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About The monitor. (Omaha, Neb.) 1915-1928 | View Entire Issue (June 10, 1916)
The Monitor A Weekly Newspaper Devoted to the Interests of the Eight Thousand Colored People in Omaha and Vicinity, and to the Good of the Community The Rev. JOHN ALBERT WIH.^soc^ 1itor -- $1.50 a Year. 5c a Copy. Omaha, Nebi lO, 1916 Volume I. Number 50 From Fair Nebraska to Sunny Tennessee Incidents of the Trip and Impressions Received by Editor on First Visit to Southland. GROWTH OF SILVENT SAVINGS Shows Confidence in Promoters and Management. Something About Its Officers and Employes. The Solvent Savings and Trust Company is just about ten years old. It opened for business, as we have al erady said. June 18, 1906. It goes without saying that such a venture as this took a great deal of faith and courage of a high order. Not only did it call for faith and courage upon the part of the founders and promot ers of the bank but also upon the part of the depositors. People Cautious of Small Hanks. The people with ability to make large deposits would, very naturally, be exceedingly cautious about placing them in young and untried institutions officered and operated by men of lim ited banking experience. They would prefer to entrust, and ordinary business prudence would dictate that they should, entrust their money to older, stronger and proven substantial and well-es tablished banking institutions. Busi ness prudence would suggest this even though it might be shown that large and heavily capitalized banks some times fail from various causes. Then, too, people with small sav ings would also naturally be anxious to place them where they had reason to believe they would be safest. Or dinarily, of course, that would be in the larger and older banks or trust companies. Then there is always a large class, among all people, who must be taught how and encouraged to save and whose confidence in sav ings banks is to be won. These facts, we take it, confront any financial in stitution like a bank. Race Hank Handicapped. A bank founded and run by Colored Americans, whose business and com mercial life is necessarily in its in fancy, starts off under a tremendous handicap. Can you not see that it does? And do you not also see that it takes faith and courage and con fidence in one’s self and one’s people to launch a business enterprise of this kind ? When you think about this the full significance of banks as factors in our racial evolu tion will become increasingly more ap parent. It takes sublime faith and couarge to start and successfully conduct a bank depending upon the patronage of our people. Solvent Justifies Faith of Founders. That the deposits of the Solvent Savings Bank and Trust Company have in ten years risen well up toward the $200,000.00 mark, is, of itself, an eloquent tribute to the men who are ■ v - i?:.. y .>-' ..i.:.,-.^-«<m*,:.- _^221 SJX OF THE CONTESTANTS FOR FREE TRIP TO CHICAGO, DENVER OR ST. LOUIS FOR THE BENE FIT OF NEGRO WOMEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION From left to right: Miss Pearl Ray, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Ray, of 2865 Miami St., quite a Sunday School worker and one of the leading soprano singers of St. John’s A. M. E. choir. Miss Ruth Jeltz, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Jeltz,an accomplished pianist, and a maid at Burgess-Nash in the drapery de partment. Frances Shaw, granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Warren Brooks, seamstress at Lord Lister Hospital. Olga Henderson, daughter of Mrs. Susie Henderson. Her father was the first Negro fire captain of Omaha. Ozelia Dunning, granddaughter of Martha Jackson, freshman of Central H gh School, listed on the honor roll with 3 A’s. Oletha Russell, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Russell, st nographer for Western Realty Co. The three other contestants do not appear in this picture. They are Maddaine Roberts, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. R. Roberts, a junior in Central High, and one of the soprano singers in St. Philip’s choir. Blanche Lawson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Lawson, a graduate of Central High, Hazel Hall, sophomore of Central High. I back of it. It shows that their faith and courage have been justified. It shows that they have won and kept the confidence of the people. And what is true of this bank is also true of its competitor, the Fraternal Sav ings and Trust Company, which is lo cated at 358 Beale avenue, and of which we hope to tell you in a later article. The Officers and Employes We wish we might introduce you to the officers and employes of both these banks. You would be impressed with their keen, alert business-like manner and courteousness, factors which always count for much in any j successful business, professional o> other enterprise. Personality is a tre mendous factor in success. And a pleasing personality can and should be cultivated. One of the chief assets in a pleasing personality is good man ners. The people of this bank have good manners and courtesy. Mr. Sanford, the president, is a suc cessful and large contractor in early middle life. Mr. Hayes, the first vice president, we should judge to be a little younger. He is a successful un dertaker. E. W. Irving, the second vice president, is a young man, we should say in his early thirties. He is a physician. One noteworthy fact about the bank is that its officers and its employes are young men, with one exception, and the exception is a young woman, Mrs. Fannie E. Martin, who is the assistant bookkeeper. We shall not be so presumptuous as to try to guess her age. Mr. Bert M. Roddy is the cashier. He is a young man of pleasing address and appar ently thoroughly understands his busi ness. Mr. A. P. Bentley, the assist ant cashier, is also an alert and pleas ant young man. The same is true of M. J. B. Woods, Jr., the bookkeeper, and Mr. Sherman G. King, the man ager of the Christmas Savings De partment. We do not recall having met Mr. Thomas Wade, who is the collector. Seven Employes. With the president, these persons named make seven employes of this bank. As it grows and enlarges it will of necessity give employment to other young men and women of the race. Can you not see not only thef wisdom, but the imperative necessity of supporting and building up race in stitutions ? If we are to have employ ment besides that of janitors, porters, waiters and bootblacks—all honorable (Continued on Page 3) Doctor Washington’s Last Magazine Article Sets Forth Some Illuminating Facts Showing Praise-Worthy Progress of Colored Americans. ADVANCE DESPITE OPPOSITION Has Reduced Illiteracy; Increased Wealth In Farm and City Property. A few days before he died Booker T. Washington wrote to the editor of the Forum magazine suggesting the printing of an article dealing with “the definite, indisputable facts relat ing to the Negro’s progress as a race.” He inclosed what he called a rough outline of such an article, which, of course, was never completed. What he wrote is presented in its un finshed state in a recent issue of the magazine: Reduces Illiteracy. First he presented striking figures to show Negro progress toward lit eracy. On emerging from slavery, he wrote, the Negro was not more than (Continued on Page 7)