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iuiin«aphS^e0,wEU“i7Matter “ Poat office’ 0maha' N*br"under Act ot “afch '* 1874' Omaha, Nebraska, Saturday, March 2,1940 Volume Twelve, Number 50—
Ted Malone’s NBC “PILGRIMAGE of POETRY”.
PAYS TRIBUTE TO PAUL
LAURENCE DUNBAR
Will Big Three
Control G.O.P.
Campaign This
Year?
Washington, March 1 (by Albert Anderson for
ANP)—Just how will the Republican party conduct
its national campaign among Negroes this year? Will
it renounce past practices and the leadership that has
brought the condemnation of many workers seriously
interested in the welfare of the party? Or will the Ne
gro campaign be in the hands of the old triumvirate
rather than risk their enmity by turning affairs over
to more progressive leaders?
These are questions which must be answered
within the next few months by Chairman John Hamil
ton and the powers that be. If, meanwhile, Mr. Ham
ilton and his associates are puzzled over which path
to follow, it is not strange. They have received all
kinds of “sound advice” from every conceivable
course, with much of it entirely contradictory.
For several campaigns there has
been growing dissatisfaction with
the management of the colored div
ision. Except in 1928, when Her
bert Hoover was elected president,
a group known as the “Old Guard”
has actually controlled this divis
ion, no matter who was the nomin
al figurehead. But most of this
time the Negro voted Republican
anyway. In 1932 and 1936 the race
gave the majority of its votes to
the Democrats. According to the
Gallup poll, there is a drift back to
the GOP. Whether this can be
made to progress at a rate large
enough to place the pivotal states
such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illin
ois, Indiana, etc., on the Republic
an side of the ledger depends in a
large measure on how the coming
campaign is conducted.
The triumvirate, called the Old
Guard, which generally controls
campaigns consists of Robert R.
(“Bob”) Church of Memphis, who
has long had the reputation of be
ing an astute politician and until
recent years was reported a liber
al contributor to the campaign
fund; Perry W. Howard, national
committeeman from Mississippi,
and Roscoe Conkling Simmons of
Chicago, noted orator.
These three reputedly knew more
practical politics than all the oth
ers combined. Active in fraternal
realms, they could summon, for
example, support of the Elks from
J. Finley Wilson and Judge Billy
Hoaston on down.
Their tactics seldom varied. Af
ter the candidate was selected at
the national convention, an appro
priate slogan was found. Col.
Simmons then started his orator
ical tours, dragging out the ghosts
of reconstruction; Mr. Church and
Atty. Howard soon had a full staff
and headquarters gave the impres
sion of great activity. Col. Simm
ons also served as secretary, as
signed speakers, and operated with
a technique all his own.
For the past two years, Dr. L. K.
Williams, president of the Nation
al Baptist convention, Inc., was
head of the Negro division. Al
though thoroughly wise and exper
ienced in church politics, it is un
derstood the distinguished church
man on both occasions was no
match for the triumvirate. Three
weeks after the campaign started
they were in the drivers’ seat
which they did not relinquish until
the firing was over in November.
Anti-Lynch;ng Bill Hearing
Set Fer MAR. S
Senate Hearing Will Then Close and Report by Jud
iciary Committee to Full Senate Will Follow
Washington, D. C.—Following a conference
with Walter White, executive secretary of the Na
tional Association for the Advancement of Colored
People here Thursday February 22 Senator Frederick
Van Nuys of Indiana, chairman of the Senate Judic
iary Committee’s sub-committee holding hearings on
the Wagner-Van Nuys -Capper Federal Anti-lynch
ing bill announced that final hearings on the bill will
be held March 5.
Senator Van Nuys set the date?
after a conversation with Senator
Tom Connally, of Texas, ach foe of
Federal Anti-Lynching legislation,
had requested that he be given a
week’s notice as to the time when
final hearings would be held in or
der to permit him in introduce tes
timony from Texas witnesses, a
gainst the bill. Connally is still
in a hospital, said to be suffering
from a heart ailment. In a state
ment on the closing of the hear
ing Senator Van Nuys said:
“These will be absolutely the fi
nal hearings on the bill. "When
Senator Connally’s witnesses have
finished on the fifth or sixth of
March the sub-committee will j
make a full report to the full Sen
ate Judiciary Committee. This
should be accomplished no later
than March 7 or 8.”
USE OF RACE ISSUE FAILS TO
SAVE LONG MACHINE
New Orleans, Feb. 26—(CNA)—
The Huey Long political dynasty,
born of 12 years of demagogy and
dictatorial violence, went down to
defeat this week despite attempts
by its partisans to use the race is
sue to bring about the defeat of
Sam H. Jones, opponent of Goven
nor Earl Long in the Democratic
primary for Governor.
The race issue was raised by
several Long lieutenants, including
Senator Allen J. Ellender, bitter
opponent of federal anti-lynching
legislation. Answering a warning
by Jones that the federal govern
ment was on the lookout for elect
ion irregularities, Ellender declar
ed:
“If Sam Jones should succeed in
getting elected Governor after the
Federal Government had stepped
in, it would establish a percedent
and would pave the way for polit
ical equality for colored people.”
>
OMAHA SAFETY COUNCIL
PLANS EDUCATIONAL
CAMPAIGN
Because pedestrians were to
blame for a large share of the 270
accidents reported by the 65 car
and truck fleets in the Fleet Safe
ty Contest conducted by the Om
aha Safety Council, July 1 to Dec
ember 31, last year, an intensified
^ educational program for pedes
trians is to be carried on this year,
the Governing Board of the Coun
cil decided Wednesday at its reg
ular meeting.
George H. Nelsen, Chairman of
the Fleet Safety Contest Commit
tee, in reporting that 74 fleets with
1,822 cars and trucks are entered j
in the 1940 contest as compared
with 65 fleets and 1,612 vehicles
last year, recommend that pedes
trians should be enlisted to aicl in
reducing deaths, injuries and pro
perty damage from traffic accid
ents.
“The record of 2.3 accidents per
100,000 miles made by the 65 fleets
in last year’s contest is commend
able, but it can be materially low
ered if pedestrians will do their
part,” Mr. Nelsen said.“ Too many
pedestrians recklessly jaywalk, fail
to walk with the traffic lights, and
take chances with the attitude that
traffic safety rules were made for
the other fellow, and ‘it can’t hap
pen to me’ atttitude. Yet our ac
cident records show that a large
portion of our accidents were the
fault of pedestrians rather than
drivers.”
The educational campaign for
pedestrians will be conducted by
the Safety Education Committee
of the Omaha Safety Council of
which f<eon O. Smith is chairman.
■ ■ -—j
GETS CHILD WELFARE
APPOINTMENT
Mrs. Muriel E. Johnson has rec
ently been appointed case worker
with the Friends Association For
Colored Children, Richmond, Vir
ginia. She is a former student of
the Atlanta University of Social
Work, and a graduate of Virginia
Union University. Richmond. She
is a member of the Delta Sigma
Theta Sorority.
“Poet Laureate” of the Negro
To Be Honored at Dayton Shrine
Ted Malone’s Pilgrimage of Po
etry which is taking radio listeners
into the actual homes of the thir
ty-two poets chosen by the univer
sity and college English depart
ments as America’s most outstand
ing, starts west this Sunday, March
3rd at 1:00 p. m. EST. with a na
tionwide broadcast from the home
of Paul Laurence Dunbar “Poet
laureate” of the Negro race, at
219 North Summit Street in Day
ton, Ohio.
Dunbar, son of a one-time slave
mother, fought poverty and illness
to write his poetry and battle for
Negro rights. He wrote his first
poem at the age of seven and his
first job as an elevator boy earned
him only four dollars a week. But
with the publication of his second
book, “Majors and Minors” in 1896
he achieved wide recognition and
before he died his “Lyrics of the
Lowly Life”, “Lyrics of the Hearth
side”, and “Lyrics of Love and
Laughter” genuinely expressing
the spirit of his race won him an
unquestioned place in the literary
world. He numbered among his
friends Theodore Roosevelt, Will
iam Dean Howells, William Mc
Kinley, Robert G. Ingersoll and
many other outstanding figures of
the day. A position in the Library
of Congress which eased the finan
cial strain and marriage to his boy
hood sweetheart, Alice Ruth Moore
should have meant a life of hap
piness, but overwork in behalf of
his race wrecked Dunbar’s health
and his efforts to recover were fut-!
ile. He died on February 9, 1906
in the modest two-story house on
Summit Street which Ted Malone
will visit this Sunday on his Pil
grimage to one of the few shrines
in America devoted to the colored
race.
Governor Martin L. Davey, of O
hio authorized the purchase of the
Dunbar home as a shrine in July
1936, and the property was purch-1
ased in 1937 by the Ohio State Ar
chaeological and Historical Society
for the preservation of Dunbar’s
manuscripts and other personal
mementos of the poet. When Ted
Malone takes the NBC microphone
there he will endeavor by word pic
tures to bring the radio audience
into the actual rooms where the
poet lived, showing them his type
writer, his desk, his library, his
basket of pipes, and the bicycle he
rode down the streets of Dayton.
This is the 21st in the series of
32 programs from the homes of
the poets. Ted Malone, who orig
inated and conducts the series, also
has a daily program called Between
the Bookends heard over the Blue
Network of NBC at 3:45 EST.
WHITE TEXAS LAWYER WHO
VOTED FOR CONNALLY
SUPPORTS ANTI-LYNCH
BILL
New York,—Not all of Senator
Tom Connally’s white constituents
in Texas agree with his reactionary
tactics in trying to kill the Federal
Anti-lynching bill, and James Dav
is, a prominent white attorney, of
Dallas, who has always voted for
Connally, is one of them.
Davis sent Connally a long let
ter recently pointing out to the
Texas fenator that the old argu
ments against a Federal Anti-lyn
ching bill can no longer hold weight
because “-economic conditions
the changes in transportation and
communications, or the processes
thereof, taking place within recent
years, have removed all the sup
ports and argument that I and
mine have been clinging to for more
than a century, and we find that
the United States of America,
whether we wish it and will it or
not, is one community, governed by
the laws enacted by the national
White Waiters
Back Fight On
bias-Pay
Minneapolis, Feb, 26 (Cpecial to
UNA)—“If the Negro waiters lose,
we will lose also.”
This is the feeling that permeat
es the ranks of white hotel and res- '
taurant workers in Minneapolis as
the Negro waiters, Local 614, serv
ed notice upon the management of
the Curtis Hotel that either the
same wage be paid to Negro wait
ers as white workers receive—30
cents an hour—or a strike will be
called at the hotel. Negro waiters
are now receiving 26 cents an hour.
The management of the Curtis,
the one hotel in town that employes
Negro waiters exclusively, has for
some time been paying less than
the scale and as the men have a
separate local and are a minority,
they have not felt strong enough
to challenge the management. How
ever, the militant "Miscellaneous
Workers Union,” Local 666, is now
backing them in the fight. Help
has also boen pledged by all A. F.
of L. locals having workers in the
building.
congress, even to the smallest de
tail in many avenues of life—"
- (
FIRST LADY HEARD AT
BETH U N E-COOK MAN
COLLEGE
—
Daytona Beach, Fla., March 1—!
(ANP)—It took a ninety mile ride
in a police patrol car from Jackson
ville to Daytona Beach for Mrs.
Franklin D. Roosevelt to keep her
speaking schedule at Bethune
Cookman college here Monday, but
5,000 persons stood in the rain to
greet her as she arrived.
Rain was falling as Mrs. Roose
velt began speaking to the outdoor
audience and the downpour forced
moving the meeting into the college
auditorium.
It was the thirty-fifth annivers
ary of Bethune-Cookman college,
and Mis. Mary McLeod Bothune,
founder and president, said she was
duly proud of the honor paid it by
the First lady. Mrs. Roosevelt did
not disappoint her audience In her
speech when she explained the true
meaning of democracy.
“Democracy does not mean hav
ing the same religion or color,"
she said. “It means more citizens
who can share better things all the
time. Every step forward toward
giving more people a better exist
ence is a step toward a more per
fect democracy.”
After her talk, Mrs. Roosevelt
left for a month’s rest in Miami
Beach.
ILLINOIS CENTRAL OFFERS
PRIZES FOR TIME TABLE
PHOTOS
Chicago, Illinois, (CC)—The Il
linois Central System has renewed
its invitation to amateur photogra
phers to submit photographs for its
timetable covers. For those chos
en, awards of ten dollars will be
paid. The subjects can deal with
rail operations or scenic points a
long the railroad. Pictures should
be addressed to J. V. Lanigan, Pas- ,
senger Traffic Manager, Chicago,
Illinois.
NORTH CAROLINA MOB
THREATENS NEW LYNCHING
Dunn, N. C. Feb. 26 (CNA)—For ^
several days now, Negroes in this ,
town have been forced to remain
in their homes as a result of a re
ign of terror instituted against
them following the death of a
white policeman in a lawless raid
on a Negro cafe.
Officer Martin Underwood was
allegedly struck by a thrown brick
when he raided the safe. He died.
Seventy-five Negroes were illeg
ally rounded up and arrested and
three held on murder charges. Ex
tra policemen patrolled the Negro
section in an effort to intimidate
Says Negro Testa
U. S. Democracy!
Minneapolis, March 1 (ANP)—The 18th ann
ual observance of Interracial week ended with a mon
ster public mass meeting, Sunday night at the YWCA
with A. L. Foster, executive secretary of the Chicagc
Urban League, principal speaker.
LIKES OHIO “Y" POSITION
William S. Jackson, recent grad
uate of the Atlanta University
School of Social Work, is enthus
iastically interested in all phases
of his work as South Side Commun
ity Secretary of the Spring Street
Branch YMCA, Columbus, Ohio.
Mr. Jackson, who was formerly
employed as Boys Worker with the
Southeast Community House, Wash
ington, D. C., is also a graduate of
West Virginia State College, Ins
titute, and holds a Certificate of
Scoutmastership awarded by the
10th District Atlanta (Ga.) Area.J
Boy Scouts of America. He is a
member of the Omega Psi Phi
Fraternity, a native of Boston,
Mass.
Speaking on, “The Negro—A
Test of Democracy”, Mr. Foster as ,
sorted that America should no!
criticize the treatment of minorg
ities in Europe by dictatorship^
without first changing its atttitudc
toward Negroes in America. Quot|
ing from an editorial which appear
ed in Opportunity magazine las*
year, Foster said “The most severe
test of American Democracy is thc|
American Negro. As long as h«|J
suffers from racial oppression itj
the form of legal inequalities, eco^
nomic discrimination and political
disfranchisement, no religious, rac.
ial or national minority is secure
It is no isloated phenomenon in A
merican life that the great waves
of intolerance which have oecas
ionally swept over the nation hav«
engulfed the Catholic and the Jew
with the Negro”.
The auditorium was filled to ca
pacity with an unusual attendance
of white people. The relationshij
of the races in Minneapolis is mucl
better than in many cities an<
much progress has been made dur
ing the past few years due to the
cooperation of many organization!
interested in improved race relat
ions, The Minneapolis Urban L’gi
of which Charles W. Washingtoi
is executive Secretary, is the ac
cepted leader in the movement foi
better relationships. Other organ
izations active in the promotion o!
year round programs as well a:
the Interracial Week are: Minne
apolis Church federation, Bordei
ME. Church, Bethesda Baptis
Church, Zion Church, St. Peter A
ME. church, Beacon Light church
YWCA., St. Thomas Episcopa
church, Woman’s International l’g<
for Peace and Freedom, Minneap
olis Branch of the NAACP., Pacif
ist Action fellowship nnd Minne
apolis Sunday forum.
RANDOLPH IN WASHINGTON DIRECTING
PLANS FOR THIRD NAT’L NEGRO CONGRESS
MID-WESTERN NEGRO
DEMOCRATIC ASSOCIATION
—
Jefferson City, Mo., Feb. 28 —
The temporary Mid-Western Ne
gro Democratic Association which
was created at a conference of Ne
gro Democrats, Friday October 6,
1939, at Hannibal, Missouri, will
meet in Springfield, Illinois, Satur
day, March 2, 1940 to complete its
organization, elect officers, write
its constitution and by-laws and
plan for the First MiJT-Western
Democratic Convention, which will
be held sometime this summer.
the Negro people.
Mayor Herbert B. Taylor admit
ted that a “mob of hoodlums’’ from
Roseboro, Underwood’s home town
have threatened to “get”the man
who allegedly killed the officer.
Negro citizens have been subject
ed to molestation for a week here.
Bud Daddy, Dave Lilly and Buster
Hargrove, chraged with the slay
ing, were taken to the Lillington
jail, 17 miles from here.
250.000 NEGROES JAMMED IN
TO SEVEN MILE AREA CHI
CAGO SURVEY REVEALS
Chicago, Mar. 1 (ANP) —That
250.000 Negroes live in a restricted
area seven miles long, and from one
half to a mile and one-half in wid
th, is one of the startling facts re
vealed in the first of a series of
monographs on the study of the
Negro community in Chicago, re
leased last week after an announce
ment by Horace R. Cayton. one of
the directors of the survey.
Washington, D. C. February 26
A Phillip Randolph, President ol
the ational Negro Congress was ir
Washington this week making
plans for the forthcoming Thirc
National Negro Congress to b<
held here April 26-28.
While in the city President Ran
dolph conferred with John P. Davis
national secretary of the Congress
U. Simpson Tate, national treas
urer; and, with Rev. Arthur D
Gray, who is President of the Wash
ington Council of the National Ne
gro Congress, which will act as
host to the convention.
Plans for the forthcoming Con
gress include a monster lobby of
thousands of Negro delegates ir
Washington to visit members of
the United States Senate and
House of Representatives in the in
terest of passage of the anti-lynch
ing bill and other vital legislation
affecting the welfare of the Ne
gro People. It is planned to bring
to Washington delegates from Ne
gro communities throughout the
nation who will present to federal
government authorities the case of
the Negro on the vital issues of
health, housing, jobs and educa
tion.
Other national officers of the
Congress who have been to Wash
ington recently to take part in ar
rangements for the Congress in
clude: Edward E. Strong, national
youth chairman of Birmingham
and Dr. Max Yergan, a member of
the national executive board of the
congress.
ELLINGTON RHYTHM? YFJfS!!
Lafayette, Indiana, (C) —Duke
Ellington and His Famous Orches
tra will appear here ut Purdue Un
iversity on Saturday, March 1.