LIFTING—
, • -?T TOQ
The monitor
NEBRASKA'S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF COLORED AMERICANS
_THE REV. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS, Editor.
GROWING —
THANK YOU
^ Year—5 Cents a Copy
Omaha, Nebraska, Friday, October 12, 1928
Vol. XIV—No. 15
Whole Number 687
URL ' LEAGUE IS
ANALYSIS SUBJECT
AT PUBLIC DINNER
Representative Gathering of Direct
or* and Social Worker* Dine To
gether and Advised of
League Program.
PROVES INTERESTING AFFAIR
First of Kind Ever Held in City and
Presages Helpful Co-operation
in Social Betterment of
Community.
The work of the Urban League was
presented to a representative gather
ing of citizens of both races at a din
ner Tuesday evening at the North
Side Branch of the Y. W. C. A. In
vitations to the dinner had been ex
tended to the colored ministers of the
city and to a selected number of so
cial workers, as well as to the board
of directors of the league.
Dr. J. H. Hutten, one of the vice
presidents of the Omaha Urban
league was master of ceremonies, and
introduced the speakers on the pro
gram. Mr. John H. Hall, director of
. the Omaha Welfare association and
Community Chest, presented instruct
[ ive moving pictures of the activities
k of some of the agencies in the Com
£ munity Chest, a feature of the pro
* gram which was very much enjoyed.
IMr. Edmunds, campaign director,
spoke very briefly, expressing pleas
ure at being present and calling at
tention to the opening date of the
Community Chest drive, October 15.
Mr. C. A. Cushman, general man
ager of the Swift Packing company,
first vice-president and acting presi
dent of the league, gave an excellent
address, expressing his pleasure in
being present at what he considered a
highly significant and promising
event presaging success of the help
ful agency for social betterment
which had been organized in our city.
He paid a tribute to Dr. Craig Mor
ris for his interest and activity in se
curing a branch of the Urban league
for this city. Mr. Cushman said he
could not quite see what men called
“the colored problem” as being any
thing distinct from other “problems.”
As an employer of labor in his plant
| in this and other cities and also in his
Jf own home, Negroes are employed be
cause he found them to be loyal, ef
| ficient and capable workers. They
need the same help in overcoming dif
ficulties as other people. Believing
that the Urban league furnished a
helpful agency which would be bene
ficial to the entire community ex
plains his interest and activity. He
jL felt that in Mr. Kerns a trained work
& er had been secured who was the man
for the job. He urged that member
ships be taken into the league to
E deepen interest in its work and pro
| gra*i.
Mr. J. Harvey Kerns, executive sec
retary of the Omaha Urban league
gave an excellent analysis of the Ur
ban league program, which is to help
fully touch all phases and problems of
our racial life, industry, housing,
g§! health, recreation and the like, and
to co-operate with all agencies work
ing for social uplift.
l Dr. If. von W. Schulte, president
Iof the Council of Social Agencies,
who always has a worth while mes
sage whenever he speaks, brought a
cordial welcome from the Council to
this its youngest member. He said
that in securing the Urban league it
had brought to our city an agency
which has a tried program, with a
(trained social worker who can tell
those who want to be helpful and de
sire to know what is best to do how
to do it. No group can work out its
own problems by itself. There must
be co-operation. A group must think
out what it wants to do, decide its ob
jective, and then receive help from
others in working toward that object
ive. Hence there must be co-opera
tion between all the social forces and
agencies in the community.
The Rev. J. H. Jackson, president
ii of the New Era Baptist association,
and a recently elected member of the
board of directors of the league, one
Iof the five colored ministers present,
spoke briefly and effectively, stating
that he welcomed the fact that soci
ety was beginning to realize its re
sponsibility to all classes of citizens,
and to feel that the environment of
men was largely accountable for what
they are. Whether they shall be a
Lindbergh, or a Hickman. Th* best
social conditions must be secured for
the development of the highest type
of citizens.
j|fe , Mrs. Carrie Ada Campbell, execu
tive secretary of the Central Y. W.
C. A., brought greetings and a pledge
of co-operation from her organiza
tion.
Musical numbers were furnished by
Miss Helen Wheeler, violinist, and
Miss Dorothy Allen, pianist.
The invocation was said by the Rev.
A. H. Higgs, pastor of Clair M. E.
church.
Those in attendance were Mr. and
Mrs. C. A. Cushman, Dr. and Mrs.
H. von W. Schulte, Mr. and Mrs.
John H. Hall, Mr. and Mrs. J. Kulak
ofsky, Mrs. Carrie Ada Campbell,
Mrs. J. H. Vance, Miss Lillian Gauss,
Rev. Fr. Francis Cassilly, S. J.; Mr.
E. R. Edmunds, Dr. and Mrs. J. H.
Hutten, Dr. and Mrs. D. V. Gooden,
Rev. and Mrs. A. H. Higgs, Rev. and
Mrs. J. H. Brewer, Mr. and Mrs. J.
Hawley Kerns, Dr. Craig Morris, Mrs.
Grace M. Hutten, Rev. J. H. Jackson,
Rev. and Mrs. M. L. Rhone, Nate
Hunter, Miss Ruth Seay, Miss Ger
trude Lucas, Miss Margie L. Danley,
Mrs. H. R. Greenfield, Rev. L. E.
Hamlet, Mrs. Louvetta Busch, Mrs.
Lula Lewis and the Rev. and Mrs.
John Albert Williams.
VIRGINIA’S NEW ANTI
LYNCHING LAW DEFENDED
“State Authority Necessary When
Communities Refuse To Act,”
Says Important Religious
Weekly
Nashville, Term.—In a conspicuous
editorial entitled “Prevention of
Lynchings,” the Nashville Christian
Advocate, official general organ of
the Methodist Episcopal Church,
South, highly commends the recently
enacted Virginia anti-lynching law,
which empowers the State to search
for, arrest and punish lynchers.
“County authorities may object to
such a show of State authority,” the
Advocate says, “but the law is good.
Something must be done in the name
of the whole country when communi
ties are found where juries refuse to
convict lynchers, where grand juries
will not bring indictments, where pro
tests through the pulpit and the press
are the only deterents, notoriously in
effective. There is no defense of!
lynching and no excuse for communi
ties where lynchers are allowed to go1
unsought and are immune from testi
mony and from conviction when tes
timony proves them guilty.”
The editor expresses the opinion
that “if all the people in a community
were as much opposed to mobs as are
the better class, there would be no
more lynching. But so long as there
are lawless men who release their
fury upon a victim there must be re
traint upon them fixed by the strong j
arm of the government.”
STATE ORGANIZERS
FOR SMITH CLUBS
New York, N. Y.—State organiz
ers of the Smith-for-President Color
ed League recently appointed were:
Dr. Robert Williams, Connecticut;
Morris Rozelle, Delaware; W. Ellis
Stewart. Illinois; W. S. Henry, Indi
ane; William Warley, Kentucky; Dr.
S. F. Taylor, Massachusetts; Lincoln
Clark, New Jersey; Arthur J. Black,
Rhode Island, and Dr. C. F. Hopson,
West Virginia.
National headquarters of the
Smith-for-President League is now
permanently organized, and an inten
sive campaign in the interest of the
New York governor’s candidacy is
under way.
Julian D. Rainey, national organiz
er, announces that Clinton A. Wil
liams of New York has been named
Supervisor of Smith-for-President
Colored Independent Clubs.
OMAHA GIRL PLACES
HIGH IN SCHOLARSHIP
Word has been received by her par
ents that Margaret Dallas, national
honor graduate of Central High
school, is still holding her own at the
University of Iowa, where she is spe
cializing in sociology. When the rigid
freshman intelligent tests were over,
Margaret was among those who made
second year French and the “A”
division of Freshman English.
Los Angeles, Cal.—Due to the fact
that a number of colored girl students
of various high school and colleges
have been making themselves absurd
by seeming to seek the association of
the many Filipinos who have recently
begun to circulate in the colored dis
trict, a number of the eollegiates and
co-eds are planning steps to weaken
the color complex which is plainly the
cause of them seeking Filipino com
pany.
OUR BIG JOB; LETS DO IT
Next Monday morning, October 15, ..r'ght and early,
Omaha’s big drive begins. It is a job, a BIG JOB, in which you
are concerned. As a matter of fact, it is YOUR JOB, if you
are a resident of this growing city. This job is the raising of
$446,649 for the COMMUNITY CHEST, or common charity
fund which is used to help people of our community who may
be in need, frequently through no fault of their own. You may
be in comfortable circumstances today, but you cannot tell
when misfortune may overtake you and you will be mighty
glad to have help given you. Sickness comes, wage earners
are thrown out of work. None of us can tell when misfortune
may come to us and we may be in need, just like others whom
the agencies in the Community Chest take pleasure now in
helping. It also supports welfare agencies which develop
character, self-respect and self-reliance which reduces the need
for charity.
Perhaps you don’t quite understand what the Community
Chest is. Well, let us try to tell you in as few words as we
can:
In every community there are people who need some kind
of help. It may be help to get work. It may be medical aid.
It may be food. It may be clothing. It may be temporary
shelter. It may be a home for a deserted baby, an orphan, a
crippled child, or some aged person. There are various kinds
of help needed. That’s perfectly plain, isn’t it?
Well, in order to give this help various institutions and
organizations have been called into being. All such institu
tions need money to carry on their work. They must get it
from people who are willing to give, and right down in our
hearts we all like to help the less fortunate than ourselves
whenever we can. So these various organizations would have
to make separate appeals for help. Some few years ago some
thoughtful people in a certain city decided that it would be a
good idea to find out just how much money would be needed
to take care of all institutions in that city, lump it or budget
it, in one sum, and then go to all the people and ask them to
give what they could or would for this COMMUNITY CHEST,
or FUND, which would then, under wise supervision and check
ing, be apportioned to the various agencies. The plan proved
to be a wise and excellent one. It worked. Other cities i
adopted the idea and finally, about five years ago, Omaha de
cided to try it. A number of prominent business men con
sented to act as the Board of Governors and have given of
their valuable time freely and cheerfully because of their in
terest in the community to raise money to fill the Community
Chest and to see that the money so raised is fairly apportioned
and rightly used by the various agencies. We hope this will
help you to understand what the Community Chest is, and move
you to give cheerfully and as generously as you can when one
of the canvassers—who are all giving their services without
compensation or pay—calls upon you next week.
While the active campaign for next year’s budget begins
Monday, please bear in mind that for several months, the cam
paign committee, made up of very busy business men, under
the chairmanship of Mr. A. C. Richardson, has been meeting
and planning for this drive. Prior to this the Budget Com
mittee had been holding frequent meetings, receiving and act
ing upon the budgets and requests from the thirty-one agencies
in the Chest, revising and cutting their budgets to the minimum,
the lowest possible figure, so that the amount asked, $446,649,
is the minimum which must be raised in order to meet Omaha’s
needs. Will you do your share?
There are thirty-one agencies in the Community Chest.
Bear this fact in mind when you give. A package of chewing
gum costs five cents. If you should contribute simply the price
of one package of chewing gum to each of these agencies it
would amount to only $1.55 a year. A package of cigarets,
which many men smoke in one day, costs 15 cents. That
amount contributed to each of these agencies would mean only
$4.65 a year. Figure out what you are willing to give, and
give it.
RICHARD L. METCALFE
Democratic Candidate for United States Senator
Whose friendship I have shared and highly prized for near
ly forty years, finding him ringing true for justice, righteous
ness and humanity. JOHN ALBERT WILLIAMS.
PRIZE ESSAY CONTEST
GIVES OPPORTUNITY FOR
THOSE WHO WRITE
League Offers Three Cash Prizes on
Why Race Should Register—
Closes October 25—Object To
Increase Race Voting Power
Boston, Mass.—The National Equal
Rights League and Race Congress of
America signalized the 66th anniver
sary of issuance of the Emancipation
Proclamation not only by sending a
demand to President Coolidge to end
revivals of color slavery such as fed
eral segregation, all nullifications of
the anti-slavery amendments to the
constitution, but also by launching a
prize essay contest to stimulate the
use of the ballot secured through
these same war amendments by the
race for whose protection they were
adopted.
The League, with executive head
quarters here at 9 Cornhill, offers
three prizes of $25, $15 and $10, re
spectively, for the best essays of not
over 350 words, on “Why Colored
Americans Should Register for the
Presidential Election.”
It believes this is the most crucial
presidential election for the race in
recent years and from an impartial
viewpoint considers the actual regis
tration of race voters the primary
need. In order that this contest may
be of practical benefit for the elec
tion, the essays are to be judged by
an impartial board of editors and
others in weekly batches as received
at national headquarters on the
Thursdays of each week, the best
three of each weekly batch to be sent
to the race newspapers for the edi
ion of the following week, with a
slight advantage for early submis
sion.
The awards will be made November
2nd or 3rd and sent to newspapers
for November 10th edition. Entries,
herefore, close at League national
headquarters Thursday night. Octo
ber 25. A very general participa
tion by all is requested.
PLAYGROUND PROVES
POPULAR PROJECT
Charleston, S. C.—A playground
project put on during the summer by
the Charleston Interracial Committee
proved so successful that it is hoped
something permanent may come of it.
The committee secured for the ex
periment the playground of Wesley
Church, and for a period of one
month placed the playground and its
equipment at the disposal of the col
order children of the community.
The grounds were opened each after
noon and the attendance ran from
60 to 120 per day.
Two paid workers, Misses Sadie
Bennette and Alice Michel, were em
ployed to supervise the play, under
the general direction of Miss Corine
Jones, city supervisor of playgrounds.
Rev. John G. Gibbs, pastor of Wes
ley Church, Mrs. Gibbs and others,
gave volunteer assistance. The funds
for the operation of the playground
were supplied by friends through the
Interracial Committee.
ANOTHER NEGRO BISHOP
BECOMES SMITH SUPPORTER
Akron, Ohio—The Rt. Rev. George
C. Clement, one of the most influen
tial Bishops of the A. M. E. Zion
Church, in giving his reasons for sup
porting Alfred E. Smith for presi
dent, says:
“First, I regard him as the ablest
executive now in American public
life, efficient, honest, fair, and mag
netic; second, I believe in religious
tolerance, oppose bigotry, whether
creed or race; third, although favor
ing prohobition, I am convinced that
Governor Smith could not be more
favorable to liquor interests than the
present admintsration has proven;
fourth, the time is here when the Ne
gro must divide his vote or else haz
ard his citizenship; fifth, Heflin and
the Ku Klux Klan leave me no other
choice.”
This communication was addressed
to the Rt. Rev. Reverdy C. Ransom,
Bishop of the A. M. E. Church, who
is chairman of the speakers’ commit
tee of the Smith-for-President Col
ored League.
Give not as to 1 but 31.
The only authorized advertising
solicitors for The Monitor are
DUDLEY WRIGHT
and
GEORGE H. W. BULLOCK
PICKERS PREFERS
HOOVER TO SMITH
BECMSE OF SOHTH
Field Secretary, National Advance
ment Association Sees Forces
Hostile to Race Among Smith
Supporters.
BOURBON SOUTH TO DOMINATE
The Eventuality q( Vice President
Succeeding New Yorker Is Cause
for Serious Appre
hension
(By the Associated Negro Press)
Chicago, 111.—In a statement to the
headquarters of the colored voters’
division of the western branch of the
Republican National Committee, Wil
liam Pickens, field secretary of the
National Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People, author,
and contributing editor to the Asso
ciated Negro Press, directs attention
to the fact that for colored Ameri
cans, as for all other Americans,
there are now but two possible
choices for the administration of the
government of the United States for
the four years following March 4,
1929; Herbert Hoover and the con
stituency represented by him, or Al
fred E. Smith and his followers.
A year or so ago, Mr. Pickens ad
mits, others might have been consid
ered against these two, but now the
choice has been narrowed by nomina
tion to these two—third parties may
count in theory, but in fact the gov
ernment will be run by one of these
two.
“Which of the two will colored
Americans prefer?” Mr. Pickens in
quires. “I do not ask whether col
ored people regard either group as
perfect and without faults, but which
is better for the interests and welfare
of colored Americans.
“That simplifies the matter: Smith
and his organization are dominated
now, and will be dominated even if
he is elected president, by the South.
The South does not even want the
Negro in the democratic party, for
fear he may claim some right or priv
ilege from democratic powers. In
Texas today colored men are bring
ing suit against democratic registrars
for denying colored people the right
to register in democratic primaries,
even though the colored men in ques
ion have been voting the democratic
ticket all their lives. In Florida and
Georgia colored people have been
forcibly denied the right to register
in the democratic party.
“The man nominated for vice pres
ident with Smith is Robinson of Ar
kansas, a state where the Negro has
no right which the rest of the popu
lation is bound to respect. When a
man is elected vice president, only
one little frail human life stands be
tween him and the presidency. If
Robinson becomes president by the
natural death of Smith, no Negro
could ever forgive himself for having
voted for the national democratic
ticket. Robinson is from a state
where Negroes are expected to come
in at the back door. He would ex
pect the same if he were in the White
House. Colored people complain now
of discrimination against them in gov
ernment departments at Washington.
If Robinson becomes president, they
will not be discriminated against
there, they will be ousted and kept
out altogether. This is a real menace
to colored pople.
“The American Negro has the same
interest in the tariff, prosperity, farm
relief, that all other Americans have,
but this menace of prejudice and big
otry gives the Negro an extra inter
est against the democratic party in
this present election. In fact, the
Negro is the only element that has a
set of interests at stake peculiar to
itself. On the other issues the Negro
can stand for as much as the whites
can stand for; but in the matter of
the peculiar situation of his race he
has special interests, and the demo
cratic party is a special menace to
every one of those interests. The re
publicans have not always lived up
to their obligation and opportunity
with the Negro, but the democrats
have been far worse.
“Democrats run the South abso
lutely and without rivals, and the
South is the worst part of the world
for the Negro except South Africa,
and in some ways it is worse than
So’ th Africa. One does not have to
theorize. He has but to open his
eyes. Not a vote should be wasted.
The democrats must be defeated.”