Department Hosts Prominent Visiting Scholar, Economic Historian

Dr. Trevon D. Logan

The KU Economics Department in late September hosted multiple events on campus involving a prominent economic historian who lectured on how issues of race during both the 19th and 20th centuries could be better quantified and understood by modern academia using a variety of techniques. Dr. Trevon Logan, who serves as Associate Dean for The Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences, as well as a distinguished professor of economics at that institution, traveled to KU as part of a special visiting scholar program in conjunction with the KU Phi Beta Kappa Society.

A specialist in economic history and applied demography, Dr. Logan gave a fascinating presentation (“The Sins of Economic History”) on September 21 at Capitol Federal Hall that was sponsored by KU Phi Beta Kappa and co-sponsored by the Economics Department, KU School of Business, and KU Honors Program.  KU Economics Professor Dietrich Earnhart, who also serves as President of KU’s Phi Beta Kappa Chapter, said how pleased KU – which has the oldest Phi Beta Kappa chapter of any institution west of the Mississippi River - was to welcome a scholar of Dr. Logan’s background.  The talk covered the extent to which economic history can more accurately quantify and inform discussions on potential reparations regarding previous racial discrimination. 

“We are sometimes missing out on how economic history can help us focus so much better and more precisely on current events and societal debates,” Dr. Logan said.

During a subsequent presentation at a special Economics Department seminar on September 22 (“Competition and Consumer Discrimination in Public Accommodations”), Dr. Logan outlined how he and his fellow authors have continued to make major contributions to understanding the impacts of economic segregation prior enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Funded in part by a grant from the National Bureau of Economic Research, the project makes use of a unique tool used by African Americans to navigate segregation during the Jim Crow era: “The Negro Motorist Green Books”.  He explained that the research leverages digitization and geocoding of Green Book establishments and other data sets to examine how changing consumer preferences influenced the number of non-discriminatory businesses prior to 1964. 

Dr. Logan noted during the seminar that the Green Book data focuses largely on three industries: gas stations, restaurants, and hotels.  He said that an informal network of black postal workers had been a critical component in assembling the lists of non-discriminatory businesses each year for the Green Book.

“Racial discrimination certainly varied by industry; and the type of discrimination practiced was generally determined by the structure of the industry and the type of good or service provided,” Dr. Logan said.  “Improving our knowledge as to what had existed prior to the mid 1960s helps us better understand how legislation