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LARGEST ACCREDITED NEGRO NEWSPAPER WEST OF CHICAGO AND NORTH OF KANSAS CITY —MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED NEGRO PRESS
Xff fc^Xh”* i«S-Ru.,^p°ho,?-N‘~hta‘l“' Omaha, Nebraska, Saturday, March 28,1942 OUR 15th YEAR—No. 7 City Edition 10c Copy
This
week’s
Editorial
Review
• ••
THE CASE OF MR. AND MRS.
ELDRIDGE
Elsewhere in the Omaha Guide;
will be found a story of police
brutality, rarely equaled in the
history of the Omaha Police De
partment, describing the beating
given Mrs. and Mr. Eldridge Wed
nesday of last week in the police
station.
Several months ago The Omaha
Guide sounded a warning when of
ficers entered the home of Herm
an Lewis and brutally assaulted,
him. We said then that this act
should not go unpunished; that
the responsibility for it rested then
and rests now squarely in the lap
of the City Commissioners of O
maha, and that their act of dis
missing Herman Lewis from the
Fire Department because police
officers after beating him charged,
him with “Resisting Arrest” and;
interlprring with Police Offic
ers", was a monstrous wrong.
Moreover, if the council approved)
such brutality, other officers would
feel they ..had the right to enter the
home or homes of Negroes and as
sault them at will. All that
would be necessary to escape pun
ishment after the assault would be
to charge the victim with various
offenses and have a pliant judge,
find the victim guilty.
We held no brief for Herman
Lewis then; we hold none now.
But we insisted then and We in
sist now that POLICE BRUTAL
ITY MUST NOT GO UNPUNISH
ED.
But "rabbits" wearing pants
will not get you anywhere, And
someone must take action. We
have given you the facts in the
Eldridge case; we gave them to
you in the Lewis case and suggest
ed what should be done. Fort
unately, Lewis is fighting his case
out in the courts. We hope Mr.
and Mrs. Eldridge will do likewise
More about this later.
GENERAL DOUGLAS MAC
ARTHUR IN AUSTRALIA
General Douglas MacArthur i3
now in Australia in command of
Allied forces there. His broadcast
over the radio several days ago
indicated he realized the gravity of
the situation and the urgent need
for men and military equipment.
We are glad General MacArth
ur is out of the Philljpines which
will be most difficult to hold wlv n
the Japanese make an all out of
fensive there.
One of the first acts which Gen
eral MacArthuI performed was to
have two Negro regiments sent to
fight under him in the Phillipine3.
We wonder, if the same troops
would be welcome in Australia,
“The White Man's Country”, or
would the Australians rather per
ish than to be saved by black sol
diers from America?
In 1903, Dr. W. E. B, DuBois
said in "The Souls of Black Folks'
“The problem of the Twentieth
Century, dear reader is the prob
lem of the COLOR LINE”.
The present conflict in the Par
East confirms the prdphecy of th<j
learned Doctor. And the problem
will not be solved by arrogance
and littleness, and meanness by
white men toward dark men. It
can only be solved by men of all
races, treating their fellowmen as
they would be treated.
We hope General MacArthur will
be successful in repelling the Jap
anese, even from the “White man’s
Australia”, that they too, may
have the chance to right tha
wrongs they have done to dark
(Continued on page E3F* 2)
Nat’l Negro Healtn Week Program, April 5 to 12
COORDINATING COMMITTEE
ON NEGRO HEALTH TO
PRESENT NATIONAL NEGRO
HEALTH WEEK PROGRAM
APRIL 5 TO APRIL 12
Dr. Craig Morris, Chairman of
the Coordinating Committee on
Negro Health, reports that Nat
ional Negro Health Week in Om
aha this year is to be made a big
occasion. Mrs. Evelyn Murray of
the Visiting Nurses Assn, has been
selected as Chairman, and Dr. S.
L. Pearlman of the United Stat
es Public Health to work with her
as Co-Chairman. The program
has been outlined as follows:
SUNDAY, APRIL 5—
Mobilization Day in the Church
Rev. F. C. Williams, Pastor of the
Zion Baptist Church in charge of
the program.
MONDAY, APRIL 6—
Home Health Day—Mrs. G. An
eita Blackburn, Exec. Sec’y of the
Northside YWCA in charge of the
piyjgram in social agencies and
clubs.
TUESDAY, APRIL 7—
Community Sanitation Day
Dr. W. W. Solomon in charge of
program for food handlers.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8—
Special Campaign Day—R. R.
Brown, Exec. Sec’y of the Urban
League in charge of visitations to
the County and University of Neb
raska Hospitals.
THURSDAY, APRIL 9—
Adults Health Day-Dr. Her
bert Wiggins in charge of program
for health examinations and clin
ics.
FRIDAY, APRIL 10
School Health and Safety Day—
Mrs. Alyce Wilson, Director of the
Woodson Center, in charge of pro
gram for schools and children's
club groups.
SATURDAY, APRIL 11
General Clean Up—Mr. S. F,.
Gilbert, Editor of the Omaha Star
in charge of program, collecting
salvage material, trash and clean
ing i#p the neighborhood.
SUNDAY, APRIL 12
Annual Meeting—proposed for
Zjon Baptist Church at 4:00 p. m.
out of town speaker to be engaged
Election of officers and reports to
be held on this day.
Note that on Tuesday, April 7.
special blood testing and Tuber
culosis testing clinics to be held at
Woodson Center and the Urban
League between 7:00 and 9:00 pm.
The local radio stations will be
asked to carry health programs
during that week. KBON will
present news items at 7:30 pm.
each Friday up to April 10, con
cerning this week’s observances.
CONFERENCE TO DISCUSS
NEGRO’S PART IN WAR
Lincoln, Nebraska—Negro par
ticipation in war and defense act
ivities, and in preparng to meet
post war problems, will be discus
sed at a state conference to be
held next Saturday, March 28, in
the senate chamber at the state
capitol. The following topics will
be discussed.
Civilian defense program. Dr.
Clarence Singleton, Omaha, pre
siding; the part of the Negro
Press, Burt F. Newton, Lincoln
presiding; the Negro Youtn’s
Viewpoint, Miss Pamona Banks,
University of Nebraska student,
presiding; employment problems of
the Negro worker, the Rev. Char
les G. Blooah, Hastings, 'presiding;
Women’s Place in the War, Mrs.
Mary Gamble, Norfolk, presiding;
Post war problems, Thomas Ma
hammit, Omaha presiding.
An evening banquet will be fol
F - -------
“ARE WE ALWAYS AS ALERT TO PRACTICE IT
HERE AT HOME AS WE ARE TO PROCLAIM
IT ABROAD” —Wendell L. Wilkie
WHO WAS HE ? -ASKS COLUMNISTS
me louowing are me opening |
remarks of Wendell L. Willkie as
Chairman of the Inaugural Dinner
of Freedom House, which was
held in the Grand Ballroom of the
Commodore Hotel, Thursday ev
enng, March 19th, 1942.
This meeting is the inaugural
dinner of freedom House, a house
as its name indicates, symbolizes
freedom, its membership dedicated
to the advancement of the cause
of freedom throughout the world.
Obviously among the purposes
of the founders of Freedom House
is the encouragement of our arm
ed forces who constitute the battle
line on which we fight for free
dom throughout the world. An
other purpose is to stimulate the
people of America to support the
cause of freedom everywhere. I
wonder sometimes, however, whe
ther we are not a little Pharisaical
or prhaps ever presumptious in our
high minded statements about free
dom. Are we always as alert to
practice it here at home as we
are to proclaim it abroad? Do we
accord freedom to all of our citiz
ens?
On December 20th n a belated
press dispatch describing the per
sonal heroism of men and officers
during the Pearl Harbor attack,
occurred this sentence: “A negro
mess attendant who never before
had fired a gun. manned a mach
ine gun on the bridge until his am
munition was exhausted.” A gun
negro mess attendant. Who was
he? For weeks newspapermen
ad columnists asked that quest
ion of the Navy Department.
Letters began to come in from
all over the country. Commsnt
ators began to speak of the "un
named Negro messman”.
Finally the office of the Sec: et
lowing by presentation of a sum
mary of the conference discuss
ios by the Rev. John Adams Sr.
ary of the Navy was able to ident
ify him, and on March 5th sent this
story to the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored,
People, which had been seeking
(Continued on page 25^31
SGT GRAHAM
MAKES STATEMENT
POLICE HEADQUARTERS
CENTRAL STATION
Omaha, Nebr., March
20, 1942
Mr. Paul Haze,
Inspector of Police,
Omaha, Nebraska,
Dear Sir: <
As per your orders I am submit
ing the following report:
At 2:32 P. M. March 18th, 1942
I received a call over the radio to
2522 Maple street....a fight. I
proceeded as quickly as possible,
to this address. When I arrived
and got out of the car I was met
by a man giving his name as Irv
ing Johnson, stating that he liv
ed at this address, that he war'
havng trouble with his landlady.
There was blood on the sidewalk,
and on Johnson’s hands; I asked
him how that happened and he
told me that the landlady had
stuck her arm through the glass
in the front door. I said to John
son, “let’s go in and we will see
what is the trouble”. When I got
insde I saw Officer Goodrich
scuffling with a woman on the
davenport, the house all mussed,
up, covered with blood. I asked
Officer Goodrich what was the
trouble and he said there had bp<>n
a fight and the lady had stuck
her arm through the glass in the
front door. When I saw the blood
and the condition of the woman’s
arm. knowing she was drunk and
needed medical attention, and
whom I later learned was Mrs. L.
! NATIONAL NAACP
REPRESENTATIVE
TO COME HERE IN
ELDRIDGE CASE
The National Office of the NA j
j ACP is sending a representative
I to make an investigation of the
Eldridge case. He is Mr. Edward
j Morrow from the NAACP Nation
\ al office 69th Fifth Avenue, New
York City, N. Y. He will arrive
j in Omaha Friday April 3, and will
} address the Second Mass Meeting
at St. John’s AME. Church 22nd,
and Willis Ave-, Friday April 3—
8:30 p. m. Everybody welcome.
A. B. McCaw, President.
Eldridge, I said to Officer Good
rich, “Let’s take her in the car and
take her to the station and get her
taken care of right away.” She
flatly refused saying that she
would not go with the dirty 30ns
of.that we had no right to
take her out of her own house, so
I said “O yes you will”; I told Of
| ficer Goodrich to take hold of her
arm and I took hold of the otheh
I and forced her out of the house
j and across the street to where
Officer Goodrich had his cruised
; car .and all the way over she was
cursing us, calling us sons of....
,.... aam motfiier.... and refused
to get in the car. wanting to go
into her own house and get some
papers. Knowing her disposition
from being at this place on other
calls I refused to let her go into
the house, and then told Officer
Goodrich to go and call the wag
on, that we could not take her in
the cruiser car. Offcer Goodrich
went into a house across the street
to cal] the wagon, Mrs. Eidridge
and I stood on the sidewalk, I was
holding her by the left arm, and
she was calling me all the dirty;
sons of.she could think of;
she finally quieted down and said
“Officer, if you will let loose of
me, I won’t run, I will stand right
here” I let loose, taking her
word, and about a half a minute
or so later she says “You dirty
son of a.” and ran; she ran
across the street north and along
the west side of her home, 2530
Maple, around the back yard and
around the garage, back to the
front of the house, and me after
her; she ran into the front door
which was opened. I caught Mrs.
Eldridge in the front room door
entering into the kitchen. I said
to her “What’s the matter, have
you gone crazy?” She said "You
dirty son of a...., you can’t take
me out of here I am in my own
home.” At this time a man ap
peared from what seemed to be
the kitchen in his underwear,
staggering and wanting to know
what the trouble was. I said,
“there isn’t much trouble, but this
woman is going to jail”. He grab
bed ahold of my arms and said
“Let go of her that is my wife,
and no son of a.... could take her
out of the house.” I said to hir.i
“What is the matter with you,
you had better keep your nose out
of this, or you will go to jail too”.
He then said “You dirty mother
.son of a. let me get
my pistol and I’ll kill you and all
the rest of them over there, mean
ing the house next door, where
(continue don page 7
* ■■VAW.WA'.w.W
STATEMENTS OF
PRINCIPALES IN
ELDRIDGE CASE
ON INSIDE PAGES
f ELDRIDGE HEARING
HOLDS CROWDED
COURT ROOM
FOR SIX HOURS
WOMAN BRUTALLY BEATEN
AND KICKED BY POLICE
OFFICER
It is alleged, in a sworn state
ment by Mrs. William Eldridge,
2530 Maple Street, to police Insp
ector Paul Haze, that she who be
came involved in a brawl with a
tenant, was brutally kicked and
beaten by Sgt. Jack Graham. The
story goes as follows: Mrs. Eld
ridge and a Mrs. Johnson a tenant
of Mrs. Eldridge had been engag
ed in a fight over some matters
pertaining to the rent, and gas bill
On arrival of the police Mrs. Eld
ridge, who had received a cut on
the arm attempted to enter her
(own) front door when Sgt. Gra
ham blocked the entrance. She
then tried to enter the back door
only to find it locked, she ran to
the front door, being ohased bv
Sgt. Graham. She managed to
beat him in the house. Sgt. Gra
ham then caught her arm and
wrenched it until she was almost
to the floor. She was released on
ly after she bit him on the arm,
and he in turn struck her a fierce
blow in the eye, knocking her un
conscious. At this time her hus
band came from the bathroom
and tried to plead with the officer
to let him explain. The patrol
wagon was called and they (Mr.
Mrs. Eldridge were herded in. As
police station Mr. Eldridge was
struck on the head. Mrs. Eldridge
protested and asked why he was
being struck in such a manner,
and at that time she was struck
and knocked to the foor. Sgt.
Graham then picked up both feet
of Mrs. Eldridge and held them
together in mid-air, with her cloth
es over her head and the lower
NAACP Will Demand Dismissal of
Sgt. Graham For Alleged Beating
of Mrs. Ruby Eldridge
RESOLUTION
Whereas Mrs. Ruby Eldridge of
2530 Maple St. has made com
plaint to the Executive Board of
the Omaha Branch of the National
Association for the Advancement
of Colored People to the effect
that she was brutally beaten and
and abused by Sgt. Graham, a po
lice officer of the Omaha Police
Department, on or about -he 3 8th
day of Mai ch, 1942, the details of
'v ieh are cV scribed and set out in
a signed statement given by her
and turned over to the Associa
tion, and
Whereas the legal redress com
mittee has made an investigation
of the said affair and has filed a
complaint with acting chief Munch
of the police department, and
Whereas the Executive Board
of the Association recommends
that Sgt. Jack Graham be dismis
sed from the police department
and be presented for the brutal
assault upon the said Mrs. Eldri
ge.
..IT IS THEREFORE RESOL
VED by this Mass Meeting of Me
gro citizens assembled on the 23rd
day of March at Zion Baptist Chu
ch, that the Omaha Branch of the
National Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People pro
ceed in the prosecution of the
complaint against Sgt. Jack Gra
ham and demand his uncondition
al dismissal from the Omaha Po
lice Department and proceed with
a prosecution of the sa .! Jack
Graham for the alleged brutal at
sault.
Adopted this 23rd day of March
1942.
Union Pacific Docter
Finds Many B ruises on
Mrs. Eldridge s Body
Mr. Arthur B. McCaw
1430 No. 22nd St.
Omaha, Nebraska.
Dear Mr. McCaw:
On March 19th, 1942 I examin
ed Mrs. William Eldridge of 2530
Maple Street at which time she
was suffering from a lacerated
right wrist, a sprained left thumb
and hand, contusion of the left eye
left leg, left side of the chest,
right buttock, right side of the ab
domen and left thigh. She state!
that she had also been knocked un
conscious. She exhibited no evid
ence of post concussion state.
If there is any further informa
tion I can give you I will be hap
py to do so.
Sincerely yours,
Edward Thompson, MD.
ET.VD CC: Cafpt. Hayes
Wm. N. Jamieson, Atty.
!•)'
Nathaniel hunter
Civic, Fraternal
Dies
Mr. Nathaniel Hunter, 2012 N.
28th St., one of Omaha’s most be
loved citizens, died a few days ago
Mr. Hunter was very active in
religious, fraternal and civic or
ganizations. He was Grand Mas
ter of the Masonic Lodge, mem
ber of the Elks Lodge, member of
the Past Exalted Ruler Circle of
the Elks Lodge and a member of
Zion Baptist Church from where I
the funeral was held on Monday
afternoon at 2 p. m., under the
auspices of the Masonic and Elks
Lodges.
He leaves to mourn his loss, his
wife, a niece, and other relatives
ad a host of friends.
Mr. Hunter who was a faithful
and well thought of employee of
the U. S. National Bank was em
ployed there for 27 years.
part of her body exposed, proceed
ed to kick her all over the bull
pen. After finishing, threw her
feet on the floor, and walked ar
ound and kicked her in the right
side, and named her with every
blow.
The NAACP has filed charges
against this officer for such bru
tality. Police Commissioner Jep
sen stripped Graham of his badge
on last Monday, March 23rd.
A public Mass meeting was call
ed on last Monday by the NAACP
in protest of such brutality and to
devise means and assistance in
@TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE
POLICE DEPARTMENT:
Gentlemen:
By order of Richard W. Jepsen
Commissioner of Police, Sergeant
John H. Graham will he suspend
ed from active duty as a police of
ficer of the City of Omaha, pend
ing the result of the investigation
and dispostion of the case of Mrs
L. Eldridge.
By order of,
ROBT. F. MUNCH,
Acting Chief of Police
GETS APPOINTMENT
AS MAIL CLERK
Mr. Johnnie Owen wah appoint
ed as mail clerk at a salary of
$2200 per year by Mr. Harley G.
Moorhead Postmaster. Mr. OweiJ
went to work Friday March 27th.
Good luck Johnnie—you have our
best wishes to keep on going up.
prosecuting Jack Graham. Ar
thur B. McCaw, president of the
NAACP says the Association is
not interested in the charges a
gainst Mrs. Eldridge, but against
the brutal treatment. Mrs. Eld
ridge has private attorneys to rep
resent her. Senator John Adams,
chairman of the Legal Redress
Committee of the NAACP is lead
ing the fight, ably assisted by th«
entire committee, consisting of At
torney J. Dillard Crawford, S. Ed
ward Gilbert, and Rev. F. S. Wil
liams.
There were 1,500 people who at
tended the Mass meeting at Zion
Baptist Church, all of whom sol
emnly pledged their support to the
NAACP $150.00 was raised to
see that justice is dong in this case
MRS.
ELDRIDGE
MAKES STATEMENT
STATEMENT GIVEN TO IN
SPECTOR PAUL HAZE—
Omaha Police Department, Mar.
20, 1942 at 11:15 am. in the pres
ence of the following: John Adams
State Senator, 409 Karbach Block
AT. 6766, Chairman Legal Redress
Committee of the Local Branch of
the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People j
Arthur B. McCaw, President of the
NAACP, 1430 North 22nd, WE.
0156; Rev. F. C. Williams, Pastor
Zion Baptist Church 2407 North,
22nd St., WE. 3728, President In
terdenominational Ministers Alli
ance: S. Edward Gilbert, Editor,
Omaha Star, 2216 North 24th, WE.
4041, President Omaha Negro
Chamber of Commerce; C. C. Gal
loway, Editor, Omaha Guide 2418
Grant, WE. 1517.
Questions propounded by Insp
ector Paul Haze. John Adams and
Arthur B. McCaw. Transcription
started at 12:30 pm. March 20,
1942, by Det. Sgt. A. E. Clinchard
Also present: Wm. Eldridge, hus
band of Ruby Eldridge.
Q. Your name is what please?
A. Ruby Eldridge.
Q. Where do you live?
A. I live at 2530 Maple.
Q. How old are you?
A. I am thirty.
Q. Are you married?
A. Yes sir.
Q. What is your husband’s
! name ?
A. William Eldridge.
Q. What does he do?
A. He works for the Union
Pacific Railroad.
Q. How long has he worked for
them?
A. Thirty four years.
Q. Now Mrs. Eldridge, I am go
ing to ask you some questions a
bout an incident that happened
Wednesday March 18, 1942. You
had some trouble at your home ?
A. Yes I did.
Q. What time of day was that ?
A. Around tbree o’clock in the
afternoon.
Q. You just tell us what hap
pened?
A. The people concerned in this
* hat is the e;>4.-3 of the officers to /
be out there in the first place, are
some tenants that I have in the
apartment house at 2522 Maple
their name is Johnson. Now two
weeks ago, more than two weeks
ago, I told Mrs. Johnson that af
ter the 15th of March that I would
not furnish them with gas for the
same amount of rent they were
paying then because the current
expenses of running it were more
than the income from the house
and I told them they would have
that amount of time to make a de
cision on whether they wanted to
pay more rent or to furnish their
own gas for’ the same amount of
money. I didn’t hear anything
from them until after the 15th of
March. Then they wanted to give
(continued on page 6)
