Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Omaha guide. (Omaha, Neb.) 1927-19?? | View Entire Issue (April 4, 1942)
GOOD READING The OMAHA GUIDE 5c at your Drugstore p’£^ffwE.<??nfa' *'*'**' Omaha. Nebraska, Saturday, Apri] 4,1942 OI R 15th YEAR-No. 8 City Edition. 5c Copy This week’s Editorial Review • • • THE ELDRIDGE CASE Last week w. commented upon the happenings in the case of Mr. and Mrs. Eldridge. Since tha time we have additional testimony before us which makes bad mat ters worse- And the oid question is thrust forward again: why not put a stop to POLICEMEN BEAT ING CITIZENS In the case under discussion, according to testimony which we believe. 19 officers including the captain were present and witness l the maltreatment of Mrs. Eld ridge in the "Bull Per.”. Not one of them protested the mistrea,. m. nt of Mrs Eldridge. Not one of them even complained to the captain to put a stop to it Not on. of them asked Sergeant G.a ham to stop beating and kicking the helpless woman. Mrs Eldridge test.fied that one of the nineteen officers who witnessed the treat ment she received was a Negro and that he said not a word m her behalf. <-He ouvr set or circumstances stands out in this case. Long te b' ^ Mr. and Mrs. Eldridge ap proached officers of the National .Association, they had made cm plaints to other officials. She h«s testified that she sought a coir. F:*iht agaiss: Mrs. Irvin Johnson who had started the melee: that the pioaecutor threatened to order her arrest, if she did not get out of h’i office. (We thought the rooir he occupies is owned by the citizens and that the City Prosecu tor is their servant i. At the time she was there. Sergeant Graham was present. From there she wer . to the office of the Police Commissioner where she was well tre&; -c and promised action. Fr >m there she went to the office of Mayer Butler, where she was w-*'I treated and promised her com plaint would be calVd to the attcn tion of the Mayor. Sometime aft--rward. Mrs El I rilge and her husband cohtact'd the traders of the NAACP. Mean 3 A E. MeCaw Pres., and Sen'-tor John Adams. Jr., and others. And they Went into action Police Com mis ..oner J->psen suspended Sgt. Graham, pending investigation of the case. Meanwhile charges were pref , Continued on pageJ3p4> JUDGE SETS MAYHEM CASE FOR APRIL 14 FINDS HER GUILTY OF DISTURBING THE PEACE AND RESISTING ARREST IMPOSES FIVE DAY SENT ENCES AND SUSPENDS THEM After several days of hearings of charges brought by City Pros ecutor AI Raneri against Mr and Mrs Edridge. Judge John Bat: in ! dismissed all charges against Mr. Eldridge. but found Mrs. Edridge guilty of "Disturbing the Peace" and “Resisting Arrest" and im ; pos~d five day jail sentences on each charge and then suspended them. In delivering the opinion in th. case. Judge Batr.n explained that there was no evidence against Mr, Eldridge: tbat on the charges of being drunk and Assault and Bat tery. Mrs. Edridgj vra? not guilt.' that he did not pass upon the ques tkm of the conduct of Sgt. Graham in his treatment of Mrs. Eldridge. such questions being wholly with in the province of the City Coun cil. On Monday afternoon. Dr. Thom pson who had treated Mrs El.l ridge the day after Sergeant Gra ham had beaten her. testified that when she came to him she to] 4 I him that she asked Sgt. Graham to let her go inside the house to care for her person because she had become “unwell”, and tha wfaen Sgt. Graham refused she ran into the house so as to ca~-> I for herself. The Sgt. pursued her and instead of permitting her to attend to her person .twisted her arm until it was near breaking. To keep him from doing so she >Vt his hand That he released her arm and struck her in the evt with his fist and knocked her down She also told the Doctor, of th * beating administered to her hr Sergeant Graham in the “Bull! Pen" at the Police station The case has attracted wide spread attention among the col ored people of the community and large numbers of white people. The trial attracted between fiv. hundred and six hundred persons each day it was being conducted, and it has united the colored peo ple on an issue of Civil Liberty as they have not been united b^for^. They are beginning to understand that the safety of the home of Mr. and Mrs. Eldridge is the safety of their own. The mothers and fa thers. the husbands and wives and at! others are determined to see this Eldridge- Graham cast through, so that everyone will understand that “A Man's Harr is His Castle”, and that “His Per son is Sacred and Inviolate”; that ■ r-timed on page |5’= 2> ‘scores sen. CONNOLLY AS NEW WORLD ARCHITECT , New York—A scorching letter 1 to the editors of Life magazine | for their statement in a feature on | Tom Connolly. Texas Senator that i 'Connolly .rather than anyone n the executive branch of the gov ernment” will be the or.e to ‘:*trow i e! the new wond into final shape", ; was sent by Walter White. NAA | CP Secretary last week. “May God have mercy on the future of the United States and the world", Mr. White wrote, “if j Life's statements be true-” “Connolly’s insufferable arrcg i ance towards the Negroes of Tex as and of the United States would make him the most disastrous choice imaginable in troweling a new world as representative of a great nation like the United Star es." Mr White pointed out that Connolly rose to power on the dis franchisement of white and Ne gro Texans tie stated that vtorld Wars I and II were caused in far greater measure than most white Ameri cans yet realize by white racial arrogance and that this prije coming before a faR. was in a large measure responsible for the debacles of Pearl Harbor and Singapore Connolly's vjews are typical of the extreme of this arrogance, it was stated. “With his views to ward noi-wfaite peoples of the Un ited States and of the world he could practically insure World War HI, provided the United Na tions win World War n, and pro vided there is enough p»ft of the world to fight another war over. Mr White concluded. MISSIONARY LEADER RECOVERS Waco. Texas. April 2 1ANP1 — Mrs Lucy M Hughes, one of the best known missionary workers in the country, being president of the Woman's Home and Foreign Mission Society of the AME church, is convalescing at the home o fher sister. 1035 Ear! Sr„ here. Mrs. Hughes. whose life was despaired of by her friends, has made a rapid recovery from the automobile accident in which she was injured in New Orleans, some months ago Mrs Hughes plans to meet her missionary board in New York in June and to resume her national work at that time. Sathamel Hunter Lodge So. 12 • A. F. & A. M. A GROUP OF MASONIC BROTHERS WHO HONOR DECEASED GRAND MASTER The above group of young men were organized into a Masonic Lodge AF4AM.. Dec. 6, 1941 by Nathaniel Hunter. Grand ilas ;cr of Nebraska Jurisdiction. Prince Hall Affiliation and his cabinet. Sitting left to right Dr. D. W Gooden sponsor; Robert Harris, ! Grand S-cy.; Edward Fletcher, I Past Grand Master; Nathaniel [Hunter. Grand Master (deceased' | P H. Jenkins- Grand Treas.; p Atkins, Grand Lecturer; J. ,v. Dacus, S. W.; J. T, Scott, Secy. 3oard I. H. McPherson. Custod ian: R. C. Stewart. Board Mem ber: A- R. Goodlett. Deputy Grand Master. This lodge will fee known a: Nathaniel Hunter Bodge No. 13 AF&AM. This lodge has its owr Masonic quartette, orchestra am photographer. Paul S. Holliday a member. Resent Pictures OF “TYPICAL” NEGRO SCHOOL TEACHERS Washington, April 3 (ANP) — j Washington school teachers are up in arms over the recent attsmp | to have photographs made of "typ ical Negro” school teachers, at | work and at home, apparently, it was said, to be sent abroad for j distribution in foreign papers to j show that Negroes do participate : in certain things in this demicraev Selecting one grade teacher \ from each of the three districts in the colored division. Eugene Hol : mes. an assistant professor at : Howard, acorn panied by a white woman, was sent to make the 1 photographs. Volunteers were at first called for and when there were few vol I unteers. it was intimated that ; there was no compulsion in the matter and it was entirely up to I the teachers to permit their photos j to be made. -No one seems to know ius who is behind the move, whetn, - Howard or one of the govermnen- ! tal agencies, anxious to convince the rest of the world that democ racy works. Too vivid is the recollection of the famous Moens caa- for the j teachers to forget what happened I 20 years ago when the Dutch sc - ] entiat photographed many teacher and students here through the co operation of persons connected with the scho Isvstem. resulting in one well-known teacher losing j her post and another official leav ing for another position. With no explanation other than | the photographs made both at the } school and homes of the teachers, are to be used as propaganda. Washington’s teachers in the col ored division are up in arms a- j strongly resentful of the move. They point to the school system in New York where Negro teach ers instruct white children as well as colored and say there is the true picture of what democracy means. No one will talk about I the situation and it is said that j the exponent of the brilliant idea | is willing to forget aH about it. if possible TO ALL OWNERS AND USERS OF THE SERVEL ELECTRO- I LUX GAS REFRIGERATOR Or April 30 manufactur-rs v.-'l Cease to make new mechanical re frigerators for civilian use. in ae- | cordance with government orders. This includes, of course- the Servel GAS REFRIGERATOR as well as all other types. Although no new GAS REFRI GERATORS will be available fror: the manufacturers for the ordinary purchaser, we are writing to as sure you that you will continue to receive the service specified under tout purchase guarantee on your gas refrigerator. According to all information v> nave at present the manufacture of replacement parts will be pro vided for if repairs are neceasary Your Servel Gas Refrigerator is i not likely to need repairs during the war period. There are no muv , tng parts in its freezing system ! This means that there is very j little chance of any serious inter ] ruption in the operation of your =ras refrigerator over a long per ' lad of years. If it should require service or re pair. the Metropolitan Utilir -a i District stands ready to render this service under the terms pf the guarantee-so that you neen not worry about Securing proper ; service during the war emergency. You can feel confident that your gas refrigerator will continue to operate--- will continue to pro v;de you and your family with safe economical food protection, just as it has m the past. Cordially. Metropolitan Utilities Dist W J BARBER. Asst. General Mg - Job Opportunities DR. HARRIS SPEAKS HIS MIND ON THE FAULTS OF NEGRO ES IN HIGHER EDUCATION —Ml I W— I— I P . DR. HARRIS New York (C>—In this timeiy but long seeded volume. "A Voice in the Wilderness" Dr. M. Laf ayette Harris, youthful but dyn amic President of Philander Smith College, airs his convictions and views on tbe Negro’s higher edu cation—thoughts which he has kept in his heart for a long while, for time just wouldn’t permit him to mould them in black and white. But not very long ago. Dr. Harris chanced upon the Saturday Even ing Post articles of the great ed ucator. President Robert M Hut chins. another young executive and so Dr. Harris just had to speak his mind. And he does so in a vigorous manner, striking at the many faults in our college system and challenging our teachers and students alike to mend their wavs. For one thing that worries Dr. Harris is whether the investment in higher education for Negroes has yielded all the returns it pos sibly can- For instance, the av erage Negro college student is not race conscious. He is not in terested in the lyr.chings that are occuring right in his midst. H; does not seem to think in terms of the Negro but rather in his own individual self. Even the Colored masses are be ginning to realize this. They know that the college bred is on! - concerned with “sleep meals, and folly." as Dr. Harris puts it. Anj what hurts is this intelligent min ority is really the hope and sal vation of our people. If the mass es can’t turn to the educated Ne gro for leadership and guidance, where are they to go” “Are th. v any Moses among us today?” Dr. Harris asks and he answers: I wonder." Many of our students outer college with the wrong atti tude. in Dr. Harris' opinion, they s^em to think, "teach me. if veu dare.” and our teachers aren't much better. They teach over and over their subjects in almost the same words, seldom traveling. And so if our college students are to lead us as they should ‘they must hav.e the ‘do or die’ attitude- Tbev must cor.tinu- to fight for equal rights equal opportunities, educa tion and stop chasing shadows " “STONES" ■ by M. M. GOODLOW fDedicated to Mr. and Mrs. Mrs Eldridge Life was never a song— For us as we journey along. But our courage we must ke;o Though the road is rough and steep. Or through the valley, dark and deep. For every road must rid. Beyond the longest bend. And if we travel on and don't despair. We shall res- our burdens there With this our motto— One for all and all for one. Forward we shall go. And r move each stone. Cast upon our own— And smooth the pathway. For those we leave behind. To tread the road tomorrow And may they jn their day. Never find the stones of sorrow | We have lifted or. our way e OPEN IN THREE STATES New York—Thre® types of job opportunities of special interest to Negroes were announced by the NAACP this week. From Salinas. California, has come a request through the local branch of the NAACF from the i United States Employment Serv ice for that district to obtain 2000 Negroes to work at the cultiva tion of lettuce in that area which is one of he largest lettuce prod ucing regions in the country. Those interested should write dir ectly to William Greenwell, Pres ident. Salinas NAACP. 232 Front Street, Salinas. Calif. Men must be single, draft de ferred and of good report Wages are 45 cents an hour. Board and room will be furnished for 75 to 55 cents per day during the har vest St-ason. which lasts until Dec ember 15 to 20. From the New York State Coun cil of the Committee on Discrim ination in Employment comes the announcement that the Bethlehem Steel Company is in dire need of ship fitters, electricians welders, steel workers, sheet metal work ers, coppersmiths, riveters, rivet »r-testers and all other necessary shipbuilding crafts. The compar.y wOl hire men regardless of race creed or color i fthey are qualif ied. Its hiring offices are at 1st Avenue and 57th Street. Brooklyn First avenue and 29th stre-t Brooklyn, and Mariner's Harbor Staten Island, N. Y. Civilian personnel is desired at; the Raritan Arsenal, Metucheti, New Jersey. Approximately 500 male laborers are needed. They wiE paid $4.5$ pgr day with time and a half for overtime. Ap plicants may write or go to the;; Personnel Office. Raritan Arsen al, Metuchen. New Jersey. EVACUATE JAPS IN CALIF. GERMANS. ITALIANS NOT BOTHERED Los Angeles. April 2 l ANP > — Despite protests from American born Japanese who proclaim their loyalty to the nation, evacuation of all Japanes- from prohibited zones on the Pacific coast is now going ahead However, this action on the part of the government is meeting with.. some protest on the part of other t Americans who point out that noth ing is being done to mve the Ger mans and Italians out of strategic areas here- Germany and Italy are also at war with tl»e United States. ' Some observers contend that if persons of Japanese ancestry who are citizens of this country can be mov^d so easily, so can Mexicars. Chinese and even Negroes. In fact, it is felt that the Pac ific coast chambers of commerce are now getting done under the guise of defense what they have wanted to accomplish for several decades but could not move the Japanese The Japanese, it is pointed out, are of the Mongolian race a- J therefor^ ‘•inferior." The Germ ans and Italians, despite be ng from enemy nations, are members of the white race and therefore “equal." TO GET REFORMATE Y FOR NEGRO YOUTH IN MISSISSIPPI Jackson. Miss April 2 (by Car 3ie A. Hall for ANP—The Miss issippi legislator during the ses sion just ended passed bills assur ing a reformatory for Negro youth. Tie state reformatory wSl be located at Ooakley farm, aban doend penal farm in south Hinds ; county Over some protests, the house approved a senator appro priation of $60,000 to erect or re build suitable buildings at Oakley for the reform school. The house also passed an appropriation for support of an institution. Under a 1940 law. juvenile delin quents can be sentenced only to a GOV’T MOVES TO PROTECT CIVIL RIGHTS OF NEOROES Easter* 1942 ■ by RUTH TAYLOR It is in the spirit of humility and purpose that we will gr> out this Easter morning to Celebrate the great festival of the Church— the day that commemorates not 1 the sorows of earthly life, not the Way of the Cross, but the Resur rection-—the Victory of the Spirit over the flesh. Day by day we climb to our Golgothas. We cannot shift our burdens to anothers shoulders. We cannot shirk the steep hiHs and the heavy weight that s»-ems as unbearable as it appears interm inable. We celebrate this Easter in a spirit of solemnity. To many of us the coming months will bring the end of all that made life seem worth living Far too many of us will be forced by the irrelig ious and inhuman gluttony of the dictators for loot and power over the iives of men to tread the nar row ways of sorrow No one of us will be unaffected by this war. But no weight is too heavy, no way too long when we know that at the end there will be an Eastc-r morning. It was this translation of the lessons of religion into the terms of living that brought forth the great old spirituals, this real ization of tbe impermanence of evil that will carry us through the darkest hours. For in hours of peace we learned, faith, and in the hours of strife w> still remember the words of Him whose Resurrection we Celebra.e, “Peace I leave with you, my peace | I give unto you; not as the world. I giveth. This is my commandment ; That ye love one another, as I hav ■ loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay j down his life for his friends " *■*■*'* i^Miiiin^a reform school or to the natatfy of j their parents. Under it. white juvenile law breakers were sent | to Columbia, but courts and pros ecutors said they were handicap ped by a lack of a Negro reform school. Many civic organizations had sought the reform school for many vears and much credit must be j given the Mississippi Federations, of Colored Women for their untir ing efforts in this matter as f; [ was they who first tried the task of reforming the youth of the j state It will be noted that the | federation at one time had a horn,- J for delinquents at Clinton, the same having been destroyed bv [ fire some years ago NEGRO MUST TAKE.THE OFFENSIVE RANDOLPH TELLS NEGRO STUDENTS Wilberforce. O., April 2 (AXP A. Philip Randolph, sleeping car brotherhood h-ad, told students in an address here Sunday that the Negro must take the offensive and carry the fight for justice, free dom and equality to the en-my. Mr Randolph described his efforts at promoting a march on Wash ington by a million people. — COMING EASTER MONDAY Nat Towles Nat Towles who will bring bis famous band to the Dreamland, Monday April 6th. Towles who recently played a one nighter ct ; the Savoy Ballroom, where he scored a big bit will feature his $ PRESSING INQUIRY IN THE SIKESTON. MO. LYNCHING CASE The United State® Government is moving on a wide front to pro tect the civil rights of Negroes. A survey of pending actions reveal ed today that inve®tigations and prosecutions initiated by the De partment of Justice extend thru Arkansas. Kentucky, Texas, Geor gia. Missouri and Illinois. Bv order of Attorney General Francis Biddle .agents of the Jus tice Department are pressing an inquiry into the Sike«ton .Missouri lynching case. Of the evidence warrants, the Department intends to seek a Federal grand jury in dictment- Should a Federal in dictment in the Sikeston case be brought and obtained, it will mark the first time in the history of A merican jurisprudence that a lyn ching case has been brought into a Federal court. The case grows out of the lynch ing of a Negro, Cleo W right, who was accused of assault on a wh:.e woman, and *as tortured and kill ed by a mob in Sikeston on Jan uary 24. 1942. The assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigat ion was requested by Governor Don nell. Evidence was presented to a State grand jury, which failed to return an indictment. The FBI is continuing its invest igatLon with a view to prosecuting under civil rights statutes on the theory tha: State authorities con spired to deny Wright the equal protection of the law by releas ing him to the lynching mob. In Kentucky an indictment has been returned in the United States Court for the State’s Western Lhs trict against Martin J. Conners and others- Conners was jailed at the Jefferson County, Kentucky, jail and allegedly worked Negro prisoners in his privately owned tourist camp One of the counts in the indictment ja based upon the denial to the vie;: ms of equal protection of the law Aa ‘nvfsc-.gatran has been auth orized by the Department into the lynching of Mott Flournoy in op en court at Lufkin ,Texas. Nov ember 24. 1941 Flournoy, an ag ed Negro, was in court as defend ant m a rape cas. Comp la i"-a received by the Department indic ated that he was denied equal pro tection. of the law through failure of the authorities to protect him when they knew that an attempt might he made on his life. In Georgia, the Justice Depart ment is investigating an alleged conspiracy by William Cunning ham and Hamilton McWhorter of Ogiethrope County to secure the return of certain Negroes who fled from Cunningham's farm, where they were being worked under con ditiens described as amounting to peonage. The Negroes escaped to Chicago. An indictment in the case was obtained in the Northern District of Illinois, but in August 1941. the defendants successfully instituted proceedings to hav- the case removed to Georgia. It is expected that evidence showing a violation of the Negroes’ civil rights will be presented to a Fed eral grand jury in Georgia. A nindictment has been return ed in the Southern District of G <*r gia against W. H. Callan, James O’Neil and Carlos Hardin, operat ors of turpentine stills, for hold ing Negro employees in a state of peonage. Trial has been set fur June 15, 1942 me federal t»ranc Jury in the Northern District of Florida will hear a case concerning brutal treatment administered to a Ne gro, “Impy" Johnson, in connect ion with his return to a turpentine farm. The Department will retry in the United States District Cout for the Northern District of Geor gia, W. F. Sutherland of th» At lanta Georgia, police force, for branding a Negro youth with a hot iron in order to extort a eoo f-ssion. An FBI investigation of the State parole system in Arkansas has been ordered in an effort to verify persistent charges that •: = r tain members of the State Penit entiary Commission are placing paroled Negro prisoners in the custody of themselves and their friends and relatives. It is alleg ed that the guardians compel the parolees to work on their private | plantations fo rorily nominal wag es two vocalists Leroy Wayne and Debbie Robbins.
