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Vol. 3, No. 19_ Lincoln 3, Nebraska Thursday. February 3, 1949
Alabama Governor Sees Advent
Civil Rights in the South Says
No Threat to Southern Culture
BIRMINGHAM. (ANP). Exactly one week after a
three-judge federal tribunal ruled in Mobile that Alabama’s
Boswell amendment was “unconstitutional,” another at
tempt to bar Negroes from voting cropped up. Saturday,
Jan. 15, Atty. Horace Wilkinson, a state political leader
announced he was drafting a proposal “eliminating the
Negro entirely from the Democratic party in Alabama.”
Meanwhile, former Gov. Chaun
cey M. Sparks startled political
circles in Montgomery when he
issued a formal statement declar
ing that “civil rights program for
Negroes is coming and the south
might as well get ready for it.”
Both Negroes and whites alike
were surprised, since Sparks had
U>ng been an outspoken advocate
of segregation and separation, al
though he also contended for
“equality.”
From the viewpoint of the
Montgomery Advertiser, local
daily, the statement was arresting
“because of him who uttered it.
The statement will alarm or of
fend a formidable element in this
state.”
Us editorial comment on Jan. 15,
continued: “But it comes from a
thoughtful man. It comes from a
man who was knowTn for a gen
eration as the “Barbour County
Bourbon.” And it comes from a
man who is planning to ask the
people of this state to re-elect him
governor of Alabama presently.
“He apparently believes that
Alabamaians are aware or can be
made aware that the so-called
threat to southern civilization was
always a fraud, and that changes
are in progress the same as they
have been since this was a sea
board republic. Maybe Sparks has
miscalculated. It will be seen in
1950 for Sparks is betting the
governor s chair that he is right.”
Philadelphia
FEPC Processesl09
Cases in 6 Months
PHILADELPHIA. (ANP). One
hundred and nine charges of un
fair employment practices have
been processed by the Philadel
phia FEPC since it started opera
■ tion on June 1, 1948, the com
mission announced this week.
In a report on the first seven
months of the activities of the
commission, Chairman Gerald F.
Flood wrote to Mayor Bernard
Samuel and all the members ol
city council that 65 charges had
been satisfactorily adjusted, 14
were disposed of because oi
withdrawal and other reasons
and 30 are still pending.
An executive director and staff
were appointed after Nov. 1 and
an educational program was im
mediately started. “The commis
sion and staff have been meeting
with various groups including
employers, unions, schools, re
ligious bodies and civic organiza
tions,” the chairman related.
Over 14,000 letters and posters
were distributed among various
groups. As a result of a large dis
tribution of letters and posters
$!e commission reported it has
received numerous requests foi
information, educational ma
terial and assistance in setting up
non-discriminatory employmenl
practices.
The FEPC was created by an
ordinance unanimously passed
by the city council and approved
by Mayor Samuel on March 12,
1948.
Beats Vote Ban
ATTY. GEORGE N. LEIGH
TON, Chicago, recently per
formed a Herculean job in
prosecuting ♦he case against
Alabama’s Boswell amendment
for 10 Mobile County Negroes.
The case ended last January 8,
when a three-judge tribunal
ruled the two year old law was
unconstitutional. Leighton ac
tively entered the case last
March after a brief, prepared
by him, was filed in Mobile by
a white Chicago lawyer.
(ANP).
Mrs. T. Bowler,
Ex-Lincolnite,
Dies In Askansas
Mrs. Tennessee Bowler, 28, a
former Lincoln resident, died fol
lowing an ailment for which she
underwent surgery last January.
Mrs. Bowler was a resident of
Lincoln for five years. She left
last September to attend a
beauty culture school in Little
Rock, Ark. On becoming ill she
returned to her parents’ home in
Hope, Ark.
She is survived by her hus
band, Leander Bowler and two
children, Gwendolyn and Luwel
len, and a sister, Mrs. Ralph
Johnson of Lincoln.
Friends
Represented
Howard U. Dean
WASHINGTON, D. C. (ANP).
Dr. William Stuart Nelson, dean
of Howard university, fled to
Paris Wednesday to attend a
conference on International cen
ters, sponsored jointly by the
American Friends Service com
mittee and the Friends Service
Council of England.
Dr. Nelson has been active in
Quaker work for some time, and
spent over a year in India re
cently as a member of a Quaker
team working in that country.
Dr. Nelson, a graduate of
Howard university and Yale Di
vinity school, served as president
of Shaw university, in Raleigh,
N. C., for five years, and as pres
ident of Dillard university, Ne^r
Orleans, for four'years. He be
came dean of the school of re
ligion at Howard university in
1940 and dean of the university
last September.
Yarborough To
Antioch College
WILBERFORCE, Ohio.
(ANP). Dr. Charles H. W’esley,
president of the Wilberforce Col
lege of Education and Industrial
Arts, announced last week that
approval had been given by the
Wilberforce State college to Dr.
Dean S. Yarbrough, professor of
socology, to conduct classes in
sociology at Antioch college.
Mrs. Anna Smith,
Long Resident,
Taken By Death
Mrs. Anna G. Smith, 645 So.
20th, a resident of Lincoln for
almost 35 years, succumbed at a
local hospital January 26. She
had only recently undergone
surgery and was apparently on
the road to recovery when she
had a relapse that brought the
end.
Mrs. Smith was born in York,
S. C. (nee Burt). She married
Rev. I. B. Smith, w'ho died sev
eral years ago.
She was member of Quinn
Chapel AME church where she
was president of the Pastor’s Aid
club. She was also active in the
Mary JBethune literary and art
club and was a past Grand Of
ficer in the Order of Eastern
Star.
Surviving are a brother,
Charles Burt of Detroit; nieces,
Florence Reid, of Detroit and
LaNelle Newton of Kansas City,
Mo., and Mrs. Adalaide ‘Siming
ton of Kansas City, Mo., and a
nephew, Burt F. Newton of this
city.
Funeral services were held at
Quinn Chapel January 29 with
Rev. J. B. Brooks and the Ama
ranthe Chapter, O. E. S., in
charge.
Dickerson Heads
Illinois NAACP
Legal Staff
CHICAGO. (ANP). At a board
of directors meeting here in Chi
cago, Earl B. Dickerson was
named to head the legal staff of
the Illinois State NAACP last
week. Dickerson is a former Chi
cago alderman and former presi
dent of the Cook County Bas as
sociation.
In announcing Dickerson’s ap
pointment State President Herbert
L. Weight said the group needed
a man of his caliber to lead the
legal battle fpr civil rights and
FEPC legislation in Illinois.
Dramatize the Wheatley Story
• -w*--*- rjar^TS mum •*■**'?'V t XWiJJHW” -, pi* ■VT'»
“The Story of Phyllis Wheatley” was dramatized last Tuesday on
CBS by Muriel Smith, the star of Broadway’s “Carmen Jones,” and
the well known actor, John Marriot. The script, depicting the achieve
ments of the slave girl who became one of the most distinguished
poets of colonial America, was written by the prominent Shirley
Graham. (ANP).
FEP Law Would
Emphasize Ability
Not Race, Creed
Those of you who have read the Voice for the past few'
months are aware that Fair Employment Practices laws and
ordinances are operating in the most industrialized states
and cities of the nation and are successfully implementing
the tenet that everyone should have the right to work and
earn a living, that is, to pursue happiness. Laws are neces
sary to secure this right just as they are to secure the rights
New Board Member
Courtesy Lincoln Journal.
ME. THOMAS R. PANSING,
above, was one of eight per
~sons elected to the board of di
rectors of the Lincoln Urban
League at its annual dinner
meeting Jan. 26. Mr. Pansing,
a city councilman and chair
man of the Lancaster Young
Republicans, was selected by a
committee of leading citizens
recently to receive the Junior
Chamber of Commerce award
for the one they believed to
have contributed most to the
welfare of this community in
the past 12 months.
Others elected to the board
include Mrs. Basilia Bell, Mrs.
Fawntella .Baker, Maurice
Copeland, Wyatt Williams,
B. G. Clark, Judge Edward
Fisher, and James Fuller.
Mrs, Tennessee Bowler
Dies in Hope, Arkansas
Mrs. Tennessee Bowler, former
Lincoln resident, died Monday
at the home of her parents in
Hope, Arkansas.
Among survivors is a sister,
Mrs. Ralph W. Johnson, Lincoln.
i to hold property.
The Lincoln Social Action
Council’s committee on FEP for
Nebraska, headed by Ted Soren
sen, has answered the question,
“Why Have a Fair Employment
Practice Law?” as follows:
“Legislation is a powerful edu
cational method of democratic
government needed to reinforce
moral and constitutional obliga
tions,” says Mr. Sorensen. “The
elimination of discrimination in
i employment is an educational
step toward the abatement of
prejudices in people’s minds as
well. The New York Commission
reports new understanding by
employers, employees and cus
tomers, working with minority
group members for the first
Continued on Page 3
Louis Demands
$400,000 for Title
Bout This Summer
CHICAGO. (ANP). Heavy
weight champion Joe Louis will
demand $400,000 plus half of the
gross receipts, and half the tele
vision, radio and movie re
ceipts to defend his crown, a
spokesman for the Bomber an
nounced here this week.
According to Louis Mandel, his
manager, and Truman K. Gibson,
jr., his attorney, he is asking for
these terms in connection with a
possible title defense at Soldier
field this summer.
They also added that the
champion is still considering tak
ing a $500,000 offer from a circus
to tour the nation with it for six
months. Louis will make his de
cision in two weeks, Gibson said.
Who the Brown Bomber’s next
challenger for the title will be is
still undecided. Louis claims that
Joey Maxim is not the man, but
he hinted that Elmer “Violent”
Ray could be the opponent.
Both Ray and Maxim have
been beaten by Walcott in deci
sive bouts more than once. Ez
zard Charles has also defeated
Ray. Charles will face Maxim
next month, a bout which should
decide just where Maxim does
stand.
CCNY Team to Be
Guests of Tough
Movie Actor Soon
NEW YORK. (ANP). When
City College’s basketball team
invades Los Angeles next month
with its two colored stars, the
outfit will be guests at a dinner
tossed by that illustrious alum
nus of CCNY, Edward G. “Little
Caesar” Robinson.
When Robinson used to be in
New York City he frequently
visited Harlem’s night -«pots, in
cluding the now defunct Cotton
club, for atmosphere. But being
“Little Caesar,” he took in the
little spots as well.
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