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About The voice. (Lincoln, Nebraska) 1946-195? | View Entire Issue (July 7, 1949)
-^ ... — 1 # I 88 BN N103 loiidvo am* * A19I DOS ■ - - . 1VDIM01SIM BJV1S . .— -———-—___ Voi. 3, No. SI__Lincoln 3, Nebraska_ Thursday. July 7. 1949 Littlejohn To Be Alternate Delegate to "Girls Nation" Girls State Governor By-Passed Saturday, July 2, the American Legion auxiliary named Nebras ka’s representatives to Girls Na tion, national counterpart of Girls State, to be held in Washington, D. C., August 21-27. Named were Patricia Livingston of Omaha and Nan Alice Pumphrey of Wisner. The popular 1949 governor of Cornhusker Girls State, Teresa i Littlejohn was by-passed by the voters and announced in third place. She will attend the meet only if one of -the other girls cannot. Saturday, a high auxiliary of ficial, who preferred to remain unnamed, told a VOICE inter viewer that the election was held near the end of the girls meet in Lincoln and that the adult offi cers, directors and advisory board of Girls State participated. This was a separate election from that for other girl state offices and was largely decided by the impression girls made during the meet. In many states it has been cus tomary for girls elected to the governorship to be named to the national meet. This has not been so for Nebraska the official said, only “one or two” governors have been selected to represent the state nationally in the past eight years. According to the official, the Girls meets was conceived to teach democracy and is based on democratic principles of majority rule. In reference to the Ohio situation, the official said that, what had happened in other states had not affected the selection. In Omaha Saturday night, Miss Littlejohn told a VOICE staff member that she was surprised that she was not elected delegate ' because so many girls had indi cated that they were well satis fied with her as governor before the State dissolved. Congress Lauds Ala. Law But Will Still Probe MONTGOMERY, Ala. (ANP). Although congress and various federal officials have extended congratulations to .the state of Alabama because of the speedy passage of an anti-masking bill here last week, the proposed con gressional inquiry into night-rid fng in the state will not be called off. The law banning mask-wear ing in public was rushed through the state house and immediately signed by Gov. James E. Folsom. Immediately following it, the house adopted a resolution asking that the congressional inquiry be dropped as the state was capable of “taking care of its dirty wash.” However, officials of the commit tee planning the inquiry said it would continue as scheduled. CONTRIBUTORS NOTE: The receipts of news items is welcomed from our readers. We appreciate receiving them on or before Saturdays. A.A.U.W. Votes To Admit Negroes Without Restriction; Southern Women Support Move, D.C. Quits * SEATTLE, Wash. (ANP). The 68-year-old American Association of University Women voted 2168 to 65 in favor of two amendments to its by-laws to admit Negro members on the basis of graduation from an accredited school only and not on race, last week at its biennial meeting. Main support in the by-law changes came from dele gates from southern states. Some objections came, how ever, from delegations from Mississippi and Alabama and the chapter from Washington, D. C. A. E. Simms Ends Career As Porter Mr. Alfred E. Simms completed his 40th year as a chair car porter on the Burlington lines and June 30 the last work whistle blew for the 70-year-old trainman. Simms was born in Atkins, Va., October 30, 1878. In 1888 he came to Cowles, Nebr,. and later lived in Fairbury. Then in 1890 he be came a resident of St. Joseph, Mo., where he lived 35 years and where he met his wife, Sarah. July 1, 1909, Mr. Simms began —Rose Manor Photo. Mr. Alfred E. Simms as a chair car porter on the Bur lington’s “Coloradan” that ran be tween St. Joseph tind Denver. In 1928 the Simmses moved to the Denver end of the run where they lived until coming to Lincoln in 1933. Back from the Denver run Thursday morning, Mr. Simms stepped from shiny No. 6, smiling at the prospect of a long rest. Mr. Simms cites the changes from th£* explosive acetylene light fixtures to electricity and the re placement of the old screen win dows with modern air-conditioned cars as milestones in passenger comfort. His most unfortunate in cident, he relates, was in 1934 when he suffered a broken foot in a train wreck near Brush, Colo. On retiring, he was praised by rail supervisors as a “faithful em ployee” and “an efficient man.” One daughter, Mrs. Eugenia Brown (U. of N.* ’49) is now in Marshall, Texas where Mr. Brown heads the chemistry department at Wiley college. Mr. and Mrs. Simms plan a short “vacation” in Missouri, after which Mr. Simms will devote more time to church affairs. A devout Christian gentle man for many years, he is known for his regularity at mid-week prayer services and for his wide reportoire of hymns and religious songs and ability to lead singing. Mr. Simms is a member of Christ Temple church, where in 1946 he was ordained a deacon. He has been commended by several local churches. It has been reported that the Washington, D. C., chapter has withdrawn from the national or ganization. Last week’s discussion of the racial issue at the A. A. U. W. meeting climaxes a question that came into the open two years ago when the D. C. chapter re fused to admit a Negro member already approved by the na tional group. At that time this chapter re jected Mrs. Mary Church Ter rell, a graduate of Oberlin col lege and one of the nation’s greatest Negro leaders in civic affairs and one of the first presi dents of the National Associa tion of Colored Women. The national A. A. U. W. tried to persuade the Washington chapter to admit Mrs. Terrell, but it refused. Later it took the issue to court but lost to the local. Early in the biennial meeting the D. C. chapter threat ened to withdraw from the or ganization on the race question. The two amendments passed reiterated the association’s stand that the only basis of member ship should be whether or not the applicant was graduated from an accredited college or university without regard to race, and they strengthened the national group’s power to act in controversial cases. ^ Mrs. W. R. Holway of Tulsa, Okl., and Dr. Bessie C. Ran dolph, president, Hollins college in Virginia, introduced the pro posals, and many others sup ported them including Dr. Gillie A. Larew, vice president of the South Atlantic region and pro fessor of mathematics at Ran dolph Macon Woman’s college, Lynchburg, Va.', and Katherine V i c k e y, president, Alabama State division. Objections by the Alabama and Mississippi delegates cen tered around the question of the strict segregation laws of their states. Among the delegates attend ing the meeting was Mrs. Irene Moats, Negro delegate of West Virginia. Officers elected to the A. A. U. W. are: Dr. Althea K. Hottel, dean of women, University of Pennsyl vania, re-elected president; Mrs. Louis F. Troxell, dean of women, University of Wisconsin, first vice president; Judge Dorothy Kenyon, New York City, second vice president, and Mrs. Doro thy B. A. Rood, Minneapolis, Minn., treasurer. SUBSCRIBE to THE VOICE — Johnson Sets July 15 Deadline For Army To Plan Segregation End WASHINGTON. (ANP). Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson has given the Department of the Army until July 15 to make its final report on progress being made toward abolishing segregation in its department. Soon after taking on the secretaryship of the Depart ment of Defense, Secretary Johnson called upon the three branches of the service, the army, navy and air forces to make detailed reports to him on what their departments had done to implement the President’s Executive Order calling for the abolishing of segregation in the armed forces. The progress report made by the air corps was immediately accept ed by the defense secretary but *he reports from the army and navy were returned because they did not meet the secretary’s ap proval. The second army and navy re ports were made to Secretary Johnson last week and the latter was accepted, but the army’s re port which still was not satisfac tory was again returned with the time extended until July 15 for a new report. It was perhaps due to the fact that the Department of Army is getting a new secretary, Gordon Gray, who was just sworn in to his new post last week, that Mr. Johnson extended the time for the' report from June 20 to July 15. The Defense Secretary probably wishes to give the new army sec retary time to formulate his own policy, make his own decisions and file his own report. Many critical and skeptical eyes are watching Gray’s decisions, mainly because he is a native of North Carolina, the same state from which his predecessor hailed. It is common knowledge that the former Secretary of Army Kenneth C. Royall bitterly op posed integration in the armed forces. It was perhaps for that reason that the army is so far behind the other two branches of the service in making progress | toward abolition of segregation. Many fear that Gray’s North Carolina background will cause him to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor. Ohio GroupsCall Upon Legion To Fight D.C. Bias COLUMBUS, O. (ANP). Lead by the Ohio State Democratic league, a number of organizations, both local and national, are calling upon the American Legion to stand up and help fight Jim Crow in the nation’s capital. This action was the outgrowth of a decision by the Ohio Amer ican Legion Auxiliary against sending representatives of the re cent Buckeye Girls’ State to the national auxiliary’s girls’ nation, an annual event in Washington, D. C. Mrs. Leslie M. Merritt of Co lumbus, head of the educational program at the Girls’ State said that the decision was to save Joan Rankin, 16, Cincinnati Negro girl who was elected Girls’ State gov ernor last week, .“embarrassment posed by social discrimination in Washington. Other organizations which have thus far taken action or shown in terest in demanding that Miss Rankin be sent to Washington to represent Ohio at the Girls’ Nation are the National NAACP and the Ohio State, Columbus, and Cin cinnati chapters of the organ-1 ization. I R. Eugene Edwards Retires as Carrier Mr. Rufus Eugene (Gene) Ed wards, 2420 P street, retired June 30 after 41 years 3 months con tinuous service as letter carrier in downtown Lincoln. His route, No. 3, included the area from 10th to 12th and O to R street. Mr. Edwards was born in Nash ville, Tenn., May 25, 1880. His family moved to Topeka, Kans., shortly afterward and in 1886 they went to St. Joseph, Mo., where in 1897 he graduated from Bartlett high school. That year he entered the University of Ne braska and remained until 1899. 1 I ■—Macdonald Photo. Mr. R. Eugene Edwards Comparing student life of 50 years ago, he observed that in those days, “students really took over i the town.” On April 1, 1908 he became a letter carrier, and has remained in the postal service un til now. Mr. Edwards was ordained Deacon in the AME church last October and now that he has more time will serve as assistant pastor at Quinn chapel church. At a farewell meeting at the post office, Edwards received the thanks and praise of the postmas ter and congratulations from many friends, including the Chamber of Commerce. Among the many gifts was a big, comfortable platform rocker and ottoman from fellow employes—just the thing for the tired postman. Mrs. Jennie Edwards, his wife, and daughter Evelyn are well known for their work in church and lodge. He also has a son, Lester E. Edwards, now in New berg, N. Y. Mr. and Mrs. Edwards announce that Mr. Edwards will be “at home” to his many friends and acquaintances on Friday evening, July 8 from 8 till 10 p. m. Old card tables can be given a new face by pasting pretty wall paper over the top and shellack ing.