Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The monitor. (Omaha, Neb.) 1915-1928 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 1916)
The Monitor i A Weekly Newspaper devoted to the civic, social and religious interests of the Colored People of Omaha and vicinity, with the desire to contribute something to the general good and upbuilding of the community. Published Every Saturday. Entered as Second-Class Mail Matter July 2, 1915, at the Post office at Omaha, Neb., under the act of March 3, 1879. THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS, Editor and Publisher. Lucille Skaggs Edwards, William Garnett Haynes and Ellsworth W. Pryor, Associate Editors. Joseph LaCour, Jr., Advertising and Circulation Manager. SUBSCRIPTION RATES, $1.50 PER YEAR Advertising rates, 50 cents an inch per issue. Address, The Monitor, 1119 North Twenty-first street, Omaha. Telephone Webster 4243, WILL THE AMERICAN CON SCIENCE AWAKEN? Readers of The Monitor will prob ably recall an item which wTas pub lished in the department “Our Women and Children,” so admirably conducted by Lucile Skaggs Edwards, in one of our early issues, about the splendid record made by Miss Isabelle Vander vall in the New York Medical College, To refresh your memory, here is the item from the Newark (N. J.) Eve ning News: “Besides receiving the degree of doctor of medicine, Miss Isabelle Van dervall carried off honors at the com mencement of the New York Medical college and Hospital for Women, held in the Astor galleries of the Waldorf Astoria. Dr. Vandervall was the first colored student to matriculate in the college since its organization fifty two years ago. She received the prize for having maintained the highest ef ficiency during the four years of the college course. Miss Vandervall has been officially notified of her appointment as an in terne at the Hospital for Women and Children at Syracuse, N. Y.” Despite Dr. Vandervall’s qualifica tions she has had some most humil iating experiences We shall not here recount them. They are sufficiently indicated in the editorial from a re cent issue of the New York Globe, which we shall soon quote. That great metropolitan dailies are beginning to call attention to Amer ica’s inhumanity to a large class of her best citizens gives ground for en couragement. Such editorials ought to, and we believe will, do much to awaken the dead conscience of this country on the question of prejudice and discrimination against men and women of color. Cases like that of Dr. Vandervall can be paralleled in appreciably large numbers in almost every community. But despite this fact our ambitious youth of both sexes will continue to prepare themselves for honorable careers in every line of endeavor and eventually find or make their opportunity. That the white press is beginning to realize the in justice and handicap of American prejudice and to say so is not without significance or encouragement. Here is what the New York Globe says under the caption, “Isabelle Van dervall:” “In this time of general searching of hearts and of desire to be right in fundamentals no true American can feel that everything is right with his country when it is possible for anyone truthfully to write such a let ter as Jose Clarana yesterday wrote to The Globe. “Isabel Vandervall was recently graduated from the Women’s Medical College. She had the distinction of leading her class, having maintained an average of 97 per cent, through out her course, and having been pub licly awarded an appropriate prize. But the young doctor has pigment in her skin. When she applied for a place in a hospital where some colored women are given training as nurses she was told, it is said, point-blank that the hospital never intended to have a colored interne and that if she attempted to take the examinations her papers would be marked below the passing point. This hospital, it appears, bears the name of Lincoln. “The next application was to a hospital in Syracuse, and on the strength of her papers the honor pupil was accepted. On reporting for duty, the arrangement was promptly can celled. “The simple story speaks for itself. It is not fair to pick out the author ities of Lincoln Hospital or the Syra cues hospital for special attack. They acted as they did doubtless because they felt they must. The fault is with all of us, or most of us. Yet the thought cannot but come back that in some way the American people must pay for the injustice they show to the Negro. They heavily paid for the sin of slavery, and they can hardly ex pect to avoid penalty in some manner for tolerating an extreme caste spirit that nullifies every American prin ciple." GOOD SIGNS. An Associated Press dispatch says that at Oakland, Cal., recently, Bishop Thirki'.d of New Orleans told the Methodist board of home and church missions that the Catholics are mak ing inroads among New Orleans’ Ne groes. Speaking of “Mother” Catherine Drexel’s Negro work for the Catholics, he said: "God bless her, she is doing a noble work.” I think that was a fine thing for a Methodist bishop to say. Why not be fair to one another? Why permit re ligious prejudice to close one’s eyes to the good work of other denomina tions ? That reminds me that the Nebraska state Baptist convention at Grand Isl and recently and unanimously adopt ed a resolution praising the work of Mr. Fenton, warden of the Nebraska penitentiary. The fact that Mr. Fen ton happens to be a Catholic and that public reference has been made to his religious affiliations is important here only for the reason that it pro vides an opportunity to emphasize the growing spirit of toleration among Nebraska people. That spirit should be encouraged at every opportunity. It w'ould be fine if Nebraska could take the lead among states where men may choose their own religion without criticism and where a man’s theological affiliations have nothing to do with his neigh bor’s attitude toward him.—The Oma ha Nebraskan. Of course this spirit should be en couraged. We endorse the noble sen timent here expressed most heartily. We would like to have this spirit so grow that it will include not only re ligious differences, but racial as well, so that a man’s race or color shall “have nothing to do with his neigh bor's attitude toward him,” and that he shall be judged and rated by his character and ability and given op portunity for honorable service ac cordingly. Why not work for this truly demo cratic ideal ? The undertaking firm of Jones and Chiles is to be congratulated on the beautiful calendar they have issued. It is a real work of art, ornamented with the photograph of a bright and attractive littfe child, Aleeta Elisa beth, the five-year old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis, 2511 Lake street. The same firm also sent gifts of candy Christmas to the respective Sunday schools, all of which goes to show that our business firms are becoming more and more enterprising. February 1st we raise our subscrip tion price to $1.50 a year. Send in your subscription now and get the benefit of the $1.00 rate. tHaMMBSIBBgaisaW^ Why Not Have I a Telephone I en Either Floor? I A telephone down stairs and an ex tension up-stairs j | saves you five or I J ten trips a day and those disagreeable tramps down stairs late at night. Residence Extension ' ' I 50 Cents a Month. With an exten sion telephone you can call or be called from either floor at any time. ^ NEBRASKA TELEPHONE COMPANY || .Ji -i—T-.T- a* 9 .0. 9 -T—T-.| Subscribe Now for The Monitor Only One Dollar a Year After February 1st, $1.50 Fill out this blank. Send it with $1.00 to The Monitor, 1119 North Twenty-first Street, Omaha, Neb. Send The Monitor for One Year To .. Street ..... Town .. State . Siprned .’. «... ...... — T ■ . . ,