LARGEST ^ACCREDITED NEGRO NEWSPAPER WEST OF CHICAGO AND NORTH OF KANSAS CITY —MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED NEGRO PRESS
~ Saturday, Jan. 30,1943 Our 1~>th Year, Xo. 51 City Edition, 5c Copy
LET’S MAKE THEM STRONG—Let’s Give
Colored citizens of this country
ha\> always been among the groups
~to contribute to worthy causes.
The National Foundation for In
fantile Paralysis a non-profit or
ganization. is beginning its annual
fud raising dirve, in the fight a
gainat the dreaded disease which
has claimed all races as its victim.?.
Colored citizens have responded
to the defense bond drive in a
creditable manner and have sacrif
iced along with other groups to
give their loved ones to the armed
forces.
They have come through in all
crises in a splendid manner that
this country has ever had.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
himself a former paralysis victim,
has authorized Basil O'Connor, pres
ident of the organization, to set a
side his birthday January- 30. 1943,
for the annual fund raising drive.
Money needed to fight Infantile
Paralysis comes from the dimes
and dollars contributed by school
children, bankers. Pullman Porters,
maids, housewives, secretaries and
janitor* in every neek and comer
of America.
For the Fiscal year 1942 the
Foundation made grants totaling
*1,152.000.
Funds raised in the drive are us
ed by the local chapters throughout
the country for all who are in need
of treatment, regardless of age.
race, creed or color.
The Foundation for Infantile
Paralysis has had opened, a center
at TUskegee Institute since January
15. 1841 to care for victims of our
group although they are treated in
hospitals '.n their respective local
ities throughout the nation.
The personnel of the Infantile
Paralysis Center at Tuskegee in
cludes an Orthopedic Surgeon, a
Registered Physical Therapist, a
Housekeeper. Graduate nurses, at
tendants. orderlies and an Engin
eer.
This was made possible by a
grant from the Foundation of $172,
256 to Tuskegee Institute.
This truly is a worthy cause.
Tour pennies, nickels and climes
made this possible from the “March
of Dimes’’ annual campaign drive
sponsored by the President on his
birthday.
Let us al] roll out the dimes and
dollars in this campaign.
We know it will be fun. Let’s
roll out the dimes—Keep disease or
the run.
The Infantile Paralysis drive is
truly a worthy cause. Each and
everyone of us should help along
the cause
Through the Committees for the
Celebration of the President's Birth,
day you have your opportunity to
work for and give for this cause—
to help win the fight against In
fa.ntile Paralysis
The races' men and women of
| Tomorrow depend upon the strength
of today's boys and girls,
j LET'S MAKE THEM STRONG!
j LET US GIVE’
SUBSCRIBE
NOW!
IMPORTANT TO NAVY AIR ARM
OITICIAL U. 8- NAVY FIIOTOG1APH.
THEY KEEP 'EM FLYING.—Negro Bluejackets at work on dismantling and redesigning to modem speci
fications a 1929 Travel-Air Biplane equipped with Wright-Whirlwind engine at Great Lakes Training Sta
tion. Aligning pilot seat at rear are Melvin Holland, 21, of 233 Green St., Morgantown, W. Va. (left), and
Bussell Dash, 17, of 15 Main St., Acushnet, Mass.; Robert E. Handy, 18, of 520 Sanford PL, Baltimore, Md.,
stands on framework to fit in a fire wall in front of gas tank, while Charles R. Hunter, 25, of 207 V amen
Ave., Paris, Tenn. (on knee), installs carburetor heater. Installing nose cowling at extreme right are
Adolph Lloyd. 25, of 1311 E. 43d St., Los Angeles, Calif, (front), and Andrew A. Gainer, 23, of 1237 E. 46th
For every Navy crew- that wings
its plane off an aircraft carrier to
•■ngage the enemy, back on the
"flax top” are scores of men just
as important to the Navy 's air arm.
Probably these Bluejackets—the
aviation metalsmiths and aviation
machinist mates who keep the fight
jng craft tuned for battle _ _. . will
aeverf see their names in headlin
es J)ut (hey re in at the kill” just
’: ~ / ■ t}yr >.. otui l
ca*1 ww .
of their rates perform similar dut
ies at flight schools and air bases
throughout the country.
Among the Bluejackets training
in this important branch of the
Navy these days at the United Stat
es Naval Training Station. Great
Lakes. 111., are many Negroes,
chosen to attend the Navy's Serv
ice Schools for aviation metalsmiths
and machinist mates through a ser
ies of aptitude tests given every
sailor during recruit training.
After completion of the eight
»eek basic training period, the sail
ors do not. of course, come in for
practical instruction immediately*
First on their schedule is a month
of mathematics and lay-out study,
based principally on its functioning
in so far as the construction, oper
ation and maintenance of aircraft
is concerned.
The month in the classroom does
not prove difficult for the men as
all recruits selected for the two
schools have had at least a high
school educat'on- Of men in
school at the present time, most
have had at least one year of col
lege. while several hold degrees
Closing their test books, the men.
move on to the shops where for the
next five months their shipmates”
are airplane engines, airplane frame
works and airplane tools. Upon
completion of the course the Blue
jackets have a. sound foundation of
the theory of flight and are able to
maintain and repair practically any
one of the many multitudinous
parts which go to make up a plane.
The present class attending the
two schools is hard at work on the
dismantling and redesigning to mod
ern specifications and lines of a
1929 Travel-Air Biplane eqUinped
with a Wright whirlwind engne.
Most of them had never touched an
arplane prior to entering the army.
1 Among the men working on the
I project- under the tutelage of com
' missioned officers and chief petty
officers- are Theodore Burgess. 37,
of 431 E. 47th St-. Los Angeles. Cal
ifornia, Lamar O. Shipp, 29, of IIS
[ Sheri..an Ave.. Ames. Ia.: Edward
Kaufman. 27. of 5269 McKinley Avp
Los Angeles: Melvin Holland, 21,
of 233 Green St-. Morgantown. ’A
\'a.. and EuSsell Dash. 17. of 15
Main St-. Aeushnet. Mass.
Others are Robert E. Handy. IS.
of 520 Sanford Pi.. Baltimore. Md..
Charles R. Hunter. 25. of 207 War
ren Ave-, Paris. Tenn: Adolph Lloyd
25, of 1311 E. 43rd St-. Los Angeles.
Calif.: Andrew A. Gainer. 23. of 1237
E 47th St.. Los Angeles: Henry
Ratcliffe. 28, of 3226 Prairie Ave.
Chicago. 111.: William Rhoden. 25.
of 5820 South Park. Chicago and
Joseph McDuffie. 25, of 3003 Caro
lina St.. St. Louis. Mo.
Discuss Negro Welfare
At A-F of L. Convention
ATLANTA. Ga—The Southern |
War Labor Conference, held here
January 16 and 17. with 3.000 to
4.000 AF of L. Labor leaders from
the South in atendance. adopted at
its close a policy report on labot
conditions which declared “there
should be a condition of absolute
equal rights on obs and job oppor
tunities without any discriminat
ion whatsoever between the work
ers on account of race, creed or
color.”
President William Green of the
AFL atended the conference and in
his major speech assured the dele
gates that “labor will make its
voice heard at the conference tabl
es after this war in a clarion cell
for enduring peace." He said the
AFL would support the President
social security program “to the I'm- j
it of its powers." and will “nevrr (
let up the fight until it becomes the
law of the land."
Labor’s cooperation, and its ;-ep
resntation in the war efforts, wee®
outlined in speeches by Director
James M. Landis of the Office of
Civilian Defense. Director Lund of
the WPB’s Labor Production Div
ision. Deputy Chairman Fowler
Harper of the War Manpower Com
mission. and others.
Th conference's statement of Pol
icy attacked the poll tax as “a con
tradiction in a democracy," and
urged the AFL to otninue its fight
for repeal of the poll tax as a con
dition for voting.
I tapproved the AFL's no strike
policy, asserted that no ’ adverse"
labor legislation and no compulsorv
legislation was needed to obtain la
bor's cooperation in the war. and as
-sailed sub-standard wages.
Full text of the statement on "Or
ganized Labor's Aid to Negro La
bor" is as follows:
"As a majority of the Negro cit
izens of the United States live in
the twelve staets represented in
this confrnce. it is most fitting and
proper that questions affecting the
welfare of Negro labor should nave
had a prominent place in the dis
cussions and deliberations of this
body. The officers and delegates
from the AFL unions in these *wel
ve states in attendance upon this
conference are Proud of the fact
that these wise leaders who found
ed the AFL adopted as one of its
fundamental principles that the or
ganized labor movement then being
formed was devoted and dedicated
to th- high and holy purpose of the
advancement and protection and
well being of all wage earners with
out regar to race, creed or color.
“The fact that the Negro race
here in the South has made greater
progress during the past three quar
ters of a century than any race of
people in any country of the world
has ever made in a similar length,
of time, we of the AFL proudly Pro
claim that the organized labor move
ment has made greater contribution
to this advancement than any other
single influence. Three quarters
of a century ago. chatteled slavery
in the south was eliminated and in
that space of time the Negroes in
the south have come from the de
plorable conditions then existing to
a place where they now have their
own colleges and universities, banks
insurance companies, their doctors
and lawyers and dentists, their
farms ad their homes and proper*, y
of all kinds. Geniuses have been
developed, geniuses who made great
contribution to science and to this
country and to the world.
"As a result of the eforts of our
organized labor movement in these
southern states, more than 300.0<>p
Xegroes are now members of our
unions in these twelve states.
While it is true that thousands up
on thousands of them still live on
sub standard wages, it is also true
that more thousands upon thous
ands of white people in the South
continue to live on sub-standard
wages. Organiztion of the workers
of the South of both races, has oee*i
difficult and hindered by many ob
Stacies, some of them aparently in
surmountable. but through perserv
eranee and devotion to the principl
es of trade unionism, greater pro
gress has been made in the organ
ization of the workers of the South
in both races, in the past five years
than in any other section of the
t'nited States.
“This conference declares that it
is in hearty accord with the fund
amental principles of the AFL. tha:
the labor movement should serve
the workers without regard to race
creed or color, and further declarer
that there should be a condition of
absolute equal rights on jobs and
job opportunities 'without any dis
•rimnation whatsoever between the
workers on account of race, creed
or color.”
The Colored Committee for Pol
icy, " hich drafted this section of
the report, comprised: George V.
Millemer. second Vice President,
international Longshoremen Assoc
iation. Haywood Will jam. Vice Pres
ident at Large. North Carolina
State eFderation: James Hampton
... «III III I'llllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
The White Press. .About FEPC Situation
PM.
| Says...
McNutt Galls FEPC
Action “Strategic”
from PM Friday. January 221
by GORDON H. COLE
Washington. January 22—Paul V.
McNutt .chairman of the War Man
power Commission (WMC) t°day de
fended on grounds of "good strat
egy' his action in postponing public
hearings by the Fair Employment
Practice Committee (FEPC) into j
charges of racial discrimination on
Southern railroads.
McNutt, whose intervention i nthe
FEPC proceedings has evoked wide
protest from church, labor and lib
eral groups, told his side of the
story for the rirst time in an inter
view.
"the manpower director pledged'
| that there would be “no retreat” ]
and “no softpedalling" in the cam-'
paign to bring wiedr job opportun
ities to Negroes.
Expressing his resentment Over
the sharp pressure that has been
brought to bear on him by Negro
organizations in the last ten days,
! McNutt warned that Negroes and
their supporters “have got to rec
ognize me as their friend and not
crack me on the head every time
my neck is out."
He ordered the railroad hearings
postponed, he said, solely because
he believes that ' direct negotiat
! ions may yild better progress ”
j Here are McNutt's view-s:
The FEPC has no strict legal au
thority to enforce its orders except
for those employers whose war con
tracts contain non-discrimination
clauses.
The railroads have no war con
tracts except, possibly, in the sen-e
that Government officials buy rail
road tickets and those tickets con
stitute a contract
“Why get caught out on the end
of a limb on one of the doubtful
cases when there are so many pos
itive ones"" McNutt argued. "Tho
other firms (under FEPC scrutiny)
have contracts with no discrimin
ation clauses."
McNutt stated flatly that the FE
PC would decide when it would con
duct hearings and that his inter
vention in the railroad case is “not
a pattern."
He indicated that the possibility
of the committee conducting hear- i
ings in Detroit. Cleveland, or St.
Louis is to be decided by the Com
mittee. not himself.
However. McNutt admitted that
with only four members remaining
on the Committee—the chairman.
Malcolmn MacLean. and two m«n
bers. Mark Ethridge and Col. David
Sarnoff, having submitted their re
signations—possibility of reorgan
izing the Committee is under con
sideration.
One reorganization plan being
studied would substitute for the
(Continued on page 3)
International Represntative of the
; Hodcarriers and Common Laborer.-,
Union and Vice President of the Al
abama State Federation: Pat Dail
ey. General Representative of Col
ored Local Union in the Ingall Ship
yard. Pascagoula. Miss.: M. R. Per
ry, Business Agent of Carpenters
Local No. 270. Pine Bluff. Ark.; J.
Harvey xetter. President. I LA. Lo
cal No. 1419 and AFL. organizer:
! Carl Kemp. Trustee, Colored Br' . k
Mason Local. Savannah. Ga.; John
Wyatt. President. Painters Local
No. 1319. Mobile. Ala.: and Marshall
| Gunn, Aluminum Workers, Shef
field, Ala.
To Name Ship For Carver
The Maritime Commission ann-(
Ouneed today that a Liberty Ship
soon to be launched, will be named
for Dr. George Washington Carver,
world-famous scientist who died at
Tuskegee Institute. Ala., on Jan
uary 5. 1943. The time and place of
the launching have not yet been
set.
Recognized as one of the world's
outstanding scientists in the field
Of agricultural research, the late
Dr. Carver will be the second prom
inent Negro so honored by the Mar
itime Commission. The first Liber
ty Ship named for a Negro was the
S. S. BOOKER T. WASHINGTON,
now in active service under Cart.
Hugh Mulzac. a Negro master.
In many respects the lap. Dr.
Carver was the most remarkable
Negro of modern times. Born cf
Slave parents on a farm near Dia
mond Grove. Mo-, and left an or
phan when stolen from his parents,
he was unable to read or write un
til he was almost 20 years of age.
Yet he was So ambitious, he work
ed his way through high school at
Minneapolis. Kansas and later thru
the Iowa State College of Agricul
ture and Mechanic Arts
He was graduated there viith the
degree of Bachelor of Science in
Agriculture in 1S9-4. at the age of
30. and was immediately made a
faculty member in charge of the
college greenhouse an dthe bacter
ial laboratory work in systematic
botany. Two years later he earned
his Master of Science degree and
made the acquaintance of Booker
T. Washington who was then bring
ing Tuskegee Institute in Alabama,
into national prominence- He went
to Tuskegee in 1S96 and stayed
there for the remainder of his life,
directing the Department of Agric
ultural Research.
Dr. Carver proceeded to make the
Agricultural Research Department
of Tuskegee the most famous in the
land. Sand was a great curs.' then
to the Alabama cotton farmer. The
short-stalk com produced the fat
test bolls and the tail-stalk produc
ed the leanest- Yet the srot stalk
cotton left the bolls exposed to
splashes of sand when it rained.
By a crossing process. Dr. Carver
Pot the fat cotton bolls of the short
stalk cotton to grow on the tall
stalks that lifted them out of the
sand. Officially in Washington, the
cross was recognized by the name
of “Carver's Hybrid."
After the boll-weevil invasion had !
brought misery to the one crop j
South. Dr. Carver addressed himself j
to developing new uses of the pea-'
nut and sweet potato, and spread
ing the gospel of diversification
with these as money crops.
He devolped more than 200 differ
ent products from the peanut, in
cluding milk, ink. flour, breakfast
food, wood stains, face creams and
^recntly a medicinal peanut oil which
was found helpful in the treatment
'of infantile paralysis.
His products from the lowly pea
nut have been credited with the
creation of a new Southern indus
try. yielding over *60,000.000 an
nually. He also developed over io*j
uses for the sweet potato, from
which he produced tapioca, molas
ses. dyes, coffee, starch and flour.
ISO SERVICE MEN’S CANTEEN
IS DAMAGED BY FIRE
[ An estimated three thousand d0l
lars worth of damage was done
(early Tuesday mornig at about 7.30
a. rn. to the USO. Servicemen's c m
teen at 2307 North 24th street.
| A fire which apparently broke out
from defective wiring is said to
have started the blaze.
MAKES GOOD
HERMAN T. SMITH
111 mi 11 ii min ii i mi 111111111 iii......
Because of the damage, activities
at the canteen have been cancelled
for Several days, a spokesman for
the canteen said.
To Further Challenge
Constitutionality of Draft i
Quotas Based On Color
Prof. Edward A. Ross. Chairman
National Committee. Rev. John Hay
-nes Holmes. Chairman Board of Di
rectors, Lloyd K. Garrison. Rt. Rev.
Edward L. Parsons. Mary E. Wool
ley. Vice Chairmen. B W. Huebsch
Treasurer. Roger X. Baldwin. Direc
tor. Lucille B. Milner. Secretary.
Arthur Garfield Hays. Morris L. j
Ernst. Counsel. Want To Know.
A decision to challenge further
the constutionality of draft quotas
based on color by appealing from
the refusal of the Brooklyn federal
court this month to grant a writ of
habeas corpus to Winfred Lynn.
Negro draftee of New York City,
was announced by the American
Civil Liberties Union today.
The court s denial of the writ was
based on the contention that Lvnn
had suffered no damage because of
color in being called as one in a
group of fifty Negroes requested of
his draft board by the army last
September, rather than in numer
ical order. In answer. Arthur Gar
field Hays. ACLI counsel repres
enting Lynn, charges that "since
the theory of the government is
that to serve is a privilege, it ’s
definitely discriminatory to chose
men out of turn when such selec
tion depends in part upon the color
of the inductee." Hays cited the
provision of the Selective Service
Act that “in the selection and train
ing of men for service there shall
be no discrimination on account of
HERMAN T. SMITH MAKING BIG
RECORD V. 'Til PEPS1-C0L V
HOLDS ONE OF THE MOST
IMPORTANT PC niTIONS EVE I
HELD lit 1G.CE MAN IN
LARGE NAT j. CONCERN
Several years ago Pepsi-Cola
broke into the news with the ann-!
nouncement that Herman T. Smith, j
well known race promotion and
former newspaper man, had been t
appointed to an important post in
the Company’s National Sales Or- j
ganization.
In spite of the war and general
business curtailment. Mr. Smith's ■
work in the Company has increased
and additional Negroes have been ;
employed by the parent Pepsi-cola
Company and its independent bot
tlers. Today, in addition to Mr.
Smith, sis other Negro men and
two young ladies have been employ-1
ed in the National Office of the!
Company and 23 Negro salesmen
have been employed by the Comp
any's independent bottlers scat*er
ed throughout the country.
Negroes in Pepsi-Cola’s national
offices now include Herman T.
Smith as director. Miss Jeanette
Maund from Hampton Institute.
race or color."
Lynn's appeal to the federal cir
cuit court will be the third court
contest of his induction on ground
of discrimination. Shortly after
hs board first called him. he sought
a writ in the Brooklyn federal co irt
which the judge denied, holding
that an induction order cannot he
challenged until the draftee has sub
mitted it. Following the court's
direction. Lynn then offered himself
Tor induction and sought release
from the army on another writ. De
nial of this second writ on the
ground of "no damage’ is the basis
for the Union s scheduled appeal.
The Nation
Says.
Pigeonhole For Negro
Equality
(from the Nation, Jan. 23, 1943)
by JAMES A. WECHSL.ER
THE Administration's effort to
j combat racial discriimantion in war
employment has reached a sudden,
explosive crisis. The blow-up is the
direct result of Manpower Commis
sioner Paul V. McNutt's order in
definitely postponing” the Fair
Employment Practices Committee's
exposure of the anti-Negro coali
■ tion on the railroads—the coalition
^ of rail management and “lily whit®
i unions to drive Negroes from pres
ent jobs and bar them from future
| ones. Public hearings at which the
j full story was to be told were sche
■ riufrd fcfv begin try Jiypi rv >' ,P-»
I paration. had beerf a- „„
far back as last October: the move
I had been widely heralded in the
| Negro press and by Negro labor
* leaders. A. Philip Randolph descrjb
; ing it as a ‘‘showdown test” of the
FEPC’s power to put Jim Crow out
| of business. On January 11 McNutt
| formally called off the show. He
j promised that "other ways” would
be found to secure ‘majcimum util
[ ization” of labor on the railroads.
[He didn't say h°w. One committee
'member commented privately.
'They've been trying the other
ways since the Civil War."
McNutt’s action has obviously
paved the way for the FEPC's col
lapse—either through the abrupt
resignation of its members or the
slow deterioration of its prestige i
mong minority groups. But the
story behind the ban provokes
much bigger questions than the
fate of the committee, which might
conceivably be replaced by another
agency. I nthe minds of informed
officials here the crackdown on the
FEPC has stirred inescapable sus
picion that the “Negro issue" is to
be pigeonholed—as i it could be for
any length of time. Belief that Me
Nutt's order is part of a deliberate
retreat by the Administration has
been publicly voiced by Negro lead
ers. This view is being communic
ated to the Negro people. Walter
White, head of the National Assoc
iation for the Advancement of Col
ored People, has openly charge!
that Marvin McIntyre, a Southerner
and White House secretary, is “mak
ing the Administration’s decisions”
on the handling of the fight against
discrimination; and that the decis
ion is to stop fighting.
There are unmistable signs that
suppression of the railroad hearings
fCont nued on pagtjj^-^)
Miss Marion O. Bond from Lane
Coliege. Mr. Allan C. McKellar from
South Carolina State College and
Philip Kane from Morgan College,
all in National Saes: Mr. Thomas C.
Richter from Howard University.
Mr. Thomas C. Livingston, Lincoln,
Pa.. University. Mr. Joseph Chris
tian, former advertising Manager
of Amsterdam Star News, and Peo
ples Voice, and Attorney Ed Dudley
former assistant New York State
Attorney General, who are doing a
special work in Army Camps, o! a
morale building nature, sponsored
by Pepsi Cola.
rM. iLvingston and Mr. Kane are
now members of our Armed Forces.
In addition to these Negroes in the
white collar bracket, several hund
red additional Negroes have been
employed in many Pepsi-Cola plants.
Mr. Smith directs the efforts of
this Negro group and they are an
important cog in most company op
erations.
