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About The Omaha guide. (Omaha, Neb.) 1927-19?? | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 1943)
LARGEST ACCREDITED NEGRO NEWSPAPER WEST OF CHICAGO AND NORTH OF KANSAS CITY —MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED NEGRO PRESS ~Effnejg A^SarehT Phl^wE. mfa’ Nebraska Saturday, Jan. 23, 1943 Our 15th Year, No. 50 City Edition, 5c Copy “To Cool Off” F. E. P. C. Pending Re-Organization « Chicago’s Political Pot Boils SEEKS TO ELIMINATE ALD ERMAN EARL B. DICKERSON WHO AIDED HIM IN NOV. CHICAGO. Jan. 22 (ANP) —Pre liminary skirmishes in Chicago's lo cal political arena got under way Immediately the new year was ush ered in. The first repercussions, however, came Wednesday night when the Democratic organizations of the famous Second ward met and acting under the command of Con gressman William L. Dawson, who is also committeeman, did a near throat slitting job on Alderman Earl B. Dickerson by refusing to endorse Dickerson for reelection to his post in the Chicago City Council. Instead Dawson put forward and secured the aldermanic endorse ment for one of his own lieutenants young and little known William Harvey. Harvey, who, has been a city fireman for a year, has work ed as a secretary in Mr. Dawson’s political office for some time but his advent into big time poiit*nb with so large a plum packed within his grasp has rather startled the old regular politicians. Congressman Dawson's action, a climax to the long fight which he and Dickerson have carried on. puts a dimmer temporarily at least on the brilliant career of the alderman who was his opponent for nomin ation as congressman on the demo cratic ticket last spring, and gave Dawson sweet reveneg for the de feat which Dickerson handed hiuj when the two were opponents tor the job a salderman four years ago. At that time Dawson was a Repub lican and lost to Dickerson in a four way primary. Congressman Dawson, a power i ful cog in the political machine led ® by Mayor Edward J. Kelly, and Dickerson have been rivals for years. Dickerson has never had the Sympathy or cooperation of the regular machine and has been con sistently frowned upon by Mayor Kelly but has made a remarkable record in the Chicago city council. He has been an active campaigner iCont-nued on pagtJ5^=4) MINISTERS DROP SUIT ‘GAINST PENN ROAD AFTER JIM CROW BAN Chicago, Jan. 21 (ANP)—A suit charging the Pennsylvania railroad with discrimination in its seating accommodations at Chicago was dismissed this week after the com pfeinants secured written assur ances from the company that the practices would end. The suit grew out of charge3 brought by the Revs. Junius C. Austin, pastor of Pilgrim Baptist Church, and Rev. William McDow ell. pastor of Monumental Baptist Church, against E. M. Holt, general passenger agent for the carrier. The two charged that on Dec. 14 Holt denied them seats they had paid for on the crack streamliner. South Wind, running between Chi cago and Miami, and assigned them to seats in a jim crow coach behind the engine. This, their petition claimed, was in violation of Illinois civil rights statutes. Holt was subsequently arrested on Dec. 31 an dfaced prosecution along with the railroad on charges of violation of the civil rights law. When the case was called for hear ing in the packed courtroom of Municipal Judge Mason S. Sullivan Atty- Oscar Lindstrand, counsel for Holt and the rail company confer red with the ministers and their lawyer. A tty- George C. Adams and announced the agreement The agreement read in open court stated that hereafter the Pennsyl vania railroad would not jim crow colord passengers on any Of its trains bound for the South and part icularly on the South Wind. After the agreement was entered into and approved by the court the case was nolle pressed. WEST POINT COMMISSIONS TWO MORE NEGRO OFFICERS WESTPOIXT, N. T., Jan. 21 (AN P).... Before several thousand guests, including prominent civil ians and the highest ranking mil itary officials, two Negro cadets re ceived their commissions this week from the hands of sec. of War Hen ry L. Stints'*!!. The cadets were Robert Bernard Tresville. who received a second lieutenancy in the United States Army Air Forces, the first Negro to be commissioned from the military academy into it- and Clarence M. Davenport, who was commissioned a second lieutenant in the regular army. The ovations were loudest whe t these two men received their com missions and became among the first to graduate from West Point in the accelerated wartime classes in three and one half years instead of the usual four These youths were the sixth and seventh Negroes to graduate from the United States Military academy Others were the late Henry Ossian Flipper, the late John H. Alexander the late Col. Charles Young. Lt COl. Benjamin O. Davis. Jr., com mander of the 99th Pursuit squad ron. located at Tuskegee. and Lt James D. Fowler, assistant plans and training officer and officer in charge of non- commissioned offic ers school. 366th infantry, at Fort Devens. Mass. Immediately after the graduation ceremonies Lt. Davenport left foi his home city where he was married the next day to Miss Yolande Eliz abeth Bradfield. daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George C. Bradfield Sr. of that city of Detroit. Neither Lts. Davenport or Tres ville had been assigned to active duty late this week. Their grad uation leaves three other Negro ca dets at the school among whom arc Minton Francis of Washington, who attended the University of Pennsyl vania before his West Point ap pointment. Tobias Deplores Attack On Press Is He Oldest Active Parson? Presiding Elder J. D. Dowdell Though in his ninth decade and with 61 years in the ministry of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church the Rev. J. D. Dowdell of Opelika. Ala., still faithfully travels the Tuskegee Mission District of the East Alabama Conference, super vising his preachers and inspiring their congregations with his quar terly meeting sermons. According to Bishop W. Y. Bell of Cordele, Ga., this 86-year old is the senior presiding elder of the C. M. E. [ Church nor does the Bishop know of any other active pastor who has served so long in the itinerancy. Unlike most parsons Rev. Mr. Dowdell will never need an old-age pension. He collects rent from 38 houses and owns a fertile farm of . 360 acres. He studied in Talladega : College. Says his Bishop: “Brother Dowdell is a good preacher and a safe counselor.” Peglers or other "quislings.” The New Masses, he continued, consid ered the question of Negro rights as important as the opening up of the "Second front" and for this rea son put out special numbers on j >tn of these topics. The next Schomburg forum on January 21, will take up the contro versial book, "No Day of Triumph.” Some critics have praised it as a great book: others have condemned it •._saying that it never should have been written. J. Saunde-'S Redding, the author, will debate these issues with a southern white liberal author. Harold Preece, ar.d the managing editor of The Negro Quarterly, Ralph Ellison. PETITION PRESIDENT FOR COMMUTATION OF DEATH SENTENCE FOR SOLDIERS Washington, D. C.Commutat I ion of the death sentence of Sam j mie Mickles, U. S. Army private serving in Great Britain and con victed of the murder of Jan Ciap ciak, Polish seaman, was asked this week of President Roosevelt by the National Association far the Adv ancement of Colored People. I nthe ^communication to the White oHuse, Walter White. NA ACP. executive secretary, remind ed the President: 'American race prejudice which is being transplanted with the arm ed forces to foreign countries is ! manifested by the frequency and violence of unprovoked attacks on Negro soldiers and Sailors. The silence and indifference of the gov ernment to the abuse of Negroes in the armed forces by prejudiced southern whites, is developing into a standing invitation to the various peoples of the world to adopt, with, impunity, the same attitudes of con tempt and aggression. In the light of these conditions the case of Pri vate Mickles is significant of a pat tern which will tend to spread un less definite steps are taken to check it According to the account carried by the Associated Press, the deeas ed provoked the altercation not only in that he manhandled the young woman accompanying Private Mic kles. but to the extent that he as saulted and wounded the defendant with a ‘wood chisel.' “It is our earnest belief and de sire, which we know you share, that even- possible doubt, with par ticular reference to the element of premeditation, be resolved in favCr of this young man who was in the service of his country abroad." WHITE RESIGNS COUNCIL FOR DEM. POST New York,. N. Y.Because of the Council for Democracy's refusal to accept responsibility for the pub lication Of an article by Warren Brown, one of its paid employees, slandering the entire Negro press. Walter White, executive secretary of the NAACP resigned this week as a director of the Council. The Brown article appeared simultan eously on newstands last month in the December, 19th Saturday Re view of Literature and the January j Reader’s Digest Ernest Angell, president of the Council for Democracy in answer to White’s query as to whether the position of the Council was “indic ated” by the Brown article said: j “The Council is not called upon ! either to endorse and adopt every i statement made in its general con 'elusions, nor to repudiate the part icular statements and general con clusions. The article is not in the formal sense an official Council publication. It was written by a regular member of our staff. We knew it was being written, we saw the piece before it was turned in for publication. We did not see then nor do we see now any reason to disavow it or to modify it." White charged that the Brown article is not a well rounded pres entation and would do "infinite j harm" because of its immaturity j and false emphases. He pointed out also, that the appearance of a reprint of the article in a recent Texas daily newspaper alongside an advertisement of the Klu Klux Klan was an unpleasant coincidence. Ac companying White’s resignation was a statement by Roy Wilkins, assistant XAACP executiev secre tary. Crisis editor and veteran news paper man. Wilkins asserted that evidently there was a plan for this article, perhaps before it was writ ' ten and that someone was very an v ; ious to place the 7 million circula tion of the Reader’s Digest behind Brown's statements. He said that Information had reached him that the Reader’s Digest had had this article originally and had approach ed several magazines including Op portunity to get them to publish it so that the Digest could "digest" it- Finally if was placed with the Saturday Review of Literature and published simultaneously in the LISTS FOUR ' TYPES OF LEADERSHIP (by Chester Hibbitt) INDIANAPOLIS. Jan. 21 <ANP>— (Thrusting aside camouflage and , slicing through to the fates. Dr. Charming H. Tobias, one of the clearest and most respected minds on the international scene as it em braces the problems of the Negro, democracy and world conflict, has brought to the local community a course for action during a series of lectures and appearances here be ginning with the famed TMCA meet ing Sunday afternoon. In considering the recent nation wide and recurring attacks upon the Negro press, outstanding Negro figures and upon the Negro masses Dr. Tobias saw a ready remedy through sincere conference and pos itive action by the government. “There is conhiderable misdirect ed energy on the part of white Am erica in general and government in particular in trying to check the (Continued from page 3) Farmers Called Most Important Negro Group Washington. January 22 (A.N’P)—q The most important group of Ne groes in the United States is tho agricultural group, say experts who have sized up the situation. Own ing a total acreage of 11.198,893. this is enough land to form a strip three miles wide stretching across the country from Boston to San, Francisco However, the census figures of 1930 showed a decrease over th^se of 1920. With no figures available for the 1040 comparison it is inter estiong to note some of the figures Of a decade ago. There were S82.850 farm operators or 14 percent of the total in tho United States. There were Negro farmers in all states and in two thirds of the countries in the entire United States. The average acreage for the Ne gro farm was 42.6 acres. The val ue of the land and buildings was assessed at $1,402,945,790, all figur es being considerably lower than those of the previous lo years. The average farm was valued at $1,589 and the t°tal value of farm products in the south was $646,641 216 or about $732 per farm. Whether the figures for 1940 would show a further decrease is problematical. ALPHA KAPPA ALPHA DIRECTORATE TO MEET Detroit. January 22 (ANP) —The directorate of the Alpha Kappa Al pha sorority will meet in St. Louis Feb. 20-23, Supreme Basileus Beulah, T. Whitby announced this week. The session will be a business one as the body is not having a con vention this year. Among the directorate who will ! attend are; Ethel H. Lyle, Phila delphia, Louise J- MacDonald. New York City; Rosetta E. Nolan, Kan sas City; Irma F. Clarke, Chicago; Trussie Smothers, Kansas City; Zatella R. Turner. Petersburg, Ya. Zelma W. Duke. Los Angeles: Mary C. Wright. Cambridge, Mass.: Mar guerite M. Adams. Charlotte. X. C; Laura T. Lovelace, Cincinnati; Blanche L. Patterson. St. Louis; Maude E. Brown, Louisville; Con nie Yerwood Odom. Tyler. Tex.; Manila Darden Hickman, Tulsa and Manila Hudlin Smith. Phoenix. Am. TO SUSPEND FOOD STAMP ON MARCH 1 I Washington. Jan. 22 (ANP) —The food stamp program will be suspend ed March 1, probably for the dur ation of the war, acording to an announcement made last week by the V. S. Department of Agriculture However, it also was announced at the same time that the Departments program of providing foods foj* community school lynches and child day care centers will be continued. At its Peak in 1941. the food stamp program gave assistance to 4.000.000 people, of which nearly a |million were Negroes, and served to | move large quantities of agricultur i *1 commodities. School lunches are 'now reaching 2.700.000 youngsters, ! including nearly a half million col lored children. >iimiiiimmiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimm EDITORS SAY NEGRO RIGHT* ESSENTIAL TO VICTORY NEW YORK. Jan. 22 (ANP) .. . Before one of the largest crowds of the season, editors of The Sur vey Graphic, New Masses, Annals of the American Academy of Pol itical and Social Science and The Chicago Defender debated “the col or question and the war,” last Thurs day at the book forum of the Sch omburg collection of Negro liter ature of the New York Public Libr ary. These publications have all put out special issues on this ques tion. The audience expressed amaze ment an dgratification that four periodicals with greatly different points of view and political tend encies agreed so completely that the extension of full rights to the NegTo and other minorities was es sential to victory in the war and a real peace afterwards. Dr. Alain Locke, who spoke for The Survey Graphic, said that his magazine represented “constructive! liberalism" and that their special ceived wide circulation outside of number of last November had re the United States as well as in this country. Dr. J. P. Shalloo spoke for The Annals. He said that their special number of last September was barred from shipment abroad on the grounds that axis propagan dists would pounce upon the uc c nt® .1 C'ScrUn-'u? ■ i, in t j. country. Dr. Shalloo insisted that scholarly, sober, restrained articles in The Annals did the most good Harry McAlpin, chief 0f the Wash ington bureau of the Chicago De fender, said that the Defender’s special number of Sept. 26, ‘ The j Negro and Victory,” was designed i to unite all elements in the coun | try—even the Westbrook Peglers and the governors of Georgia and Alabama. This assertion started a cross-fire of questions and comm ents from the audience and other editors. A. B. Magil of The New Masses disagreed. He held that there could not be any worthwhile unity with ALLEN ON CONCERT TOl'R | Greensboro, N. C., January 22 (A I NP). .William Allen, talented con cert pianist of the music school staff of Fisk university-, played a delightful concert at Bennett col lege here Friday evening. Mr. Al len has developed a program dem ocratic in its structure for this tour. It opens and closes with compos itions by native Americans of all colors. Chopin. Brahms. Schum ann. Rachmaninoff. Shostakovich and Still are among the composers whose works are featured. Mr. Allen plays at Barber-Scotia college. Jan. 22. at Howard univer sity. Jan. 23. and then returns to Fisk where he gave the introduc tory program last Sunday. WASHINGTON. Jan. 22 (ANP) — i The War .Manpower commission s Fair Kmployment Practice Commit tee is slated for a thorough over hauling and until this is perfected, its functions are to be subjected to a "cooling off" period, it was re ported around Washington early this week A decision to reorganize the com mittee. which has been investigat ing war industries believed pract 'cing discrimnatory methods, is said to have emanated from the White House. It is said the committee's recent adamant stand against the Capital Transit company and its extensive and thorough preparations for the now defunct railroad hearings caus ed the White House considerable concern. Considerable speculation has aris en over the action of the commit tee when it meets next. The com plexion of the committee is due for a change because of the attitudes of certain members. However, to date, none has tendered his resign ation. At the next meeting, the members will be told that their functions will be shelved pending a reorganization Paul McNutt has made no addit ional statements as to the future of the committee, nor has he implem ented his initial statement on the calling off of the railroad hearings. The shock of the announcement has not fully subsided in Washing ton yet and there are those who are hopeful of reviving the issue later. What the governor meant when he said the manpower commission would have the opportunity to test its power to the fullest now and that the problem would be solved in a normal manner leaves plenty to the imagination as to what trans pired behind the scenes. The full committee is expected to meet on January 25 at which time action will be taken as to what it intends doing and how it expects to function in the future. Digest. “I think,” Wilkins con eluded, “that the publication of this i indictment of practically the entire j press of a minority of 13 million people is indicative of misjudge i ment of and contempt for the abii 1 ity, aspirations and feelings of the great masses of Negro citizens. BARBER INVESTS PENNY BANK SAVINGS IN W AR BONDS Camden, N. C., Jan. 22 (ANP) — O] ating under the theory that if you: “save the pennies the dollars will take care of themselves" Dess Kennedy, a local barber bega.it saving the "coppers" several years ago Patrons to his small barber shop often ribbed the tonsorial artist for his penury, but Kennedy's frugal ity was to bear fruit This was evidenced last week, when, accompanied by his wife, Kennedy walked into the Commer cial bank here and deposited a sack holding 8,000 pennies on the cotm tet. When the couple departed they carried with them $80 worth HUMANITY KEE CONGRESS A! Washington, January 23 (ANP) — According to a noted Washington writer. Frances Payne Bolton, con gTesmai from Cleveland, was slat ed for a "purge" by the Democrat ic opponents of her district. Had this occurred, humanity would have lost a champion in congress. For as Marcia Winn points out. much of the progress made in recent years in army nursing came as a result of Congressman Bolton's per sonal efforts back in 1917, when ■he first came to Washington wit a her husband who had just received §*lllllfllllllllllllllllll!iiiiiili!lltllll!!llll HASTIE TEHDERS HIS RES IGNATION ASKS LAITIER, GIBSON TO REMAIN AT I*OSTS In a statement issued to the Ne gro press. January- 16th, Judge Wm. H. Hastie, Civilian Aide to the Sec retary of War, notifies us that he has tendered his resignation from his job, to them. I The statement is as follows: WAR DEPARTMENT Washington, D. C. January 16. 1943 In the past, replying to inquiries prompted by rumors and specula tion, I have stated that, if and when I should leave the War Department I the press would receive direct and authoritative information. Aceord j ingly, the press is now advised that I have submitted my resignation as Civilian Aide to the Secretary of War. effective at the end of Jan uary, 1943. I have asked Mr. Louis Lautie-. Administrative Assistant in this of fice ,who has been dealing effect vely with' matters involving civil ian personnel to remain at his post It is my belief that he can contir Ue to contribute substantially to gains already represented by the placement and advancement of thou sands of Negroes and the satisfac tory adjustment of many employe® grievances. I have also asked Mr. Truman K. Gibson, Jr.. Assistant Civilian Aide to remain at his post, at least thru such transitional period as may be necessary to prevent and discon tinuity of effort in matters which have been undertaken by this office I wish to state.my sincere apprec iation for the measure of friendly support and cooperation which my office has received from the press. I shall have no further or ampli fying statement to make until after my officials duties shall have term inated. WILLIAM H. HASTIE, Civilian Aide to the Sec retary of War of war bonds. RANDOLPH TO BE RACE RELATIONS SPEAKER CHICAGO, Jan. 21 (ANP)—Tir. Preston Bradley, white, pastor of the People's church of Chicago, has announced that the annual race re lations program will be held Sunday Feb. 14, immediately after Lincoln s birthday and that A. Philip Rand olph. president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, will speak on the subject, “America and Glob al Justice Now.” PS FRIEND IN 5 PURGE FAILS an important war assignment. A member of the important for eign affairs committee of the houae she still continues her active inter est in nursing and through her ef forts, in 1940 a fund was inserted in to the budget whereby student nurs es would recive aid and in 1942. she was instrumental in the passage of a bill equalizing the pay of army nurses with that of officers of sim ilar rank. The discrepancy long has been a detriment to the recruit ing of nurses for the service. f in m\it' RAWS IS ..—-a Mi '.HELP me WIN fc4Y VICTORY!!~ JOIN THE MARCH Of DIMES 1"