Give A Patriot’s Share to The Red Cross
LARGEST ACCREDITED NEGRO NEWSPAPER WEST OF CHICAGO AND NORTH OF KANSAS CITT —MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED NEGRO PRESS
Entered as Second-Class Matter at The Post Office, Omaha, Nebraska Saturday, March 20, 1943 OUR 16th YEAR-No. 6 City Edition, 5c Copy
Under Act of March 8, 1874—Business Phone: WE. 151Y_ _Ir. __
Questions Austin-W adsworth
Bill To Conscript Labor
SAYS RESERVOIR OF
VOLUNTARY NEGRO LABOR
UNTAPPED
Washington. D. C.—Concern for
the implications and possible harm
ful use of the Austin-Wadsworth
bill to provide for the Successful
prosecution of the war through a
system of civil selective war serv
ice". was expressed this week by
the NAACP.
The NAACP stated that it is
making an exhaustive study of the
bill in order to point out its po
tential dangers. First among
probable objections to such legis
lation is the existence of unused
Negro labor that could b% mobiliz
ed through volunteer methods but
is not utilized because of tradit
ional prejudices. The NAACP
stated also that there is consider
able doubt as to the establishment
of sufficient safeguards to protect
citizens under such legislation a
gainst arbitrary action by local
boards. It is likely too the NA
ACP said that compulsory service
legislation before the exhaustion
of voluntary method violates the
13th amendment t® the Constitu
tion which prqfriibits involuntary
servitude. In its present state the
Austin-Wadsworth bill contains no
safeguards which rerjuir^' “the em
ployer to insure the employee of
the establishment of safety meas
ures in plants or of the extension
of other established rights to
workers. The Washington NAA
CP Bureau has held conferences
with a number of Senators regard
ing introduction of amendments
that will prohibit racial and other
discriminations.
In favor of the present Austin
Wadsworth bill known as S666 are
the War Department, the Americ
an Legion, National Association of
Manufacturers. American Farm
Bureau and United States Chamb
er of Commerce. Opposing S66S
are the American Federation of
Labor, Congress of Industrial Or
ganization and the National Assoc
iation for the Advancement of Col
ored People, and the National Far
mers Union.
Private B. Stewart, Jr., of Jack
sonville, Fla., once, one of the two
assistants of the late Dr. George
Washington Carver, eminent
scientist, is now a private in the
Chemical Warfare Service.
HENRY ALLEN BOYD IN
OAKLAND
Oakland, Calif., March 18 (AN1*)
Dr. Henry Allen Boyd, secretary
treasurer of the National Baptist
convention, unincorporated, was
the principal speaker at a mass
meeting held at the Mt. Zion Bap
tist Church here Sunday. On Mon
day he spoke at Parks chapel un
der the auspices of the local Min
isterial alliance.
White Lt. Ignores
Southern Justice
New Anti
Poll Tax Bill
Gains Sup* ort
Washington. D. C.—The NAACP
' expressed approval this week of
the coalition anti-poll tax bill
' sponsored by Congressmen Mar
| eantonio of New York, Baldwin of
1 Ne wYork, Dawson of Illinois,
1 Gavagan of New York, Magnuson
I of Washington with Bender of o
hio floor managing the bill.
Long in the forefront of the
fight against a poll-tax disfranch
isement 10,000,000 potential voters
4,000,000 of them Negroes, the N
AACP Sees the coalition as a heart
ening indication of a strengthen
ing of progressive forces in Con
gress. The NAACP stated that it
will continue to urge Negroes in
voting states to contact their con
gressmen with a view to mobiliz
ing all possible pressure behind
the measure.
5 Ft. McClellan, Ala., March 18th
(ANP)—An incident of unusual pro
portions took place last week at
Fort McClelland when a white cab
driver picked up two Negro sold
iers to take to Anniston. The cab
had progressed only a few hund
red feet when a white lieutenant
signaled the driver to stop.
The driver looked worried. “You
can’t ride this cab,” he sputtered.”
“Can’t haul white and colored nae
sengers in the same cab.”
The white lieutenant crawled in
to the cab and sat between the two
Negro soldiers. The driver turn
ed red but sped through the MP.
gates amid wide staring eyes. The
Negro soldiers, one a sergeant,
asked the lieutenant where he had
been stationed before coming t°
Alabama? The lieutenant smiled.
“Hell, I’m from New York where
a colored man and a white man
ride in cabs side by side. I’m in
the SAME army as you boys, and
if this cab is good enough for
YOU. its good enough for ME.
When the cab came to a halt th£
driver smiled and said: “Well mis
ter, I ain’t for this southern jus
tice either......you see, I was born
in Chicago.”
White Children Elect
Negro Boy as Mayor
IGNORE PRIEST’S
OPPOSITIONS
Chicago, March 18 (ANP)—When
the boys and girls in the Carmi
homes went to the polls Wednes
day they elected 14 year old Charl
es Brown as their "mayor.” More
than 200 children, both whites and
Negroes, gave preference to Brown
even though several whites were
seeking the office, and even though
Father Luigi Giambastiani, whits
priest, advocates a policy of seg
regation among the Negro and
white tenants in the project homes.
The Frances Cabrini homes have
586 dwelling units. Of this num
ber.’ 117 are to be occupied by Ne
gro families. Eighty-five are now
housed in the project.
Father Luigi feels that the inte
gration of Negroes into the homes
will present an undesirable influ
ence. In commenting on his mode
of reasoning he said.
“Separation of the two groups,
while not the ideal theoretical sol
ution. is the only practical road to
community brotherhood. Negroes
Father Divine Keeps One Wing Ahead
of Sheriff On "Angel’s” Charge
New York (CNS)—Father Divine, because, should Father's watch 1934.
who went to live in Philadelphia
last October, has been quietly vis
iting his “angels” in the 'heav
ens" above 110th Street, on occas
ional Sundays, it was reported this
week.
Weekday visits are out, because
an undersheriff is on the watch for
Father Divine. Sundays, the day
when a warrant is not legal, the
udersheriff eyes the clock closely
not be accurate, a minute out of
the way would g;ve the undersher
iff his opportunity to nab him. But
Divine is too smart for that.
Divine hasn’t paid even one in
stallment! of the $3,937 he was or
dered to return at the rate of $100
a week beginning last August, to
a former ’ angel”, Verinda Brown,
who allegedly gave him most of
her possessions between 1930 and
Verinda's attorney, William Lo
well, threatens to sue in Pennsyl
vania and New Jersey to make the
judgemet effective in those states.
Meantime, Father Divine has
been appearing- Sundays at Rock
land Palace, a Harlem mission,
says Attorney Lowell.
have the Ida B. \\ ells project, vv hy
do they want t° come into this pro
ject where they are not wanted?
“The colored families do not
wish to live with the white famil
ies. They know that the true
course to armony and good will is
through an amicable separate dis
tribution. Tl*e Negroes, themsel
ves, don’t want to live this way.
I They are simply being misled by
communistic influences who seek
to tell them what they want.”
Concerning the election, the
priest said:
“I am not surprised that they e
lected a little colored boy their
I Jnayor^ They’re Just children.
YALE GRANTS HARRY
ROBERTS HIGH DEGREE
New Haven. Conn.. March- 18 (A
NP)—The name of Harry W. Rob
erts, head of the social science de
partment at Virginia State College,
appears in the graduate school re
ports of Yale university here as
the recipient of a doctor of phil
osophy degree. Dr. Roberts, who
did his undergraduate work at Wil
berforce and Yale Divinity school
wrote his dissertation on "The Life
and Labor of Rural Negroes in
Virginia.”
YVILBERFORCE’S ACCELERAT
ED PROGRAM BRINGS
COMMENCEMENT TO APRIL 27
As part of the general program
of accelerated education to which
Wiiberforce University has fully
committed itself and to meet the
request of the government to take
as soon as possible, 400 inductees
under the Army Specialized Train
ing Program, Dr. Charles H. Wes
ley, president of Wiiberforce Uni
versity, announces that the annual
baccalaureate sermon will be de
livered on Sunday, April 25, and
that the commencement exercises
will be held on Tuesday, April 27.
To facilitate the program of ac
celeration. Wiiberforce University
has changed from the semester
system to the quarter system ani
will hold a regular one quarter
summer school beginning the first
week in June of this year. This
will complete a year-round period
of instruction.
There has been no summer school
at Wiiberforce since 1932.
SIXTY-ONE ERC. CALLED
FROM LINCOLN I NI.
Jefferson City, MO., March 17,—
Sixty-one memDers of the Army
Enlisted Reserve Corp at Lincoln
University have been called to ac
tive service with the army on ord
ers of the commanding officer of
the Seventh Command, Major Gen
eral uhl.
The first group of reservists re
ceived notification March 6th and
will report March 20th to the Jef
ferson Barracks, Missouri; the sec
ond group will report to the same
center March 22nd.
Lincoln’s male enrollment was
one hundred sixty for the semes
ter beginning February 4. 1943.
Eighty men were enlisted in the
reserve group; of the group sixty
three have been called to active
duty. Among the seventeen ERC.
mn remaining are those enrolled
in the departments of Physics,
Mathematics, Chemistry, Agricul
ture; Pre-medical studets and mem
bers of the Air Corp Reserve.
They don’t begin to think until
they grow up. They don’t learn
to discriminate until they’ve be
gun to take the trend of the envir
onment.”
Housing authorities ignored the
several petitions submitted by fol
lowers of Father Luigi, threaten
ing a wholesale withdrawal of the
white families from the project
unless Negroes are immediately
segregated or evicted.
Grander
Blasts
HappyAm
I’OWI
Policy
• ••
White
Cabinet
for Race
• ••
WASHINGTON, March 18 (ANP
Severe Criticism of the Office of
War Information for its handling
of news and inormation regarding
the Negro and the pursuance of a
“happy am I” policy, was gener
ously ladled out here by Lester B.
Granger, executive secretary of
the National Urban League. Wed
onesday afternoon at the down
town YWCA. One hundred and
fifty “integrated” luncheon guests
of the Washington branch of the
league responded enthusiastically
to the remarks.
significant. too, was Mr. Gran
ger’s observation that there is em
erging in the Capital a “white cab
inet” to which questions of policy
toward Negroes are increasingly
being referred for solution; his
plea for the rejuvenation of the
“black cabinet” which, he said,
has disintegrated considerably
since its creation in the early days
of the New Deal; and his admon
ition against making of the race’s
struggle an exclusive fight.
“The recent OWI publication
called “The Negro and the War’
is a monumental mistake and a dis
service to the government and the
Negro.” he declared. “I say this
not because its contents are not
true, but because it is like kicking
a man who is down, and congrat
ulating him because he is not yet
dead. I am criticizing OWI be
cause of its ineptness. We want
to see the job done that can be
(continued on pagej^p>2)
ROLE OF COLLEGE WOMEN
TO BE DISCUSSED
Hampton institute, Va„—“Col
lege Women and Victory” will be
the theme of the annual Women’s
Day at Hampton Institute next
Saturday, March 20, when the Wo
men's Senate of the college will
sponsor an all day program devot
ed to women and the war effort.
HIS Words are with them
By Bcrean of Public Relations. D. S. War Dept., Wash., D. O.
Chaplain J. R. C. Pinn, of Washington, D. C., conducts an in
formal Bible class on shipboard enroute to Liberia. Chaplain Pinn if
now back in the United States.
Hastie To Get
Spingarn Award
New York, N. Y.—Judge William!
H, Hastie will receive the medal
for 1942, the NAACP Spingarn A
ward Committee announcel this
week. The Spingarn Award of
which Hastie will be the tweniy
eighth winner was instituted in
1914 by the late J. E. Spingarn,
chairman of the NAACP Board. It
is a gold medal awarded annually
to the American Negro who h; s
made the highest and noblest ac
hievement during the preceding
year Or years.
Announcing the award the Com
mittee said:
"William Henry Hastie is select
ed as Twenty-eighth Spingarn Med
alist for his distinguished career
as jurist and as uncompromising
champion of equal justice. Though
young in years his record of ac
hievement is notable measured by
any standard, however absolute or
high.
“His scholastic career as honor
graduate from Amherst College)
and as Doctor of Juridical Science
from the Harvard Law School has
been continued in quality of serv
ice in several capacities. His was
a distingushed career as Assistant
Solicitor of the Department of the
Interior. He made a brilliant rec
ord as the first Negro to serve as
Judge of a United States District
Court, serving in the Virginia Vs
lands. He established a high stan
dard of scholarship and of service
to mankind for the students dur
ing his period as Dean of the Law
School of Howard University. As
Civilian Aide to the Secretary of
War he refused to temporize with
racial bigotry, segregation Or dis
crimination. Men of lesser char
acter and of greater selfishness
would have closed their eyes to
prejudice in order to maintain
themselves in a remunerative pos
ition. But Judge Hastie refused
to do this, resigning in protest a
Back To DC.
After Completing his third visit
in 31 years to Fort Huachuca. Ari
zona. important military post.
Brigadier General Benjamin O.
Davis, only Negro General in the
United States Army, has returned
to his headquarters in the Inspect
or General’s Department, Wash
ington. D. C.
— ■ .
which more aptly would have char
gainst perpetuation of practices
which more aptly would have char
acterized the racial ideology of a
dictatorship than of a democracy.
His every act. and particularly his
Protest against racial bigotry in
an army fighting for the preserva
tion of the democrtic processes,
has established a standard of char
acter and conduct which the Spia
garn Medal Award Committee is
honored to recognize by the select
ion of Judge Hastie as Twentv
eighth Spingarn Medalist.
First Negro Medical Personnel
Reaches Africa Shores Safely
SPELMAN GRADUATE
NINE DOCTORS, 30 NURSES
ARRIVE SAFELY
Atlanta, Georgia, March 18 -
Word has been received in this
country that Lt. Maria August, R.
N., a graduate of the Spelman
High school and Nurse Training
Department, has arrived “some
where in North Africa” with a de
tachment of thirty nurses and
nine doctors. This group compris
ed the first colored hospital per
sonnel staff to reach African shor
es since the American occupation.
Lt. August is a native of Atlan
ta, Georgia, and resides at 338 An
gier Avenue. Following her period
of training at Spelman, she spent
part of a year as dietitian at Mac
Vicar Hospital (the Spelman In
firmary), and for six years she was
instructor in home hygiene and
care of the sick at Booker T. Wash
ington High School, Atlanta. In
1941, Lt. August entered the De
fense Program at Fort Bragg, N.
Carolina, serving in Hospital No.
2 with a group of 24 Negro nurs
es. It was from Fort Bragg '.hat
she wrote President Read of Spei
man College that the army was a
great place to gain experience,
and “you may count on me to do
my best because to my mind the
highest calling for service is when
one is called to serve his country”.
In the years that have passed
since she left Spelman, Lt. August
has had additional training at the
Pennsylvania State College, at Un
iversity Hospital, Augusta. Geor
gia; in the extension departments
of Morehoues and Morris Brown
Colleges, and in the Atlanta Uni
versity Summer School. For five
years she was vice president of the
Spelman Alumnae Association and
at one time she was treasurer of
the Atlanta-Spelman Club.
Discrimination In Tulsa Defenss Plants Forces I oung
Men To Seek Employment Outside of the Slate
Two New Halls for Negro
DC. Government Workers
Wake and Midway Halls-two
residence halls for Negro Govern
ment workers. .. .will be available
for occupancya bout April 21, Wil
liam J. Bissell. manager of resid
ence halls for the Public Buildings
Administration of the Federal
Workg Agency, announced this
week. The buildings are to be
completed by April 1. and approx
imately three weeks will be requir
ed to install furnishings. Exten
sive landscaping will get under
way shortly.
These halls, located in northeast
Washington, are part of a large
residence project which includes an
infirmary, a cafteria, and a re
creation building. They will ac
comodate about 1.000 women in
S33 rooms. 767 of which will be
single and the rest double. These
rooms are being furnished in 15
different color combinations and
have comfortable and attractive
furnishing^. including dresser,
bureau, easy chairs, floor lamps,
and draperies.
The following rentals have been
set: single rooms. $2450 per month;
double rooms. $16.50 to $24.50 for
each occupant. These fees cover
the use of all facilities, including
health service and infirmary for
emergency and minor ailments,
ordinarily handled by home rem
edies.
The infirmary will be operated
by the United States Public Health
Service. Trained personnel will
have charge of the recreational
program which will be centered in
the fully-equipped recreation hall.
The Office of the Manager of Res
idence Halls is engaging qualified
personnel to operate the halls. Tt
: is expected that the complete staff
I will be announced shortly.
I TULSA, Okla., March 17 (ANP)—
According to figures released by
the board of education here, tbe
annual school census points out
that the Negro school population
in Tulsa has decreased since the
establishment of defense industr- j
ies in this area while the white
school population has greatly in
creased. School officials say that
the enrollment in the senior class
in high school is the smallest in
the last 12 years.
Numbers of young men between
the ages of 18-21 have left the
state to Seek employment else
where. Many of these men have
taken courses in defense training.
Negro leaders are alarmed over
this exodus, inasmuch as these
young men would be able to ob
tain employment in this locality
where there is a crying need for
manpower if it were not for the
fact that defense plants are oppos
ed to hiring skilled Negro workers.
They feel that the condition war
rants the attention of the FEP'J.
These leaders have repeatedly
approached the Douglass Aircraft
company officials because of their
attitude against Negro skilled la
bor.
In those defense plants which
utilize Negro services, the workers
express the fact that discrimin
ation is practiced throughout the
Plant.
HAMPON PLAYERS GIVE
“WITHERING HEIGHTS”
Hampton Institute. Va„— Mem
bers of the Communications The
atre of Hampton Institute Present
ed Randolph Carter's stage vers
ion of Emily Bronte's “Wuthering i
Heights” in Ogden Hall at the col
lege last Friday and Saturday ev
enings, under the direction of Mrs.
P. Wall of the Communications
-enter Staff.
BONORABLE DISCHARGED
LINCOLN U. PROFESSOR
ro TUSKEGEE
Stewart B. Fulbright. former
Lineonl University instructor of
French who recently received an
honorable discharge from the Ar
my Air Force with a special call
provision, was reassigned to the
lir force and has been instructed
to report at Tuskegee Army flying
3chool on April 1.
This new move by the Governm
ent came after a statement from
the Seventh Corps area command
er who sought to “explain” the re
sent incident at Jefferson Bar
racks. Missouri, in which Pvt. Ful
bright was released from the arm
ed services allegedly because he
bad been mistaken for a white
man due to faulty records.
HELP FINISH THE JOB
4
Courtesy Stockton, Calif. Record
