- " ' ■■ ——1 - -■
VOL. 5, NO. 38 mjuiwma --j Official and Legal Newspaper Thursday, July 12, 1951
AFL Seaman’s Union Agrees
-To Drop Color Line in N.Y.
NEW YORK. (ANP). Racial
bias was dropped last week in
the Seafarers international Union
AFL, it was jointly announced
Monday by Edward W. Edwards,
chairman of the New York State
Commission Against Discrimina
tion, and Paul Hall, first vice
president of the union.
This new policy means the end
of separate “colored” and “white”
job lists and hiring halls. It ap
plies officially as far as the union
m. is concerned only in the state of
New York.
Hall added, however that he
believed that it soon would be
policy for other branches of the
union in other states.
The question of union discrim
ination was brought before the
SCAD (New York’s version of fair
employment practices commis
sion) by 21 Negroes who charged
discrimination because of their
race.
Under the new program, the
union will not maintain job lists
or applications based on color,
creed, race, or natinal origin.
Each member will appear on one
main shipping lists rather than on
segregated lists as in the past.
Speaking of the application of
this policy to other units of the
union, Hall said several units on
the Atlantic and Gulf costs al
ready have approved proposals
for similar action.
Hall holds the office of escre
tary-treasurer of the union’s’ At
lantic and Gulf district, a title
which makes him the top man
in the area.
F. Williams Dies
After Illness
Frank L. Williams, 62, died Fri
day at his home at 2236 R Street.
Bom and reared near Oak wood,
Mo., Mr. Williams worked on the
Hannibal, Missouri police force
eight years and then engaged in
custodial work.
He came to Lincoln in 1946. He:
was a member of the Church of
God in Christ.
Surviving are his wife, Ella;
two sons, Frank, jr., and Vincent
W., both of Lincoln; four daugh
ters, Mrs. Helen Bradford and
Mrs. Louise McDaniels, both of
Omaha; Mrs. Marion Dauglas,
Eolia, Mo., Joyce, Lincoln; and 14
grandchildren.
Funeral services were held
Tuesday at the Church of God in
Christ with Rev. W. L. Johnson
of Hannibal, Mo., and Rev. Charles
Williams officiating. The church
choir and Mrs. Dorothy Dean
furnished the music, accompanied
by Mrs. Sarah Tarpley. Burial
was at Wyuka Cemetery.
Youth Play for 1st Time
In Little League Bashall
/-HOUSTON, Tex.—(ANP)—Ne
gro youth of this city for the first
time have been invited to play
in Little League baseball. Alex
ander Durley, head coach and di
• rector of athletics, Texas South
ern university, has been named
commissioner of the League for
the 1951 season.
The Optomist club arranged
with Negro businessmen to spon
sor the teams. Cost of financing
each team is about $400.
The League is divided into an
American and a National league.
Each league includes four teams.
Purpose of the Little League is to
give youth a chance to play or
ganized baseball.
| Wins Service
Ring Honors
James T. Nettles, jr., 20, son
i of Mr. and Mrs. James T. Nettles
of 643 South
20th, is a sea
man first class
now stationed
at Balboa, Ca
nal Zone. He
joined the navy
in 1949 alter
graduating
from Lincoln
high school. He
T . . —Courtesy of Lincoln
WOn Lincoln Journal-Star
Omaha Golden Seaman Nettles
Glove contests and won the gloves
in a similar contest at San Diego
a year ago.
NAACP Attacks
Segregation in
Kansas Schools
TOPEKA, Kan. (ANP). The
NAACP in its drive to en segre
gation in the nation’s schools, re
cently attacked jimcrow in ele
mentary and secondary schools
in this city by filing suit in
federal court.
The complaint challenges the
statute which* give Kansas cities
the right to establish separate
schools. It is seeking to get
Negroes admitted to the grade
schools of the First Kansas 'dis
trict.
Some grade and secondary
schools in Kansas are integrated
while others are segregated. All
state colleges and universities are,
integrated. '
The Girls Mr. X Helped
By Ralph E. Prouty
Public Relations Direct or Cleveland Urban Leaf ue
Out of Cleveland comes a story
calculated to warm the hearts of
those believing that America is,
indeed, the land of opportunity.
It is the story of two of Cleve
land’s race women pharmacists,
and how they made the grade
with the help of a white bene
factor.
In the summer of 1944 Bernice
Davis had just left her job as
manager of a food store, intending
to take a trip to California. In
the midst of her plans, a friend
who worked for Standard Drug
mentioned that Standard was in
desperate need of qualified help.;
Deciding to help out for a while,
Bernice went to Standard Drug’s
main offices in Cleveland to see a
certain official whom her friend
had mentioned. Since he prefers
to remain anonymous in this case,
the official will hereafter be re
ferred to as Mr. X.
A shrewd judge of character,
Mr. X realized that Bernice “had
good stuff in her,” and urged her
to study pharmacy. Though
| nothing was said about a possible
. future placement upon gradua
tion, Bernice enrolled in the West
ern Reserve School of Pharmacy
'and went through on her own.
Just before the start of her last
semester, she came to Mr. X and
told him that she might have
tough sledding financially. He
promised to provide as much as
she needed to finish. “But,” he
says, “she never asked me for a
dime.”
After receiving her pharmacy
degree in ‘ June, 1947, Bernice
went back to Mr. X. He im
•
mediately placed her in Standard
Drug’s important store at Superior
and East 105th street. She was
Just able to squeeze in her year’s
apprenticeship before taking the
state board examination at Co
lumbus.
Immediately after Bernice
passed the state board and was
certified as a registered phar
macist, Mr. X made her assistant
manager of the store. Since work
ing for Standard, Bernice’s race
has not been mentioned once,
either by Customers or by fellow
employees.
Married in April, 1949, Bernice
now answers to the name of either
Miss Davis or Mrs. Napier.
Soundly established in a respected
profession, she has an income, in
cluding bonuses, slightly in ex
cess of $5,000 and looks cheerfully
to the future.
Theresa Rucker, a classmate of
Bernice’s at Cleveland’s Central
High School, followed Bernice’s
example by entering the phar
macy school at Western Reserve.
After graduating in June, 1948,
she went to see Mr. X, of Whom
she had heard from Bernice.
Mr. X placed her at once in
Standard’s store at St. Clair and
East 105th street. Theresa finished
her year’s apprenticeship just one
day before the state board exam
ination, which she passed with
high marks. Shortly after passing
the examination in June, 1949,
Mr. X made her assistant manager
of her store.
Bernice and Theresa are not the
only race women pharmacists in
(Continued on Page 3)
Justice Dep't Is Probing
Action of Illinois Police
i:
JacksonCollege
Approved
Arts Degrees
JACKSON, Miss. (ANP). The
board of trustees of institutions of
higher learning, met at Ocean
Springs last week, and approved
plans for Jackson college to ex
pand its program to serve as a
general state college for Negroes
as well as a teachers college.
The new program will be four
fold in its purpose. It will include
teacher education, liberal educa
tion, nursing education, and grad
uate work in education.
The college plans to add four
building facilities. They are:
A new dining hall, library, ad
ministration and classroom build
ing, and science building.
The program is expected to go
into effect September, 1952, and
it will require a doubling of the
faculty.
Jackson college formerly had
directed its program toward the
education of Negro teachers. In
1943, the college was selected by
the American council on educa
tion for study as one of the 12
progressive teachers colleges fc
the country.
The new division of liberal edu
cation will offer a full program
Iin liberal arts education leading
Ito the B.S. and B.A. degrees.
WASHINGTON. (ANP). The U.S. Department of Jus
tice is now investigating charges brought against Erwin
Konovsky, chief of police of Cicero, Illinois, for allegedly
conspiring to deprive Negro citizens of the United States of
their right of freedom of movement by force and violence
Honors Given
At Ceremonial
At the Boy Scouts ceremonial
program held #at the Urban
League recently honors were be
stowed upon Mr. Clayton P. Lewis
and Jewell Kelley for ten years
of service. Awards were also
given Mrs. Dorothy I>wis and
Mrs. Aliner Kelley.
Tenderfoot badges were
awarded: Clarence Brown, Lester
Collier, Leonard Parnell, Laverne
Perkins, Carl Mosley, Paul Lewis,
Boyd Roberts, Donny Whitman
and Corine Wilkenson.
Service awards were given Mr.
Felix Polk, Rev. Melvin Shake
speare, -Holbert Bradley and
.Johnny Reed.
Discrimnation
In Atomic Plants
Denounced by UL
ATLANTA. (ANP). The Na
tional Urban league last week
accused two atomic energy plants
with violating presidential di
rectives against racial discrixnin
; ation. The report cited Paducah
1 Ky, and the Savannah River pro
jects of the Atomic Energy Com
mission, of being guilty of unfair
employment practices.
Robert Rose, public information
officer at the Paducah plant,
denied that there is discrimination
at the plant,
“The A.E.C. and it contractors
at the plant are accepting appli
cations and will fill positions with
the most-qualified individuals, re
gardless of race, creed, or color,’
Rose said.
Nelson C. Jackson, field director
of the league, says that only in
the construction trades were
Negroes employed, and then on a
segregated basis.
Jackson said if the situation was
not remedied, the league would
take the matter to President Tru
man.
Clarence Mitxhell, Washington
representative of the NAACP,
said “the board of directors of
the association has decided to
take the matter into court.”
International Girl Scouts |
To Attend Camp July 16
NEW YORK — (ANP)— About
100 teen-age girl guides and girl
scouts from some 14 countries will
gather on July 16 at a camp site
in the Cascade mountains of
Washington to begin a three-week
international encampment. Pur
pose of the outings is to bring
together girls of many origins—
racial, religion, and cultural—to
discuss problems underlying con
flict among peoples.
Selected on the basis of their
practice of the ideals of girl scout
ing and for their skill in pioneer
camping, these girls have made
outstanding contributions in vol
unteer service in hospitals and or
phanager, civil defense, soil and
wildlife conservation, and other
fields of community life.
While at the camp, the scouts
will cook their own meals and
sleep in blankets rolled on the
ground.
and under color of authority.
The investigation is being made
upon request of the Chicago Civil
Liberties Committee which is ask
ing that Chief Knoovsky and the
police officers acting under him
be criminally prosecuted for the
violation of the federal law under
the United States Code—the civil ,
rights statutes.
The case originated June 8 when
Chief Konovsky and several other
police officers prohibited Mr. and
Mrs. Harvey E. Clark from mov
ing into an apartment in Cicero,
111., which they had leased for
one year from George S. Adams,
through his renting agent, Charles
S. Edwards.
I Edwards claims that he and
Mrs. Adams went out to the apart
ment building about noon, June 8
to wait for the Clarks to move in.
They were met at the door by
two plain clothes officers. During
their two-hour visit, two squad
cars came and went but the first
two policemen remained.
The moving truck bringing the
new tenants from Chicago, ar
rived at 2.30 p. m. When Mr. and
Mrs. Clark got out of the truck
and started to enter the building,
they were stopped by the two
, j policemen at the door. The offl
■ leers told them that they coaid no#
/enter, according to Edwards. When
j he went downstairs to see what
was wrong, he was informed that
neither the Clarks nor their fur
niture were going into that build
ing.
The Chief of Police was then
called. He rushed out of the alley
nearby followed by about 20 men,
stated Edwards in his affidavit.
He quoted the Chief as saying:
“You should know better—get
going—get out of here fast. There
will be no moving in that building
—I’m not going to endanger the
lives of 19 families for the ljkes
of you.”
When Edwards started to his
parked car, Chief Konovsky push
ed him to make him move faster,
and finally shoved him into the
car after he opened the door. He
said he was then warned by the
chief to “Get out of Cicero and
don’t come back in town or you’ll
get a bullet through you.”
Edwards is a college man, hav
ing attended Penn State, Howard
and John Marshall Law school.
He also served in the army three
years. He is now a licensed real
estate broker.
Clark is a graduate of Fisk uni
versity and served four years in
the U. S. Air Forces. He drives
a bus for the Chicago Transit
Authority, and his route runs to
the Chicago-Cicero boundary.
Adams is an attorney for La
Salle National Bank and Trust
company.
Edwards requested the aid of
the Chicago Civil Liberties com
mittee.
A few days later the case was
referred to the Civil Rights Unit
J of the Department of Justice by
Ira H. Latimer, executive director
of the Civil Liberties Committee
on the grounds that these citizens
had been abused and deprived of
their constitutional civil rights
solely because of their collar and
“race.”