largest Accredited Negro News pap er West of Chicago and North of KC
Saturday, August 26,1944 OUR 17th YEAR, No. 29
Entered as 2nd class matter at Post- oft ice,- Omaha, Nebr., Under Act of
March 8, 1874. Publishing Offices at 2420 Grant Street, Omaha, Nebr.
North 24th USO
Club To Get
New Building
$14,000
Granted by
P. W. A.
Word has been received from Sen
Hugh A. Butler that final approva
has been made by the Federal Work;
Administration for a grant of $14,00C
for improvement and enlargement oi
the 24th Street USO Club.
The appropriation brings to a sue
cessful end, efforts of the director to
secure a better and more spacious
building and facilities for members of
of the armed forces in this area.
Mr. Mosley, director of the USO
Club here stated that the new club,
when completed will be .one of the
best in the country.
Work on the new club is expected
to begin in the near future.
SON’S AFFIDAVIT
REVEALS LYNCHING
OF MINISTER' FARMER
New Orleans, La.,—A lynch-killing
of a 66 year old minister last March
26 in Amite county, Miss., because he
hired a lawyer to safeguard his title
to a 220 acre free farm, has just been
revealed in an affidavit sworn to by
Eldridge Simmons, son of the mur
dered man.
Rev. Osaac Simons was going peace
fully about the business of running
his farm and had no trouble until it
began to be subjected that there was
oil on his land. Whites then tried to
“muscle in” and take his property a
way. When they found he had con
sulted a lawyer they got together a
small mob and killed him in the pres
ence of his son, wsa was later driven
from the county.
Eldridge Simmons sent his affidav
it to the NAACP in New York which
in turn has asked Governor Thomas
L. Baileh of Mississippi to investi
gate. The NAACP also has asked
Attornel General Francis Biddle to
examine into the possibility that Fed
u eral conspiracy statutes have been vi
olated.
The dramatic story o.f the lynching
is told in the following paragraphs
from the affidavit:
“Between 11 am. and 12 o’clock
noon, March 26, 1944—which was on
a Sunday—a group of white men in
cluding Noble Rider, two of his bro
thers, Harper Dawson, Rabbit Spill
man and a man I did not know, came
to my house which is located about a
mile from my father’s house, both
being on the property owned by us.
“The men asked me if I knew how
the property line ran. I told them I. i
thought I did. They told me to come
and show them.
“I went down the road with them
for some distance then we came to a
ear. The car was a late model Studf
baker, I believe, with the gear shift
on the steering wheel. It was gray
ish in color.
“I got in the back seat of the car
and they drove about a quarter of a
mile from my father's house. The
man I didn’t know did the driving.
They kept telling me that my father
and I were ‘smart niggers’ for going
to see a lawyer.
three ot them remained in tne
car with me; three walked up to my
father’s house.
“Some time later, I saw the three
men returning with my father]. They
were Noble Rider, Harper Dawson,
and another man (I can’t remember
whether its was one of Rider broth
ers or Spillman.)
“Noble Rider and the other man
were walking on either side of my
66 year father, Isaac Simmons, while
Dawson walked behind him kicking
and punching him.
“When they reached the car, they
made my father get in the front seat.
They all got in the car.
“My father begged them and pray
ed with them not to hurt him or me
as they drove down the road. Two
of them kept beating me as I sat in
the back seat.
“Some distance down the road they
stopped the car near a side road where
there were lots of thickets. ‘Let’s
take them down here,’ one of the
white men said.
"They told my father to get out of
the car. He got out and started to
run from the road. One of the men
leveled the shotgun and fired twice
at my father. One reloaded the gun,
the other two ran in the direction my
father had taken. The man who re
loaded the gun ran off in that dir
ection also, then I heard another shot
I begged the men in the car to spare
my life.
“A while later, the other three re
turned. They all talked in low tones
behind the car.
“Finally, they came around and told
me. ‘Alright, nigger, we’re going to
let you go.’
“One of them told me to get out of
the car; another said, I’ll tell him
when to get out.’
“Noble Rider asked me 'You don't
want to get beat up any more, do you?
“I answered, ‘I sure don’t.’
“He said, ‘If this comes up again,
you had beter not know anything a
bout it.’
“They told me that they gave me
ten days to get off the place and
clear off my tenants. I had two ten
ants, Willie Huff, and A. D. Robin
son, who worked for me. And also
an old man, S. B. Moton, who had no
other place to stay.
"When they put me out of the car
I was bloody, ragged and half blind
ed. I went to my sister’s house and
told what had happened.
“The news spread. Church meet
ing broke up and we all went down
to where my father lay in the thick
ets. That was about 1 o’clock pm.
“When we got to the thickets, we
saw my father dead, lying half on
one side. He had been shot three
times in the back and some one said
his arm was broken. Nearly all of
his teeth had been knocked out, and
his tongue was cut out.
“Someone went and got Constable
George Hazelwood. The constable
went and got the high sheriff.
“They held an inquest and gave the
verdict that my father had met his
death at the hands of unknown part
«*•” '
In the letter to both the Governor
and the U. S. Attorney General, the
NAACP pointed out “This case clear
ly represents a conspiracy on the part
of certain individuals (nared in the
affidavit) to injure, threaten, and
inticidate these citizens in the free
exercise or enjoyment of rights se
cured to them by the United States
Constitution.”
. I
Women Begin House-to-House
Canvass for Registered Voters
IF YOU DON’T REGISTER—
YOU CANNOT VOTE NOV. 7th
Don Larson, chairman of the Om-i
aha Junior Chamber of Commerce
overnmental Affairs Committee, dis
closed that the annual Jaycee "Get
Out The Cote” campaign got on its
way Monday, August 21, One hun
dred civic minded ladies ebgan a house
to house campaign i norder to deter
mine whether or not all Oinatians are
properly registered.
Larson pointed out that past elec
tion experience shows many would-be
voters have been disfranchised by
their failure to register on moving
to Omaha, on coming of age, or
when changing address locally. This
campaign is being conducted as part
of a far reaching Junior Chamber of
Commerce program to reawaken civ
ic responsibility.
The Javcees ask the assistance of
all Omaha housewives in extending
every possible courtesy to their fellow
housewives who are making this sur
vey.
The following ladies are assisting
in conducting the canvass in our
community: Cleota H. F. Reynolds,
Ida T. Willis, Gussie Ellison Mc
Pherson, Christine Althouse, Eva S.
Milsap, Mrs. Carl Bone, Celeta Mc
Falls Nona Abram and Esther Starks
•
NOTICE OF SPECIAL PLACE1'
FOR REGISTRATION OF
VOTERS IN SEPTEMBER
•
Notice is hereby given that special
places for the registration of voters
residing in the City of Omaha have
)
been provided as follows:
South Omaha Areas
South Side City Hall, 24th and ‘O’
Streets. Friday and Saturday of
each week during the month of Sept
ember, to-wit: September 1 and 2; 8
and 9; 15 and 16; 22 and 23; 29 and
30.
North Omaha Areas
North Branch Omaha Public Lib
rary, 29th and Ames Ave., Basement
North Entrance.
Monday (except Labor Day) and
Tuesday of each week during Sept
ember, to-wit: September 5; 11 and
12: IS and 19; 25 and 26.
Urban League Community Center,
2213 Lake Street. Fridays and Sat
urdays of the last three weeks of
September, to-wit: September 15 and
16; 22 and 23 ; 29 and 30. ^
Benson Area. t 1
Fire Engine House, 60th and Maple
Streets: Wednesday and Thursday
of each week during the month of
September, to-wit: September 6 and
7; 13 and 14; 20 and 21; 27 and 28.
All of the above places except the
South Side City Hall will be open
from 1 p. m. to 9 p. m. South Side
City Hall will be open from 9 a. m.
to 9 p. m. The above schedule is sub
ject to discontinuance in the event of
lack of registrations. Voters who
prefer to do so, may register at the
Election Commisioner's Office at the
Court House daily from 8:30 a. m.
to 4:30 p. m„ except Saturdays to 12
noon.
All voters (ecept those voting by
mail because of absence from Doug
las County) who have not registered
heretofore, or who have changed
their residence, or their names by
marriage or otherwise, since their last
registration, must register in order to
vote at the general election Novem
ber 7, 1944 and such voters are res
pectfully urged to register at their
earliest convenience and thereby a
void unnecessary last minute conges
tion. Registrations will close Friday
October 27, 1944 at 9 o’clock pm.
Joseph A. Vojir, Election Commis
sioner, Douglas County, Nebraska, i
NAACP COUNSEL ARGUES
VOTE REGISTRATION CASE
Birmingham, Ala.,—Special NAA
CP. Counsel Thurgood Marshall and
Attorney Arthur D. Shores of Birm
ingham, representing the NAACP
appeared before the United States
District Court in the Northern Dis
trict of Alabama, August 21 to argue
the case of W. L. Patterson vs Reg
isrtation Board of Birmingham, Ala.
The complaint in this case was fil
ed in August, 1942, when several
Negroes presented themselves to the
registrars for the purpose of qualify
ing for the privilege of voting. The
complaint states that the Board of
Registrars unlawfully combined and
conspired together to prevent Negro
residents of Jackson county from be
ing registered.
The oral arguments heard on Aug
ust 21 are on defendant's motion to
dismiss the complaint. The NAACP
has filed briefs with the courts on
this motion and is also opposing a
motion made by the defense to have
the case tried before a jury.
t
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Funeral Services Held for Allen *Mack’ Mctlair ‘Omaha Old Timer*
Felix Eboue the Man who Saved France
..—n iimm ..-■-raumi. —»__,_____
Photo Courtesy, M. Jean De La
Roche, Secretary to Gov. Ebouc
At Brazzaville, French Equatorial
Africa, Governor General Ebouc pre
sents his troops to General de Gaulle
At the extreme left, with the double
stars on his sleeve, is General Le
Clerc, distinguished for his vjjj mile
trek with these troops across the des
ert, bringing the British effective
support in Libya in a series of dram
atic raids on Axis outposts. Today
he is leading the French Division in
the newAnvasion of France.
Sets Colonial Example Policy
For Postwar World to Follow
Child's Welfare
Breakfast Held at
Fontenelle Aug 22
Mrs. Biart, Department Chairman
for the State American Legion Aux
iliary presided at a breakfast in the
beautiful Black Mirror Room of the
Hotel Fontenelle last Tuesday, Aug.
22nd.
Mr Biart, Department Chairman
for the Legion, gave a report orf
Child Welfare Activities in Nebraska.
Judge Herbert Rhoades gave an
interesting talk on Child Welfare.
“Punishment does not cure crime”—
he said. “Education, discipline and
supervision are important.”
Judge Rhoades said, “If I had my
way in some cases, I would send the,
parents away and keep the child at |
home.”
Ladies of Roosevelt Post
Unit Attend.
Admist the one hundred and ten
guests at the Child’s Welfare Break
fast were ten ladies of Unit No. 30.
They were Mrs. Eva Milsap, Unit
President; Mrs. Lula Bryant, Mrs.
Sadie Nelson, Mrs. Pearl Brummell,
Mrs. Zodie Gardner, Mrs. Anna Pier
son, Mrs. Florence Garland, Mrs.
Jessie Covington, Mrs. Ora Glass,
Mrs. Pearl Thomas.
Hold Hour of Memory.
On Monday, August 21, 1944 at 11
a. m. An Hour of Memory was held.
Scripture reading, Mrs. L. E. Hut
chins, Department Chaplain.
Vocal Solo “O’ Dry Those Tears"
by our own, Mrs. Lula Bryant.
Roll of the Departed Members.
Tribute to Minnie Freeman Penney
first Department President by Mrs.
Harold Diers of Omaha.
Memorial Address, Lt. Margaret
Servine, WAC.
Presentation of Memorial Electric
Organ to Mr. E. R. Burke, manager
Lincoln Veterans’ hospital.
FEPC ADJUSTS 702 CASES
SATISFACTORILY ....
Satisfactory adjustment of 702 cas
es during the six months period from
January 1 to June 30, 1944, was an
nounced this' week by the President's
Committee on Fair Employment
Practice. The figure represents
more than a third of all the cases
closed during the half year.
A satisfactory adjustment, accord
ing tc the Committee, is a settlement
in which is eliminated any discrimin
atory practice or policy in violation
of the Executive Order 9346 and re
dress is given to the complainant.
With activities of the Committee
stepped up through steady operation
Df eleven field offices throughout the
country, a total of 1,939 cases were
disposed of during the January t*
June period.
Despite this, however, the six
months period showed an increase in
the number of cases pending with the
Committee, from 1,939 to 2,100.
The totals show an average of 117
cases satisfactorily adjusted per
month by the Committee as against
i total of 2,109 cases docketed during
the half year for an average of 351
per month.
Aside from the satisfactory adjust
ments, a total of 1,237 cases were
closed during the January 1, June 30
period because of lack of jurisdiction
insufficient evidence, withdrawal by
the complainant or other reasons.
(BY THYRA EDWARDS)
(For Continental Features)
In command of the French Division
which played a brilliant part in last
week’s new invasion of France was
General Le Clerc who led the native
African camel-mounted troops on
the historic 1000 mile trek across the
Sahara Desert to join the English in
routing Rommel’s German army
from North Africa.
It was Felix Eboue, then Governor
of Cad, who mobilized this native
army—the only army France could
command after the Vichy armistice
immobilized the great French army.
Until last week’s invasion two-thirds
of the Free French forces were nat
ive African troops.
The courage and statesmanship of
Governor Eboue paved the way for
last week's victory. Exhausted from
overwrok, Eboue died in May of this
year. There can be little doubt that
General Le Clerc, ao he landed once
more on the soil of France thought of
Eboue and the pledge made in the
name of France at his death.
Speaking in Cairo, Egypt, at the
bier of Felix Eboue, late Governor
General of French Equatorial Africa,
Monsieur Rene Pleven, Commission
er of Colonies of the French Provis
ional Government, pronounced these
impassioned words:
“Governor General Eboue.to
day I promise you that we shall soon
return your ashes to France, liber
ated and free once more. I pledge
you also that the ideal of human bro
therhood, the elevation of the humbl
est, to which you were dedicated, will
continue to guide our colonial policy,
that policy which you helded us to
work out only a few weeks ago at
URGE YOUTH TO RETURN
TO SCHOOL THIS FALL
1 op-ranking men of the Army,
Navy and Marine Corps strongly urg
ed the nation’s youth of pre-military
age to return to high school in the
fall instead of continuing in summer
jobs.
cn. H. H. Arnold, Commanding
General of the Army Air Forces:
Vice Admiral Randall Jacobs, Chief
of Naval Personnel, C. S. Navy, and
Lt. en. A. A. Vandergrift, Command
ant of the Marine Corps, issued state
ments addressed particularly to boys
and girls under military age stressing
the importance of high school educa
tion, not only for use in the armed
forces but as pj reparation for post
war life
Alarmed by a drop of 1,000,000 in
high school enrollment since the wars
beginning, the Government, with the
cooperation of civilian and military
leaders, has opened a drive to con
vince boys and girls of the value of
a high school education.
eneral Arnold indicated in his mes
sage that all branches of the service
need leaders, engineers, scientists and
specialists, and that in the “years to
follow victory, we will need them ev
en more as our nation charts its pro
gress in the post-war world."
"We of the armed forces,” he add
ed, “urged every young man and
woman of pre-military age who has
been filling a summer war job to re
turn to school this autumn. Such
war work is important, but your ed
ucation has top priority. You will
serve your country best by making the
most of your educational opportunit
ies, for this is not onK- a brave mans
war—it is a smart man’s war.
Admiral Jacobs, stressing the need
for sound grounding in methematics
and science as a background for oper
ating and maintaining naval equip
ment said:
"The Navy needs young men who
have the brains to think, the strength
to fight and the will to extend them
selves. This means that every young
man under 17 should do everything
possible to develop his mind and his
body. Specifically, it means that
you as one of this group should let
nothing stand in the way of your re
turn to high school this fall. The
technical developments of the war are
bound to continue and expand in the
post war period. For the success I
know you desire in the near future
as well as later, you need to see that
you make the best possible use of
your present opportunity to obtain a
basic education.”
eneralG Vandergrift's message to
the boys of pre-military age pointed
out that this “most highly specialized"
of all wars” has proven that “bravery
alone is not enough to win battles.
To have bravery without knowledge
is to be only half prepared.
“If you have been employed in the
factory or on the farm this summer,
providing valuable impetus to an early
victory, you should plan to go back to
high school this Fall,” he said. “We
in the Marine Corps feel you can best
serve your nation and your fellow
man at school, now, building the
j sound mind in the sound body.
"We are all preparing for another
I challenge to our democracy when the
i victory io won—the dynamic chall
enge of fulfillment of the cause for
which we fought, in a peaceful
world.
V our country is depending on you
to be well equipped and prepared to
meet the challenge, mentally, physic
ally and ethically."
WAS VETERAN OF THE
SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR
Mr. Allen McClare, 63, died Aug
ust 19th at the Veterans’ Hospital in
Lincoln. Mr. McClare had been a
well known and liked resident of O
maha for 35 years and his home was
at 2856 Corby Street. His wife Mrs.
Sophia McClare preceded him in
death by five months, having died
this past March.
Mr. McClare served in the Spanish
American War as a mess sergeant
and in lates years he was employed
by the Union Pacific Railroad as a
chef cook and Private car chef for
Mr. William Jeffers. He had been
retired from the railroad on pension
for the past several years. Mr. Mc
Clare was a member of Zion Baptist
Church and Camp Allensworth No.
25 U. S. W. V.
He is survivei by Mrs. Georgia
Clark Brown of Omaha and Private
Donald R. Clark, U. S. army, who he
and his wife raised from children,
two brother-in-laws, Mr. Lindsay
Beverly of Omaha, Mr. William Bev
erley, Kansas City, Missouri and a
host of friends. Funeral services
were held Thursday afternoon from
Zion Baptist Church with Rev. F. C.
Willians officiating, military services
in charge of Spanish American War
Veterans of Camp Allenworth No. 25
with burial in the family lot at Pros
pect Hill cemetery. The body lay in
state at the Thomas Funeral Home
from Sunday until the funeral hour.
Mrs Dora Martin Dies
Mrs. Dora D. Martin, age 64 years,
died August 18th at her Koine 2207^6
North 20th Street after an extended
illness. Mrs. Martin had been a resi
dent of Omaha for 18 years. She
spent part of her childhood in Lincoln
where she lived for a number of
years. She married Mr. John R.
Martin in October of 1899 at Holton,
Kansas and lived in Topeka for 25
years. She studied music under Dan
iel Mueller and was an accomplished
violinist. While living in Topeka
she united with the B Street Baptist
Church and was a devoted Christian.
She was a member of Camp Beck No.
8 Ladies Auxiliary U. S. W. V.
Mrs. Martin is survived by her
husband, Mr John R. Martin, three
daughters, Mrs. Ramah Buxton, Mrs.
Doris McDavis, Mrs. Beatrice Mason
all of Omaha, three sons, Mr. Donald
J. Martin, Boston, Mass., 1st Class
Seaman Lawrence Martin, USA.
Navy, Puget Sound, Washington, Mr.
Harold E. Martin, Omaha, one sister
Mrs. Julia Gross, Gary, Indiana, ont
brother, Major Pleasant.
Funeral services were held Wednes
day afternoon from The Thomas
Funeral Home with Rev. W. S. Met
calf and "Rev. S. K. Nichols officiat
ing. Pall-bearers members of Camp
Allensworth No. 25 U. S. W. V.
with burial at Forest Lawn cemetery.
=?-=■ , .TIL.. u
Brazzaville.”
On August 25, 1940 Felix Eboue,
then Governor of Chad, on the bor
der of the English-Egyptian Sudan,
was known only in French colonial
circles where he had won distinction
as an administrator in Africa and the
West Indies. On August 26—one
day later—Felix Eboue had attained
recignition as a statesman of global
significance. For it was on that day
he proclaimed to General de Gaulle:
‘‘Chad is ready!” and swung the col
onies of French Equatorial Africa—
European population and native trib
al chiefs alike—to the support of Free
France and the United Nations.
Had Felix Eboue not made that
momentous decision all Africa might
have fallen to the Axis. Egypt and
the Sudan would have been cut off
from the shortest land route across
Africa and from reinforcements. The :
Belgian Congo, left unprotected,
(Continued on Page 9^“4)
| PLAIN
,TALK..
BY DAN GARDNER
THE JIM CROW TRAIN
STILL ROLLS THROUGH
THE SOUTH; THIS COMMIT
TEE IS ORGANIZED TO
DERAIL "HUMILIATION
SPECIAL.”
The Jim Crow Train is among the
foremost of the vicious evils prac
ticed against colored Americans. Jim
Crow transportation hurts us more
than the poll tax. The colored Am
erican feels more keenly the effects
of Jim Crow railway travel than he
does public bans against intermarriage
prime among the cardinal sins in the
eyes of the white man. In story and
in song the Jim Crow Train has been
the barometer at gauging the temper
ature of the Negro minority.
Aside from the ignomy of being
victims of the practice, Negroes who
ride the Jim Crow Train also suffet
major discomfort. They are herded
like cattle into dirty, ill-kept, out
moded coaches tagged on behind the
coal car. In the heat of 'the south
ern summer they get thick coats of
smoke streaming in from the open
windows; their eyes, their hair, their
clothing are filled with hundreds of
flying particles of cinders. They are
forced in many instances to sit in the
aisles on their luggage; to eat stand
ing up; to sleep in every conceivable
kind of incongruous position. Yet,
they pay the same fare as the white
passenger in the cars behind who ride
in relative comfort, cleanliness and
are not packed like pigs in a pen.
WHAT JIM CROW TRAIN
MEANS.
Yes, the whistle of the Jim-Crow
train screams throughout the track
less expanses of the broad south. It
screams its message of intolerance, of
greed, hatred and derision and mil
lions of people hear it and pray for
the day when the Jim Crow Train is
derailed and cannot be set aright a
gain. And with the Jim Crow Train
its defiant whistle, goes the tobacco
chewing, redneck conductor who arro
gantly walks through the Jim Crow
Train barking his orders to those
whose money is divided as being ‘Ne
gro money, and Negro fares.’ With
the Jim Crow Train go the ignorant
hillbillies from the Ozarks, the Ten
nessee mountains, the crackers from
the lowlands of the delta region, the
peckerwodds from the bowels of
Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.
They are elevated in their ego to the
status of lords by the fact that the
system calls for travel facilities much
worse than the homes from which
they come for people who are thereby
set apart as permanently on a lower
icvci man mcy.
These things, these conditions make
[he work of the Committee to Abol
ish Jim Crow Transportation in the
United States of cardinal importance. -
This group has its headquarters out
in Detroit and stresses the motto: —
‘Let Us, As Americans—Clean Our
Dwn House.”
This Committee states its objective
is “our comon cause” in quest of
"neans for group betterment and nat
ional unity. It is the only organiza
tion engaged exclusively with “this
most vicious form of Jim Crowism.”
It contends that “when a patient is
iufefring from a malady that is
ieep-eated and difficult to reach by
prdinary means, it i#a custom among
physicians to call a consultation with
he skillful to determine the most ef
fective method of treatment. Jim
(Continued on Page IW2)
DUKE PRAISES BAHAMIAN
FARM WORKERS.
The Duke of Windsor praised the
Bahamian farm workers whom he
visited in Delaware during his inspec
tion tour recently for the fine way
they are helping their American Ally
produce vital war food. The Duke
is shown examining a basket of pea
ches picked by the Bahamian who
looks on. To help -relieve the critic
al farm labor shortage, the Office of
Labor of the War Foot! Administra
tion has brought here, under con
tract, more than 1,700 Bahamian work
ers. These dorkers are playing an
important part in this year’s harvest
of fruit and vegetafie crops—
—]VFA photo by Cooper.