Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Omaha guide. (Omaha, Neb.) 1927-19?? | View Entire Issue (Nov. 18, 1939)
^' HEW TO THtUNEl LARGEST ACCREDITED NEGRO NEWSPAPER WEST OP CHICAGO amo NORTH OF KANSAS CITY Entered as 2nd Class Matter at Postoffice, Omaha, Nebr., under Act of March 8, 1874. SATURDAY NOVEMB. 3, 1939 NUMBER 32 America's tion Lies In Education1 IL ■ f r a AAii Carrying on the fight for Tolerance and Equality In this country, the Coun cil Against Intolerance In America, together with representatives of 200 national women’s organizations, has Inaugurated a Seal Campaign cen tered about “A Spirit of Tolerance,’’ a painting by McClelland Barclay for which Katharine Hepburn posed. The seals are two Inches wide and one inch deep, designed for use on letters, packages and general diallings. Police Quiz Bookkeeper As Ambush Murderer Mound Bayou, Muss. Nov. 16 —(ANP)—Fred Miller, 45, a bookkeeper in this all-Negro town, was arrested at Clarks dale Tuesday by police acting under orders of District; Attor ney Green P. ltlce, as official Mississippi launched an inves tigation into tlhe arribush -slay ing last week of Eugene P. Booze, Republican chieftain and son-in-law of Isaiah T. Mont gomery, founder of Mound Ba you. Although many citizens be lieve Booza was killed in reta liation for the slaying by police six weeks ago of Miss Stella Montgomery, daughter of the founder and sister-in-law of E. P. Booze, the Republican leader himself said iu the hospital be fore he died that the shooting was the result of “political jealous.” Miller was arrested while Bo livar county officers probed all angles of the murder and was taken to an unannounced jail for questioning. The district attorney said he believed there was more than one assailant and that he had “some valuable information” on which to work. Booze was shot when he left his law office and started to en ter his automobile around 7:30 Monday night. He was struck twice in the chest, once in the abdomen and once in the shoul der. His chauffeur, Andrew Polk, was shot in the hip. Both were rushed to a hospital at Green - ville where Booze died early tha next dav. The ftisillade taaroe tfroim be hind posts in front of an old drug store. A short time after the shooting to which there were no witnesses, officers who came here from Cleveland, Miss, found 2<5 holes in Booze’s car and five empty shotgun shells nearby. At the hospital both pistol bullets and buckshot were taketa from the victim’s body. District Attorney Rice says he believes there were several cssas sins in the murder which was carried ouj in typical gangland fashion. Citizens under leadership of Mayor Green have started collecting » fund to investigate tlte death. Booze was a member of the Republican State Cantata! com mittee since 1924, and his wife ing of my own qualifications. is Republican Na' ional Commit teewoman from Mississippi When Isaiah Montgomery died some years ago, Stella, who was recently killed by police, charg ed Booze wi;h poisoning him to death and had him brought t« trial on the charge. Booze was exonerated, but opinion in the community was divided between those who actually thought hiim guilty and those who believed him innocent. The fued between Booze and Miss Montgomery flourished so greatly that the political 1 add' go*i a court order prohibiting her from entering hi« home after she allegedly perpetrated several il legal land deals here. She moved to St. Louis, coming here only on periodic visits. Shetn she returned in Septem ber, Booze got a warrant for her arrest. Deputy Sheriff Clayton Dempsey of .Cleveland and Mar shall Fred Connor of Marigold accompanied Booze to take hsr under custody. The white officers substantiated by Booze said they were forced to shoot in self-de fense when Miss Montgomery at tacked than with a knife. The community was incensed nt the slaying, many persons con demning Booze for his part in the affair. He allegedly received several threats to “gat out of town” but hesded none. Until th9 two recent slayings, there had been few violent deaths in Mound Bayou since an “out sider” murdered Benjamin T. Green, father of the present mayor, many years ago. So order ly was the town that not long ago the city jail was torn down because of disuse. -/vfVv _ --- SAYS MORE NEGROES SHOULD SEEK TOP CIVIL SERVICE JOBS Washington, Nov. 16 (ANP)— Emphasizing the failure of Ne groes to take advantage of the civil service opportunities for jobh in the higher brackets of governmental dspar ments, a n official pointed out the sad lack of interest among qualified Ne groes as one of the reasons for the failure of imiore appointments to these jobs among Negroes. “There is no excuse for it,” he said. “I have just filed applica tion for a position for vdiich there will be no written exam. Submitting my qualifications, I see no reason why I haven’t an opportunity for an appointment to a higher position. “Others can gelt the informa tion the same as I did, by read ing the Negro newspapers which, to their everlasting credit, keep pumping away giving informa tion concerning these exams. I know personally that there are a number of highly qualified Ne groes who could fill one of these jobs as well as I can, not boast - However, I want to give the thing a thprough trial,” Salva ‘Clouds of Bigotry and Prejudice Must Be Dispelled” I ® ’ Leading Women’s Groups Aid Seal Drive for Tolerance America’s salvation lies in edu cation that will dispel the clouds of bigotry and prejudice, the Council Against Intolerance in America declared today in an nouncing a nationwide seal cam paign to (Underwrite constructive work for tolerance in this coun try. The drive for funds to carry on the educat ional program will bo climaxed with a National Seal Week from November 15 to Nov ember 23. Mora than 200 promi nent women Is organizations are assisting in the campaign. Headed by George Gordon Bat tle, United Stale® Sena'or W. Warren Barbour of New Jersey and William Allen Whi.ie, the Council has designated as its of ficial seal a painting, “The Spirit of Tolerance,’’ McClelland Bar clay! noted artist and illustrator. Katherine Hepburn posed as the model. Virtually every prominent women’s group in the nation was represented at the New York meeting at which final plans for tho seal drive were made. They heard pleas by Dorothy Canfield Fisher, internationally known author and Dr. Henry Smith Lei per, executive secretary of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, for continued cooperation to make the campaign successful. Among them were the Ameri can Women’s Association, the American Legion Auxiliary, the Daughters of the American Rev olution, the National Council of Jewish Women, the National Arts Council, tlhe United States Flag Association, the Women’s Federal Jurors Association and the Young | Women’s Christian Association, j Catholic Daughters of America j and the National Council of Women. The seal drive will be further-' ed by a press and radio campaign | to be aided by leading figures of | the stage and screen. Department stores, hotel and theatre lobby booths will be set up in principal cities throughout the country. Tho primary objective of the campaign is increased distribu tion of the teachers' manual, “An American answer to Intolerance”, prepared by the Council under the direction of a group of na tionally known educators for use in the nation’s schools. Since i'je publication in Septem ber, this Manual has been adopted by educational authorities for use in classrooms of 44 states, according to Mi's. Albion Mac Corwick, administrative secretary of the Council. Mrs. MacCortnick revealed that despite ''.‘he distribution of 10,000 copies of the Manual, the Council has over 25,000 requests for ad ditional copies, “to be filled as soon as funds for continued pub lication are available. The Man ual is supplied without charge to teachers. Through the Seal Campaign the Council hopes to distribute a tot al of 100,000 copies of the Man ual to English and Social science teachers in the United States. The educational guide contains an analysis of propaganda, a study of prejudices leading to in tolerance, a chapter of factual in I formation to combat propaganda and a section setting forth means by which teachers may graphi cally impart the true meaning of the basic human rights guaran teed in the Constitution. • 4 _ Salem-lfilson Case Continued Tho Hi Ison ca-se proceedings wero stopp:<l Monday for an in definite time, because of the ill ness of ':he judge. The case will bo r called. The defendents have nob been able to account tor the money spent. In fact, there has been no financial report since the thri church used the government funds in 1936 for the building of the new church. The defendants are unable to produce any re ceipts. So far, everything is in favor of 1 3 trustees, but some body wall have to account for •that money possibly by finding canceled checks and receipts for that period of time. -nfln-.— Ask Better Facilities for Drs., Nurses Washington, Nov. 18 (ANP)— Writing in the Modern Hospi tal Dr. Robert Olesen, makes a strong plea for better training for Negroes, and his article re published through the facilities of the U'. S. Public H'alth Ser vice is attracting considerable at tention. “If better facilities were avail able for the training of Negro physicians and nurses,” says Dr. Olesen “these professional work ers would undoubtedly be able to render a great measure of ser vice to the members of th'ir own race. Moreover, the advan tages accruing from the improve ment of the Negro Health, would bo of benefit to the white popu lation. “An example will serve to il lustrate the disadvantages under which Negro physicians, medical students and nurses usually operate. Freedman’s hospital in Washington, is devoted almost exclusively to the treatment of Negroes, although under the terns of its charter, it may ex tend its services to transient and resident whites as well. The in stitution is staffed by Negro physicians and nurses and serves as the teaching center for the medical school of Howard univer sity, one of the two Negro medi cal schools in the United States. “The tuberculosis death rai e among Negroes in Washington is abnormally high. In the calendar year 1937, for example, the death rate from this disease among Ne groes was 227.8 per 100,000 while among whites it was 45.0 per 100,000. Negroes comprise appro xicately 27 percent of the popu lation of the community. Obvi ously, it would be highly advan (Continued on page 6) Charged With First Degree Murder; Gets 4 Years Melvin Cook, who stood before Judjra Sears in !‘he District Court pleaded guilty to man slaughter and received a sentence for four years of hard laihon in the state j penitentiary for the murder of I Ora Stearns. The date of the of fense was Soph. 4, 1939. Stearns died Sept. 27. Red Cross Start " in Dougl as County Next LSriVe Monday, Nov. 20th • A vast army of more than 3,000 volunteer workers was pois d .his week ready to spring into iction next Monday, November iO, for '.he annual Red Cro«s VCi-mbemh'iP Roll Call drive un der direction of Cecil W. Slocum, Douglas County Chairman. Slo cum predicted the campaign goal of 20,000 members would be reached in one-half of the ten day period set. Slocum said he based his pre diction on inquiries already made at campaign headquarters, Nine teenth and Harney Streets, and h e tremendous enthusiasm manifest by the workers to date.” “I have taken part in numerous civic and financial campaigns in the past. But I have never seen such monentum evidenced so far in advance of a campaign be fore,” Slocum said. Slocum said some question had arisen in the minds of Omahans a* to just why '-he Red Cross had withdrawn from the Omaha Com munity Chest. Explaining the action, Slocum said: “This is the first appeal for membership in Omaha for seventeen years, the Red Cross having received its funds from the Community Chest since 1922. Officials of both the Chest; and the Red Cross recog nized that the functions and pur poses of the Red Cross differed from other Chest agencies. Un expected emergencies plus a con stantly increasing demand for; Red Cross services made it im possible to accurately forecast ,he need for funds during the year. The withdrawal from the Chest abled the Chest to add threa new agencies this year. Complete cooperation has been shown by both organizations and our campaign was set back one week in order to allow the Chest to oomplete its solicitation.” Slocum emphasized that separ ation of the Red Cross this year .— i .i.i. ' .■— ^ i 1 had been “on the most friendly of terns.” “Directors of both organiza tions simply came to the con clusion that both would be best served by the separation. We J parted on the best of terms and 1 wi.h the hearty best wishes of Chert Directors for the success ' of our Membership Roll Call campaign,” he said. Emphasizing that the Red Cross depends solely on voluntary contributions of a generous public for the necessary financial sup port, U> cany on, its mission of mercy, Slocum «aid the campaign would bo keyed to the though, that the Red Cross has never yet failed the American Public in its hour of need and that it was confident that same public would not fail it now. Only fifty cents of each mem bership, whether it be for One Dollar or for one thousand dol lars, goes back to national head quarters in Washington for the national program. The entira balance remains in Omaha and Douglas County, he said. Down-town Omaha will present a most colorful appearance when the campaign gets actively un derway next week. Brilliant Red Cross flags will fly from, the trolley wires on the main down town streets, as well as from the flag poles of all important build ings. Starting Monday all down town office buildings will be re quested to light their windows in such a way as to make huge crosses throughout the evening hours. Stores will carry special window displays. Theatre lobby? and office buildings will have special displays. “We go into this campaign with confidence bred of the know ledge that the entire community is whole heartedly behind us. With such confidence we cannot fail,” Slocum said.” Republicans Recapture rhila. Philadelphia, Nov. 16 (ANP)— Negroes returned to the Repub lican fold in a marked way when Philadelphians went to the polls last Tuesday and helped the GOP to recapture this traditional old guard city. When the counting was over, Edward W. Henry was returned for another six years as magistrate, and the veteran James H. Irvin was rent back to city council. The*e are the only Negroes elected to office. How Negroes voted was very much of a surprise as up to a year ago, when the rest of the state and city went Republican, every Negro ward and division heTe and in Allegheny still con tinued firmly in the democratic line-up. WPA jobs and relief were pointed to as the reasons why Negroes voted Democratic. Throughout the city, there was a sincere belief that the Demo cratic candidate for mayor would carry the city due to the fact that there has been much dissatisfac tion with the manner in which the Republican machine has run the city— unbalanced budgets, I waste, and a hundred other com- ' plaints, according to the opposi tion. Early in the evening, however, it became clear that, for some reason or other, the people were returning to tire party of Lincoln. After all the votes were in, it was found that only two wards heavily populated by Negroes re mained Democratic and the South Philadelphia Thirtieth ward—tra ditional political battleground— was amiong those which chalked rp a Republican victory. Since 1932 when Roosevelt became President, this ward had voted individedly for relief. An indication of the about-face among Negro voters is the exper ience in the fourth eouncilmanic district, from which Irvin was re elected and which was conceded to be a Democratic stronghold. This district did not only return Irvin but gave him a larger vote than it did four years ago, despite the fact that this year the Demo crats ran another Negro as ap ponent to Irvin. The losing candi date was John H. Boykin. Irvin polled 75,692 votes against 72,569 polled in 1935; Boykin polled 73,227. Irvin ran fourth in the number of votes received by all the councilmanic candidates, Magistrate Henry, elected city wide, polled 383,474 votes against 247,738 received by his Democra tic opponent, Dr. Willard Grinnag* a dentist Henry credited with rallying the 30th ward to the Republicans, saw the war go over with 5,133 votes to 4,801 garnered by Grinnage. I.ast year the Re publicans lost this same ward by 1,526 votes. Tho results are interpreted as a boost to Republican hopes to win the president ial election in 1940 and as raising tfie chances of Pennsylvania’s Gov. Arthur H. James to get considf' -etion as presidential candidate. < he oth er hand, the present trend of the voting is declared to be no omen of what voters will do if Mr. Roosevelt and the New Deal runs for a third term. A,.VA*,VA%,.VAVAW.«W City Edition * 5cts- PER COPY THE WEATHER Upper Miss, and lower Mo. val leys and Northern and Central Great Plains, little precipitation indicated within first half of week, but likely within latter half temperatures normal or higher, followed by colder towards close1 ot week. BORN WHITE REARED COLORED Loses Claim for $100,000 Atlantic City, Nov. 16 (Py Frank W. Canty, Jr., for ANP)— Despite the testimony of two aged colored women that they witnessed the birth of Mrs. Viola Harris Gardner, 41 years ago in '.bis ci .y who was born to one Minnie W. Uphatrv (whitie) but brought up as colored, Vice Or dinary VV. Frank Sooy in prero gative court ruled gainst Mrs. Gardner, who sought to share in her alleged mother’s estate toll ing $110,000. The case took 2 #tys to com plete with many witnesses taking: the stand. The first to testify i.i the behalf of Mrs. Gardner was Mrs. Sarah Hazzard, 74, who «aid that she was called to at tend the birth and that it took place on the third floor of a Presbyterian avenue rooming boose, Oct. 2, 1898. She said when sha arrived the baby had been born a half hour and Miss Vphi*n was in bed. Her testimony however differed from that of Mrs. Elizabeth Holland, 83, also colored, who said she was present whan a "Mom” Kelly, a mid wife attended Miss Upham at the birth. She said she washed rjvrt dressed the baby. She gave the birth place as the Upham home. Shortly after the birth, wit nesses say the child was moved to the home of Mrs. I>eah Harris, who reared it and to the child was its mother. The Harris wom an was said to have been an em ploye at the Upham’s hoce. Mrs. Gardner, taking the £,and in her own behalf, claimed that she was born white and brought up colored. ;It was in the house of Mrs. Harris she related, that she came into this world. It wag not until 1930 that she learned through a letter from Mrs. Haz zard that Miss Upham was her real mother. Upon h:aring this sho sent many letters to Miss Upham, addressing her as mother. Asked by the attorney for the Upham whether she considered herself white or colored, Mrs. Gardner replied she did not know because she never knew who her father was. Miss Upfiam died at the age or 70 last May in Philadelphia, leaving he>r estate including pro perties »t 9 S. Maryland avenue and 1410 Atlantic avenue to her cousins In Massachusetts and Mo. Before her death she made sev eral codicils. One whicn r<rsd ‘‘a young woman having recently untruthfully and unjustly sug gested that she was born my child some 33 years ago, I most solomenly declare I was never married and was heavy with child and hewer gave birth to child. "To this end that my estate may not be harrassed with any such claim and with the express intention of disinheriting any such child, I will that Viola Har ris Gardner, or any other per sons claiming to be my children, have no part in the estate.” Dr. F. Hurst Maier, assistant professor of gynecology at the Jefferson Medical college told the court that in 1926 ne performed an operation on Miss Upham and found “definite indications that she could never have consum mated relations with a man.” Dr. Robert Kirdruff, directs of the Atlantic City hospital la boratory said he performed an autopsy on Mi» Upham for the purpose of ascertaining whether she had ever bom a child, ai>d that it was plainly apparent that she would not. Mrs. Gardner resides In Balti more and brought up as colored, twice married colored men, the first Clarence E. Small, whom she divorced for disertioa. Records at city hall reveal no recording of the tiattu —