LARGEST ACCREDITED NEGRO NEWSPAPER WEST OF CHICAGO AND NORTH OF KANSAS CITY —MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED NEGRO PRESS
Nebra,i“ Saturday, August 21, 1943 OUR 16th YEAR-No. 28 City EdHion, 5c Copy
Rev. Williams-Family, and K. C. Singers Have Big Day in Omaha3
The Very Reverend John S. Wil
liams, now of Kansas City, Missouri
and formerly of Omaha, came bacK
to town Sunday along with ills
wife and children who are never
far distant from him, and bring
ing his glorious choral ensemble
of 40 voices, made last Sunday,
August 15th, Re/. Williams’ Tumy"^
In the morning' he brought forth
a message to the congregation and
friends of Cleaves Temple Church.
Those who heard him cannot and
could not doubt the biggness, the
pure of heart and soul of this man.
In the afternoon after greeting
his old friends and acquaintances,
he took his choral ensemble to the
Pilgrim Baptist Church, where O
maha's expectation of a great mus
ical treat was more than fuif*iied.
The huge overcrowded audience cf
both white and colored patrons, lis
tened spellbound to those high and
low tones, overtones, and melodious
voices of those Kansas Citians
whose voices lifted your very soul
from your being.
The Williams who were gracious
ly feted and honored while here,
left Sunday night for home. A
few of the members of the ensem
ble remained until Monday evening
before leaving.
The Musical was under the aus
pices of Cleaves Temple Church of
which Rev. L. A. Story is pastor.
It was a grand success, both social
ly and financially.
Various members of the Choral
Ensemble who arrived Sunday
morning, visited the churches of
our city, where they rendered soins
t* the appreciative congregations.
^ 5c
Worth
a : o/ Good Readin’ :\
Vjifrrrrrri-- >
Ship To be
Christened
Robt.LVANN
The Maritime Commission ann
ounced today that a Liberty ship,
assigned to a South Portland, Me.
shipyard, will be name for the late
Robert L. Vann, noted Negro law
yer, and founder and editor of The
Pittsburgh Courier, a weekly news
paper.
The ship, fifth m a series named
for outstanding Negro Americans,
will be launched in late September
or early October in the South Port
land yards of the New England
Shipbuilding Corporation,
The first three ships of this ser
ies, the SS Booker T. Wasihngton,
the SS George Washington Carver,
and tire SS Frederick Douglass are
now in active service, two of them
with Negro captains with mixed
Crews. The fourth, the SS John
Merrick was recently launihed at
Wilmington. NCA. warship, the de
stroyer Escort Leonard Roy Harm
on. was launched last month by
the Navy Department at Quincy,
Mass
Robert Lee Vann, was born at
Ahoskie. N- C.. August 27, 1879 and
died in Pittsburgh. Pa.. October 24,
1940. Educated at Virginia Fnion
University and the University of
Pittsburgh ,he was admitted to the
bar in 1909 and practiced in Penns
y’.vania until 1936, when he decid
ed to give his full time to his pub
lishing business.
tie was one of ten founders and
incorporators of The Pittsburgh
Cour t Publishing Company in
JIarch 1910, and served as editor
of the paper and president and
treasurer of the publishing comp
any unil his death.
Under Mr. Vann’s direction, the
Courier became one of the largest
Negro newspapers in the world
with an ABC circulation of over
290,000 and readers in most English
speaking countries.
Mr. Vann also enjoyed a disting
uished career as a lawyer In 1917
and 1918. he served as assistant
City Solicitor for Pittsburgh. In
1924. he was named by President
Collidge as a member of a five man
Commission to investigate condit
ions in the Virgin Islands. In 193»
he served as a member o fthe Con
stitutonal Convention of the Com
monwealth of Pennsyvania to re
vise the state constitution.
Mr. Vann was also an ardent dis
ciple of education, and aided many
young people of his race to gain
collegiate training. He also made
several argv contributions to Vii
ginia Union University where after
his death, the tower of the Belgian
Pavilion of the New York World’s
Fair was renamed the Robert L.
Vann Memorial Tower. This Pav
ilion was presented to Virginia Un
ion by the Belgian Government and
transported from New YorK to
Richmond. Va.
MAN SUFFERS STAB WOUNDS
IN QUARREL
Jesse White, 33, of 2428 Blondo
street, is in Doctors’ hospital with
knife wounds in the abdomen, left
arm and ear as the result of a
fight early Sunday, police said with
Wilbur Pettis of 2623 Caldwell St.
Pettis is being held for investi
gation. The fight occurred at 24th
and Grae- street after the two got
mto an argument in a dice game
and White went to his home to g°t
a shotgun. He met Pettis en
route back to the game.
Compromise
_ i
Plagues Fepc
Washington. Aug. 18 (ANP) —If
Chicago developments are any in
dication. the Fair Employment
Practice committee’s famous “Mo
bile compromise” is going to dog
the Negro's fight for integration
from here on out.
Employers in the Windy City
have been told through a publica
tion serving the Employer’s assoc
iation of Chicago. under Labor
News Brevities, that so long as
FEPC has given the practice its
•bessiugs, segregation of workers is
all right.
“Segregation of Negro workers
from white employes is not neces
sarily a vioation of the anti-dis
crimination executive order 8802.
so long as the FEPC recenty ap
proved such a solution of a racial
controversy at the yards of the
Aabama Drydock and Shipping Co.
Mobile. Aa.. “the item reads (under
scoring theirs). “An FEPC, dir
ectly responsible to the President,
is empowered to investigate com
plaints of discrimination, conduct
hearings and take any appropriate
steps to obtain elimination of such
discrimination.”
John H. Sengestacke, A. Philip Randolph
OPPOSE MIGRATORY POLICY
—" .. .
DETROIT FACT FINDING
BOARD PROBING RIOTS
Hits Negro
Leaders
and Press
DECLARE DISORDERS
NOT PREMEDITATED
DETROIT, Aug. 18 (ANP) In a
lengthy report submitted to Gov.
Harry F. Kelly, last week by his
committee investigating the June
21 race riots here. Negro leaders
who have “exhorted” gatherings
press for “racial equality” and t
Negro press that has appealed for
• justice by -violence” are accused
of being partly responsible for the
debacle. The committee’s report«
declared that “no subversive ele- j
meets inspired "the riots,” and that j
they were “not premeditated.”
Prosecutor William E. Dowling
headed the investigating group
known as the Dowling committee,
He was assisted by A tty. General
Herbert J. Rushton .Detroit Pol
ice Commissioner John W. Wither
spoon and State Police Commission
er Oscar Olander.
Pointing out that if the “tension
existing between the white and
Negro population” were eliminat
ed the riots never would have oc
curred, claiming the lives of 34
persons—25 of whom were Negroes,
and injuries to 700 others, the re
port stated:
“Perhaps most significant in pre
cipitating the racial tension exist
ing in Detroit is the positve ex
hortation by many so-called res
ponsible Negro leaders to be “mil
itant” in the struggle for racial e
quality.”
An excerpt from a story by a
writer for the Detroit Tribune is
cited in the paper and charged
with “clearly” constituting “an ap
peal to extract ‘justice’ by violence’
The report went on:
“Sudh appeals ibifortunutely
have been commonplace in the Ne
gro newspaper. Can it be doubted
that they played an important part [
in exerting the Negro people to the
violence which resulted in Detroit j
on June 21?
"Some self-designated Negro !
leaders must share with the colored
newspapers responsibility for the
unfortunate attitude of certain
Negro elements.”
Declaring itself as serving the
single purpose of lett'ng the public
know the “whole truth" about the
riot and asserting it held no “con
clusions of a conjectual or contro
versial nature” the report contin
ued.
“This committee is of the firm
conviction that botn white and Ne
gro rioters lacked preconceived or
premeditated organization. The
spontaneity wit hwhich incident
occurred at various locations, both
svirhin and outside the affected
urea .discloses the absence of plan
ning on the part of either group."
The committee delved into past
incidents to find causes that may
have helped explode violence be
tween the two racial groups here.
It held that:
“Certainly no C-ticism is to be
made of the honest efforts of re
-i-CEsible leaders, both Negro and
white, who seek by Lawful means
the removal of unjust barriers be
tween the races. But It is equal
ly certain that vigorous criticism
should be directed Xj tho-*" in-cs
oonrib'e leader- who by tbri
words and conduct, actively ;n
i spire among their followers a dis
Biddle Answers Granger
RANDOLPH SAYS PROPOSED
POLICY WOULD HEIGHTEN
RACIAL TENSION
Hoonrable Francis Biddle,
C.S. Attorney General,
Department of Justice,
Washington, D. C.
Dear Sir: I note in the New
York Post of August 9th, a news
item which states that you are rec
ommending to the White House
that the Government limit and pos
sibly prohibit furtser migration of
Negroes to overcrowded War Pro
duction centers. You can readily
see how this will be interpreted in
relations to the Negro. It will be
used to limit the employment op
portunities of Negroes in their ef
forts to secure work in war plants
Me;cover, as I see it, it is a viola
tion of the Constitution, because it
limits the freedom of movement of
American citizens. Instead of pre
senting race riots, it will help con
stitute a fuse which may touch oil <
the social, economic, racial polit
ical magazine of dynamite which is
the result of a long series of in
justices and abuse and discrimin
ation and segregation to which the
Negro people have been subjected.
As one who is interested in rac
ial peace and the victory of the
United Nations over the Nazis the
ories of racialism and tyranny, I
want to urge you to rescind this
order, if it has been made, in the
interest of racial cooperation and
harmony. This proposed policy is
the grosses kind of segregation and
discrimination. What about the
poor whites that are flowring from
the rural districts of the South in
to the War Production centers?
Nothing is suggested about limit
ing their migration, but they are
the main carriers of the germ of
racial hatred and are certain to
Create trouble unless the causes of
race riots are fearlessly and con
structively dealt with. These caus
es are segregation in the armed
forces, defense p’ants and govern
ment departments as well as on
various means of transportation,
housing, recreation, law enforce
ment, etc.
I am sure that -iron a careful
examination of the national situ
ation in regard to race relations,
you -will see the fallacy of this pro
posed policy. It is not the in
crease of the Negro population in
War Production centers that caus
es race riots ,but it is the fact that
Negroes have never gotten a lair
break, and just an.l reasonable op
[■oni! t'es in any run of Am“r
i'jn i.>e that is at tilt bottom of
" -esc conflicts. Or . of the most
'-rid; mental and immediate rem
edies for these social explosions at
the present time would be for the
President to issue a national pro
clamation abolishing segregation in
the armed forces. Nothing would
be more effective than this.
Sincerely yours.
A. Philip Randolph.
-frrffrr
Mr. Lester B. Granger. ,
' Executive Secretary, National
Urban League,
1133 Broadway, New York. NY.
Dear Mr. Granger: I have your
letter of August 9th, referring to
a story in the newspapers with re
spect to certain recommendations
alleged to have been made by me
to the President with regard to
certain racial problems, and part
icularly with respect to prohibiting
migration of Negroes to overcrowd
ed war production centers. I note
the questions from your letter
which ask your opinion .and you
seem to me to have stated the prob
lem with fairness and restraint.
Any suggestions—and I can not
accurately call them ‘"recommend
ations''—that I made to the Presi
dent are. of course, strictly confi
dential. and it would be highly In
appropriate for me to comment on
their contents. However, it seems
to me appropriate to give you my
views on the question of excluding
Negroes from over-crowded areas,
since your letter is particularly ad
dressed to that question.
Those who have made an object
ive study of the Detroit riots and
of other racial or hoodlum clashes
are of the opinion that certainly
one cause of the trouble springs
from improper housing and recrea
tional facilities for Negroes as well
as for whites, particularly in the
over-congested production centers.
They believe also that it is ex
tremely difficult for cities to ab
sorb large migrations of war work
ers. whether Negro or white, over
a brief period: and that these mi
grations therefore necessarily con
tain the seeds of future dislocatiors
It seems to me advisable, therefore
that responsible officials should
give careful consideration to the
extent of required facilities before
taking any steps to fill the partic
ular man-power requirements.
I do not think that any effort
should be made to prevent the free
movement of individuals from *ne
place to another whether Negro or
white, except as war requirements
I do not think that any effort
should be made to prevent the free
movement of individuals from one
place to another, whether Negro
or white, except as war requir
ments for manpower must be met.
The whole probem seems to be one
which requires careful study and
research before any program can
be worked out; and particularly
study by those private organ’zat
ions which are devoted to Negro
welfare.
In conclusion I would like to
emphasize the fact that I know of
no present plan to prohibit migra
tion—either private or government
al. either white or Negro—thet *e
now being considered.
With kind regards.
Sincerely yours.
FRANCIS BIDDLE.
Attorney General.
regard for law. order and judicial
process, in seeking the racial e
quality to which they are entitled.'’
Some Xegro leaders, the report 1
held, “have themselves demonstra
ted an anti-social and factional out
look, which, if carried to their fol
lowers. would account for the mil.
' :y rebellious attitude of these
elements.” It said that all race
leaders must face the ever mount
ing social problem and expressed
the hope it can be solved “but only
by determined. straight-forward,
sociological measures."
"Past reluctance to face the prob
lem has bred distrust and suspic
ion magnifying actual and presum
ed grievances minimizing the res
ponsibility and duty to properly
constituted govemmnet and social
order." asserted the review.
Conclusions set forth in tne
Dowling document are:
1. “The riot was not planned or
premeditated.”
2. “The riot was not inspired bv
enemy subversive influence.”
3. “The riot resulted from
smoldering racial tension which
was inflamed as the result of sev
| eral disconnected incidents on Bello
Isle, provoked by a group of Negro
es.”
4. “The looting and accompany
ing riot followed the spreading of
a false inflammatory rumor by
Tipton, to the effect that whites
had killed a colored woman and
(continued wi ;>aga *)
s Letter
GOVERNMENT MUST UNDER
TAKE SOUND HOUSING
PROGRAM IN WAR INDUSTRY
AREAS SAYS SENGESTACKE
In a statement issued today John
H. Sengestacke, President of the
Negro Newspaper Publishers Asso- i
ciation and Publisher of the Chic
ago Defender Weekly Newspaper, |
went on record opposing the recom j
-mendation which it has been re- ;
ported that Attorney General Bid- j
die made to President Roosevelt
proposing that the migration of
Negroes be ended or restricted.
Sengestacke urged that instead
of national unity being strained |
further by such an unwise and im
practical move, that the govern
ment immediately undertake to |
finance a sound program of Hous- |
i ing commensurate with the needs |
now existing in large industrial j
centers where Negro workers have
been called, ike other Americans,
to work in war plants.
* .*• tSlft"- - ■fh
Further, Sengestaeke recommend
ed that the unfortunate wave of
rumors, charges and counter charg
es which create tension be brought
to an immediate end. He suggest
ed that the Attorney General Call
a conference of those Agencies of
the Federal Government concerned
and involved in the problem creat
ing and resulting from war strain
and tension, as well as those or
ganizations both white and Negro
concerned with Negro welfare, and
the Governors. Mayors and law en
forcement officials in critical areas
wh-ere racial tension is mounting
i and racial disturbances may occur.
Sengestaeke ended by saying
chat we must work hastily on a co
ordinated basis to keep our war
machine rolling—America is the
only loser in racial strife.
Man Kills
Divorced
Wife
The blood stained hand prints
of Mrs. Willie Lee Moore, 21, could
plainly be seen on the windows in
front of the King Yuen Cafe, where
she had vainly sought refuge after
she had been mortally stabbed early
Sunday morning by her divorced
husband. Bud Webster of 2210 N.
22nd Street.
Police are holding Webster on an
open charge in connection with
the fatal stabbing of Mrs. Moore of
2506 Blondo St.
Police said Webster told them he
was staying at the home of a friend
Norman Young. 2017 North 24th st.
and that his former wife came to
their room drunk at about 2 a.m
He said he chased her outside and
stabbed her in the abdomen with
a case knife.
She was dead on arrival at the
Doctor’s hospital in a police am
bulance.
The body was taken to the
Thomas Funeral Home, 2022 Lake
Street.
The woman, a laundry worker. I
went to the room of her husband
in company with Oralee Marion,
20, 2121 Lake Strtet, who told po
lice Willie Lee and Webster curs
ed one another and quarreled when
he ordered her out.
He fled to the home of his sis
ter nearby and was arrested there,
... .—
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quah*y in He
Charleston. SC. Aug. 18 (ANP)—
Charleston’s colored populace,
nearly 50 percent of the whole,
‘its friends of democracy” among
the white people, got a good taste
of how it feels to live under Ad
olph Hitler’s aryanism Wednesday
morning when the News and Cour
, ier, white race-baiting daily, pub
lished four letters of reply to a
letter of Pvt. Thomas F. Conlon,
white northern soldier stationed at
! the Citadel, famed military college
Conlon asked if there was any dif
ference in Hitler’s race theory and
that of the south.
Mrs. Edgar N. Bigby of North
Charleston, wrote among other
things: “The Negro is not equal to
the whites in mind, morals or col
or (read your “Bible)”. She said,
“a Negro is given an inch, will
take a mile.”
Richard F. Seward of Charleston
held, “if you care to check the rec
ords, you will find that 50 per-cent
of the Negroes are illiterate. ..I
hope I never live to see the day
that a Negro can date’ a white
person_.and I assure you that
there is not a southerner who is
not willing to fight to keep jim
crow. There shall never be social
equality in the south.”
William J. Mood of Charleston
thought that Gov. Olin D. John
ston had made it clear on what
would be tolerated from ‘outs:ders'’
and concluded. ”Pvt. Conlon might
well be glad that he is in uniform,
for if he weren’t he might well be
on his way out of Charleston.”
L. C. Soppelbein. whose name
hit ns of Germanic strain, wrote,
\ “If you had a sister would you per
mit her to marry a Negro?_I am
a southerner, a native of Charles
ton. and I firmly believe in dis
crimination and segregation of Ne
groes-The Negroes are ycur e
quals up there, but they are our
inferiors down here_....You are
showing your ignorance when you
compare us with Hitler.”_...
DRAFT STILL REJECTS MORE
NEGROES THAN WHITES
Washington, Aug. 18 (ANP) .. .
Negroes continued to be rejected ‘in
greater proportions than whites,
according to the annual report of
the selective service administration,
just out. with illiteracy and vener
eal disease as the prevaent reas
ons. But at the same time, how
ever. selective service was able tc
furnish to the armed forces in
1942, 275,059 men. i
The section of the voluminous
report dealing with Negroes was
written by Lt. Col. Campbell C.
Johnson, administrative assistant
to Gen. Lewis B. Hershev, SSA
chief.
Negroes represented 18.7 of all
persons that had bee cnlassified as
4-F in 1942 as a result of which
the calls for Negroes to meet the
quotas had to be hiked up Consid
erably.
“The high rejection rate for ed
ucational definiency remains one
of the unsolved problems among
Negro registrants.” the report «&id.
According to a four month study
of problem, it is five times that a
Omaha wife Meets
Hubby thru U.S.O.
... -.I
Buffet suppers and a reunion ser
vice go hand in hand at the Del
Monte TJSO Club. Monterey. Cali
fornia. Highlight of this week's
supper was the first meeting in
over a year between Sgt. Earl Al
len and his wife, arranged at IT80
or. Mrs. Allen’s arrival from Oma
ha. Nebraska. It’s part of the ser
vice done by the newly organized
wives’ Club, whose 20 members
combine to solve housing problems
and organize entertainment pro
grams for T7SO. (Press Photo Serv
ice.)
“Tired of Lena Home”...
* LENA HORNE
Hubby Sues Lena
For Divorce
(by RUSSEL A. JACKSON, Ohio
State News)
The delectable and lovely Lena
Horne became a defendant last
mcag whites. Up to the end of
the year, no program had been
worked out to remedy for this Con
dition, and the inclusion of Negro
educators in conferences on the
(Cont-nued on page §$&“4)
APPROVE TUSKEGEE
HOUSING UNIT
Atlanta, Aug. 18 (ANP) The ap
proval of funds to erect forty fam
ily housing units and community
facilities near the Tuskegee Army
Air base was announced Wednes
day by John P. Broome, regional
Fedearl Public Housing authority
director here. The project will
cost approximately $86,000. The
contract has been awarded to Al
gernon Blair, Montgomery, Ala,
NAACP STAFF TO GIVE
TO CHINESE BLOOD BANK
X w Yok.—Members of the staff
of the national office of the NAA
CP, led by Walter White, secretary
will contribute to the Chine*
blood bank, u-4 Nassau street. Ntv.
York City, because the Chin s
bank, unlike the American blood
banks under supervision of the
American Red Cross, is unsegr :g
ated.
The appeal for donations to the
Chinese blood bank contains p quo
tation from Confucius: “Wjthin the
four seas all men are brothers.'’
The appeal then states: “2000
years later, science proved that he
was right. The life-giving element
of human Wood—the plasma is
identical in all races.”
NEGRO AVIATORS SHOWN
IN CLICK MAGAZINE
New York—Click magazine for
September has a three page pietur
story on the “Black Panthers” Ne
gro fighter group, now finishing
training at Oscoda. Michigan. The
men in this group finished then
first training at Tuskegee Insti
tute. Alabama. The article declar
es the group is “tough, smart and
rarin’ to go,” and declares the in
structors of the squadron say the
members fly and fight “intelligent
ly, bravely and skillfully.’'
One squadron trainer at Tuske
gee—the 99th under command of
Lt. Col. B. O. Davis, Jr., is already
in combat overseas, having taken
part in the Sicilian campaign.
«
week in a divorce suit filed by Iter
husband. Louis Gordon Jones of
1253 E. Long Street, Columbus.
Ohio, who charges his wife with
willful absence for a period of
more than three years. The couple
was married at Pittsburgh on Jan
uary 13. 1937 .and were separated
in August. 1940. There are two
children, a five year old girl who
is with her mother, and a two year
old boy who resides with his fath
ei.
Intimates of the couple have long
awaited a domestic showing be
tween the well known actress and
her husband, but the filing of the
petition this week came in the na
ture of a surprise.
At present. Miss Horne is resid
ing in Hollywood .where she is un
der a long term contract to Mctro
Goldwyn-Mayer studios. Her lat
est starring picture. "Stormy Wea
ther” coincidentally .opened at the
Lincoln Theatre, this Thursday,
the same date on which Jones fil
ed his petition in the Franklin
County court of domestic relations.
Jones at present is employed as
an advertising representative for
the Ohio State News at Columbia.
This week marked the second
time that Jones has filed suit i jr
divorce against his sopuse. In Al
legheny county, (Pittsburgh, la.)
in 1941 he entered proceedings and
charged Miss Horne with having
deserted him. This martial crack -
up came after a series of misunJe.
standings which, it is said, center
ed around Miss Horne's resumption
of her theatrical career. Mi>
Home had retired from the theat
rical whirl upon marrying Jones
at Pittsburgh on January I. T93~.
but reentered the entertainment
field. August, 1940. having left Jon
; es> ^cording to his assertions, on
August 1, of that year.
Jones never withdrew his peti
tion for divorce in Allegheny coun
ty. having, he related to the writ
er this week .allowed the divorce
to be held up in order to allow her
to obtain the decree. This was ct
the request of Mias Horne’s attor
neys, Jones pointed out. Howev
er. since the date the original peti
tion was filed at Pittsburgh, Miss
Home is said to not have made
any attempt to proceed with the
divorce. Attorney for Jones is L.
R. Curtiss of Columbus.
In seeking the divorce, Jones
aaks the court that the present ar
rangement concerning the children
be sustained.