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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 ’ents a Copy Omaha, Nebraska, Friday, March 30, 1928 Vol. XIII—Number 39 Whole Number 660
Monitor Publisher Has L'bel Grounds
HOOVER ADVISED
OF SEGREGATION
IN DEPARTMENT
Committee Waits Upon Secretary of
Commerce Requesting Abolition
of Humiliating Con
ditions
_
PROMISES AN INVESTIGATION
New York City—Herbert Hoover,
United States secretary of commerce,
has granted a hearing to a committee
which protested to him against seg
regation in the census bureau and,
according to report from Neval H.
Thomas, president of the Washington
branch of the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored Peo
ple, Mr. Hoover has promised to in
vestigate the entire situation. Mr.
Thomas writes as follows:
“Secretary Hoover granted our
committee a hearing on Monday,
Messrs. Nelson, Pinkett and Johnson.
We presented complaint against seg
regation in the census bureau where
there are Iff competent colored clerks
segregated behind a pile of boxes un- i
dcr a colored sub-chief. There are j
also five colored clerks confined in a i
room by themselves in another wing'
of the large building of this same bu
reau.
“We presented the arguments
against segregation and the whole in
jury it does us. The secretary said
he sympathized with our protest and
that he didn’t know it existed in his
department. He said he would look
into the matter at once, and that he
disapproved of segregation.
"We told him of the small number
of Negro cleiks in the main building
of his department on Pennsylvania
avenue. Of the hundreds in this vast
structure, only three are colored. We
told him of the superior quality of
the colored people who are in the
civil service because the whites of
their caliber could get far more re
munerative employment. We showed
him that if his subordinates and the
civil service adhered to the merit sys
tem, there would be dozens more of
Negro clerks appointed.
“He promised to look into the
whole situation and let us know. He
sent me a letter recently, saying that
the director of the census had just
returned from Europe and that he is
taking the case under advisement
with him.”
Mr. Thomas also reports that the
Washington branch of the N. A. A.
C. P. and allied groups are seeking
to obtain some definite statement
from Ogden L. Mills about segrega
tion in the treasury department.
PORO AGENTS’ CLUB
HAVE FIRST OPENING
We were very pleased to welcome
over 150 guests at our opening at
the Y. W. C. A. Sunday afternoon,
March 18, and an excellent program
was rendered. Those who partici
pated and the program are as follows:
Song, “America,” by the audience;
Lord’s prayer, Mrs. A. R. Mills; In
troduction of Mrs. A. R. Mills of Poro
substation by Mrs. Ada Woodson;
Mrs. Mills introduced Mrs. Anna E.
Tubbs, president of Poro club, as
mistress of ceremonies; P a p e r(
“Beauty,” Mrs. Wm. C. Ricks; Song,
Mrs. Lulu Wheeler; Paper, “The Ne
gro’s Greatest Needs,” Mrs. Hiram
Greenfield; Solo, Miss Stella Roberts;
Remarks, “Race Pride, Loyalty and
Co-operation,” Attorney Scruggs;
Instrumental Solo, Mrs. Blanche Grif
fin; Address, “Opportunity,” Mrs.
Joseph D. Lewis; Introduction of
Poro agents, Mrs. Anna E. Tubbs;
Solo, Miss Luella Caldwell. A deli
cious menu was served each one pres
ent. We feel very grateful to the
public for the wonderful attendance.
Music was furnished by Miss Mar
garet Dallas.
Mrs. Fred Thompson, who has been
very ill for several days at the home
of Mrs. Charles H. Hicks, 2530 Maple
street, is reported to be convalescing.
Re-elect Barnett to State Legisla
ture.—Adv.
OIL STATION UNDER
NEW MANAGEMENT
John Crawford and Hit Son Lovejoy
Take Over Well-Equipped Oil
Station at Twenty-Fourth
and Erakine Streets
John Crawford and his son, Love
joy Crawford, have leased the Nich
olas Oil service station at Twenty
fourth and Willis avenue and will
I operate it as the Lovejoy Oil com
pany under the management of Love
joy Crawford.
“Love,” as all his friends know
him, is very well equipped to render
real service as he has had a great
deal of experience with automobiles.
The station will continue to handle
Nicholas products exclusively. At the
present time Lovejoy Crawford is be
coming familiar with the routine un
der the sJpervision of the former
manager of this station.
Mr. Crawford invites all of his
friends to pay him a visit and let him
demonstrate the service he has to
render. The station is well equipped
to thoroughly grease the chassis of a
car, clean out transmissions and dif
ferentials, test batteries and radiator
solution, fill and test tires to proper
pressure, etc.
The Monitor sincerely congratu
lates the Crawfords upon this venture
and wishes them abundant success.
It is gratifying to note that our young
men are gaining confidence enough
to enter legitimate fields of business.
PAI.M SUNDAY AND
HOLY WEEK SERVICES AT
ST. PHILIP’S CHURCH
Bishop E. V. Shayler will visit St.
Philip’s Episcopal church Sunday at
5 o’clock in the afternoon to admin
ister the Sacrament of Confirmation.
The other services on Palm Sunday
will be as follows: Holy communion,
benediction and distribution of palms
at 7:30 a. m.; Church school at 10;
matins, holy baptism and “The Story
of the Cross,” at 11 o’clock.
During Holy Week there will be a
celebration of the holy communion
daily, except Good Friday, at 7:00 j
a. m., and evening prayer at eight
o’clock.
Good Friday there will be the cus
tomary service at 10:00 a. m., and
the “Three Hours’ Service” from
noon until 3 p. m., with meditations
on “The Seven Last Words” and
evening service and sermon at eight!
o’clock. The public is invited to all
services.
HAS GONE TO CALIFORNIA
It is reported that Police Lieuten- j
ant Buford has gone to California j
with Tom Dennison, Omaha’s well-!
known and influential political boss, j
who has gone in quest of health. Mr.
Dennison has been in poor health sev
eral months. The veteran of many
political campaigns on the eve of his
departure was reported as saying he
had retired from the game.
MEETINGS IN INTEREST
OF THE URBAN LEAGUE
A mass meeting in the interest of
the Omaha branch of the Urban
league was held at Zion Baptist
church, Sunday afternoon. Dr. J. H.
H u 11 e n, vice-president, presided. !
About 150 persons attended and the |
work of the Urban league was lucidly
presented by Mr. T. Arnold Hill of'
New York anil Mr. John F. Hall, ex
ecutive secretary of the Omaha Com- ,
munity Chest. A good number of |
memberships were secured at the
meeting.
Monday night another meeting in
the interest of t! e league was held at
Allen chapel A. M. E. church on the
South Side. Addresses were made by
T. Arnold Hill and Dr. Craig Morris.
MORNING STAR BAPTIST
CHURCH HOLDING REVIVAL
Morning Star Baptist church, 2608
Franklin street, Rev. W. M. Hall,
pastor, is conducting a successful re
vival which will continue until after
Easter, and to which the public is cor
dially invited. Six candidates were
baptized Sunday.
EDITORIAL
Readers of The Monitor will recall that in our issue of
March 2, we published an editorial calling attention to the
fatal endangering of our racial and political prestige by the
e|eventh-hour filing of colored candidates in the Ninth and
Tenth legislative districts against the present incumbents, early
announced candidates for re-election, also colored. We an
alyzed the situation, candidly and fairly, simply stating plain,
indisputable facts.
The position was so logical and sound that we received
commendation from scores of our readers, by telephone, by
verbal messages on the streets and in public places, and by
written communications. We published several of these vol
untary endorsements of our position in our issue of March 9*
For some unaccountable reason, since we had made no ref
erence whatsoever, either by name or by the remotest implica
tion, to our local race contemporary, The Omaha Guide was
very indignant because of our publication of these endorse
ments. It was rumored that in its next issue our contemporary
would publish repudiations by many persons of the statements
quoted by The Monitor. The rumored repudiations were not
forthcoming. Upon the contrary finding that public sentiment
was strongly with The Monitor in its sensible position, our con
temporary made a lamentably weak attempt to attune itself
to public sentiment by publishing in its issue of March 16, an
editorial captioned “Ain’t Politics Grand?”, in which it awk
wardly straddled and wobbled like the wobbliest of newly-born
calves. We criticized that editorial, not by calling bad names,!
the inevitable refuge of those who have neither logic, reason
nor intelligence on their side—but by dignified and logical
argument. Now whether the indignation of our able contem
porary because of the commendation of our editorial was due
to envy, jealousy or ignorance, we shall not presume to say.
We will leave that to others. Its indignation and anger at The
Monitor caused our contemporary to lose its head; for in its
issue of last week it published an article against us, which in
the opinion of the county attorney’s office, and that of other
learned jurists whom we have consulted, brings it squarely
under the charge of having committed a felony. Legal author
ities tell us they are chargeable with criminal libel.
This is the statute covering libel:
Compiled Statutes of Nebraska, 1922. Section
9578. Libel.—Whoever writes, prints, or publishes
any false and malicious libel of or concerning another,
or causes or procures, any such libel to be written or
published, shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined in
any sum not exceeding $500, or be imprisoned in the
county jail not exceeding six months, or both, and
moreover, be liable to the party injured: provided, if;
said libel is published in a newspaper having a general
circulation, the person so offending shall be punished
by imprisonment in the penitentiary not less than one
year nor more than three years.
Having no desire, however, to cause The Guide any un
necessary trouble or expense, and willing to give it an oppor
tunity to make amendment for any injury done us, we have
sent to it the following letter, in which we make a reasonable
demand, with which, if they will comply, we will accept as
vindication.
Omaha, Nebraska, March 26, 1928.
H. J. Ford, Managing Editor, The Omaha Guide,
2124 North Twenty-iourth Street,
Omaha, Nebraska.
Dear Sir: On the front page of your issue of March 23rd, 1928, col
umn 3, there appears an article captioned, “Charge Editor Forged Names,”
which is of such a criminally libellous character that I respectfully demand
of you a public retraction of and an apology for the malicious false and
libellous charges therein contained.
You make a specific charge of forgery. Forgery, as you no doubt know,
is a criminal offense punishable by a term in the peniteniary. I demand
therefore that you retract that charge or stand ready to prove it in a court
of law.
You state in paragraph 2 of said article: “Many persons whose names
were signed to letters of approval on an editorial appearing in The Monitor
have called the Editor and upbraided him for his trickery and chicanery in
unauthoritative use of their names to letters he originated himself.”
Give us the name of not many, but ONE person who called the Editor
and upbraided him for his “trickery and chicanery,” giving time and date
of such call.
This statement is false because not a single person called me to upbraid
me for an “unauthoritative use of” his or her name. I therefore demand
that you withdraw this statement.
In our issue of March 9, we published nineteen comments on our front
page on our editorial of March 2, six signed letters of commendation under
the “Letters From Our Readers,” on our editorial page. Of the nineteen
comments appearing on page one, ten were signed by the persons making
them; four were telephoned in, and the other five were comments voluntarily
made to the Editor in the presence of witnesses.
The burden therefore is placed upon you to give the names of persons
whose names were “forged," as you specifically charged, to letters origin
ated by the Editor of The Monitor, with proof thereof.
I fully realize, sir, that in the heat of controversy we do not always weigh
the force of our words and so due allowance may be made, but there are
certain bounds of propriety which must not be passed even in the heat of
controversy without due reparation being made and this gentlemen are al
ways willing to do without coercion.
Hoping, therefore, that the requested retraction will be made in your
next issue repairing thereby, as far as you possibly can, whatever injury
your ill-advised article has done, I am,
Respectfully yours,
JNO. ALBERT WILLIAMS,
Editor of The Monitor.
FOR “NEGRO TRADE WEEK"
As the outcome of a movement
started by the Ministerial Alliance
Omaha is to observe 4 Negro Trade
Week the latter part of April. The
purpose of Negro Trade Week is to
stimulate interest in all legitimate
lines of business conducted by the
race.
Tuesday afternoon at 4 o’clock
a meeting of the business and pro
fessional men and women of the city
held at the office of Joseph D.
Lewis, Rev. J. H. Garner, presiding,
committees on program and publicity
were appointed and a practical and
profitable discussion, led by the Rev.
Z. C. McGee, was had. The next
meeting will be held at the same place
next Tuesday night at 7:30 p. m.
sharp, to which all business and pro
fessional people are invited.
The committee on program for Ne
gro Trade Wek consists of the follow
ing persons: Rev. John Albert Wil
liams, chairman; Milton L. Hunter,
Rev. Z. C. McGee, Mrs. Isaac Bailey,
and Mrs. Bertha Bell.
The publicity committee is headed
by Mr. Jacob Carey with Messrs.
H. J. Ford, l ovejoy Crawford, A. F.
Peoples, Y. W. Logan, E. A. William
son, A. J. Davis, and Mrs. W. W.
Peoples, as the other members.
Mr. Burnett was chosen secretary.
FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF
MEDICAL AUXILIARY
One year ago this month there was
formed in Omaha, the Medical Auxil
iary, small, feeble, but kicking and
crowing lustily. The organization is
made up of wives of the druggists,
dentists, and doctors. What is its
purpose? First, and foremost, is to
help establish a colored hospital,
which is a vital and pressing need in
our community. (Perhaps your fam
ily physician has never told you how
embarrassed he is at times, in trying
to get you into one of the city hos
pitals.) Then the Dorcas box, which
provides little garments for needy
babies. We try to bring cheer to j
shut-ins. Occasionally, we remember
the inmates at the Old Folks’ Home,
with fruit, flowers or some such
token.
Now this group of earnest women
have come to the end of their first j
year’s work together and as we look
back upon it, it is with mingled emo
tions: Pride in the work which we
have accomplished; regret for that
which we have left undone, and cha
grin for that which we could have
done but didn’t do. We have shared
joys, sorrows and criticisms together.
We are still working together with
the same earnest view of purpose,
but with clearer vision, a broader hor
izon, a truer conception and a greater
determination to go forward with this
work of serving the community.
NEW EXTRADITION
ATTEMPT FOILED
e -
New York, N. Y.—Additional at
tempts on the part of Missourians to
extradite a colored man, William
Brown, for a murder committed i4
years ago, after a Missouri sheriff j
had failed in his attempt, have been
foiled. Report of the new efforts on
the part of citizens of Missouri are
contained in a letter from the Colum
bus, Ohio, branch of the National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People.
“Monday, March 12, five men from
New Madrid, Mo., arrived to identify
William Brown,” says the letter,
“whom the deputy sheriff several
weeks ago failed to sufficiently iden
tify. The Negro man in the party!
declared that after seeing Brown at j
the city jail he had never seen him !
before. The white physician who had i
taken stitches in a cut above the
man’s eye and had treated him for
some nervous trouble due to infected
teeth, down in Missouri, identified
Brown. It was brought out that
within the past 60 days he had re
ceived a photo of the boy from here!
“A Columbus dentist was called in
by the governor’s secretary to exam
ine Brown’s teeth: all perfect! The
would-be identifiers insisted that
their county had spent large sums
of money on this case and they (the
men) could scarcely return without
the boy! The governor insisted rath
er heatedly that he would protect
every citizen in Ohio from injustice, j
He declared they had quite plainly I
erred. This Will Brown is not the
man.”
CALCUTTA PAPER PRINTS
LYNCHING FIGURES
New York City—The National As
sociation for the Advancement of
Colored People has received a clip
ping from The Guardian, a newspaper
published in Calcutta, India, contain
ing the lynching statistics for the
year 1927 sent out by the N. A. A.
C. P., also the news that two mem
bers of the N. A. A. C. P. staff have
been invited to contribute to the new
edition of the encyclopedia Britan
nica.
100 N. A. A. C. P. BRANCHES
CAMPAIGNING FOR MEMBERS
New York City — One hundred
branches, representing 35 states have
now entered into the nationwide
membership drive of the National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People, it was announced re
cently at the national office. These
represent territory from the Gulf of
Mexico to the Great Lakes, and from
the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean.
“SHOCK TROOPS”
FURNISHED BY RACE
FOR THE MINORITY
N. A. A. C. P. Annua! Report Asserts
Race Tests Reality of Ameri
can Democracy
New York, N. Y.—The foreword to
the annua! report for 1927 of the
National Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People, to be
published shortly, refers to the Negro
as representing the “shock troops” in
behalf of all the minority groups in
America. The foreword in full of
the N. A. A. C. P. annual report
will be as follows:
“The record of the year 1927 has
again demonstrated that the National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People is the only organiza
i tion of national scope effective on a
national scale in its efforts to se
cure, reaffirm and safeguard the
fundamental citizenship rights of the
American Negro. It is the Negro’s
instrument. And the Negro repre
( sents the ‘shock troops’ in behalf of
all the minority groups in America
I which test the reality of American
democracy.
1 “As in 1926, the association’s work
has been focused in the courts. And
the courts have again shown that
where the Negro is organized and
prepared to defend his rights, Ameri
can public opinion, as the courts of
the land represent it, is prepared to
accord him justice. It is worth point
ing particularly to the eminent legal
minds which the association’s cause
enlists. The association’s entire an
nual budget would hardly cover the
cost of a single case before the U.
S. supreme court if the association’s
legal advisers charged for their serv
ices instead of generously donating
them.
I he association’s work, as every
one knows, radiates into every phase
of race relations. Its small staff per
forms many functions, from giving
radio talks to investigating riots. It
receives hundreds of appeals every
month from all parts of the country
for aid. It sends lynching statistics
to California in an extradition case;
investigates discrimination in the Mis
sissippi flood area and calls the facts
to the attention of the authorities;
fights for the Negro’s right to vote
in the south; blocks anti-intermar
rage laws in the north; continues to
fight the Klan with publicity; estab
lishes the Negro’s case in newspapers
and magazines not only in America
but throughout Europe; holds hun
dreds of public meetings; where it is
able ,defends the poor and ignorant
from injustice issuing from race prej
udice; and continues to build up bul
warks in United States supreme court
decisions for the protection of the
Negro’s fundamental rights.
“The appeals coming in to the as
sociation from all sources, for infor
mation as well as for aid, are increas
ing in number. It is now realized
that the association is unique in its
field. Anyone who will even hastily
scan this summary of its activities for
the year will see at once that the
work of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People
vitally affects the welfare of every
colored person in the United States.”
URBAN LEAGUE SECRETARY
FROM AKRON, OHIO, MAY
ACCEPT POSITION HERE
Mr. George W. Thompson, execu
tive secretary of the Akron, Ohio,
Urban league, is in the city overlook
ing the field before deciding as to his
willingness to accept charge of the
Omaha Urban league.
Mr. Thompson, who is a graduate
of the University of Indiana, taught
school in that state for nine years,
and then went overseas with the
370th as physical director. He has
been in Akron for nine years, en
gaged in Y. M. C. A. and Urban
league work.
Mr. Thompson will be one of the
speakers at a mass meeting to be
held Sunday afternoon at 3:30 at St.
John’s A. M. E. church in the interest
of the Urban league to which the
public is invited.