Nebraska Newspapers

    LARGEST ACCREDITED NEGRO NEWSPAPER WEST OF CHICAGO AND NORTH OF KANSAS CITY
“Entered as Second-class Matter at The Post office, Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha, Nebraska, Saturday, November 16, 1940 OUR 1.4th YEAR—No. 36—City Edition, 5c Copy
_Under Act of March 8. 1874—Business Phone: WE. 1517 _ _ ___.__
FIRE PARTIALLY DES
TROYS OLIVET AS
THOUSANDS AWAIT
WILLIAMS’ FUNERAL
CHICAGO, Nov. 11 (ANP)—Tragedy, which struck eight days
before when Dr. L. K. Williams, president of the National Baptist
Convention, Inc., was killed in an airplane crash near Charlotte, Mich-.
* truck again Wednesday morning when fire partially destroyed his
toric Olivet Baptist Church and drove into the streetfe 4,000 miurners
awaiting the funeral services for Dr. Williams, also its pastor. Dam
age was estimated, at $50,000.
The crowd, including distinguished leaders from all parts of the
nation, began assembling before 9 a. m. Services were to start at 11
o’clock that morning. Around 10:30, with every available seat filled
and other hundreds standing inside the auditorium, the Rev. Joseph
Bjtaham, assistant pastor discov
ered flames in the third floor class
room.
Running downstairs, he found
three policemen on duty there Sgt
Carl Nelson, former bodyguard for
Joe Louis; Sgt. Thomas Chapman
and Patrolman Louis! Frank, the
latter two white. All returned to
the classroom to try and subdue
the blaze but it had gained too
much headway. A fire alarm was
turned in immediately by Officers
Louis Steinberg and Robert White
on duty outside, who noticed wisps
of smoke trailing from the steeple.
Ml.Vinwhile, Sat. Nelson had
gone to the control panel of the
public address system in the choir
loft and cut in on the organ mus
ic being played over the speakers.
“There has been a fire in the
church but it’s out now’’ he said,
although the flames were steadily
mounting in the upper part of '.he
cjhurch. ‘‘However, the firemen
want the building cleared. You
will please leave, single file.’’
At the same time, some persona
in t'he balcony had noticed smoke
and had broken out windows ore
paring to jump to the street- But
officers stopped them and made
them leave through the door.
Nobody believed at first there
really was a fire, thinking those
outside had concocted a scheme to
get inside the church. When no
attempt was made to leave Sgt.
Nelson repeated his instructions
and the crowd stood up and start
ed moving toward the exists.
From the choir loft Sgt. Nelson
controlled the crowd, belling the
people to “quit pushing” and stop
ping them when congestion was
too great at the doors. As a i es"
ult, the thousands got outside in
perfect order. The only injuries
sustained were by two men who
suffered minor cuts from broken
glass and by a woman, Mrs- Arn
etta Jones, 41t whose* ankle was
broken.
As the last of the crowd was
leaving, the flames broke through
the ceiling. Deacons then remov
ed the casket from the front of the
church, where it had been laying
in state since Monday evening.
There were four carloads of flow
ers banked around the altar but
they were not removed. Later,
when part of the ceiling fell in
from the weight of debris falling'
from above, tthe floWers were par
tially buried. The tons of water
shot into the Iblaze knocked them
all over the floor.
The casket was taken to the Hell
Funeral Home on Michigan aven
ue, a few blocks away, whice it
remained unt^l open air funeral)
services were held in front of the
church starting at 2 p. m
More than 30 fire trucks rush
ed to the scene as a 5-11 alarm
was sounded, and at least 10,000
persons stood watching the blaze
which was brought under control
within an hour. Many of those
who watched remained on the
streets outside until services in the
afternoon. Some had left their
overcoats in the building. It was
around 40 degrees above zero at
the time of the conflagration.
Defective wiring is generally
believed responsible for t/he firo( al
though the church organist, who
said the huge electric instrument
had been played almost continu
ously for twod ays while thous
ands viewed Dr. Williams’ body,
> .—
asserted she had felt heat from ihe
organ Tuesday night and had re
ported it but nobody did anything
about it.
Much of the rich walnut and
mahogany woodwork of the church
was a total loss and the roof, part
of tlhe floor, and much of the up
Istairs rooms will have to be re
built- Most of the church records
were saved. The loss was covered
by insurance and rebuilding is to
start soon.
Olivet has the largest member
ship of any Protestant church in
America, around 10,000. It was
.built to its present size mainly
through the efforts of Dr. Wil
liams. The building is 80 years
old and was once a station on the
“underground railroad’1 of pre
Civil war days.
ART’S LAUNDRY UN
DER NEW MANAGER
Art’s Luandry, 2627 Cuming Ft.
has been taken over by Mr. Wil
liam Lyman. w*ho has had twelve
years experience in the dry clean
ing and laundry work and who is
at present operating two plants,
one at the above address and the
othed at 4909 North 42nd street or
42nd and Grand Ave.
Mr. Lyman’s experience and
qualifications have always be.n
O .K. to the pubilc. We sincere
ly offer our services to all. Give
us a trial and be convinced. Call
Ait’s Laundry> 2627 Cuming St.,
JA. 7746.
Nebraska Clothing
Co. Gives Valuable
Certificates
54TH ANNIVERSARY EVENT
A MONEY SAVER FOR ALL
Everyone is pretty well acquaint
ed with the Nebraska Clothing Co.
idea of selling clothing and wear
ing apparel. The Nebraska al
ways strives to sell at the lowest
possible price for strictly FIRST
grade merchandise. But right
now the Nebraska is Celebrating
il^s 54th Birthday—and is giving
Appreciation Certificates witlh
purchases all over the store. These
Certificates are redeemable in
merchandise in any department at
the Nebraska up to Dec. 31st,
1940.
In a display announcement on
page three in todays’ Omaha
Guide, the above liberal proposit.
ion is explained in detail.
Book Review By Dr. F.
Smith At Clair Chapel
A book review by Dr. Frank G.
Smith, will be given Tuesday eve.
November 26th at 8 p. m. at the
Clair Chapel Church, 22nd and
Miami Sts., Sponsored by the Mo
dern Priscilla Art and Study club
Literary Dept., for the benefit of
their shoe fund.
I We wish to take this pppomm
j ity in thanking all of you for the
splendid cooperation you 'have giv
en us in the past.
Dr. Smith will review “How
Green Is My Valley” by Llewellyn.
Our motto “Lifting As We j
Climb’’
For further information call—
WE. 0624, or W'E. 1658
“Let Us Be Tharktil”
Chrysanthemum Festival
mammmm m
Two of last year’s younger visitors found the Chrysanthemum
Festival at Forest Lawn, too beautiful for words—but their eyes spoke
'olumes!
-- r,
JETS N .Y. CASE WORK
APPOINTMENT
Miss Annie D. Singfield. 1940
giaduate of the Atlanta Univers
ity school of Social Work, has re
cently been appointed case work
er on tlhe staff of The Five Points
House, New York Ctiy. She is
also a graduate of Paine College,
Augusta, Georgia, and has taken
special courses at the North Car
olina A. and T. College, Greens
boro. Miss Sinafield taught for a
number of years in various high
schools of North Carolina before
entering the Atlanta University
School of Social Work. She brings
to her present position an excel
lent cultural and educational back
ground
Tries 3 Years For Two
Jackpots; (Jets 158 In
Draft
Nashville, Nov. 6 (ANP) Albert
Teas ley, 32, holder of No. 158 in
Fr^m November 17 to 21
One of the outstanding things
about Thanksgiving week in Om
aha—especially to the City’s thou
sands of flower lovers—is the an
nual Forest Law nChysanthemum
Festival, and this year will be no
exception. The Tenth Annual Foi
est Lawn Festival will be held
from Sunday .November 17th
through Thanksgiving Day, Nov
ember 21st, at tihie Forest Ltavvnj
Conservatory Every year from
Omaha and vicinity, twenty to
twenty-five thousand persons vis
it thig unusual display which f<e
tures from ten to twelve thousand
Chrysanthemums, representing
more than forty varieties. A id
this year the Festival offers an
unusual opportunity to see abouf
seventy-five orchids massed toget
her in one glorious display. Shad
es of deep purple, yellow an white
will be included in probably the
largest orchid display ever held in
this section of the country. Hciurs
are from 10:00 A. M. to 6:00 P.
M daily, and admission is free.
Everyone is cordially invited to
attend this beautifbl show—open
ing day is this coming Sunday,
November 17th.
the national draft lottery, finally
hit the jackpot Tuesday. He com
men ted '■
“It sure is funny. I’ve had my
name in the jackpot at two thea
ters for three years and it ain’t
never been called ”
VA. TEACHERS AGREE
TO SALARY PARITY
IN THREE YEARS;
ACCEPT $129 000
NORFOLK, Va.,—'Following a conference Here Thursday, Nov
ember 7, members of the Norfolk Teacfhers Association voted to ac
cept an offer made them by C. Alfred Anderson, city attorney, of
$129,000 to be paid them over a period of three years, thus equalizing
their salaries with those of white teachers at the end of this period.
The offer was made in connection with the Melvin O. Alston
case, which involved an action brought against the Norfolk school
board by Mr. Alston, a local school principal, in behalf of himself and
the Negro teachers of Norfolk, in November, 1939, to force the board
to pay him a salary equal to that of a white teacher doing the game
type of work.
According to Thurgood Marshall, special counsel for the Nat
MRS. ROOSEVELT BE
COMES MEMBER OF
ROSEN WALD FUND
BOARD
President’s Wife Praises Work
Chicago, Nov. 12 (ANP) —
Election of the following new
trustees of the Julius Rosenwald
Fund is announced by Edwin R.
Embrse, president of the Fund,
following the annual meeting of
the trustees held Monday, Novem
ber 11
James McDonald, Comer, busi
ness man and liberal leader of
Birmingham, Ala.; Mrs. David M.
Levy of New York Cityj a daugh
ter of the late Julius Rosnwald;
Lonard Reiser, attorney of Jh'.c
;o and Mi’s. Franklin R. Roose
velt of Washington. D. C.
Mrs- Roosevelt stated that she
p^cepted membership in spite of
the tremendous pressure of her
other commitments ‘‘because of
the basic work the Fund is doing
in education and health, especially
for groups which do not yet have
the opportunities we crave for all
Americans."
“THE TRUTH
H *
ABOUT ME”
iiiiniiiiiiiiiiBiiiMiiiw
(by Win, Henry Huff for ANP
I drudged and sent myself to
school—
Who else was there to do it?
I hoed the cottont plowed the
mule
And smiled while plodding
through it.
I had no books from which to
read
But that did not deter me
For in the class I'd often lead.
My plight seemed to bestir me
To go ahead and blaze away
Through forest, field or thic
ket.
I’d take the same rough course
today
If it were mine to pick it.
Buddy McCrea Knocks
Out Boxcar Kline of Ore.
Buddy McCrea of Denver, weigh
ing 143, knocked out Boxcar Kline
of Portland, Ore. in the fifth
1 11
round of their semi final bout
McCrea, well known among 0
maha sport fans and a seasoned
performer, was too smart and too
toui.h for the Boxcar, who weigh
ed in at 147. McCrea’It bobbing
style bothered Kline from the start
and the issue was never in doubt.
A report coming directly to us
from Buddy himself says that he
will be in Omaha on the 29th at
which time he will stage a fight
for Max Clayton.
Liberia Issues New Postage Stamp
in ceiei>r»uuri ui u»s
anniversary, the Republic of
Liberia has issued a special of
postage stamps. Collectors
are said to regard them as one
of the most interesting and col
orful sets of stamps recently
issued.
(ANP)
$ionul Association for the Advance
ment of Colored People, NAACP.
attorneys in the case who were
invited to the conference( not only
declined to attend but urged the
Nepro representatives not to par
ticipate in any such conference
while the case was pending before
the court, unless the city attorney
made a specific offer in writing,
preliminary to the holding of the
meeting.
Those who attended the confer
ence were: P. B. Young, president
of the Norfolk Journal and Guide;
L. F Palmer, principal of the
Huntington High School, Newport
NeWa, Va.,. Thomas H. Henderson
a teacher at the Armstrong high
school, at Richmond, representing
the Virginia State TeaChers As
sociation and City Manager Bor
land. j
It was following this conference
that the City attorney made a
written offer to the Norfolk tea
chers Association, to equalize the
salaries of Negro and white tea
chers over a period of three years
On November 7. the teachers ac
cepted the offer, which amounted
to $129,000 on condition that they
be given an increase of not less
than $,'10,000 of the money this
year, and higher increase^ during
the next two years with the total
differential to be removed by Sep
tember 1942. They further in
sisted that the NAACP. attorneys
put the offer in such legal lang
uage as to be binding.
Iaist Junfc, NAACP. attorneys,
who are representing Alston won
r. victory, when the United States
Circuit Court of Appeals, revers
ed the ruling of a lower court, and
established the principle that dis
crimination in the payment of sal
aries solely on the ground of race
or color, is unconstitutional. The
United States Supreme Court af
firmed this decision Qdtober 2b,
when it refused to review the
1 case. It was at this stage of the
case, while a hearing w% pending
before the local federal court, that
a Conference of representative
Negro citizens of Norfolk, was
held in the office of the City Man
ager, Charles B. Borland on Mon
day t November 4.
American Pilgrimage To
Home of Booker T.
Washington
HARRIETT BEECHER STOWE
INCLUDED IN SERIES
New York, Nov. 10 (AND —
Officials of NBC announced this
week the ‘route’ ’of the American
Pilgrimage to be made by Ted Ma
lone, famous broadcaster ,to the
hemes of America’s best loved men
and women of letters. The series
will include visits to the homes of
Booker T Washington at Tuske
gee, Sunday .February 2 at 2 p.
m .,EST and to tihe home of Har
>
riet Beecher Stowe whose home
was visited on Sunday, November
10. Noah Webster, Mark Twain,
William Dean Howells ,Ed;ar Al
len Poe, Ralph Waldo Emerson and
Benjamin Franklin are among the
31 authors whose homes will be
visited .
LEADERS SAY
ELECTION RE
SULTS SHOW
NEGRO’S POL
ITICAL P’WER
STRENGTHEN -
ED
• ••
ASK UNITED FRONT NEXT
FOUR YEARS; SOME THINK
RACE WILL GET BETTER
TREATMENT I BUT WARN OF
PLENTY OF HARD WORK
N EXCESS AIRY
CHICAGO, Nov. 12 <ANP>_
Outstanding leaders of the race,
both Democratic and Republican,
hurled aside the masks of partis
anship this week to ask that Ne
groes presient a united front in
fighting for further integration in
to national life, acocrdinff to a
survey conducted by the Associat
ed Negro Press. At the same
time they said results of the re
cent election showed the race’s
strategic political importance,
while somepo inted to general At- '
ramerican satisfaction with the
policies of Roosevelt as expressed
by the vote and foresee even great
er benefits.
According to Atty. ^Julian D.
Rainey of Bostont head of the col
ored Democratic eastern division,
“The reelection of Roosevelt will
affect the Negro a* it will affect
a great majority of the people in
the Negro’s economic group. It
means uninterrupted progress for
underprivileged people. I am sure
we have made enormous political
gains and under the President will
make further economic and social
gains.”
Somewhat similar lUtitimenta
were expressed by Dr. C. B. Pow
ell of New York, eastern Demo
cratic publicity director, who de
clared, “In New York and the east
the new Democratic victory stren
gthens the Negro’s k-'uds and
presages hope for til* future. It
points to many lessJiui the first
i f whidh is the need for political
omanization which really repres
ents the people. Such an organ
ization will supersede the welfare
workers who frequently usurp it*
position and will be in independ
ent position to present to the ad
ministration the authoritative
views of the Negro voter without
reference to any individual’s pers
onal future”
Calling for an end to the bitter
ness of the recent campaign, Mrs.
Eunice Hunton Carter, assistant
district attorney of New York
City, said, ‘‘It is my sincere hope
that the Negro, like all other good
American citizens will unite in an
»
effort to achieve that national har
mony without wlhieh we shall not
be a nation strong enough to with
stand the enemies boring from
within and battering from without
On the other hand all democratic
governments need strong minor
ities to keep those in power aw
are of their ultimate responsibil
ity to tine people of the country.
It is to be hoped Republican Ne
groes will, he next four years, con
tinue to work for and be articulate
concerning the defects in the pol
icies of the Democratic pa>ty in
regard to the Negro. The New
Deal must be kept aware of the
fact that the Negroes of the coun
try gave it no sudh sweeping man
date as it did in 1936.’’
Atty. S. R. Redmond of St. Lou
is, Republican western director,
asserted, “The Negro in America
thinks and acts very similarly to
his white fellow man which ex
plains in part our vote. It i3 en
couraging to note that in most
states in the western division the
Republican candidates got at least
50 percent of the Negro vote- The
future course slhould be to keep
up the educational fight. In fhe
eential west alone we captured
states with one-third the nation's
vrtes. With Mr. Roosevelt’s plur
ality cut down 7,000,000 the Dem
ocrats are on their way out."
A Democratic editor( |J. E. Mit
chell of the St. Louis Argus thinks
“The 'election of Roosevelt assur
er Negroes a more substantial
place in the body politic. The
President’s election for a th>rd
term also gives assurances of the
continuation of his social legisla
tion which has meant so mudh to
the poor, especially to the Negro.
However, it is a sign of progress
to see Negroes divided politically
just asot her races and groups
are”
In a letter written to the White
House, Dean William Pickens of
the NAACP. said he was opposed
to the third term but congratulat
ed Roosevelt on his reelection with
• continued on page|^=2)