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About The monitor. (Omaha, Neb.) 1915-1928 | View Entire Issue (July 8, 1927)
•223 the Monitor ^ lo % NEBRASKA’S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF COLORED AMERICANS THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS, Editor. $2.00 a Year—8 Cent* a Copy_OMAHA, NEBRASKA, FRIDAY, JULY 8, 1927_Vol. XIII—No. 2 Whole Number 624 White Women off South Oppose Lynching METHODISTS MERGER MARKS MARVELOUS MODERH MOVEMEHT Stupendous Religious and Commer cial Transaction Affecting 1,500, 000 Members and 10,000 Organisations. $36,000,000 VALUE REAL ESTATE Territorial Scope of Organisation Practically International— Legal Business Involved Large. Pittsburgh, Pa.—At the joint ses sion of the bishops of the A. M. E. and the A. M. E. Zion Churches, held in Avery Mission Temple, this city, Friday, June 24, a report of the joint commission on organic union of the A. M. E. and A. M. E. Zion Churches was read by Dr. John R. Hawkins, financial secretary of the A. M. E. Church, and secretary of the joint commission. Report Greeted With Applause At the conclusion of the reading of ‘ the section referring to the name of the merged church organization—The United Methodist Episcopal Church— a prolonged storm of applause waa given by the more than 2,000 per sons attending the meeting. The tentative plan for the Episcopal dis tricts was roundly applauded, as well as suggestion for allocation of offi cers for the first four years of the proposed organization. To Have Three Weekly Papers The report of the commission call ed for combination of the eighteen Episcopal districts of the A. M. E. and the twelve districts of the A. M. E. Zion into a total of thirty Episcopal districts for the United Methodist Episcopal Church. It also arranged for a publication board, calling for three publishing houses. Ti.ese to be located in Philadelphia, Pa., Charlotte, N. C. and Nashville, Tenn. The report provides for three weekly church publications: The Christian Recorder, The Star of Zion and another to be located in the southwest, possibly Dallas, Tex., and to be known as the Southwestern Herald. Plan To Go to Local Churches It suggests the appointment of a special commission to thrash out the legal problems in connection with property rights. The plan calls for the organic commission’s report to be sent first to the board of bishops of each church connection for con sideration, and then with their ap proval and revisions to the General Conferences of the A. M. E. in Chi cago and the A. M. E. Zion in St. L uis in 1928. Following the action j taken in these conferences the amend- j ed and approved plan is to then go ! to the various annual conferences, | the quarterly conferences and local churches in the two church organiza tions for their approval or rejection. Should a majority of these annual and quarterly conferences and con gregations approve the plan, a special General Conference will be called, possibly in 1930, to work out the final details preparatory to the or ganization of the first regular Unit ed General Conference in 1932. Stupendous Commercial Transection This movement is regarded by many as the biggest concerted or ganization effort ever undertaken by Negroes. Fully one and a half mil lion members will be involved. The transaction will affect over 10,000 individual church organizations rep resenting a real estate value of near ly $36,000,000, and involving the handling of nearly $7,000,000 an nually. The territorial scope of the organization is world-wide, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, South America, Africa and Islands of I the Sea. The proposed merger is one of the biggest pieces of legal busi-1 ness ever executed by Negroes. The handling of various individual church charters, transferring deeds and the property rights of the two organiza tions into the new one offers Negro ' lawyers throughout the world unpre cedented legal work. Mias lone Pinkett is visiting rela tives at Beatrice, Nebraska. N. A. A. C. P. ENDS BRILLIANT CONFERENCE IN INDIANAPOLIS Ten Thousand Hear Darrow’s Ad dress—Many Others Listened Over Radio. Indianapolis, Ind.—With the pre sentation last night of the Springarn Medal by Zona Gale, celebrated nov elist and playwright, to Anthony Overton of Chicago, for his achieve ments in business, finance and insur ance, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People concluded its Eighteenth Annual Conference, one of the most brilliant it has ever held. To hold this Conference the N. A. A. C. P. invaded the stronghold of the Ku Klux Klan in the United States and the speakers at the mass meetings spoke with utmost freedom in condemnation of the Klan. At the Sunday mass meeting in Cadle Taber nacle, attended by 10,000 people, both of the principal speakers, Clar ence Darrow and James Weldon Johnson, secretary of the N. A. A. C. P., paid their respects to the hooded order in no uncertain terms. The night mass meetings, held in Caleb Mills Hall, were attended by audiences of 1,700, who heard spirit ed musical programs. Among the speakers at the N. A. A. C. P. Con ference were Governor Ed. Jackson of Indiana, who delivered the address of welcome to the Conference; Con gressman Hamilton Fish, Jr., of New York, who delivered a stirring ad dress in pruise of the heroism of col ored troops in the World War whom he commanded; Dr. Will W. Alex ander, of Atlanta, Director of the Inter-racial Commission, who spoke of the rise of a new South. One of the features of the Con fence was the presence of N. C. New bold, Director of the Division c< Ne gro Education of the State of North Carolina, who told of the steps being taken in his state to procure educa tional opportunity for colored chil dren and students in institutions of higher learning. At the same meeting N. C. Fred erick, the colored attorney of Colum bia, S. C., told of the legal defense of the Lowmans before they were ta ken from the Aiken, S. C., jail and lynched by a mob with the conniv ance of the local officers of the law. The keynote address of the Confer ence was delivered by Judge Ira W. Jayne of the Wayne County Circuit Court, Detroit, a member of the N. A. A. C. P. Board of Directors, who urged colored people to stand togeth er and support the N. A. A. C. P. Other speakers at the Conference , and their subjects included Dr. Alva j W. Taylor, Social Service Secretary | of the Disciples Church in Indianapo lis, “The Responsibility of the Church in the Race Problem;” Charles S. Johnson, Editor “Opportunity” maga zine, on “The Changing Economic Status of the Negro;” Mrs. S. Joe Brown, Vice President of the Nation al Association of Colored Women, “The Colored Woman and the Race Problem;” Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois, “The Business Man As a Social Serv ant;” and Bishop W. T. Vernon of the A. M. E. church. One of the outstanding events of the Conference was an address by William Pickens, who declared that segregation and the race problem were one and the same thing and that where segregation did not exist there was no race problem. On Sunday, June 26, many of the leading churches of the city turned over their pulpits to speakers sent by the N. A. A. C. P. ENTERTAINS FOR GRAND OFFICER Eureka Council No. 9 of the An cient Sons and Daughters of Jeru-' salem entertained last week at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Abe Jackson, 1609 North Twenty-seventh street, in honor of Mr. C. M. Johnson, supreme' king of the order; Mrs. W. M. Rose of Dundee and Mrs. C. K. David. Covers were laid for 20. Mr. John son was given a beautiful present by members of his council. SOUTHERN WHITE WOMEN PLEDGE THEMSELVES TO INTER-RACIAL JUSTICE Jackson, Miss.—Meeting here re cently in annual session, the Missis sippi Woman’s Committee on Race Relations pledged themselves to th* most progressive program of inter racial justice ever adopted by any group in this state. Beginning with a terrific broadside against lynch ing and mob violence, they promised to seek better school advantages for the colored people of the state, of fered their co-operation to the Ne gro club women in their efforts fog a home for delinquent boys, and then gave proof of their sincerity by iavib* ing the Negro women of the state to membership on their committ—. Among the specific improvements in school conditions to which they piedged themselves were better fa cilities for teacher training, better school buildings, and a more eqnife« able distribution of school funds. Mrs. David M. Key, wife of the president of Millsaps college, was elected president of the state com mittee, which includes a score of the most prominent women in Mississippi, all of them leaders in one or more of the great religious or civic groups. The meeting was convened by Mrs. Maud P. Henderson, of the Commis sion on Inter-racial Co-operation, who reports a much more active in terest in the movement than was apparent in earlier meetings. N. A. A. C. P. WINS VICTORY, ENDING NEW JERSEY SCHOOL SEGREGATION Toms River Colored Children Order ed Reinstated in School New York, July 1—A sweeping victory in the Toms River, N. J., school segregation case has been won by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People re sulting in an order by John H. Lo gan, state commissioner of education for New Jersey, reinstating the col ored pupils in the school from which they had been barred because of their color. The victory is a decisive blow at school segregation in the state of New Jersey and will prob ably have a profound effect in similar cases arising in northern states. The order of Commissioner Logan was in response to proceeding by the N. A. A. C. P. through Attorney Eu gene R. Hayne, who carried the case of the colored children both before the state supreme court and before the commissioner of education. Com missioner Logan in his order held that the Dover Township Board of | Education had barred the children I from school and moved them to an other building solely because of their color, such action being against the law of New Jersey. His decision stated: “That ultimately, however, the placing of children in such a school was determined upon a color basis is evident from the fact that not only the appellants but other Negro pupils were sent there, that no white children were ever placed among them, and no characteristics other than color were proved to be peculiar to appellants and in no way shared by the pupils who were left in the Toms River school so as to justify the exclusion of such appel lants on other grounds.” MISSISSIPPI WOMEN VIGOROUSLY CONDEMN CRIME OF LYNCHING Jackson, Miss.—Stirred by recent outbreaks of mob violence in this state, a group of Mississippi’s most prominent women, meeting here last week, drew up and gave to the press a vigorous condemnation of lynch ing, declaring that “as Southern women, we hold that no circum stances can ever justify mob action and that in no instance is it an ex hibition of chivalric consideration for the honor of womanhood.” The governor was commended for his ef forts to suppress mob violence, sher iffs were urged to meet with force any attempts upon their prisoners, and grand juries and courts were called upon for earnest efforts to bring recent lynchers to justice. The statement in full was as follows: “We’place ourselves on record as unalterably opposed to mob murder. The barbaric practice of lynching arouses unchristian passions, violates the sovereignity of our state, brings Miasissippi into disrepute in the eyes of the world, and brutalizes all those who come within its evil influence. “As southern women we hold that no circumstances can ever justify mob murder and that in no instances is it an exhibition of chivalric con sideration for the honor of woman hood. "We commend our governor for calling out troops to suppress mob activities, urge all sheriffs to meet attempts on their jails with force, and call upon grand juries and of ficers of the law to prosecute vig orously the lynchers in Mississippi who have unlawfully slaughtered six ! men within the past two months.” The signers were Mrs. Theodore D. Bratton, wife of the bishop of Mississippi; Miss Susie V. Powell, president of the State Federation of Women’s Clubs; Mrs. Myrtle G. Hicks, vice president of the Mississip pi Synodical; Mrs. C. H. Alexander, active worker in various organiza tions; Mrs. D. G. McLaurin, presi dent of the Mississippi Synodical; Mrs. W. W. Epperson, president of the Jackson Federation of Mission ary Societies; Mrs. Edgar Goodwill, social service superintendent of the Mississippi conference; Mrs. David M. Key, wife of president Key of Mill saps college; Miss Paralee McLester, sectary of Jackson Y. W. C. A.; Mrs. Ivy G. Hill, Mrs. John Bell Hood, Mrs. J. T. Calhoun, Miss Mamie J. Chandler, and Mrs. C. A. McCurdy. COFFEYVILLE ASSAULT TRIAL DATE JULY 15 Kennedy to Be Tried Then, But Mooney Girl May Go to September Independence, Kans.—Ira Ken nedy, who with Julia Mooney, Cof feyville high school girl, is accused of assaulting Miss Margaret Akers, an other Coffeyville high school girl, the night of March 17, will be tried in district court here July 15. Walter S. Keith, city attorney of Coffeyville, has been designated by the attorney general as special rep resentative for the state in the pros ecution. Julia Mooney, who is accused of being an accomplice to the assaulting of the Akers girl, may not be tried until September. A motion is before the court here to pass all criminal cases over to the September term of court where the defendants have fur nished bond. The Mooney girl has furnished bond of $5,000. Kennedy has not furnished bond and, if the motion passes, will be tried July 15. «—■—» Coffeyville, Kansas.—The local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peo ple is making extensive preparations for the defense of those colored men charged with inciting a riot the night of March 17 when Julia Mooney and Margaret Akers circulated the report that they had been raped by threo Negroes. A meeting will be held Friday night at the Sardis Baptist church at which Mrs. D. G. Morris and the Rev. T. T. Addison will be the speakers. Elisha Scott of Topeka will be the defense attorney. YOUNG ATTORNEY ADMITTED TO THE BAR Mr. Charles F. Davis, of Council Bluffs, a student at the University of Omaha, passed the Iowa State Bar examination at Des Moines, Iowa, June 8 and was admitted to the bar in that state June 9. He also passed the Nebraska State Bar examination at Lincoln, June 14 and 16 and was admitted to practice in this state June 16. Attorney Davis has open ed an office at 1616 North Twenty fourth street and w'1' also have an jffice in Council Blufffc, The Woman’s Auxiliary of the Church of St. Philip the Deacon en joyed a delightful outing Thursday afternoon at Elmwood park. DIRECTOR OF INTER-RACIAL COMMISSION ADDRESSES RACE CONFERENCE Dr. Will W. Alexander of Atlanta Talk of Rka of New South Indianapolis, Ind., June 25—De claring that a new South has come into being, directed largely by bus iness men, many of whom are turning to the republican party, Dr. Will H. Alexander, of Atlanta, director of the Commission ob Inter-racial Re lations, last night addressed the Na tional Association for the Advance ment of Colored People now in 18th annual conference here. “The new leaders of industry in the South are hardly conscious of the race question at all,” said Dr. Alex ander. “To them it is a labor ques tion and an industrial question. They are preoccupied, as the rest of the nation is in making money. With them the hot spot in their think ing is neither the race problem, nor politics, or fundamentalism; it is bus iness. They do not get excited over the race problem except as it might affect industry. They are willing to listen with minds open and go at least as far as the best interests of indus try demand. “The coming of industry and the new economic background is slowly working a change in the political phi losophy of the South. Thousands of business men are republicans, nation ally, and are yielding to the argu ments that make the business section of this country favorable to the re publican party. They no longer re spond to the old slogans in local pol itics. As a rule they are indifferent to local politics but ultimately this indifference must give way to an in telligent interest based upon what they conceive to be good business policy. This means a profound change in the politics of the South. College* Studying Race Relation* “The most obvious change which is taking place in the South with re lation to the race problem is the in telligent interest of many college teachers, college students and other thoughtful people generally. In nearly 100 colleges courses of study on various phases of the race prob lem are now in the regular curricu lum. Thousands of students are working and writing on these themes and an exhaustive examination of these papers from all parts of the South reveals that they are thought ful, honest and liberal. “The churches in the South—I re fer to white churches—have in the past been silent. This silence is be ing broken. Two great Southern de noi; ^nations are today working out fairly liberal programs of education for their young people, to be used in young people’s societies and Sun day schools. Negro Teat of American Democracy “The nation must find some way to deal with the mob and mob vio lence. The fight is discouraging. Aiken was a slipping back on the part of South Carolina. The guiltiest states are now Mississippi and Flori da where there is no effective opposi tion to mob violence and Arkansas where there is very little. These states have been the least influenc ed by the new economic and indus trial development. They have par ticularly large communities. Lynch ing must be looked upon by the whole nation as so horrible that these in different and backward states shall be forced to put an end to it. “In closing may I say that I am not especially interested in Negroes or the race problem. Something very much more important than this is involved in this situation. It is a question of civilization. Can human beings be civilized and can they learn to meet the situations that they con front by civilized methods and a civ ilized spirit? That is the great ques tion. The experiment of the human race in civilization is very interest ing and important. The outcome of the democratic movement which gave birth to this nation is an important aspect of the experiment of civiliza tion. Twelve million American Ne groes and their future are a test as to the outcome of this experiment in democracy and free institutions. “What chance has <tewuw.*uy? On every hand I am reminded by cynics and dogmatic industrialists that the whole idea of democracy is a failure to be distrusted. Aiken, Mis sissippi and Arkansas and Florida in cline one to think so. But looking back over the past 60 years one sees that there have undoubtedly been some steps forward. In spite of handicaps Negroes have made great progress. My presence here tonight is evidence that at least one white man has made progress and I rep resent a type and that is the only significant thing about my presence. “At the University of North Car I olina last spring the distinguished secretary of this organization made a very moving statement, speaking to a great audience of students and fac ulty in the chapel of the instiution: ‘Negroes want full participation in American life and they expect to secure it.’ “This last clause has great power in it. If they continue in this in telligent expectation it will prob ably come, step by step even in the South—certainly in the South if anywhere in the nation, for the South will go with the nation.” STUDENT CONFERENCE TAKES ACTIVE STAND AGAINST LYNCHING Blue Ridge, N. C.—Stirred by the many recent outbreaks of mob vio lence in the South, the Y. M. C. A. Student Conference for the South east, which has just concluded its annual meeting here, adopted and gave to the press the following res olutions relative to lynching and mob violence: “Whereas, the encouraging decline in lynching which has marked recent years suffered a serious relapse in 1926, and “Whereas, there have occurred in recent months many instances of this fearful crime, particularly in the states of Mississippi and Arkansas, and “Whereas, we, the Southern Re gional Council of the Student Y. M. C. A.’s, assembled at Blue Ridge, N. C., believe we voice the sentiment of the great mass of Southern people I in condemning all such atrocious crimes, and ‘Whereas, we have heard of these tragic occurrences with keen regret, and believe that they are unjusti fiable from any standpoint; “Therefore be it resolved: “That we earnestly hope that the public officials and the Christian cit izenship of our country will use every means of upholding the law and cul tivating public sentiment against such atrocities.’’ Similar resolutions were adopted by the Y. W. C. A. Student Confer ence meeting at the same place dur ing the preceding week, ine stu dents in attendance at these two con ferences represent practically ail the colleges of the southeastern region. BOSTON UNIVERSITY HONORS ALEXANDER Atlanta, Ga.—Rev. W. W. Alex ander, of this city, director of the Commission on Inter-racial Co-oper ation, has just returned from Boston where, at the recent commencement of Boston university, he was award ed the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. The degree was presented by Dr. Daniel L. Marsh, president of the university, who at the same time conferred honorary degrees on Gov ernor Alvan T. Fuller, of Massachu setts; Chief Justice R. J. Peasiee, of the supreme court of New Hamp shire; Dr. John G. Bowman, presi dent of Pittsburgh university; Robert L. O’Brien, editor of the Banner Her ald and Claience W. Barron, editor of the Boston News bureau. Dr. Alexander’s degree was con ferred in recognition of his work of the past eight years as director of the Commission on Inter-racial Co operation. A few days previously he had been honored with the same de gree by Berea college, of Berea, Kentucky. “Will power of the individual is the taproot of ail his growth in character and efficiency.”