Tlfo© ^©ne©
_PUBLISH ED WEEKLY__
“Dedicated to the promotion of the cultural, social and spiritual
life of a great people_
Melvin L. Shakespeare
Publisher and Editor
Business Addresu 2225 S Street Phone 2-4085
If No Answer Call 5-7508
Ruble W Shakespeare .. . Advertising and Business Manager
Dorothy Green ,, .. .. Office Secretary
Mrs Joe Green .... ...'. .■■■•....Circulation Manager
Member of the Associated Negro Press and Nebraska Press Association
Entered as Second Class Matter. June 9. 1947 at teh Post Office at Lincoln.
Nebraska under the Act of March 3 187£.
1 year lubscription.$2.50 Single copy. ."TV.".. ..10c
__ Out-ot-State 1 Year Subscription $2.50—Single Copy 10c
EDITORIALS
rhe views expressed in these columns
neoessaril. a reflection of the policy
are those of the writer and not
of The Voice.—Pub.
Cleveland Gets Inspector
This week Cleveland gets -ts
first Negro electrical inspector in
the person of Robert Richardson,
thanks largely to the efforts of the
Urban League. Richardson is
thought to be not only the first
Negro to receive such an appoint
ment in Cleveland, but the first in
the United States.
Richardson’s appointment cli
maxes a building trades project
started in 1947 by The Cleveland
Urban League, in conjunction
with Local 38 of the Brotherhood
of Electrical Workers, American
Federation of Labor. It was at this
time that the League began a con
certed campaign to get Negro
electrical contractors admitted to
the union.
After considerable negotiations
between union heads and Shelton
B. Granger, the League’s Indus
trial Director, the union admitted
its first Negro contractor in Octo
ber, 1949. This wai one of Cleve
land’s outstanding Negro electri
cians, Robert Morgan, in whose
shop Richardson was then an em
ployee.
Soon afterward, in January,
1950, the union admitted two more
| Negro contractors, William Holt
and Sanford Maxie. Then for
about a year the situation re
mained static. Early in 1951 civil
service examinations for the post
of electrical inspectors were to be
held, and the League began look
ing for qualified men to try for
the job.
Richardson was urged by
Granger to take the examination,
and landed sixth place on the list.
When it soon became obvious that
the job would have to be offered
to Richardson, some opposition
developed in City Hall.
I s
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Easy Terms!
HARDY’S ANNEX
124 NORTH 14th STREET
s_
j
by IAMBS C. OLSON, Superintendent
• TATS HISTORICAL SOCIETY
One of the most extraordinary
stories in all of Nebraska’s history
is that of the Brownville, Fort
Kearney and Pacific Railroad. It
is a prime example of speculative
overconfidence in a period when:
reckless speculation was the order;
of the day. Its failure brought
repercussions in the once-bustling
Missouri River town of Brown
ville that are being felt to this
day.
James J. Blake, formerly pro
fessor of history at Peru State
Teachers College and now with
the American Embassy in Bel
gium, told the story of this un
usual and unfortunate specula
tion in Nebraska History, Septem
ber, 1948. I can only summarize
it here.
The railroad building fever that
hit Nebraska in the late sixties
and early seventies brought with
it a conviction that a good rail
road connection was a fundamen
tal factor in the success of any
community; towns and counties
bonded themselves freely to ac
quire railroads.
j The Brownville, Fort Kearney
land Pacific was designed to con
nect Brownville with the Union
Pacific at Kearney. This was only
part of the dream, however—it
would simply be one link in a
great transcontinental system on
which Brownville would be an
important station. The Nebraska
Advertiser declared that the rail- *
[road gave Brownville an oppor- I
tunity to begin a, “new era in
her progress and prosperity which
will know no stoppage until she
j becomes one of the leading cities
of the Missouri vdlley, a centre
known to the commerce of the
world.”
Brownville bonded itself to the
m
hilt ,and private citizens liberally
subscribed to the stock of the
new organization. Unfortunately,
however, their grandiose scheme
fell through. Of the 540 miles
projected, only 10 were built, and
The Nebraska
Typewriter Co.
125 No. 11th Lincoln
2-2157
Royal Typewriters
Mimeograph - Duplicators
Dictaphones - Clary Adders
Sold - Rented - Repaired
Hodgman-Splain
MORTUARY
1335 L Street
Lincoln, Nebraska
WE BUY, SELL &
TRADE USED GUNS!
Top Prices Paid.
■ ROYAL JEWELERS
^_145 North 12th
but four of these were perma
nently operated. One citizen wrote
that it looked like “a rough road
to travel. Three ties to a rail and
nary gravel.”
BRIGHAM’S
. .. for cleaning *.
2-3624 |
2246 O St.
Please Ask For
UMBERGER’S AMBULANCE!
2-8543
llinberger’s Mortuary, Inc. j
i-7 "■' ■■ SS '■ ‘ffii ■ - ' HT ’ ~ ' 1 1 ..’■ j
Gillett Poultry
FRESH DRESSED POULTRY
QUALITY EGGS
Phone 2-2001 528 No. 9th
THE EVANS
CLEANERS — LAUNDERERS
Save Monej,
Use our Cash and Carry Plan
333 No. 12th St. Dial 2-6961
AUTO PARTS
MOTOR REBUILDING
MOTOR EXCHANGE
BEN’S NEW WAY
AUTO PARTS
2018-2024 ."O” St. Ph. 2-7039
“9 out of 10 your '»est bet
is Ben”
Gilmour-Donielson
Drug Co.
PRESCRIPTION DRUGGISTS
142 So. 13th St. 2-1246
For Better Values
• Drugs
• Cosmetics
• Stationery
• Candy
• Prescriptions
CHEAPPER ORUGS
1325 O St. Lincoln
DONLEY-STAHL CO. LTD.
1331 N St.
DRUGS—PRESCRIPTIONS
SICK ROOM NECESSITIES
WE APPRECIATE
YOUR PATRONAGE
When You Need
PAINTS
GLASS
MIRRORS
WALLPAPER
PAINTERS' SUPPLIES
Remember the: .
Van Sickle Glass and Paint Co.
143 South 10th St. 2-6931 Lincoln, Nebr.
SKYLINE
ICE CREAM STORES
1433 South St. Phone 3-8118
1417 N St. Phone 2-4074
All Products Manufactured At
Main Plant
Skyline Farms So. 14th St.
#
MEMBER FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION
10th ond O St. _ _Since 1871^
PARRISH MOTOR CO.
The home of clean used cars.
120 No. 19 St.