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The Monitor
NEBRASKA’S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF COLORED AMERICANS
THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS, Editor.
GROWING —
THANK YOU
$2.00 a Year—5 Cents a Copy Omaha, Nebraska, Friday, February 10, 1928 Vol. XIII—Number 32 Whole Number 653
'A J__ ' ■- 1,1 1 11 11 -111""* ■ 111 . A 1111 .. . ..■■■ —
Omaha Negro Has Long Service Record
Clergyman Gives Good
Advice to Young People
Concerning Marriage
The Rev. George B. Kinkead, Rector of Christ Church, Corning,
N. Y., Writes Letter to Young People of His Parish Which
Should Be Given Wide Circulation and Serious
Consideration.
There are a great many divorces in
this country and back of every di
vorce there must of necessity be end
less heartaches and much wreckage.
Wedding days that were looked for
ward to as the beginning of bliss now
become days of bitter memories, and
joy seems to have fled from life.
Cautei Back of Divorce
Now there are certain definite
causes which lead up to most of these
divorces and young men and women
should have presented to them thq
things which may be at the root of
the trouble, so that, if possible, they
will not fall blindly into the same
costly errors which make a wreck of
life and destroy happiness. I am in
terested in your happiness and there
fore I am calling these things to your
attention. You may agree or not,
but at least 1 want you to think over
these things very carefully They rep
resent certain conclusions 1 have
come to after nearly 25 years of rr.y
priesthood, during which time 1 have
been appealed to in innumerable
cases of marital disaster.
Character li Baric
There is a trite old saying that
the battle of Waterloo was won on
the playing fields of Eton. In the
same sense, marriages succeed or fail
in great measure according to the
characters we have built up in our
boyhood and girlhood days, for it is
that character that we offer at the
altar to our chosen partner. That is
our chief gift at the solemn time.
Among the many things which go to
affect our character, I think that
most men are agreed that our re
lationship to God has a deeper effect
than anything else, if we will let it.
Life is not an easy game; it is very
difficult and God never intended us
to play it alone. Our prayers and our
sacraments bring God into our lives
and give us an incalculable power for
overcoming and mastering our selfish
animal natures.
Man, living alone without God, is
instinctively selfish, and selfishness
is a reef more dangerous to marriage
than Norman’s woe. When God be
comes our partner, little by little self
is overcome and we develop a char
acter which has regard for the other
fellow. We learn to consider his
wishes, we learn to give and take, wa
learn to assume our proper place in
society.
Study Family
Study carefully the family of the
one you think of marrying. You are
not just marrying an individual. You
are, and you cannot avoid it, marry
ing into a family, and while one in
dividual in a family may differ from
the rest in many ways, basically all
members of a family are of one blood
and their general traits are a good
deal alike. The family habits will
most likely creep out in the individ
ual who has been brought up in that
atmosphere. Family training will
very largely persist in each member
of a family who has lived a long time
at home.
In all that I am saying, there arc,
of course, exceptions, but exceptions
merely prove the rule. Note the phy
sical characteristics of the family. It
is their blood in part that will enter
into the life of your children. It
would be the greatest folly for two
people to marry if on both sides there
was a similar physical weakness.
Children might inherit the double
weakness of both parents. Many
states now go into this matter and re,
quire a physical health certificate be
fore granting a marriage license, all
for the purpose of guaranteeing, so
far as is possible, strong bodies to the
coming genration.
Don’t Marry to Reform Partner
Don’t marry to reform or help re
form your partner. It sounds very
noble and heroic but the chances are
99 to one against success. When two
people are approaching or think they
I are approaching marriage, they are
|doing the best they are capable of,
they are putting the best foot for
ward. If the faults they are then
showing are such as to cause unhap
piness afterwards, don’t marry! In
the days of courting, each one is
ready to do everything for the other.
If a man is lazy and lacks ambition
to make the most of himself, if a man
is shaky in his moral standards, if he
is a profane man, if he drinks too
much, if he is inconsiderate, there is
little likelihood that marriage will im
prove them. If a woman is slovenly,
extravagant, superficial, unmindful
of home, ignores her parents, is quer
ulous and complaining, if she con
siders not the desires of her fiance.)
flee from her as you would from
smallpox. Marriage will not likely
change these things; they are flaws
in the character. Instead of grow
ing better, the chances are they will
grow worse with the course of time.
Love Not Passion
Don’t mistake passion for love.
This is one of the chiefest causes of
future unhappiness. Passion is out
to get something it wants; passion will
often ask something which is un
worthy of the one beloved. On the
other hand, love seeks to give all that
it has, life itself if need be, to protect
and shield and ennoble the object of
its love. Love will sacrifice to any
extent to raise to greatest heights the
object of its adoration. A union
founded on passion stands absolute
ly no chance for lasting happiness,
because passion fades away so quick
ly. It is important, therefore that
marriages be not hasty, because for a
moment a gust of passion may sweep
one off his feet, and judgment is
quite blinded. Wait a little while till
you can take careful note and see
whether you are stirred and moved
by a passion which asks for mere phy
sical satisfaction and is satisfied with
the pleasure of the moment, or wheth
er it is love which will deny itself
much and lay its best at your feet.
ChiidleM Families
Another thing: childless families
are infinitely more likely to end dis
astrously than those that bring chil
dren. Children tend to compel self
forgetfulness on the part of the par
ents, and disagreements which other
wise would have led to divorce are
resolved for the sake of the children.
Be sure that your intended partner
and you both want children and can
have them. Better to know this be
fore it is too late. Those who marry
and definitely intend never to have
children are placing obstacles in the
way of a happy marriage which are
too great to be overcome by the great
majority.
Mixed Marriages
Then there is religion. Mixed mar
riagas offer endless opportunities for
trounle, supposing that neither has
any religion it is not a mixed mar
riage. The spiritual differences be
tween individuals go down to the
foundation of their lives.
Common Tastes
People who intend to live together
should have very many tastes in com
mon. Not all, of course, but the
greater number. Otherwise there
cannot be much companionship; one
will want to do the things the other
dislikeB. It is generally most unwise
to marry a person whose up-bringing
and whose station in life is material
ly different from yours. People in
different stratas in society are quite
fixed in their habits of thought and in
their customs and find it very diffi
cult to readjust them to suit anoth
er’s taste. I hardly need to state that
marrying for gain, chiefly money or
position, will in most cases lead to the
divorce court.
Avoid Haate—Secrecy
lastly, never be a party to a hasty,
a secret, or runaway marriage. Mar
riage is not an individual affair un
less you are going to live on a deBert
island. It is a union in which the
community has rightly an important
interest. If any marriage cannot
stand up under public scrutiny, right
there it is admitted that the seeds of
discord exist. Parents who have giv
en you life, parents who have nur*
tured you, brought you up and done
everything for you, must not be re
warded with the heartbreak wh'fch
inevitably comes to them from a
marriage to which they are not wel
come. No worse way could possibly
be chosen for starting a new home
than to run away.
EDITORIAL
Broken families menace the stability of America. With
the home endangered no nation is safe, no nation can endure.
The American home is endangered, seriously threatened and
endangered because of the growing laxity of view concerning
marriage which is gaining wider currency than many would
believe. Very lax views of marriage are being given not only
intellectual hospitality but practical endorsement even by many j
who claim to be guided by Christian principles. Proposed
“companionate marriages” and like expedients indicate the
drift of much of modern thought on this subject. The enormous
number of divorces which should appall America shows how
lightly marriage is regarded and with what indifference fam
ilies are broken asunder and children scattered.
It is noteworthy that among those who have recently shock
ed the nation with their crimes, one youth charged with mur
dering his mother, another his grandmother, another of kid
napping and murdering a little girl, and his accused companion
in crime in the murder of a druggist were all from broken fam
ilies, their fathers and mothers being separated and divorced.
This is a serious and significant fact. '
Because marriage is the very foundation upon which rests
the social and moral fabric of civilization; the building of a
home by one man and one woman, and the rearing of a family
within that home, constitutes the beginning and unit of en
lightened society, everything possible should be done to make
men and women realize the sacredness and importance of this
divine institution.
Public opinion, apparently lethargic and indifferent, must
be aroused to make itself heard in defense of the marriage vow.
The evil and menace of divorce must be combated. There is
need for right thinking and plain speaking on this very impor
tant and vital question.
It is because we feel there is need for helping our young
people especially to think straight on this vital matter which
concerns their happiness that we have published in this issue
the letter written by the Rev. George B. Kinkead to the young
people of his parish which recently appeared in The Living
Church. We urge its thoughtful reading and indulge the hope
that it may be helpful to some in avoiding marital pitfalls.
CASH AWAITS HIGH SCHOOL
BOYS AND GIRLS
_ j
“America’s Tenth Man” Enlists Wide
Interest Throughout Country.
Still Time to Get in
Contest.
Atlanta, Ga.—The offer by the
Inter-racial commission of a hundred i
dollars in prizes to high school stu
dents for papers on “America’s
Tenth Man” is attracting wide and
favorable attention from educators
of both races, many of whom have
already written the commission that
they are introducing the study in
their schools. A great many requests
for information about the project
have been received from individual
students, also.
The commission has prepared a
brief but comprehensive survey of the
part Negroes have had in America’s
history and the contribution they have
made to the country’s development.
Iiand hopes to put this pamphlet,
entitled “America’s Tenth Man,” into
the hands of thousands of white and
colored high school students through
out the country.
The purpose of the project is to
give to white students the basis for
fuller understanding and apprecia
tion of the colored group, and to put
before colored pupils a stimulating
and inspiring picture of the best their
own race has produced. The commis
sion, with headquarters at 409 Palm
er building, this city, invites corre
spondence with any high school prin
cipal, teacher, or pupil who may be
interested.
COLORED GIRL CHOSEN
Seattle, Wash. — Miss Mildred
Washington, motion picture actress
and musical comedy star o? Los An
geles has secured a three months’ con
tract with Fancho and Marco. She
is appearing at all the West Coast
theatres on the coast. A band billed
as a “Pod of Peppers” supports the
Creole beauty.
I
GOOD WILL GAINING
GROUND IN ALABAMA
Inter-Racial Leaders Report Progress
and Plan Program for Further
Improvement of
Conditions.
Birmingham, Ala.—The best an
nual meeting in the history of the
inter-racial movement in Alabama
has just been held here, with 75 rep
resentative leaders of the two races
in attendance. Among the evidences
of progress reported were increasing
attention to inter-racial questions by
religious, civic and other groups; a
sympathetic press; freedom from
lynchings; improvement of education
al conditions, with lengthening of
terms, increases in salary, and better
teacher training and classification;
and better prospects for the estab
lishment of a hoVne for delinquent
girls.
in aaaiuon, reports were nearo
from a number of counties, indicat
ing an encouraging growth of inter
racial good will and co-operation. Mo
bile, for example, reported that an
extensive paving program was being
carried out in the Negro areas, that
library facilities are soon to be pro
vided in connection with the new
quarter-million dollar city library
now going up, that a fire protection
unit has recntly been placed in the
Negro section, and that fuller pro
vision will be made for Negro pa
tients in the tuberculosis sanitarium.
From Birmingham came reports of
a fine school project and residential
subdivision soon to be developed un
der the auspices of the Episcopalian
Church group, led by Bishop W. G.
McDowell. It was stated also that
certain irritating situations in Bir
mingham had been successfully
dealt with. From Montgomery it
was reported that efforts are in prog
ress for better school facilities, pro,
vision of a public park and play
ground, and increased accommoda
tions in the tuberculosis sanitarium,
TUSKEGEE VICE-PRINCIPAL
PRAISES N. A. A. C. P. WORK
New York, Feb. 3—Enclosing a
contribution of $25, the National As
sociation for the Advancement of Col
ored People has received a letter from
R. R. Taylor, vice-principal of Tus
kegee Institute, in which he writes of
his gift:
“The work of your association is so
far reaching and important that I do
not look on it as an act of generosity
but one of duty which every one of
us should perform. I am very glad to
make this contribution.”
FORTY-SEVEN YEARS
SPENT IN SERVICE OF
OMAHA PIONEER FAMILY
| Marshall Jones Holds Unique Record;
Has Served Four Generations
of the Creighton
Family.
Marshall Jones, colored house man
in the family of the late John D.
Creighton, has served in one family
during four generations for 47 years.
He was first with the Creighton
family as an employee of Mr. and
Mrs. John D. Creighton and was a
figure on the box of the Creighton
carriage, driving a beautiful span of
! horses.
In 1905, Marshall was taken into
the employ of the late Dr. Charles C,
! Allison and Mrs. Allison, the latter
| being a daughter of the Creightons.
!He served them in their home in win
ter and always moved with them to
their summer home, Rosemere Lodge,
at Calhouti, in summer, and has since
remained in Mrs. Allison’s employ.
Marshall has looked after the com
fort of the various members of the
Creighton family and has been the
staunch friend of them all as they
grew from childhood, and themselves
became fathers and mothers and
grandfathers and grandmothers. Mr.
and Mrs. John D. Creighton had four
children, Charles H. Creighton, Mrs.'
J. M. Daugherty, Mrs. Allison and
Mrs. F. A. Nash. It was Marshall
who taught all their children to ride
their ponies and who was their play-,
mate, and now he is as devoted to the
young folks who constitute the fourth
generation in the Daugherty, Allison
and Creighton families.
There are three living generations
'of the Creighton family that he has
known and served: Mrs. Daugherty
land her five children, John, Fred,
Edward, George and Mrs. W. B. Mil
lard, jr., and John’s five children;
Mrs. Allison and her two children,
Charles C. Allison and Mrs. Albert
Sibbernsen, both of whom have two
children; Mrs. F. A. Nash and her two
children, F. A. Nash, jr., and Miss
Emma Nash, and Charles C. Creigh
ton and his two children, Edward A.
Creighton and Miss Ellen Creighton*
and the former’s three sons.
- 1
BAGNALL FINDS NEGROES
GAINING POWER, COURAGE
New York, Feb. 3—Returning to
this city after a recent tour of Penn
sylvania, Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin^
Robert W. Bagnall, director of
branches of the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored Peo
ple, reports finding increased assur
ance among colored people, greater
power through their organization, and
a determination to make themselves
felt as a political voting block.
“I talked with many prominent Ne
groes and addressed many Negro
gatherings,” said Mr. Bagnall.
“Everywhere I heard high praise of
jthe effectiveness of the N. A. A. C. P.
work and program and of its focus
ing the power of the Negro group. It
is giving colored people courage
everywhere to stand for their due.
“During the trip I addressed the
students of Ohio State university, in
the sociology classes of Professor H.
A. Miller, where intelligent interest
was shown in all phases of race rela
tions.
“In Milwaukee, I addressed an in
ter-racial forum numbering among its
attendance, the Episcopal bishop of
the diocese, the dean of the cathedral,
the health commissioner of Mil
waukee and a number of university
professors. To these people I point
ed out the futility of segregation. I
showed that it tended to increase
rather than to retard the mixture of
races, since it encouraged fair Ne
groes to relieve themselves by pass
ing into the white race at the rate of
160,000 every ten years.”
Juanita, little six -year-old daugh
ter of Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Miller, 2318
North Twenty-second street, who was
hit by an automobile while returning
to the Lake school last Monday noon,
will be able to go back to school Mon
day.
DISFRANCHISEMENT
FIGHT TO BE WAGED
IN THIS CONGRESS
National Advancement Association
Secretary Holds Conference
With Massachusetts
Congressman
TINKHAM PRESS RESOLUTION
Negro Citizens Are Urged to Write
Their Representatives in
Congress in Behalf
of Measure
New York—James W. Johnson, sec
retary of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People,
has conferred with Congressman Geo.
Holden Tinkham of Massachusetts on
the resolution calling for an investi
gation of disfranchisement of the Ne
gro in southern states.
The resolution is to be vigorously
pushed in the present congress and
southern legislators given full oppor
tunity to explain how the fifteenth
amendment of the constitution is be
ing nullified at a time when they are
demanding more rigorous enforce
ment of the eighteenth amendment.
On his return from Washington,
|Mr. Johnson said:
“Colored citizens have the oppor
tunity of expressing themselves to
their representatives in congress on
the resolution which Mr. Tinkham has
introduced and will fight for. It is
House Resolution No. 34 and pro
vides for an investigation by the com
mittee on the census of the denial of
the vote to Negroes; the report of the
committee when made to be used ag
a basis for reducing the representa
tion of such states as disfranchise
[Negroes.
“Mr. Tinkham has given me the
; names of the representatives whom it
will be well to write to urging fa
vorable action on House Resolution
No. 34. The names of these men and
the states they represent are as fol
lows: John Q. Tilson, republican
floor leader, New Haven, Conn.;
Nicholas Longworth, speaker of the
House, Cincinnati, Ohio; republican
I steering committee of the house—
George P. Darrow, Philadelphia, Pa.;
I Edward E. Denison, Marion, 111.;
Nicholson J. Sinnott, The Dalles, Ore
gon; Allen T. Treadway, Stockbridge,
i Mass.; Walter H. Newton, Minneap
olis; Homer Hoch, Marion, Kansas;
Frederick R. Lehlbach, Newark, N.
J.; S. Wallace Dempsey, Lockport,
N. Y.; Royal C. Johnson, Aberdeen,
S. D.
BAPTIST OFFICIAL
IS OMAHA VISITOR
Secretary Home Mixion Board, The
National Baptist Convention,
Will Spend Three Weeks
in City
The Rev. Dr. A. F. Martin of Chi
cago, secretary of the Home Mission
board of the National Baptist conven-,
tion, has arrived in Omaha for a three
weeks’ stay. While here he will be
the guest of the Rev. E. H. McDon
ald. He will conduct a series of
meetings next week at Mount Olive
Baptist church, Thirtieth and R
streets, South Side, Rev. E. H. Me-,
Donald, pastor, and will devote thd
remainder of his stay here to visiting
the various Baptist congregations foij
a survey of conditions and in ac
quainting them with the work of the
Home Mission board.
JAMES RANDOLPH PASSES
AWAY IN NEW YORK CITY
New York City.— (ANP)—James
Randolph, younger brother of A.
Philip Randolph, died Sunday after
noon at his residence, 133rd Street
and St. Nicholas Avenue. The young
er Mr. Randolph had been ill for a
short time, his death being unexpect
ed.
Mr. Randolph was a student at
Columbia university and would have
graduated in June.
Mrs. Emma Welch, Mrs. Lenora
Branch and Mrs. L. Siedlinger are
three ne wsubscribers to The Moni
tor this week. Thanks.