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CALLED HOME
Within the past three weeks
the earthly careers of several
men prominent in Omaha af
fairs have ended. Among the
most outstanding may be men
tioned the genial, big-hearted
Edward E. Howell, whom it
was always a pleasure to meet.
And how beautiful was his
home going. Strong in his
Christian faith with joy and
gladness he went to meet his
Maker leaving a message of
cheer to his devoted family..
Charles L. Saunders was an
other who had knit his soul
with hoops of steel to scores
and scores of friends. And then
the genial, whole-souled Wil
liam F. Gurley, eminent law
yer of the old school, an orator
of international r e p u t a tion
whose influence in the com
munity was wide. Nor should
Robert L. Carter, prominent in
business affairs, always pleas
ant, always kindly, be forgot
ten. These are men whom
Omaha will miss and who en
riched our civic life. They
were all high-class Christian
gentlemen, not ashamed to be
counted on the side and in the
cause of righteousness. Men
like these reveal the true
grandeur of manhood and re
new our faith in human na
ture.
RHINELANDER AGAIN
The important fact about the
Rhinelander decision is that
it establishes the principle that
lawful marriage between a
man and woman is to be re
garded as a lawful union not
to be nullified or denied on
some superficial charge. It
does not go into the wisdom or
expediency of such unions. If,
however, inquiry were made as
to the racial affinities of many
prominent New York families,
who are reputed to be of “In
dian,” “French,” or “Spanish”
blood, there would be startling
revelations. Well, what of it?
Character and worth are what
count after all.
EMANCIPATION DAY IS
CELEBRATED BY COLORED
PEOPLE OF KEOKUK, IA.
John Albert William* of Omaha Wa*
the Speaker on the Anniversary
of the Proclamation of
Freedom
■ ■
(By A. W. Draine)
The sixty-third anniversady of the
Emancipation Proclamation issued
by Abraham Lincoln January 1st,
1863, was observed in Bethel A. M.
E. church Saturday night by the Keo
kuk branch of the National Associa
tion for the Advancement of Colored
People. F. D. Bland is the president
of the local branch, and the principal
speaker for the occasion was the Rev.
John Albert William of Omaha, Neb.
President Bland has been an active
worker in the Association during the
past year and has to his credit the
setting up of a branch in Ft. Madi
son with a membership of 50. For
the first two or three years this new
organization was under the protec
torate of the Keokuk branch until a
sufficient number of members had
been secured to set up an independ
ent branch. At the opportune time
and with the assistance of his local
officers Mr. Bland drove up to Ft.
Madison and set the wheels of the
new society in motion. Now, Ft.
Madison has a live organization that!
threatens to outstrip the Keokuk
branch in point of membership.
There was a larfge and inspring
audience present and the speaker was
given rapt attention throughout his
entire address. The subject of his
speech was “The Old Emancipation
and the New.”
Pay* Tribute Locally
In his opening remarks Rev. Wil
liams expressed his appreciation in
having the pleasure of returning to
Keokuk. He spoke of his services in
the church of St. Mary the Virgin
during the pastorate of the late Bis
hop John C. Sage. He congratulated
the citizens of Keokuk for its excel
lent band. He said that Abraham
Lincoln issued one of the greatest
documents in the history of the
world. It takes its place with Magna
Charta and liberated four millions of
human beings who were elevated
from the status of chattels to that
of manhood. Abraham Lincoln is a
name to be revered, a man who en
dured all privations and reared in the
school of hard knocks, was greatly
misunderstood in his own time.
He recited the vicissitudes under
which he labored in his own cabinet.
“We are beginning to realize that the
whole world is a brotherhood and
when you touch one member you
touch all. We do well to meet to
gether to commemorate the emanci
pation of our people. The American
Negro is dressed in the armour of
American citizenship, but he is not
getting all the rights of an American
citizen. All men are entitled to the
rights of liberty and the pursuit of
happiness."
He outlined the work of the Na
tional Association for the Advance
ment of Colored People and said that
this organization stands to make the
constitution mean what it says.
There is a vital connection between
Abraham Lincoln and this Associa
tion. He quoted from the platform
of the Association in which it advo
cates the right to vote, a fair trial,
the right to jury service, the destruc
tion of lynch law,' equal service on
public carriers. He told of a color
ed woman being dragged from a
Pullmen car in Florida, thrown in
jail, and fined $500. The National
Association has taken up the case
and brought suit for $25,000. Clar
ence Darrow and Mr. Hays are the
attorneys for the Association.
Economic Problem*
He spoke of the economic problem
and the right of employment. No or
ganization has a right to deprive a
citizen of an equal chance to earn a
livelihood. He dwelt upon residen
tial segregation and cited the Sweet
case of Detroit and what a tremend
ous victory was won for the race.
That victory established the right of
every man to protect his home. He
cited a number of cases in the South
in which colored people are lynched
on trumped-up charges.
Continuing on the subject of se
gregation, he said that in some
Northern communities there are
movements to stir up race hatred,
and urged all citizens to keep the
public schools free from sectionalism.
He urged the people to hold fast to
their citizenship. “This land is ours
by right of birth and we must not
surrender one jot or title of our
rights. We must strive and contend
for all our rights. We must all labor
for the advancement of America, be
loyal to each other, magnify the good
points and minimize the small points.
We must make this nation the land
of the free and the home of the
brave.”
The address was one of the best
the Keokuk branch has heard for
some time.—The Keokuk Daily Gate
City.
HILLSIDE ATHLETIC
CLUB PROVIDING FOR
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
The Hillside Athletic Club held its
weekly meeting Monday evening, Jan
uary 10th, at the gymnasium, Thirt
ieth and Ohio streets. This club was
organized for the purpose of open
ing up the avenue of physical devel
opment among the boys and girls,
men and women of our race. All
gymnasiums in Omaha are closed to
us, and it is necessary for us to de
elop and equip the one in the base
ment of the Hillside Presbyterian
church at Thirtieth and Ohio streets.
There is no place in Omaha for
our boys and girls to go for this kind
of recreation. I wish we could get
the men and women, especially those
who have children, to see the advant
age of this opportunity of develop
ing our boys and girls, and have some
place for them to go and play, good
wholesome games, under proper su
pervision.
We are asking that all men inter
ested in this move to be present nt
the gymnasium on Monday evening.
January 17th, at 8:30 p. m., and help
us put this over. The price is not to
be considered, it is so very small.
Come, and bring a man or a boy
with you, or both. Come whether
you have children or not.
We have 35 boys enrolled, and
several men. We also have a wo
men's division, which will soon be or
ganized to play volley ball. We have
several basket ball teams, one of
which has played several games,
which they won.
We have had donated to us by Mr.
Chas. Pickens: One punching bag,
one chest developer, one set of box
ing gloves, one basketball.
The Y. M. C. A. is going to make
us a donation of equipment, and help
up all they can.
Will you do your part?
The following merchants and in
dividuals have donated to the club,
for which we thank them.
H. J. Crawford & Sons, 2012 N.
24th, $2.00; Chas. W. Dickerson,
2814 Ohio, $1.00; Rev. Chas. H.
Trusty, 3007 Ohio, $1.00; North Side
Loans, 1906 N. 24th, 25c; Liberty
Drug Co., 1904 N. 24th, $1.00;
Frampton-Mason, 1818 N. 24th,
$2.00; Sol Lewis, 1812 N. 24th,
$1.00; Ralph Underwood, 1606 N.
24th, 25c; Clarence C. Green, 923
S. 13th, 50c; Dr. Wesley Jones, 1518
N. 24th, $1.00; Dr. Herbert Wiggins,
1518 N. 24th, $1.00; Ike Levy, 1802
N. 24th, $1.00; North Side Bazaar,
2114 N. 24th, 50c; Isaac Bailey, 2816
Pratt, 25c; Dr. G. B. Lenox, 1602 N.
24th, $1.00; Dr. J. J. Jones, 1602 N.
24th, $1.00; Pierre Barquett, 2519
N. 28th Ave., 50c; Ross Drug Co.,
2306 N. 24t.h, $2.50; Jones Under
taking Co., 2216 N. 24th, $1.00.
Total, $18.75.
Officers:
CHAS. W. DICKERSON,
President.
DILLARD CRAWFORD,
Vice President.
RBT. BURNS ALLEN,
Secretary.
REV. CHAS. H. TRUSTY,
Treasurer.
MIGRATION OF NEGRO A
RELIEF TO RACE PROBLEM
Shifting of 2,000,000 Negroes in
Last Decade Beneficial to
Entire Nation.
San Francisco, Jan. 6—“The shift
ing of almost 2,000,000 of the Ne
gro population from the tenant
farms in the South to the northern
industrial centers in the last ten
years has been a great relief to the
race problem” said Will Winton Al
exander of Atlanta, Ga., winner of
the Harmon award, who was a re
cent visitor at the Hotel St. Fran
cis.
Negroes Are Making Good
"The Negroes are making good in
industry, and the shift caused by
the shutting out of foreign labor,
has not brought a race problem to
the north, because the Negroes do
not present a problem until they ex
ceed 30 per cent of the total popula
tion.
“While industrial leaders have ex
pressed approval of the Negro labor
they have trouble in getting the men
to work on time and in keeping them
from taking holidays without notice.
This is explained by the fact that on
plantations the Negroes worked by
the sun, and do not yet understand
the use of clocks.
Causing Diversification
“This migration movement is
breaking up the southern planta
tions into smaller units and is caus
sescika -j AoLi
ing a diversification of industries
there, bringing about more dairying
and farming in that part of the
country.”
Wins Harmon Award
Alexander is a southerner who re
cently received the award of the
Harmon Foundation of New York
of $600 and a gold medal as the per
son adjudged to have made the most
notable contribution to the improve-(
ment of race relations in America
during the past year. The award
was based on Mr. Alexander’s ser
vice as director of the Commission
j on Inter-racial Co-operation, a south
ern organization with headquarters
in Atlanta, Ga.
Solution of Race Problem
When asked what he considered a
solution of the race problem, Mr.
Alexander expressed the opinion
that the Negro will have to be given
a sane legal status before the race
problem can be solved.
You ought to subscribe for your
local race newspaper. The Moni
tor is the only race newspaper pub
lished in Nebraska. $2.00 a year in
advance. Send in your subscrip
tion.
Mr. Dudley Maxey passed away at
his home, 1211 North 21st street,
Wednesday, January 12.
SECOND GENERATION OF
COLLEGE BRED NEGROES
By Kelly Miller
(Continued from Page One)
us then for convenience divide
and deal with them severally and
separately. Let us then look upon
the estate in its religious, economic,
political, social and cultural aspects.
Impotence With Mum
In the first place the educated
Negro has not yet been able to
arouse the enthuisiasm of the mass
es. The tasks which he easays does
not in general appeal to the rank
and file. Herein lies his greatest
imbecility. For his function will re
main unfulfilled until he projects his
influence even unto the uttermost
and nethermost. The Catholic heir
archy reaches and stimulates the
humblest Catholic in Christendom.
The Jewish elite reaches and inspires
eery member within the household
of Jewry. But the Negro elite
stands separated from the mass life
of his group by a gulf across which
his influence scarcely leaps. The
churches and denomination over
which the educated clergy preside,
such as the Presbyterians, Episcopa
lians, Congregationalists, and the
rest do not quicken the spiritual pas
sion of the race. The more popu
lous and enthusiastic denominations,
such as the Methodist and the Bap
tist, are manned and managed by
a much less well educated and cul
tured clergy. The Y. M. C. A., which
is under well educated and trained
auspices utterly fails to quicken the
moral sense of the masses of the
young manhood of the race or to
arouse general moral enthusiasm.
The N. A. A. C. P. and the Equal
Rights league are officered by the
best college equipment within the
group. It is devoted to the task
which most easily elicits enthusiastic
response of the multitude, and yet
they arouse and sustain no wide pop
ular emotion. Violent denunciation
of wrong with holding out hope of
arouse the slave to insurrection and
deliverance might be supposed to
the suppressed to rebellion. And
yet so feeble is the response to the
appeal of the N. A. A. C. P. and the
Equal Rights league, that their an
nual collections amount to scarcely
a half-cent apiece from the constitu
ency to whose welfare these reform
moements are devoted: On the
other hand, the Elks, the Pythians,
the Odd Fellows and others whose
leadership grows out of the masses,
corral their members by the hun
dreds of thousands and collect mil
lions of dollars. In politics and in
dustry we find the same lack of re
lationship. It will not do for the
college man to stand off in his im
potent aloofness and condemn the
masses for failure to appreciate their
exalted proffer of service. The
masses have no faults, merely mis
fortunes. The educated man and
woman must devise some means and
methods of reaching them, just as
they are, without one plea. Other
wise the higher education of the
race will be pronounced a failure.
Pres* Powerful
Perhaps the greatest exception to i
the general rule above set forth is
to be seen in the Negro press. At
one time college bred Negroes spurn
ed even to write for the colored
publications, on the ground that they
fall so far short of literary form
and mechanical perfection that it
would belittle their name to appear
on their pages. But now the Negro
press is coming more and more un
der the editorship and ownership of
college men. Our three most wide
ly spread journals, the Chicago De
fender, the Baltimore Afro-Ameri
can and the Pittsburgh Courier are
owned and edited by degreed men.
influencing, masses of the race as
Negro journals are reaching and
no other agency is now effecting.
The appeal which they often make
seems offensive to the type of taste
which the editors cultivated in the
good old college days. But the mass
es must be reached and stimulated
even at some sacrifice of the stiff
orthodox academies standard. When
I read the Negro press and look
over the pages devoted to crime,
scandal and dubious forms of amuse
ment, my moral nature is disposed to
revolt. But I am steadied by the
thought that the appeal must be
made to the masses in such terms as
the masses can and will respond to.
This is precisely the lesson that the
talented tenth must learn. On the
whole the Negro press is the great
est voice for righteousness now cry
ing in the wilderness to the American
conscience. It is the voice of the
masses of the people. As illustration
of my meaning, I bad on article in
“The Education Review" for De
cember, on “The Higher Education
of the Negro at the Cross Roads.”
I very seriously doubt whether five
hundred Negroes in the United States
saw or heard of this contribution.
On the other hand I broadcasted a
New Year release in the Negro press,
and judge that it reached the eye
of three million readers.
Appeal of the Elite
The elite is now making appeal in
artistic form under the guise of the
New Negro. This movement should
be watched with great interest and
not without some apprehension. The
chief burden of concern is to reach
the white public, rather than the
Negro reader. Appeal is too often
made to the coarser and cruder side
of life merely to amuse the white
race, as the clown used to do for
the court. There is a certain neur
otic strain that may forebode the
race little premanent good. Negro
authors are writing for white read
ers. We feel prouder to get an ar
ticle in the white magazine than -in
the Messenger, the Crisis or Oppor
tunity. It is true that the educated
Negro must serve as a middle man
between the races. It is he who must
make the appeal to pharoah, but he
must remember that pharoah gives
heed to Moses only in so far as he is
convinced that he speaks with the
voice of the people whom he pur*
ports to represent. The educated
Negro must first make influence and
understanding with his own race
before he can hope to make much
impression on the white mind.
My space is too limited for tull
treatment. I promise an early re
| lease upon the failure of the college
bred Negro to assume his rightful
place in commanding the pulpits in
the great denominations, and thus ef
ficiently administering the great re
ligious estate which our more illiter
ate fathers bequeathed to us.
I WANTED |
ONE MILLION MEN AND WOMEN |
TO JOIN THE HAMITIC LEAGUE OF THE WORLD f
It costs nothing. Enclose stamp for application blank. J
If you wish, you may also enclose one dime (coin) for a
copy of our new magazine, THE HA MITE, which begins
publication in January. It will awaken you as you have
never been awakened before. *
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