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A NATIONAL WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF COLORED AMERICANS
THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS. Editor
$2.00 a Year 5c a Copy PART ONE OMAHA, NEBRASKA, THURSDAY, Aug. 4, 1921 PAGES ONE TO EIGHT Vol. VII. No. 6. Whole No. 318.
SPECIAL MONITOR EMANCIPATION EDITION
BY FEkvMRIHR FROOBESS OF AMERIOAR HERRO IB LAST HALF CEHTHBY
GAVE WORLtl NEW
DEFINITION OF NEGRO
Founder’s Day Speaker at Tuskegee Declares That This Was One of
Booker T. Washington’s Greatest Contributions to Humanity.
Famous Educator Defined It In Terms of Supreme Accomplish
ment Demonstrating Ability To Compete With World Leaders.
INSPIRING MESSAGE FOR YOUTH OF OUR RACE
Early Conception of Negro, Which In a Large Degree Continues To
The Present Was That He Was a Creature Incapable of Develop
ment Beyond a Very Narrow Limit.—Deadly Indictment Against
Slavery, Crime, Against Free Personality.
Tt'SKEGEK, Ala., Aug. 4 On the
Fifth Anniversary of Founder's Day
which was observed with fitting exer
cises here a few weeks a^o, Dr M.
Ashby Jones, pastor of Ponce de Leon
Baptist church of Atlanta, Ga., deliv
ered an eloquent address on the life
and influence of Dr. Washington,
J which should prove an inspiration to
(lie youth of our race throughout the
land. Dr. Jones spoke in part as fol
lows: (
"Today has been with tne a day of
deep, and high, and broad emotions.
A- I have walked over ti.is beautiful
i campus; glimpsed the horizon of your
fertile fields; looked at your modern
workshops; walked through your
tfc academic halls, and now siand upon
this platfutrm, facing this splendid
audience of young life, I have had tie
fore me a picture. It is the picture
of a ragged Negro boy walking, and
working, kill way to >. and
then in after years standing upon the
commencement platform of Harvard
University receiving from President
Klliott his Master's Degree with the
words, ‘Teacher, wise helper of his
race, good servant of God anil Coun
try.’
•'The astronomers count distance bv
light years. the number of years it
takes a ray of light rushing at an un
believable speed from star to star, to
finish Its course. But the distance
which that young slave boy accom
plished from the coal mines of West
Virginia to Die commencement plat
form of Harvard, is greater than the
distance that any ray of light ever ac
complished in it* radiant rush from
^ planet to planet It is with that ac
complishment this afternoon, that I
would challenge your thoughts,
larly Conception of Negro.
"In 1X72, even among the friends of
the Negro, the question was yet up
answered I the Negro capable of
development into Independence and
efficiencyT Are there In the Negro
personality, those faculties and forces
sleeping within his spirit which muy
i be summoned into expression so Dial
lie may attain a self-sufficient man
hood. Bemember that up to that date
every definition that had been made
for the Negro had been In terms of
sdavery As I have said elswhere I say
today, that the damning sin of slavery
cannot he stated in the fact that one
man owns another man: it cannot he
told in any terms of physical cruelty.
Granted the most benevolent patern
alism that ever held a people in slav
ery, and 1 still say that the deadly
Indictment against the system is that
the child of a slave, even before it e
horn, has already had the definition of
Its personality predetermined for it.
and the metes and bounds of its ae
complisbments fixed. No greater crime
can be committed against a person
ality than to rob him of the right to
make the definition of his own man
hood and to determine the pathway
of his own destiny.
■•Up to this time, except a few im
practical theorists who believed that
a government proclamation could un
do the work of generations, (he world
was saying, 'A Negro is a slave kind
of personality, incapable of develop
ment beyond a certain point, and he
can only do that which he 1s told to
do.’ .
Hooker Washington (ontrlblltes New
Definition.
"I do not believe that we ean ever
understand the significance of the
coming of Booker T Washington inio
,he world's life until we understand
that his really supreme contribution
; to his race, and to America, was that
for the first time, with striking and
compelling force, he made for vour
race and for the world, a new defin
ition of Negro. And he made that def
inition in terms of supreme accom
plishment, worthy to be. com pa red with
the leaders of any race In the world
jj I am anxious that you should get the
significance of this achievement. Hill,
erto, men were saying. 'A Negro is one
incapable of self development.' And
then came Hooker T. Washington, and
so lived that his life said, ‘to be a Ne
gro Is no barrier to any accomplish
ment'; so lived that today he stands
out silhouetted against the background
of the past, saying by his very person
ality, 'A Negro can be a Hooker Wash
ington. and to be a Booker Washing
ton is to demand that tile world give
the Negro a definition In terms of man
hood unbiased by limitations of race.’
To Be a Negro Is No Harrier to
Achievement.
"Youth of Ttiskegee, I do not want
to be misunderstood. Booker Wash
ington's life does not prove that every
not a dream so beautiful that you can
not make it real. There is not a pro
phecy of your soul so splendid that it
cannot be fulfilled. There is no am
bition of your heart that is inspired
hy the God of your creation, too high
or too holy for you to dare to accom
plish, Since Booker Washington
lived, the best Is possible for the Ne
gro race.
Hooker Washington’s fontrflmHon
More Significant Than Thai of
Abraham Lincoln.
‘1 say no government can give free
dom. Freedom is the unhampered ex
pression of life and the Impulse must
come from within. And for this rea
!son, I dare say that Booker Washing
J ton, when the last of the story is told,
: made a more significant contribution
to the freedom of your race than even
i Abraham Lincoln. He did what no
! other man could do. In his own life
all too short he so lived that he
absolutely reversed the verdict of the
world in regard to the Negro people,
i He so lived that he removed one of the
supreme barriers from the pathway of
I the progress of his people.
"The psychologists tell us that life
. Itself is after .all only the reaction to
the stimuli of the life about us. I will
out that in more homely phrase, and
1 think it profoundly true the latent
faculties and forces of a man s life
that which he can be, only respond
to the invitations of the world out
side. What can baby boy be? A
| mother is hovering over him with eyes
all expectant. The radiant glory of
her faitli anil ambition is the first
light that pours itself in beauty into
his spirit. And she is calling, calling
to him with her soul, ‘Conic! come'
! come out, oh wondrous man, come out
: into the light!’ And Ibis call is the in
alienable right of every baby.
"Here was the tragedy of the six
ties and early seventies. A child race
was born Into freedom, and the world
all around was saying, 'You can t, you
,-an't you must not! you are not men
Type* of Leaders.
We have reached another critical
hour in the relationship of our races.
I speak not as an alarmist. Crises
i recur ever and anon where folks move
i forward. So we have reached an
other crisis in this supreme task of
democracy. And now is the critical
| question Of the right of leadership
There are two types of men offering
| for leadership of the two races in
i America today One is the man with
no failh. When he is white he is
1 ever pointing to (lie menace of the
massed ignorance of your backward
people. He never tires of telling of
I the long list of crimes of the idle and
degraded members of your race. He
is doing his best once again to pull
I the World hack to Its old definition
of a Negro.
‘ But if this would-he leuder Is
black, then he Is searching for every
example of cruelty and Injustice whic h
is (lone to the Negro, and God knows
they are too easy to find He spends
his time gathering statistics to prove
the prejudice and hatred of the white
people for the Negro. He knows no
| glad news, but is seeking to pour bit
terness into your souls. He would
blind your hearts, lake away all vis
ion of accomplishment; and throw
I your world into Bhadow.
“Then, there is the Booker Wash
i ington type, who with unclouded vis
ion sees all the wrongs and nevei
ceases to try to right them, hut win
refuses to allow the bad to rob hi:
vision of the good. One who believe.
(Continued from Puge 1.)
1809 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 186C
THE VOICE OF DESTINY.
(By Lyman Whitney Allen)
The hour was come, and in that hour he stood
iiesponslve to the sacred voice that spake
From heaven and earth and sea.
He heard the dusky toiling multitude
Plaintively pleading Hint Ills hand should break
Their bonds and set them free.
He heard the voice of Cod from shining height.
Who, for the reason of the Nation's sin.
Had held her armies hack
In failure and defeat, till she should right
The wrongs herself and sanctioned, and should
win
Justice unto tier track;
When, girded with the strength of righteousness.
Cod for her, with descending seraphim,
Above the battle's tide,
.'lie then would march to triumph, and possess
\ land united to the farthest rim.
Through sorrow purified.
THE STROKE OP JTSTH I .
(By Lyman Whitney Allen)
*
The hour was mine, the Nation’s eruelal hour:
V crisis ol' the world, n turn of time;
The ages’ hope and dream.
And one undaunted soul, sinewed with power,
freedom’s nniioinled, rose to height sublime.
Imperial and supreme;
And. lifting lilull o’er groaning multitude
IIis sovereign sceptre, smote with such a stroke
The chains of centuries.
That earth was shaken to its farthest rood:
That millloneil manacles asunder broke.
And myriad properties
Hem me, in one immortal moment, men;
free with the free in all the rounded earth;
Redeemed by martyr blood:
To stand with faces to the light again.
Attaining through their resurrection birth,
To hiiuini! brotherhood.
FREDERICK DOUGLAS
1 Born February 14, 1817; Died February 20, 1895
The man whose voice and pen help liberate the slaves after he had himself
escaped from slavery.
........
SIGNS OF PROGRESS
SHOWN AT CAPITOL
Washington Correspondent Contributes Interesting Facts Concern
ing Important Personages, Events And Institutions Within The
Shadow Of the Golden Dome of the National Seat of Government
Which Indicate Substantial Advancement During the Last Half
Century.
JNDGE TERRELL IS THE OUTSTANDING FIGIRE
Has Presided For Nineteen Consecutive Years With Wisdom And
Dignity Over Municipal Court of District Winning Esteem And
Approbation From Members of Bar.—Many Others Prominent
As Men of Affairs—Freedman’s Hospital, the Industrial Savings
Bank And the Whitelaw Hotel Mark Progress.
(Special To The Monitor by Walter J. Singleton,)
Washington D. C.. July 2K. 1921—1
The Capital City of Washington has a
population of. approximately, four
hundred and twenty-five thousand of
which one hundred and twenty-five
thousand are of the colored race. This
high ratio of almost thirty per centum
is the result of a continuous progress
during the past fifty years and which
is still in progress of growth. The
race has acquired a greater degree of
recognition than, probably, has existed
at any time since the short period of
affluence immediately following the
close of the Civil War. This public
recognition, as it exists at present,
takes on a national character by plac
ing race men in federal positions of
responsibility. Every field of endeav- ;
or, talent and education is covered,
and the names of those occupying po
sitions of trust and distinction are for
tunately too numerous to be recorded I
here. A few' may be mentioned !
(though il is difficult to do so without j
omitting scores of others equally en-]
titled to mention) as follows: At-j
torney William L. Houston, member of j
the Board of Education: Philip Brown,
of the Department of Labor: Henry]
Lincoln Johnson, nominated for Re
corder of Deeds; Prof. L. M. Kershaw,
examiner. General Land Office; Dr.
Edward D. Williston. professor of
Howard University; and Dr. Emmett J.
Scott, secretary-treasurer of Howard
University.
Judge Terrell.
Foremost among the personages
ranking highest in official recognition j
and public esteem is Judge Robert J-l. j
Terrell of the District of Columbia j
Municipal Court. Judge Terrell has |
served five successive terms covering j
a period of some nineteen years. Orig
inally appointed by the late Theodore
Roosevelt, and re-appointed, in turn,
bv Presidents William H. Tafl and \
Woodrow Wilson. His further re-ap
pointment (at the expiration of the
present term, a few months hence) by ]
President Harding. is absolutely
assured. Judge Terrell is intensely a j
race man, and always identified with j
every substantial movement tending!
toward the betterment of the race. ;
Though a republican, he is not an ac- i
live politician, especially as regards j
activities calculated to promote his I
own interests. He has never been
known to engage in any public ven
ture in his own behalf. His position is ■
due, solely, to his own attainments— ,
his thorough education, high intellec
tual endowments and his deep knowl
edge of the law, all of which have es
tablished him permanently in the re
spect and esteem of his superiors and
in the confidence of the general pub
lic of all races. Officials of every pol
itical belief have acknowledged his
ability and unhesitating’y supported
him. He has the hearty endorsement
of the great Bar Association of the Dis
j i riot of Columbia, which embraces in
I its membership some of the leading
| jurists of the country. As dean of the
District of Columbia Municipal Court
Judges, and established no less in the
confidence of the white race than in
his own. Judge Terrell occupies a po
sition as unique as it is honorable, for
seldom, indeed, does a man enjoy the
supreme confidence of both races at
the same time.
Freedman’s Hospital.
Washington may claim one of the
finest hospitals in the country.
Freedman’s Hospital, the most modern
equipped hospital in the city, covers an
entire block. All classes of patients
are accommodated. Every branch of
medicine and surgery is practiced with
the highest degree of scientific skill.
Dr. William A. Warfield has served
as Superintendent of this institution
for nearly twenty years.. Under his
able and efficient administration it has
grown and flourished to a state of ex
cellence that is a great credit to the
race. The Industrial Savings Bank in
corporated in 1913. of which J. W
I^wis is president, carries resources
estimated at more than half a-million,
WALTER J SINGLETON
The popular newspaper correspondent
who keeps thousands In touch with af
fairs at the National Capital. While a
native of Washington, Omaliu is proud
to claim him as one of her eitlzens.
and is an active hanking institution
enjoying well merited confidence and
support. The Whitelaw Apartment
Hotel, a handsome and imposing struc
ture, fireproof in construction, beau
tifully furnished and well ordered in
management, is a great monument of
race industry and resource. This
building, the first venture on so pre
tentious a scale, is a most convincing
evidence of material progress.
Signs of Progress General.
Time and space unfortunately cur
tail this sketch and exclude numerous
other enterprises equally worthy of
mention. Industry, progress and well
earned prosperity are well in evidence
j every where, and out of these have
grown a social life second to none in
the country. Social activities of every
grade and rank keep the visitor in a
state of constant movement, and make
' the hours fly on happy wings. The
Mu-So-Lit Club, with its sumptuous
quarters, is conspicuous among the
leading social centers that, enrich the
happy recollections of people, from all
over the country, who have visited
i Washington—the great national cen
ter where all Americans may read the
history of this country in bronze and
I marble.
HIES IN CHAIR WITHOUT FRAIL
McALESTER, Okla., July 15—Ell
Thomas, was electrocuted shortly af
ter midnight Thursday night at the
state penitentiary for the murder of
, Selnm Mayfield, a while hoy, at a pic
nic near Calhoun, Okla., more than a
year ago.
The condemned man walked to the
t'death cell unaided and without the
least trace of fear, and after a short
1 speech to the spectators, in which he
acknowledged his guilt, and warned
young men against the same fate, and
thanking the prison ofifcials for their
I many acts of kindness, he took his
, seat in the chair that was so soon to
snuff out the last vestige of life.
NEW YORK. July 28—The National
I Association for the Advancement of
Colored People, 70 Fifth Avenue, New
Y'ork, today anounced that the re
ceipts to date of Its fund for the relief
and legal defense of the Tulsa riot
victims amounted to $2,248.87.
In connection with the an
nouncement that funds were being
distributed through a local committee
of the Association in conjunction with
the recognized Tulsa Colored Citizens
| Committee, the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored Peo
ple issued a warning to the public
' that frauds were being committed by
people traveling over the country and
soliciting funds, alleging that they
* were working for the relief of the Tul
•sa riot victims.
