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NEBRASKA’S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF COLORED AMERICANS
V _ • THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS, Editor
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$2.00 a Year— • SCopy OMAHA, NEBRASKA, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1925 Whole Number 537 Vol. XI—No. 17
5. *_ ____ -
DUI'E DONATED MILLIONS TO EDUCATION
Dr. Sweet Case Goes to Trial at Detroit Friday and Darrow Defends
EMINENT LAWYERS
WILL WAGE BATTLE
IN SUPREME COURT
Crucial Residentia! Segregation Case
To He Argued by Moorfield
Storey and Louis Mar
' shall in November
It ARMAGEDDON OF CIVIL RIGHTS
Fpon the Issue of This Case Depends
the Future Status of the
Race Touching Prop
erty Rights.
New York.—Two of the most emin
ent lawyers in the United States will
present the argument against segre
gation in the case which will be heard
before the U. S. Supreme Court the
middle of this November. The two
lawyers are Moorfield Storey, of Bos
ton, president of the National Asso
ciation for the Advancement of Col
ored People, and Louis Marshall, of
New York, eminent constitutional
authority and a member of the N. A.
A. C. P. board of directors. It has
been arranged between Messrs. Mar
shall and Storey, that Mr. Marshall
will open the argument and present
the case at length and that Mr. Storey
will reply to the arguments of the op
ponents and close the case for the N.
A. A. C. P.
The case to be argued concerns the
right of white property owners to
make agreements not to sell to Ne
groes and to enforce such argreements
at law. It is the contention of the
N. A. A. C. I’, attorneys that since
the Supreme Court in the Louisville
case of 1017 declared segregation by,
law or ordinance to be unconstitution- i
al, it is equally illegal for the courts
to enforce private segregation agree-!
ments.
The case arose out of a sale of j
property in Washington, situated at j
1727 S street, N. W., to Mrs. Helen;
Curtis, a colored woman. The prop- j
erty had previously been included in i
an agreement not to sell to Negroes.
White property owners who were a j
party to the agreement, went to court
and enjoined the owner from selling
the property and Mrs. Curtis from
taking possession of it. On appeal j
of the case from the Supreme Courtj
of the District of Columbia to the
Court of Appeals, the higher court
upheld the injunction. The case was
then appealed to the United States
Supreme Court where it is now to be
heard.
A formidable array of counsel re
tained by the N. A. A. C. P. will as
sist Messrs. Storey and Marshall.
Arthur B. Spingarn, vice-president of
the N. A. A. C. P., and Herbert K.
Stockton, prominent attorney, who is
a member of the board of directors of
the N. A. A. C. P., both of New York,
are associated in the case, as are
James A. Cobb, member of the N. A.
A. C. P. board of directors, chairman
of the legal committee of the Wash
ington branch of the N. A. A. C. P.
and leading attorney for the appell
ants; Henry E. Davis, former U. S.
attorney for the District of Columbia;
James P. Schick of counsel for Mrs.
Curtis; and William H. I^wis, former
assistant attorney general of the Uni
ted States.
This case is regarded as one of the
most important battles in behalf of
the Negro’s civil rights that has ever
been fought in the United States. De
feat will mean the creation of segre
gated districts for Negroes through
out the country and the relegation of
colored people to the position occu
pied by Jews in Russia in the days of
the “pale” or ghetto. Victory will
mean a new affirmation that the col
ored citizens of this country are en
titled to equal accommodation and
treatment before tha law with all
other citizens of the land.
\ It has been pointed out in connec
tion with this case that not only are
Negroes involved but all minority
groups of the country as well. If
Negroes can be segregated the way
is opened for the segregation of Cath
olics, Jews, Irish, Italians or any
other religious or racial minority.
BUYS LOT FOR $1,800;
SELLS IT FOR $732,800
Beverly Hills, Calif.—John C. Neal,
■ who six years ago purchased a lot on
the installment plan in Beverly Hills
for $1300 has just leased it for 99
years for $732,800, $20,000 cash and
a monthly rental of $600. Neal is
chauffeur for King C. Gillette, safety
razor magnate.
V
NEGROES SERVE WITH
WHITES ON JURY
Lexington, Miss.—Practically for
the first time in the history of the
state of Mississippi and the South as
well, have Negroes been placed on the
juries to serve with white men in the
dispensation of justice. This week in
making up the grand and petit juries
several Negroes were selected and ac
cepted. Fn Issaquena county there are
only ose hundred and twenty white
men subject to jury service.
DIES AT 101;
BURIED AT ARLINGTON
Washington, D. C.—Keeping com
pany with the late William Jennings
Bryan and the nation’s heroes, Thom
as Bell, a former slave, who died here
Sunday at the age of 101, was buried
in Arlington cemetery. He enlisted
in the Union army in 1863 and served
three years. For the past 30 years
he lived in this city. The records at
the pension office accounted for 88
years of his life.
ELECTED EDITOR LAW REVIEW
Boston, Mass.—Mrs. Clara B. Bruce,
wife of Roscoe Conklin Bruce, has
been elected chairman of the board of
undergraduate editors of the Boston
University of Law Review.
The board consists of the ranking
students in the senior and junior
classes, eighteen in number. Mrs.
Bruce is not only the first member of
her race to hold this rank, but the
first woman of any race to be elected:
chairman of the board of editors.
1 FINE SOCIAL FUNCTION
AT DREAMLAND HALL
The outstanding social event of the sea
son was the masquerade ball given Wednes
day night at Dreamland Hall by Mesdames
J. Bailey, William C. Haynes, J. H. Hut
ten, Joseph LaCour, W. W. Peebles, Al
| plionso Wilson and Miss Lena Paul, com
plimentary to Omaha visitors including
Mesdames Taylor of Davenport, la.; |
Thomas of Baltimore, Md.; Slater of Atlan
ta, Ga.; Smallwood of Washington, D. C.;
I Mitchell of Los Angeles and Miss Lois
] Town of I-os Angeles, CaL
The hull was beautifully decorated. More
than 200 guests with a variety of masks,
including the beautiful and grotesque,
danced to the strains of Turner’s seven
piece orchestra. Many guests were pres
ent as spectators and enjoyed the fun as
much as the dancers. Refreshments were
| served and favors distributed. Mrs. Le
| roy C. Brownfield was awarded the prize
| in the balloon dance.
KLAN BURNS CROSS
BEFORE FRAT HOUSE
Nashville, Tenn.—Two dozen klans
men, the center of attention for sev
eral hundred whites and Negroes wno
remained at a distance, stood at at
tention Friday night while a cross was
burned in front of a building in the
heart of Nashville’s elite residential
section, which has been purchased by
a fraternity of Meharry Medical Col
lege. When the whites learned that
the colored owners were about to
move in, the klan placed a jar half
filled with gun powder on the steps
with the warning that if any Negro
should move into the building, he
would do so in the face of “death,
hell and destruction”. The note was
written by “white people who stay in
their places”. W. 1). Hawkins, treas
urer of the fraternity announced aft
erward that the members of the or
ganization would move in.
The colored Protestant Episcopal
churches of Washington recently pur
chased property, containing fifteen
rooms, which will serve as a home for
widows asd aged and indigent mem
bers of the church.
NEW YORK IS THE
LARGEST NEGRO CITY
Washington, D. C.—Estimated col
ored populations of some of the lead
ing cities of the United States, as of
July 1, 1925, have been made by the
U. S. Census Bureau. The figures for
eleven of the principal ones follow:
New York, 196,199; Philadelphia, 163,
904; Chicago, 150,083; Washington,
119,645; Baltimore, 117,360; Cleve
land, 49,856; Pittsburg, 46,166; In
dianapolis, 42,117; Louisville, 40,478;
Cincinnati, 35,152; and Kansas City,
34,966.
TO DEVELOP AFRICAN
GOVERNMENT BY TRIBES
Nairobi, So. Africa.—It has been
announced from this town that native
councils and a native trust fund will
lie inaugurated to assist the native
Negro tribes to develop the beginning
of a responsible government in the
Kenya Colony.
NEGRO INSURANCE COMPANY
WRITES $250,000 POLICY
Houston, Texas.—Perhaps the larg
est policy ever issued by a colored in
surance company to a colored organ
ization, was issued here this week,
when the International Longshore
men Assocation, through Freeman
Everett, president, insured its mem
bership for $250,000 in the National
Benefit Life Insurance Company of
Washington, D. C.
Insurance men here state that this is
the largest single insurance contract
ever handled entirely by race men, the
deal being closed by Oscar J. Polk,
manager of the South Texas district
for the Washington company.
The National Benefit Life Insurance
Company is reputed to be one of the
largest and strongest financial in
stitutions of the race, operating in
twenty-six states, with ninety-nine
branch offices, writing health, acci
dent, and ordinary insurance policies
on men, women anql children.
PASTOR SCORES RACE HATRED
Atlantic City, N. J.—“Only patient
and persistent application of Chris
tian principles can solve the race prob
lem in America”, it was declared Fri
day night by Rev. Dr. Charles R. Erd
man, Princeton, before the Afro-Am
erican Presbyterian Council.
“It is the duty of every individual
to strive for a higher moral, intel
lectual and spiriual development for
himself and his race”, he asserted.
TEXANS DESERT KLAN
Dallas, Texas.—According to Z. E.
Martin, this city, deposed Grand Drag
on of the Ku Klux Klan in Texas, de
clared upon receipt of an order sus
pending him, from Clarence S. Parker,
Dallas Exalted Cyclops, that thous*
ands of Texas members of the organ
ization are getting out of it by allow
ing their dues to lapse, and in other
ways, as a protest against the way
the order is run in the state.
DARROW STARTS SWEET DEFENSE
New York.—Clarence Darrow, who
has been retained by the National As
sociation for the Advancement of Col
ored People to defend Dr. 0. H. Sweet
and ten other colored people in De
troit for repulsing a mob from Dr.
Sweet’s home, has obtained a stay ot
proceedings until October 30 to give j
him time to prepare the case. On i
October 30 it is expected to go to trial
in Judge Frank J. Murphy’s court.
Judge Murphy recently released Mrs.
Sweet in $10,000 bail.
Association of Mr. Darrow with the
Sweet defense has aroused enormous
interest in the case, the Chicago Daily
News sending a special correspondent,
Gregory T. Dillon, cover the case.
The cost of the Sweet case, it is
conservatively estimated, will exceed
$15,000, and possibly run up to $20,
000. On his visit to Detroit on Octo
ber 16, when he was accompanied by
Walter White, assistant secretary of
the N. A. A. C. P., Mr. Darrow held i
conferences with the local colored at
torneys and others interested in the
case, laying the grounds for the case.
While in Detroit Mr. Darrow said:
“I am going to receive $5,000 to
fight this case, I would do it for noth
ing if I could afford it because there
is a principle involved. These colored
people are entitled to a fair shake.
It will cost me more than $5,000 to
try this case. I do not want the peo
ple to think that I am defending these
Negroes because of an exorbitant fee.
It will cost me more than I receive to
try the case but I have a deep-felt in
terest in the colored race dnd hope for
an improvement m 'lheir condition.”
The national office of the N. A. A. I
C. P. has guaranteed the fees of
Messrs. Darrow and Arthur Hays of
New York, and Walter M. Nelson,
travelling and hotel accommodations.
The colored people of Detroit through
the local branch of the N. A. A. C.
P. and other agencies are endeavoring
to raise as much money as possible
to meet the expenses of the case. In
connection with the case, Walter
White who concluded the arrange
ments with Mr. Darrow, said:
“Dr. Sweet and the other defend
ants are in jail not because they have
committed a crime but because they
are Negroes and dared to defend their
home and their lives against a mob.
They are in the forefront of the bat
tle being waged for all Negroes in
America and in a larger sense they
are fighting for justice and fair play
for all Americans.
“The N. A. A. C. P. has retained
the greatest criminal lawyer in the
country and we were able to do so
only because he is willing to sacrifice
other business and devote himself to
this case for a fee which is probably
one-tenth of what he could get else
where for a case of this magnitude.
Even so, it is a heavy burden for the
N. A. A. C. P. We must have money
and have it at once to pay the bills.
Our legal defense fund is exhausted.
We urge every person who can pos
sibly do so to send as large a contri
bution as possible to the N. A. A. C.
P. at 69 Fifth avenue, New York City.
Please act at once.”
COUNTEE CULLEN WINS
ANOTHER PRIZE AS HIS
BOOK “COLOR” APPEARS
On the day preceding publication
of “Color”, his first book of poems,
Countee Cullen won another prize to
add to the many that already stand
to his credit.
At Harvard, where Cullen is now
studying, he was awarded the John
Reed Memorial Prize, the announce
ment preceding by one day the first
appearance of "Color” which was pub
lished by Harper and Brothers, Oc
tober 20, 1925.
PROMINENT LODGE WOMAN
BECOMES MINISTER’S WIFE
Pleasant Green Baptist church was filled
to overflowing Monday night to witness
the marriage of Mrs. Jennie Sellers, a pop
ular member of the congregation and prom
inent in lodge affairs, to the Rev. John
Walker, a Baptist minister of Topeka. The
ceremony was performed by the Kev. Z.
E. McGee, pastor of Pleasant Green. Scores
of friends showered felicitations and good
wishes upon the happy puir.
COMPLIMENTS GUESTS
BY DANCING PARTY
Mrs. T. P. Mahammitt entertained ut a
largely attended dancing party Monday
night at Hanscoin Park pavillion, com
plimentary to her house guest, Mrs. Wil
liam F. Mitchell and her daughter. Miss
Lois Town of; Los Angeles, Cal. Eighty
couples danced to their, hearts’ delight to
the enticing strains of Dan Dcsdunes’ or
chestra.
FUNERAL OF CYRUS D. BELL
HELD SATURDAY AFTERNOON
The funcrul of the late Cyrus D. Bell
was held last Saturday afternoon at 2
o’clock from the Church of St. Philip the
Deacon, Rev. John Albert Williams offi
ciating. The services toere the simple,
but impressive rites of the Episcopal
church, without sermon or eulogy. Two
lavorite hymns of the deceased, “Just As
I Am” and ‘,Oh Paradise, Who Doth Not
Crave for Rest?” were sung. Interment
was in Forest Lawn cemetery. The pall
bearers were M. F. Singleton, Maynard L.
Wilson, Henry W. (Slack, Dumas James,
Jasper E. Brown and Dr. Craig Morris.
REVISIT CITY AFTER
ABSENCE OF MANY YEARS
Two popular Omaha visitors are Mrs.
William M. Mitchell and her charming
daughter, Miss Lois Town, of Los An
geles, Cal., who are the house guests of
Mrs. T. P. Mahammitt, 2214 North Twen
ty-fifth street. Mrs. Mitchell is pleasant
ly rememhered by many Omahans as Mrs.
Gertrude Town, who resided here some
fifteen or sixteen years ago, after the
death of her first husband. Lois who was
then a little girl has grown into young
womanhood, taken her university course,
and is now a trained nurse, holding a
supervisory position in a Los Angeles hos
pital Mother and daughter have been tak
ing a well-earned vacation which has in
cluded an eastern trip to Detroit, Mich.
They are en route west. Many social
functions are planned for Mrs. Mitchell
and her daughter during their fortnight
visit here.
MRS. FLORENCE KELLEY
GIVES $200 FOR N. A. A. C. P.
DETROIT DEFENSE
Mrs. Florence Kelley, member of
the board of directors of the National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People, and secretary of the
National Consumers’ League, has sent
in her check for $200 to be used in the
legal defense of Dr. and Mrs. O. H.
Sweet and nine other Negroes in De
troit. Mrs. Kelley has been actively
interested in the N. A. A. C. P. since
it was founded, and has given liberally
of her time and money toward the N.
A. A. C. P. work.
*,WCl£ WIGGILY’S TRICKS
I know Im absents
minded, but
she "
spoke|
-
VIRGINIA TOWN REPEALS
SEGREGATION AFTER CON
TEST BY N. A. A. C. P.
James A. Cobb, chairman of the
legal committee of the Washington
branch of the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored Peo
ple, reports that the city council of
Falls Church, Va., repealed a local
segregation ordinance after they had
been convinced of its unconstitution
ality by Mr. Cobb’s brief.
The case arose when James Spencer,
a colored man, bought porperty and
applied for a permit to build, which
was denied him. Mr. Spencer applied
for aid to the N. A. A. C. P., which
challenged the constitutionality of the
segregation ordinance invoked against
Mr. Spencer.
Mr. Cobb reports as follows, to the
national office of the N. A. A. C. P.;
“In our presence the city council
unanimously on an aye and nay vote,
repealed the city ordinance; after
which they unanimously granted
Spencer the permit to build. Then
counsel for the corporation of Falls
Church arose and said that he had re
ceived the brief by special delivery
as promised and that it was a very
able brief and asked for a vote of
thanks for counsel for the defense for
the assistance and aid given them in
reaching their conclusion. The vote
was unanimous. In other words, the
city council not only repealed the law
but they did it in a big way.”
ENTERTAIN FOR OUT
OF TOWN GUESTS
Mesdames Charles T. Smith and Philip
Letcher were hostesses Tuesday afternoon
from 4 to 6 at a delightful tea, at the
attractive home of the latter, 3415 North
Twenty-eighth street, complimentary to
Mrs. Robert Taylor, of Davenport, la.,
house guest of Mrs. L. N. Peoples, and
Mrs. Leon: Smallwood of Washington, D.
C., house guest of Mrs. James C. Donley.
Other out of town guests were Mrs. Rob
ert Thomas of Baltimore, Md., and Mrs.
William M. Mitchell and daughter, Miss
Lois Town, of Los Angeles. Assisting the
hostesses were Mesdames M. E. Overall,
J. F. Smith and Isaac Bailey and the
Misses Grace Dorsey, Elaine Smith, Edessa
Banks and Virginia Jackson.
JUNIOR GIRL’S FRIENDLY
SOCIETY ENTERTAINMENT
The Junior Girl’s Friendly Society
of the Church of St. Philip the Deacon
gave a unique entertainment Wednes
day night in the Guild room. It was
entitled “A Trip Around the World.”
The countries represented by attrac
tive booths and appropriately dressed
misses were Japan, Italy, Liberia and
the United States. Refreshments ap
propriate to each country were seld
at the booths; Japan, tea and wafers;
Italy, spaghetti; Liberia, figs, nuts
and fruit; United States, ice cream
and cake.
RETURN FROM HUNTING TRIP
The Mars Hunting Club composed of
Larry N., James and Jesse Peoples, Walter
Stevens, Curtis Kirtley and Matthew Ran
dall had a successful five-day hunting
trip in the sandhills, thirty-five miles
southwest of Elgin, at Goose Lake, where
they bagged about 200 ducks and chickens.
They left Sunday morning in Kirtley’s
and Steven’s cars and returned late Thurs
day night. The editor of The Monitor was
promised some game if these Nimrods had
any luck. No game has yet reached the
editor’s sanctum.
Less than $125 was contributed by
the two hundred thousand Negroes in
New York City to the defense fund
for Samuel A. Browne, the Staten
Island colored postman whose home
has been attacked several times by
audacious mobs.
The Irving Fireproof Centering
Company, of which Samuel A. Irving,
a colored contractor, is president, is
building the concrete foundation iur
the $10,000,000 Columbia-Presbyter
ian Medical Center in New York City.
Native women of East Africa of
the “flapper age” are using tons or
miles of brass wire for personal
adornment. They wind the wire
around their arms, neck and calves of
their legs. They roll their own.
Mr. Sandy Trice, of Chicago, has
been appointed chairman of the Trans
poration Committee of the Imperial
Council of the Ancient Egyptian
Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mys
tic Shrine and Daughters of Isis.
JAMES B. DUKE,
BENEFACTOR OF
RACE, IS DEAD
Born In Log Cabin, Built Up Gigantic
Industry, Application and
“Stick-to-ity” Secret of
His Success
WAS GREAT PHILANTHROPIST
Gave $40,000,000 For Educational and
Public Institutions. Remem
bered Negro In His
Gifts.
New York.—James Buchanan Duke,
formerly president of the American
Tobacco Company, one of the nation’s
leading philanthropists, died of bron
chial pneumonia at his Fifth avenue
residence recently.
Duke was not only well known
among the white race for his mag
naminity in lending financial aid to
their institutions, but he was also
known as a helper of the colored race
and its institutions.
His gifts to colored educational in
stitutions run up into the millions. He
did much to elevate the facilities
for the learning of the colored people.
The owner of the white palace on
the northeast comer of Fifth avenue
and Seventy-eight street rose from
much poverty that he is often called
“one of the last of the log-cabin suc
cesses of American life.” He was
bom in 1857 on the small farm of his
father where he and his brothers
started the great tobacco industry
through which he built up his vast
wealth, which is estimated at from
$100,000,000 to $150,000,000. He
owns a 3,000 acre park around his
home in Durham.
Duke is survived by a daughter,
Doris, 12, his wife, Mrs. Nannie Lee
Holt Duke, and an older brother, Ben
jamin.
“I have succeeded in business not
because I have more natural ability
than many people who have not suc
ceeded, but because I have applied
myself harder and stuck to it longer.
I know plenty of people who have
failed to succeed in anything who
have more brains than I had, but they
lacked application and determination.
“I had confidence in myself. I said
to myself, ‘If John D. Rockefeller can
| do what he is doing in oil, why should
i I not do it in tobacco?’ I resolved
from the time I was mere lad to do
' a big business. I loved business bet
I ter than anything else. I worked from
early morning to late at night. I was
sorry to leave off at night and glad
when morning came so that I could
get at it again. Any young man with
common intelligence can succeed, if
he is willing to apply himself. Su
perior brains are not necessary.”
Mr. Duke’s gift of $40,000,000 is the
largest benefaction ever made at one
time by a single person excepting An
drew Carnegie. Of the bequest ten
per cent was assigned to go to Negro
and white orphans in North and South
Carolina, and four per cent to John
son C. Smith University, a colored in
stitution of Charlotte.
In announcing his gift, Mr. Duke
said that the $40,000,000 would in
clude, among other securities, ap
proximately three-fourths of his hold
| ings in the Southern Power System.
His reason for establishing the fund
was thus expressed at the time:
“I don’t believe that a college edu
cation does a man much good in busi
ness, except for the personal satis
faction it gives him. But when you
have a great community growing like
the Carolinas, you’ve got to have five
kinds of leaders whose minds are
trained. The first is preachers, the
second is teachers, the third is law
years, the fourth is chemists and en
gineers and the fifth is doctors.”
I ENGLISH MAGAZINE QUOTES
FROM N. A. A. C. P.
LYNCHING STATISTICS
The “Anti-Slavery Reporter and
Aborigines’ Friend”, published by the
Anti-Slavery and Aborigines Protec
tion Society in London, in its October
number has an abstract on lynching
in the United States, based on the fig
ures given in reports of the National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People.
The average value of ail land in
farms in Coweta County, Georgia, has
decreased $33 per acre since 1920, and
there has also been a decrease of 1029
in the number of colored farmers,
mostly croppers.
