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About The Omaha guide. (Omaha, Neb.) 1927-19?? | View Entire Issue (July 26, 1941)
« ' ' . ■ . k. • V » I 'IH _ IDE /JUSTICES EQUALITT IEW JO THeJM] LARGEST ACCREDITED NEGRO NEWSPAPER WEST OF CHICAGO AND NORTH OF KANSAS CITY —MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED NEGRO PRESS EUned^ “t^f March's8m^Ssine^ ^PhoneV we. m**1*’ Nebraska» Omaha, Nebraska, Saturday, July 26, 1941 OUR 14th YEAR, No. 19 City Edition, 5c Copy EDITORIAL | The Herman Lewis Case 1 Tuesday of last week the Omaha City Council, after three days of a hectic trial of Herman Lewis on charges of interferring with officers and resist ing arrest, by unanimous vote, dismissed Mr. Lewis from the fire department, thus ending his seven years of service. The dismissal of Herman Lewis or any other fireman is not in itself important. But the dismissal of Herman Lewis because he questioned the right of a police officer to invade his home without a warrant and make an arrest without seeing an offense com mitted in his presence, is a violation of the rules of law and justice. The evidence in the trial of Mr. Lewis disclosed a practice which should be terminated at once. The unanimous vote against Herman Lewis has no reasonable explanation; it was brutal; it was un just; it smacks of COLOR PREJUDICE; it reveals endorsement of incompetent leadership. The case should be appealed and every legal remedy exhausted to right the wrong done Mr. Lew is by the Council. Indeed the Colored People must see to it that police officers themselves obey the law; that they shall not force their way into homes of Negroes without legal right and arrest anyone illeg ally in their homes or anywhere else. They must see to it, also, that Nazi Gestapo police methods under which persons are imprisoned, without right of trial by a court shall not be permitted here in Nebraska. Reference was made to this very important principle of civil liberty by counsel for Mr. Lewis. Mr. Lewis should pursue every legal remedy un der the constitution and laws. All of us should re member that the question of civil liberty here involv ed is vital and transcends all questions of jobs inside the fire department or our of it. We WARN THE NEGRO that it is Herman Lewis today, but it will be someone else tomorrow^. And although the Omaha City Council has brushed this vital right aside wiiere a Negro was involved, other Negroes wrho are not subject to their prejudic es. must fight to vindicate the civil rights of a min ority group. Here is a fine opportunity for the Omaha Branch of the NAACP. to justify its existence. UiiiiuiitiiiiiiiiiiffliiininiHiiininiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiniiRiiittniiiiiinnnniiiiiniiiiniiiiiitiininiiHiniiiiiniiiiniiiimiiniiiiinuiniimiiiiMiiiiiiiiiimttMmminimniii ALUMINUM FOR THE WINGS of democracy: Aluminum for the Wings of Democracy”—that is (the slogan the Nebraska Advisory Defense Committee voices this week dur ing the state and nation wide Al uminum Recovery Campaign The actu/al campaign, in prog ress during fchje ten day period of July 21-30. has drawn excellent response In the organization stag es and early days of the effort, ac cording to the State Advisory De fense Committee. Practically every community is participating in the house to house canvass for donations of spare al uminum ware, the committee said this week. In a speech ait Lincoln Saturday afternoon, Governor Dwight Gris wold outlined the campaign and told of Nebraska’s part in the Na tional Defense program. “The present war is an indust rial war, not a bayonet w<ar.” he said. “Our surest way to pres erve America and its way of life is to be sure that the machines so sorely needed by Great Britain reach her.” He told of the organization of the Nebraska Advisory Defense Committee early this year and out lined the work this committee has been doing. He termed the cur rent aluminum campaign a pract ical wfay for Nebraskans to aid Na tional Defense “Making sure that Great Brit ain receives adequate supplies and weapons is our best way of pro tecting America,” Mr. Griswold sfaid, “and it is the surest way of preventing the use of American Iboys on foreign soil.” The Advisory Defense Commit tee also announced that Governor Griswold would recognize outstand ing campaign efforts in Nebraska towns and counties with citations signed by the Governor following the campaign. JUNIOR LEAGUE TO CON VENE IN OHIO Chicago, July 22 (ANP)— The National Junior League, an organ ization of young women working in the interests of civic, social and cultural activities in the commun ities. is holding its fifth annual conference in Dayton. Ohio.. Ju-y 31, Aug. 1 and 2. This is the first time the conference has been held out of Chicago and a record from various parts of the country is expected. The conference will deal specif ically with broadening the activit ies to the extent of making it one of the foremost national organiz ations of young Negro wtoman hood. The junior league prepares these young women in the meth ods of good government and citiz enship and the need for higner cul tural and social achievement. Mrs- William E. King is execut ive secretary and founder o* the National Junior league. She hop es to establish a junior league in every city of the nation and be lieves this conference is the nec leus of such an effort- A Urge delegation from Chicago will at tend. The national headquarters are located in Chicago in the Poro Building, 4415 South Parkway. PRES. APPOINTS COMMITTEE TO COMBAT DISCRIMINATION AGAINST NEGROES IN NATIONAL DEFENSE INDUSTRIES MACHINERY ESTABLISHED TO HANDLE VIOLATIONS OF PRESIDENTS JOB EXECUTIVE ORDER I “Wings” To A ward $10,000 In Scholarships Cleveland, July 22 (ANP) Rev Glenn T. Settle annuonced on the July 13th program of “Wing; Ov e' Jordan” over the Columbia Broadcasting system that during the fiscal year from Sept. 1 to Sept. 1. 1942. this program will award $10,000 in «cohlarships to deserving Negro students. The winners of these awards will be selected through essay con tests which are restricted to these students enrolled in a senior high school located within the United States. Students who expect to be enrolled in senior high schools, however, are also eligible for this contest. The c.osing date for entries for this contest is Sept- 15. It i3 ex pected that the first 33 scholar ships will be awarded on or about Jan. 1, 1942. Many prominent Negro educat ors of America have consented to serve on the educational commis sion of this contest. The decision of the judges will be final in all cases. One of the objectives aimed at the perpetuation of Wings Over Jordan is that of training and de veloping Negro youth talent. Be lieving that the present attitudes of various races in America to ward each other dan be in a con siderable measure influenced for good by a wider distribution of ed ucational and cultural develop ments on both sides, this offer has been made by Wings. To enter this contest it is only necessary for a person to write his name and address plainly on a penny postcard and mail it to— “Wings Over Jordan” in care of the Columbia Broadcasting sys tem station through which he hears this program. Upon receipt of this postcard full and complete instructions for the contest will be mailed. SURVEY OF NEW YORK WPA. DIMISSALS BEING CONDUCTED New York—Following up a complaint of the NAACP. that -ecent dismissals from the New York City WPA. wfere unfair in that a very heavy percentage of Negroes was dropped, the NAACP kas been advised by J. M. Browm. Chief of the Labor Relations Sec tion, that a survey is being con ducted at the present time “in connection with this matter, and that the Association will be advis ed of the results of the investiga tion. In its letter of complaint, the NAACP. cited heavy dismissals of Negroes from the high school teachers’ project CONDUCTS FARM GARDEN ING CLASSES Tuskegee Institute, July 23 ("A NP>—Fi'ank E. Pinder. FA’s most recent Negro appointee has been here for the past three weeks con ducting classs in farm gardening for the Alabama in-service teach ers of vocational agriculture. As an extension agent in Ala chua county, Mr. Pinder developed several highly successful markets ing cooperatives and with the FSA will serve as assistant cooperative specialist While here at the Institute, Mr. Pinder also visited cooperative en terprises in connection with FSA projects in Prairie Farms and Gee’s Bend. 5 NEW YORK. July 23 (ANP)— That greasing operations on mach inery intended to handle expected complaints of violations of Pres ident Roosevelt’s executive Order barring racial discrimination in employment policies and practices of holders of defense contracts, have been quietly going on for several weeks was officially con firmed here early last week at the district office of the bureau of employment security. Federal Se curity agency. This information was disclosed exclusively to the A. NP. Within three days after the is sue of the order on June 25, and in spite of the delay in naming the Committee on Flair Employment Practice, Office of Production Man agement, charged with administer ing the order, instructions were forwarded tt> all regional offices of the United States Employment Service covering methods to be used to gi4e effectivness to the announced Jolicy of the adminis tration. In additiofi to these instructions it was learned an in-service train ing course for employes of the New York State Employment ser vice, cooperating agency of the 1 USES, will be instituted in a week or two designed to “adjust the thinking” of the workers and give ‘‘implementation” and meaning to the order to the end that its terms and intentions may be successfully carried out. On Thursday, Dr. Warren P.rown secretary to the National March on Washington committee, confer- i red here for one hour on the sub ject of precedure with D. J. Hoose, in charge of in-service training within industry, OPM; and S. Parks Harman, officer in charge, 1 bureau of employment security, PSA- By virtue of his heading up 1 the regional office for this bureau Mr. Harman is also chairman of the labor supply bureau of the div- ] ision of labor supply. OPM, for t>hje same area. It is in the latter ! capacity that he will function as the representative of the fair prac tice committee. The basic points covered in the discussions were boiled down to the ' following method: , 1* Any complaint of racial dis crimination is to be reported to the local office of the staite employ ment service. A field worker will ' be directed to ascertain the facts of the case from the sides of both 1 applicant and employer. 2- In the event the employer is found at fault, he will be informed of the President’s executive order and immediate adjustment will be bought. 3. Failure to reach a solution through these preliminary efforts will result in a referral of the case to the office of Mr. Harman for review and adjustment 4. If satisfaction is not then ob tained. the entire case is to be re ferred to Washington for the con sideration of and adjudication by the five man committee. Mr. Hlarmon, who confirmed the authoritativeness of the moves al ready made, explained it as the desire of his office and that of OPM., to get and settle the com plaints as dose to their sources as is possible 'and just as quickly. The procedure outlined here was said to be the 'same as that which will be followed in the 48 states and three territories. In this way the necessity for establishing new machinery is expected to be obviat ed inasmuch as each state is sim ilarly organized as New- York m order to praticipate in the benefits of social security. ‘ There wrill be a conscious ef fort,” Mr. Hannan stated, ‘‘to use all resources available to imple I ____ MILTON P. WEBSTER, V. P. BROTHERHOOD OF SLEEPING CAR PORTERS UNION AND EARL B. DICKERSON, CHICAGO ATTY. ARE NEGRO MEMBERS NAACP. News Report Says Hillman Stumbling Block To Faster Assembling of the Committee SHEET METAL STUDENTS ANNOUNCED Mr. Bernard Gyger, Personal Supervisor for the National De fense Training Program vocation al department of the Omaha Pub lic School System of which Mr. W. C- Cuming is in charge, announc ed through Mr. Arthur B. CcCaw of the Omaha Branch of the NAA CP. the appointment of thte follow ing Negroes to take the training course in sheet metal. Mr. Herbert White. 2530 Char les St., and William Clark. 2515 Maple Street will take their train ing at Technical High School while William Edson. 2728 Charles St-, and McKinley Buckner of 2530 Charles St., have been enrolled in the sheet metal classes at South High school To be eligible for these classes applicants must be between the ages of 18 and 35, must pass a physical examination -and be able to produce a birth certificate High School graduates tare preferred, however applicants who have had three years in high school and who meet other requirements may be selected- Applications for this course are being accepted at the Nebraska State Employment Of fice. 210 South 18th Street, and WPA. workers may make appli cation ait the local WPA. office, -055 Harney St., by an appoint ment with Mr. Case At the present time 50 students ire enrolled in sheet metal class es, four of them being Negroes, rhere will be another class started )n September 1, 1941. These train ng courses consist of a seven hour lay, five days per week. nent the national policy as stated n the President’s executive order ind dealing with the problems of abor supply in national defense ndustries. The more clearly we ill see thje problems involved and he reasons for the policy, the less >ur problems are going to be.” Difficulties are definitely anti cipated both by government offic als and representatives of the narch on Washington. One diffi culty identified is expected to rise cut of the activity of “pressure groups of younger white employs” who are seeking to keep out the Negro worker in spite of a prob ible willingness on the part of employers to hire them. In the conversation of July 10, Dr. Brown was informed that in iustry prefers to employ “green iorns” rather than graduates of ,rade schools. The reason is that irms engaged in the performance )f intricate operations find it eas er to acquaint the unmoulded worker from the start with the Vay they want a thing done than ;o have to undo what has been caught in the schools, which can >nly give a fundamental insight nto plant operations. Dr. Brow-n nevertheless emphas zed the importance of Negroes continuing to register for vocation al courses wherever it is possible STONE TO LECTURE IN PITTS BURGH Pittsburgh, July 23 (by Warren Marr for ANP—It was announced here this week by Mary Cardwell Dawson, president of the National Association of Negro Musicians that Theodore Charles Stone, in ternationally famous baritone arid lecturer, will lecture at one of the sessions of the convention to be held here Aug. 24-29. Mr. Stone will speak on “Finnish Culture”. > Washington, D. a—In a ten day battle behind the scenes here and in New York, the fight to get two Negro members named to the com mittee whlich is to function under the President’s executive order banning discrimination in national defense industries was won July 17. On that date, word came down from the powers that be that two colored men would be named. Up to that time a committee consist ing of four whites and one Negro was seriously considered by high officials. The committee is charged with the duty of receiving complaints of discrimination and to take nec essary steps to put a stop to dis crimination against the Negro in defense factories. Mr. Milton P. Webster, V. P. of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (and Attorney Earl B Dickerson, of Chicago, are the Ne gro members of the committee. Other members of the committee are Mark F. Etherridge. vice pres ident and general manager of the Louisville-Gourier Journal, Philip Murray, President of CIO and "William Green, President A. F. of L., David Sarnoff, President of Radio Corporation of America. The committee was created by executive order of June 25 which reaffirmed the policy of the gov ernment against discrimination in bh(e hiring of defense workers. It was the result of a demand of the Negroes of the United States, led by A. Philip Randolph. He and his associates had threatened to lead a march of fifty thousand Negroes o n Washington to make a demand upon thie government to end discrimination. A conference followed between the President, Secretary of War Stimson and -Secretary of the Navy Knox and Randolph and White, with the out come stated in this story. With Philip Murray, Milton P. Webster and Mark Etheridge on the committee thje Negroes will feel they can expect a square deal General satisfaction has been expressed all over the country a mjong informed colored people re specting the results thus far ob tained by the threatened — “MARCH ON WASHINGTON”. One of the stubborn obstacles to getting a satisfactory committee together was the attitude of Sidney Hillman, co-director of 0. P. M- in charge of labor- From the outset, it has been learned, Mr. Hillman seemed to want a com mittee largely of his choosing. Up to the last minute there was vigorous objection to and protest against two men in the la bor field w'hom Mr. Hillman insisted upon as members of the committee. The nominee from the A. F- of L. comes from a union with a notoriously unsatisfactory record on Negro workers. The nominee from the CIO was almost wholly unknown, and came from a small union, and is known in the labor movement as a “Hillman” man. His attitude toward Negro es was said to be satisfactory but his other (handicaps more than match this good point. Mr. Stone spent some time in Finland coaching under Finnish masters and studying the customs and culture of the Finnish people. At the outbreak of the Russo-Fin nish hostilities, he was forced to leave the country. Stone is very well known in mu sicial circles as the possessor of an unusual voice. It has been his privilege to give command per formances for the royal houses of Norway, Sweden and Finland. He also has sung for Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt in the White House. 'GOVERNOR GUILTY OF LYNCHING ACADEMIC FREEDOM IN GEORGIA” -Herbert Agar. - — PUBLICIST I --— 1. 1 •' f ■ ii' if, " Till| SHERMAX BRISCOE who has just been named to a post in the* U. S. Department of Agriculture as an assistant agricultural re search writer. Briscoe, a native of Mississippi and a graduate of Southern University, was publish er of the Southern Broadcast and: more recently on the editorial staff of the Chicago Defender. (ANP.) It was the feeling of those who have carried on the fjg-ht for an effective committee that the group be composed of eminent, cit izens, black and white, of such in dependent character that they couldn’t be intimidated by employ ers, labor or government officials. For this reason, the suggestion was urged upon Mr- Hillman that if representatives of the two wings of labor must be on the committee those representatives should be Phillip Murray .president of the , CIO. and William Green, President of the A. F. of L. These men, it was pointed out, would bring the prestige of their offices to the committee and would compel res pect in the whole labor movement. Governor Eugene Talmadge of Georgia is “guilty of lynching ac ademic freedom in Georgia” by his ouster of a university dean and a state college president, Herbert Agar declared today in a telegram to Talmadge, speaking for the ex ecutive committee of Fight for Freedom, nc. In a separate telegram to L. W. (Chip) Robert, of the Georgia Board of Regents. Agar said, “Fight for Freedom, Inc-, is a shamed that you, a former assist ant Secretary of the U. S. Treas ury and former secretary of the Democratic National Committee should have been a leader In the disgraceful campaign to oust two of Georgia leading educators, Dr. Marvin S. Pittman, president of Georgia State Teachers’ College, and Dr. Walter Cocking, dean of the school of education at the uni versity of Georgia. We can dis cover no evidence that their rec ords have been anything but laud abl,” Agar stated At the same time, Agar inform ed both Cocking and Pittman that they have the “full support of the Fight for Freedom, Inc., in your fight against intolerance and bigotry in Georgia.” ‘‘Fighjt for Freedom believes the survival of democracy is predic ated on the military defeat of Hit ler,” Agar added, ‘‘but we also feel certain that your ouster because you believed democracy was for all races and creeds is a blow to freedom in our own country. Agar told Talmadge and Robert that Hitler might well be proud that his principles have won a battle in America without the fir ing of one shot or the dispatch of one division. The Axis agents who were sent home today on the West Point could not have done better. “The Four Freedoms which President Roosevelt has outlined cannot survive unless Hitler Is de feated. But they cannot survive* in our own country if persons who prate about American principles practice the methods of Hitlerism here.” FRONTIERS CONVERGE ON AKRON FOR THIRD NATION AL GATHERING Wh)en N. B. Allen. Columbus. 1 President of the Frontiers of A meriaa Inc-, sounds the opening gavel at 10 a -m. July 26 in the ■ Akron Association for Colored ] Community Work, the third nat ional convention will officially op- 1 en with a record breaking crowd I of delegates, members and friends : of the Frontiers movement gather ' in Akron for the epoch-making two day meeting. Continuing all day Saturday, July 26 with a luncheon Meeting at the Akron YWCA and a dinner reception at Benny Mas on’s Farm on the program, the convention will conclude Sunday July 27, with a worship service at |the Wesley Temple AMEZ. church iat 10:45 a. m. and a business ses sion and directors meeting sched- < uled for 3:00 p. m. Shuffling through a stack in hi3 Columbus office, J. S. Himes. Jr-, Secretary declared, “Official re ports of member clubs coming in i daily contain an amazing record : of community service and leader* i ship by several hundred Negro i business and professional men who i are Frontiers Club members.” The convention calls for official re ports of local clubs and national oficei's at the morning session and i will bring to the floor such well ; known persons as J. Harvey Kerns j secretary of the Cincinnati Club, i Samuel Shepard, Secretary of the ' Akron Club, Raymond R. Brown, Omaha, Nebraska. Western Or- i ganizer. Dr. J. J. Carter, Columbus ] national treasurer and A. P. Bent- 1 ley .Mid-Western Organizer under I whose direction clubs have recent ly been set up in Dayton and Can- ] ton, Ohio. In an effort bo develop satisfac tory types of projects to be spon sored by local clubs, one business session will include a prepared discussion of various suggested projects. Referring to this dis cussion, Secretary Himes pointed out: ‘ We have not only asked these men to study and report on suggestions made by various clubs we have written reports on the experiences of the older luncheon clubs like Rotary, Kiw^anis and Lions.” Delegates, members and local business and professional men of Akron Will attend a luncheon at th|e Akron YWCA- at which N. B. Allen, President of the Frontiers of America will be the principal speaker. Dr. George E. Haynes, New York, Executive Secretary of the Department of Racial Relat ions of the Federal Council of Church of Christ in America is scheduled to deliver the main ad dress at the Worship service in Wesley Temple and Atty. Artec Fleming, Akron, chairman of the Board of the national body, will preside. Frontiersmen will return to their homes after the Sunday afternoon business session at which time of ficers land directors are to be e leeted and the convention city for 1942 is to be chosen. Dr. W. T. Nelson, Cincinnati, first Vice Pres ident asserted; ‘‘We are going to have a tough time deciding where to go next year. Already half a dozen cities have put in their bid for the convention. I guess the fellows will decide where they want to go.” JUDGE TO PROTECT SOLDIERS WHIPPED THREE AT A TIME BY LONE NEGRO Chattanooga, Tenn., July 22 (A NP)—Seeing as how Uncle Sam’s army was getting defeated, three soldiers at a time, without a de clared war. Judge Fleming took steps this week to remove the “en emy.” The enemy is J. C- Armour, 22. Monday night he met Pvy. Cecil Hammond and two other white soldiers from Fort Benning, Ga. at Main and Market streets and fought all three with his fists. Hammond told Police that Armour “beat hell out of all of us.” A policeman told of seeing Ar mour beat up three other white men at one time a month previous ly when he met them in front of the American theatre. When brought before Judge Fleming, the court declared: He s a bully and a criminal, and I ’m not going to let him get away with it. I think too much of the army.” Armour was held under $5,000 bond pending the return of the sol dier to press charges. WORKMAN’S PICNIC AT BENNINGTON, NEBR., AUG. 10th On August 10th at Bennington Park at Bennington, Nebraska, the Workman’s Club will give their annual public Picnic at which time they will give away A Hot-Point Electric washer. Will you be that lucky person? There will also be a baseball game between two of Omaha’s strongest amateur ball clubs—Horse shoes, volley ball, and other games and sports. *