Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The voice. (Lincoln, Nebraska) 1946-195? | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 1950)
1tf/omen The Nineteenth Amendment which gave women the right to vote was enacted into law Aug. 26, 1920. Many women remem ber the controversy which arose over this participation of women in government. Some took the opportunity to say that the pro posal came while the great num bers of men were fighting World War I and took advantage of their absence to get the act ratified by Congress, although the war had been over almost two years. However, this new status given American women did not alter the political scene in the United States as much as the opponents of the bill would have had the country think it would. In fact, the leading sufragettes of that era had to urge those women who now had the right to vote as any other citizen to go to the polls and assert their newly given freedom. The so-called “dirty politics” was the phrase that kept those feminists who clamored for the right to express their choice at the ballot box away from the things so dearly fought for after the turn of the twentieth century. Negro women were slow to be come interested, even in those state where they were able to vote along with their men folk, and to avail themselves of this coveted right. ine participation oi iNegro women in the political history of the United States could stand much research, and doubtless would make most interesting read ing. But the compilation of data on the interest of those whose par ticipation is cited here will give a few highlights concerning those who have made history in the first fifty years of the present cen tury in America. When Franklin Delano Roose velt, a democratic president, was elected in 1932 the Negro made his power as a voter in the United States felt broadly for the first time. Not long after Mr. Roose velt’s inauguration, and on into the second term as president, his New Deal program included many agencies which were to revitalize law, is a judge in the Domestic Relations Court in New York City —an appointee to this position in 1948. Mrs. Thomasina Johnson Nor ford, Washington, D. C., one of the outstanding lobbyists in the nation’s capital a few years ago, was appointed as consultant in the Department of Labor. Mrs. Ann Arnold Hedgeman, whose contribution to the success of the Citizens Committee on Civil Rights for Truman during the presidential campaign in 1948 was rewarded by the appointment as assistant to the Federal Security Administration, is considered the top ranking Negro woman from the standpoint of salary in Wash ington at this time. Mrs. Christine Davis, former secretary to Congressman William Dawson of Illinois, is now a clerk of a Congressional committee, the House Committee on Executive Expenditures, the first Negro woman to receive such an ap pointment. These political appointments have all been under a Democratic Administration, with the excep tion of Judge Bolin. The number is by no means ex hausted—other state appointments and city elections will find numer ous Negro women participating in the political life of the communi ties in which they live. Among these may be found Mrs. Jean Murrell Capers, former assistant county prosecutor, now Council woman in Cleveland, O.; Mrs. Edith Sampson, appointed assist ant state’s attorney of Cook county, 111.; Pauli Murray, Deputy Attorney General of California; Mrs. Eunice Hunton Carter, an assistant District Attorney of New' York; Miss Francis Williams, a native of St. Louis, Mo., works for Senator Lehman of New York State; Mrs. Marguerite Ingram for for Congressman Williatn Daw son of Illinois and Mrs. Elizabeth Davis Pittman, Omaha, Neb., at torney in the law office of Davis & Pittman. Scratching the surface, as it wrere, gives an inkling of how we have given the American picture of women in politics during the first 50 years a perspective which Senator Douglas; Kathryn Wallace may be indicative of how power ful the Negro woman’s Influence can be in the political fife at our country. H. H. Young. HILL Hatchery - Benefit by Hitl Hatchery Service 910 R 2-7025 C ongralutaiions from Umbergers Councilman Roy A. and Bettye Sheaff, Verna Umberger Burke, Darold and Lois Rohrbaugh and Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Umberger. the country and make the par ticipation of the so-called “little man” a responsible part of the New Deal. One of these agencies was the National Youth Administration (NYA). One of the first Negro women whose leadership caused her to be the spokesman for the Negro as a whole was Mrs. Mary McLeod Bethune. It was she who caused numbers of Negro youth to gain a self-respect and an assur ance that they were American like every other American for the first time. Mrs. Bethune was appointed to the position as director, Negro di vision, National Youth Adminis tration, by President Roosevelt. She became one of the most sought after advisors on all matters per taining to the Negro the country has known. The many men and women whom she selected to aid her in the NYA movement have been selected for other key posi tions within government since the dissolution of the National Youth ' Administration. This development attests to the merit of those whom she chose to aid her and who con tributed no little to the success and influence which was hers, and which she has continued to exert through her leadership still in af fairs which affect Negro women throughout America today. Mrs. Bethune’s founding of the organization known as the Nation al Council of Negro Women at tests to the continued interest she has maintained in promoting the economic, social, and political wel fare of women throughout the world. Dr. Sadie T. M. Alexander, one of two women appointed to the President’s Committee on Civil Rights in 1946, was the first Ne gro woman to earn the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the United States. Her appointment to this committee which has revo lutionized the thinking of the country on the status of the Ne gro as a citizen, gave rise to the civil rights program enunciated by President Truman during the last presidential campaign and has caused more racial contro # versy than any issue since the Civil War. Jane Bolin, a Yale graduate in Jess Williams Springs GET YOUR CHRISTMAS CARDS EARLY! CHOOSE FROM BOX ASSORTMENTS AND SAMPLE BOOKS 1124-26 O Street 10'-25'-39' Lincoln’s Favorite Potato Chip Smith Pharmacy 2146 Vine Prescriptions — Drugs Fountain — Sundries Phone 2-1958 Make WHITE'S Your FURNITURE HEADQUARTERS Its I 108 No. 10th Street / [ * r t Just 27 Steps North of 10th S O Sts. , i , ' V Yes, this week GOLD's with Better Homes and Gardens and Successful Farming magazines again present this exciting home furnishings event! • SPECIAL EXHIBITS! • RADIO BROADCASTS! • SPECIAL VALUES! • DEMONSTRATIONS! • SAMPLES! • LECTURES! • GIFTS! • FUN! ^ - ! Famous home-lovers’ magazines and a popular home-lovers* store cooperate to bring you a series of special events to present to you ideas for better living for you and your family. Here is your chance to have some of the country’s top authorities help with your home problems. The list of awards includes ... • 209.95 American Kitchen Sink • 199.95 R.C.A. Victor Television Set •169.90 Krantz Mattress, Spring • 99.95 Voss Washer • 42.50 Sunbeam Mixer • 79.95 Lewyt Sweeper • Many others 500 AWARDS! Valued at over $2500