then impossible in the late 19th or early 20th century. They he was married to a white woman which was legal in new york at the time but in texas it was illegal for blacks than whites to be very derris person my professional reasons to keep as background hit in. And that most americans know nothing but then they are able to serve he actually makes his money to set up his deals and also involved in the biggest one. Bowfin mexico of all the things to privatize and make money out of it. I hope and dont give away too much of the plot but he is doing very well. I will buy the book. [laughter] he is very connected. Then of revolution comes along. With all those relationships and then converted into a liability is. You know, that Teddy Roosevelt organized the roughriders. But there is Teddy Roosevelt stuff on that. They did go to the hotel to drink. We have time for one more . Question. We all those uh challenges i can see how he could physically path. This. Host me close calls that the question he did not need to fool the mexicans and then needs to speak enough spanish tbilisi is a mexican he is not pretending to be mexican depending on which side of the border so i do have letters he has written in spanish obviously this is one of the frustrations i dont have a tape recording or what the access would have been like with those regional variations with the mexico city is a different thing. How we negotiated as well. So no reporting of close calls. Not to give away another point but in san antonio he gets caught so he is caught and they used to have the sea for every betty was africanamerican hip had no letter c pet now it appeared that after that he disappears in you dont see him again until about one year later and he was caught eventually said he was more careful in york city. That is all the time that we have. You can continue the conversation as he signs books outside the library. Please join me to think can. 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