1937-07-30

VOL. XVII; NO. 31 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, FRIDAY, JULY 30, 1937 An Independent Newspaper Established 1920 Our Circulation Covers the Entire Northwest TAMPA, Fla. (C) - Ground was broken Thursday for a new $87,000 hospital, being built by WPA and City of Tampa funds. An elaborate program, on which Editor M. D. Potter of the Tampa Bulletin, Dr. Mary McLeod Beth– une, and C. Blythe Andrews, local insurance executive, appeared, was headed by selections by the WPA band. Mayor R. E. L. Chauncey officially broke the ground. Scottsboro And Its Meaning Miss Vertner Returns Begin Compromise on N. Y. Age Asks Investigation After Six Weeks' Trip Ala. Scottsboro Cases Of U. S. Naval Academy TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (C) -A • double lynching occurred here on Monday night when Richard Haw– kins and Ernest Pender were tak– en from jail and hanged, following their arrest for stabbing V. F. Kelly, a policeman, who is said to have been questioning them about a restaurant robbery. These are the first two lynchings in the se– cond half of this year, and make a total of six so far, and the first for Florida. MUSKOGEE, Okla. (C) - J. Bernard Smith, editor of the Ok– lahoma Independent, 115% S. 2nd St., was named attorney for the State Board of Affairs in sterili– zation cases arising from the Taft Hospital, last week. This marks the first time a colored man has ever been named attorney for the Board of Affairs. To The Nat~l Negro Congress By Carl Brooks As the third trial of the Scotts– boro boys opened at Decatur, Ala., the attention of millions of eyes throughout the entire world fo– cused upon that Southern town. There was in the minds of those millions of people a huge number of questions that only the suppos– ed "legal .trials" of the Scottsboro boys could answer. Summed up into one main question the fears, doubts and hopes of these true lovers of justice were just this: Can a Negro receive a fair trial in a Southern court? Must I answer that question? I think not-obviously the trials of the nine innocent Scottsboro boys has broadcast to the entire world the fact that justice for Negroes is not attainable (at present) from the "courts of justice" in Alaba– ma. Add to this the "lily white" juries chosen because of anti-Ne– gro prejudices and the systematic exclusion of Negroes from jury service. The notoriously biased in– structions of Judge W. W. 'Speed' Callahan, to the jury practically asked for conviction, even on the basis of "supposed intent to rape" whether or not the actual crime was committed. We can turn these great partial victories into complete victories if we, the Negro people, completely unite our forces with all those progressive elements in society that will join the struggle for the unconditional freedom and equal– ity of the Negro people. It is in this spirit that the National Ne– gro Congress calls upon all people and organizations that will sup– port a cooperative program to im– prove the economic, social and cultural level of Negro people to join in the building of a local council of the Congress. It is because we desire to con– tinue the remarkable victory that has been won in the Scottsboro case and press on to a complete victory, that we ask that we be joined in a gigantic mass rally to celebrate the release of the four Scottsboro boys on August 6. Join the forward march to Negro equal– ity with the National Negro Con– gress. Jessie C. Dent, Trained Pianist, Returns To Stage - courtesy Hartsook MISS IDELL VERTNER Miss Idell C. Vertner, executive secretary of Phyllis Wheatley Y. W.C.A., returned this week after a six weeks' visit through the South. Miss Vertner visited in St. Louis, attended the Sesquicen– tennial Convention in Memphis, visited '!he Y.W,C.A. and friends in New Orleans for a week, and returned by way of Houston, Tex– as, where she stopped for two DECATUR, Ala. (C) - The much-discussed compromise in the Scottsboro cases materialized on Monday when the State of Ala– bama, for the first ti!Y!e, failed to ask the death penalty for Andy \Vright, who has been sentenced to death in the same case twice before_ Whether this policy will affect the other six boys is not yet known, as lawyers for the pro– secution made no comment on their surprise move. The cases are now more muddled than ever. Haywood Patterson, for whom death was asked by the State, is now under a 75-year jail sentence. Clarence Norris was convicted and for a third time sen– tenced to death last week. Mrs. H. C. Simpkin Presents Piano Pupils Mrs. H. C. Simpkin, teacher of piano, presented her Negro pupils in a recital Thursday evening at the Hopper-Kelly auditorium. Fol– lowing is a list of the pupils in the order of their appearance: Eva Mae Weber, Isla Mae Berry, Pat– ricia Bown, Clarine Garrett, Jean Evelyn Shields, Edith Mary Bown and Florence Bown. NEW YORK (C) - The Har– lem branch of the ILD wired Sen– ator Wagner of New York, at Washington, Tuesday, a protest of the Florida double lynching Mon– day night, adding that the tragedy called for the passage of the anti– lynching bill "to halt reacti0n n?w being directed against liberties for all people in America including the President." WASHINGTON (C)- The Un– ited Government Employees, Ed– gar G. Brown, president, will cele– brate their winning a $200,000 pay increase with a Victory Block Party, August 6 and 7, at Tenth St. between You \illd T. The slo– gan of the organization is: "Join together, work together, stand to– gether, spend together." These are but a part of a mass I or questions that were answered in tne verdict handed down by the ''lynch courts" of the South. But there were other questions answer– ed by the verdicts in the infamous Scottsboro case. The entire lynch system of the South - not the Scottsboro boys - was tried at Decatur. The jury was the mil– lions of men, women and children, AmeJ;:ican, European and Oriental, who by their united efforts, by fi– nancial contributions and mass OBER!LIN, 0. (Calvin Service) days, then to Elsinore for a week, - After a brief interruption of and to Los Angeles for two days her brilliant career as a concert where she visited Mr. Floyd C. pianist to give birth to two husky Covington of the L. A. Urban boys, Thomas Covington Dent and, League. The youngest pupil was Patricia Bnwn, age 5, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Augustus Bown. Little Pat– ricia played a group of five num– bers with remarkable skill, exhib– iting a rare gift. Clarine Garrett is perhaps the oldest pupil from the standpoint of years of study, and her work is comparable to that of a professionaL All of the pupils were well trained and exhi– bited unusual talent_ It is to be regretted that a more suitable hall might not have been found to ac– commodate the large number of friends who would have been de– lighted to hear them. But in spite of the crowded and close sur– roundings, the children played un– usually well and their tecnique is to be admired. Mrs. Simpkins de– serves a lot of praise for the re– sults of her work with these pu- Ben Albert Dent, Mrs. Jessie Cov- At Berkeley, Miss Vertner was ington-Dent is here for a six weeks the guest of her mother, Mrs. Del– course under Frank Shaw, direct- phine Anderson and many intim– or of the Oberlin Conservatory, ate friends. At each place the DENVER, Colo. (C) - Dudley Luck, representing the Continent– al Oil Company, has induced the company to sponsor a special tra– ,.,.-,;} ;;c:-vi:::e to ~()lured tonrists to any part of the U.S., Canada, or Mexico, from his bureau in the Continental Oil Building. NEW YORK (C) - It was a unique fact that of all WPA plays produced in New York this sea– son, last week only one was play– ing, "The Case of Philip Law– rence," at the Lafayette Theatre, The WPA staged 1,863 perform– ances before a total audience of 1,244,516 from April 5 to July 4, this year. NEW YORK (C) A history of the Negro in the theatre for the past twenty years was released by the WPA Saturday from the Cha– nin Building, recounting the stops leading to the establishment of the Negro Theatre by WPA. The sur– vey began with Ridgley Torrence's plays which were presented at the Garden Theatre on April 5, 1917. DOSTON (C) - Roland Hayes, pressure, have kept alive and fin– ally delivered to the international friends of democracy, four of the nine Scottsboro boys. Yes, the acquittal of four of the famous symbols of the struggle of American Negroes for liberty and justice is a partial victory. More than that, this victory over the "lynch justice" of the South is a tribute to the glorious struggle that was waged by the internation– al defenders of democracy. doing special piano work and pre– paring several new programs for use when she returns to the con– cert stage in the fall. Mrs. Dent, who has had ten years of the best piano training America affords, culminating in the receipt of the M,A. degree in music from Oberlin, is also the charming wife of Albert Walter Dent, superintendent of the Flint– Goodridge Hospital of New Or– Jeans, and business manager of Dillard university, and an excell– ent mother of two fine sons. The only daughter of Dr. and Mrs. B. Jessie Covington of Houston, Tex– as, Mr:s. Dent at an early age showed marked piano ability and was given nuusual opportunities for study. "I have been fortunate to hav~ had good teachers all through," says Mrs. Dent. "The late George existed for generations can be Carl Hastings of Oberlin, who de- broken down. veloped a great number of our It is this glowing victory that has been won that points conclus– ively to the fact that a complete victory can be won. In the ac– quittal of four of these boys is an admission by southern reaction that barriers to justice that have It is the first major victory that outstanding musicians, to name a calls f~rth the conclu~ion ;,hat "we l few _ Dett, Camille Nickerson, have JUSt begun to f1ght. Tibbs, Cohen, Estelle Pinckney; at It is also a major victory that 1 the Juillard, Madame Olga Sam– Negroes were called for jury ser-1 aroff and Mr. James Friskin, both vice in Alabama, even though they I of whom command only the great– were not permitted to serve in est respect in the field of music; such capacity. and finally, Mr. Shaw, my teacher internationally famous tenor, was U. S. 1\/um· I·ster's feted by Lady Astor on his birth- ll'l at present, who is a remarkah~ successful teacher, giving his stu dents fine technical background day, June 3, in London, the lady giving him a gold pencil inscribed "To RH. from N.A,,..3-6-37." Mr. Daughters to Wed and facility in playing_.. Hayes san~ for .the Duchess de NEW YORK (C) -Both of the Tallyrand m Pans and for Mme. 1 d ht f u "t d St t M" · Meet To Discuss Rent Prohlents M h t f L d d . aug ers o m e a es ml- La · arc an ° on on, urmg ster Lester A. Walton at Monro, his recent European tour. . L'b . d M W It I vta, 1 ena, an rs. a on, SAN ANTONIO, Tex. (Elaine Glad_ys and Marjorie, will wed, ac- A mass meeting to consider th., Ellis for CNA) _ When the fun- cordmg to announcement by the I problem of increasing rents wm br era! of Charles Bellinger, wealthy mother, Mrs. Gladys Walton, 2588 I held at the Broadway High School 1'-.egro political buss, was held here Seventh Ave,, the D~nbar Apart- 1 Auditorium ~uesday evening, Au~it was attended by a cursing white ments, Saturday_ G.::tdys wtll b_e I ust 3, at 8 o clock, and the posSl- 11-,ayor who ordered police to keep married on August 19, to Charles bility of forming a Renters Pro– -:'!)'OtO""'"aphers from taking pic- Johnson, formerly of Texas, who tective Union with locals in the tu . 8 _, "of the large crowd of pub- is now connected with the New neighborhoods will be discussed. A • Ec officials, politicians, and others York office of Victory Mutual Life representative of the Apartment who attended_ Although the fun- Insurance Company. The vows House Owners Association will ~'raJ was held on city-owned prop- will be taken at St. Martin's P.E. present their side, and a repre– erty, bath reporters and photo- church. sentative of the Building Serv:ce graphers were. excluded from the Marjorie May, the elder, is ex- Employees Union will also speak. public building, pected to await the coming of hc-· 1 The meeting is being called by the father in the fall before march~ng 1 \4omen's League of the Washing– MADRID (CNA) - Negro and to the altar with Percival Roch-j ton Commonwealth Federation. v_•h'te American volunteers are leacl;ng the mixed shock battalions in the big offensive unleashed by the Spanish governmem: against the fascist rebels on the Madrid fronL The American youths have distingui.shed themselves in the heavy fighting that has been in progress since the early part of last week, but at least three have been killed and forty wounded. NEW YORK - A plea for 100,- 000 telegrams, letters and post– cards to be sent to senators ask- ing them to act on the federal anti-lynching bill before adjourn– ing Congress was broadcast today by the NAACP. ester, a salesman of the Howard j Clothing Co. of West 125th St. I Civil Service Exams The wedding date has not bee'll Th U "' C' - 1 S - c set. . _e . ~. IVI ervtce OcTl- .. . . • miSSlon announces an open com- _The gn_ls returned from LJberta I petilive examination for fillin~ with the1~ par:ents last Augu_st, vacancies in the position of Pipe– an~ have hved_ m the J?unbar Wlth: coverer and Insulator at the Pu– thelr mother smce the1r father re- I turned to his diplomatic post as I get ~ound Nav~ Yard, Bremerton. E E t d - 1 t N I Receipt of appllcatwn to close on nvoy x ra?r mary as ovem-~ August 6 • 1937 _ ber. The g1rls are the grand- F f th · f t' d . or ur er m orma wn an ap- daughters of Edttor Fred Moore l plication blank apply to the office of the New York Age, They were 1 f th M 11 th u s c· ·1 I , . 1 . o e anager, . . !VI very popu ar m socm and dtplo- S - D' t · t 450 F d 1 Of . . . ervtce IS nc , e era - matic ctrcles of Monrovia during f' B "ld" S ttl th - , t . 1 lCe UI mg, ea e. e1r years s ay m West Africa. 1 They reported that they enjoyed Follow the crowds to the An– the Liberian capital very much, l nual Elks' Picnic, Mon., Aug. 2, on their return to Harlem. I Lonely Acres. Seattle Executive received a most cordial welcome by residents, most or whom were former guests at the Seattle "Y," and who enter– tained her royally. Miss Vertner is now in her eighth year as exe– cutive secretary of the Phyllis Wheatley branch in this city, and the progress macie by the branch during that time is an outstanding tribute to her exceptional ability. pils. 'Round The Town . WITH FRANK FAIR Spokane Boxer Wins (Inste~d of keeping his readers posted on random activities 'Round the Town here and there, ye olde dispenser of what's what in the news is honeymooning this week with his bride, the former Miss Bernice Black. He promises to be back with the Enterprise next week, however, with a sizzling hot batch of copy describing the par– ade of events at the annual Elks picnic.-Ed.) Technical KO inN. Y. NEW YORK (C) - Tiger Jack Fox, Spokane light heavyweight, got a technical KO verdict over Leon Deacon Kelly of Los Ange– les in 1:16 of the sixth at Madison Square Garden Thursday night. Follow the crowds to the An– nual Elks' .Picnic, Mon., Aug. 2, Lonely Acres. Four Of Nine Scottsboro Boys Freed B State Of Alabama! - Courtesy of Seattle Times Eugent Williams (lower right), Roy Wright, Willie Roberson and Olen Montgomery, four of the famous "Scottsboro boys," shown with their attorney, Samuel Leibowitz, who is determined to fight the cases of the other five boys "to hell and back." At– torney Leibowitz referred to the Alabama CotJ.J"t's recent decision as "probably the greatest victory in the life of the Negro people of America since the Civil War" and in regard to the newly-freed boys' future, he said that "there will be no exploitation of these boys; no barnstorming, no theatricals of any kind." News reports state the four boys have been entrusted to the care of an eastern Negro minister. NEW YORK (C) - The New York Age demanded editorially last week that the U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis be investi-– gated. Under the caption, "In– vestigate Naval Academy," the pa– per said: "Negro leaders in all parts of the country should get behind Congressman Mitchell in his de– mand for an investigation of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md. For 40 years no Negro was able to get a nomina– tion to become a midshipman at this government training school for naval officers, Then during the past two years Congressman Mitchell succeeded in securing the appointment of two, and neither of them were able to stay because of the jim-crow practices of the student body and officers in charge. "According to reports, George Rose City Lodge Is Reorganized By Cornelius Evans District Deputy PORTLAND-Rose City Lodge No. 111, I.B.P.O.E.W., has been reorganized by State Deputy E. R Chainey and Gus West of Seattle. One of the most ha!lmonious meet– ings ever held by Rose City was held last Sunday at the Elks' Hall, 1508 N. Williams Avenue, when Rose City was restored to her right channel. After a brief con– ference with all the members pre– sent, Brother Chainey called the roll and the officers were duly el– ecte~ and installed. The bad feel– ings'which had disrupted the lodge for more than a decade were dis– pelled and everybody went home saying, "Hello Bill." New officers are: Exalted Rul– er. .Tames H. Manley; Leading Knight, E. W. Agee; Loyal Knight, Claude Jackson; Electing Knight, E. B. Banks; Tiler, Ollie Organ; Inner Guard, Hiram Hill; Esquire, James Earl. Rose City's repre– sentative to Grand lodge to be held in Cleveland, Ohio, soon will be A, G. Garrett. Florida Negroes Defy Ku Kluxers ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.- The only effect which the parade of the Ku Klux Klan had here this week on Negroes was to make them go to the polls and vote. Furthermore, after the special el– ection was over, many colored ci– tizens declared they had been caught unregistered at this elec– tion and could not vote, but at the next registration day they'd be sure to be on the lists. The Klan put on its robes and marched through tlie Negro dis– trict the night before the election to discourage Negroes from vot– ing the next day. Some of the 200 Klansmen attempted to burn a I cross on the lawn of Charles_ Wil– l Iiams, but before it could be light– ed, Mr, Williams called police who took the cross and forced the men to run. The temper of the colored peo– ple was such that any spark could have set off serious trouble. Far from being afraid of the Klan, ma– ny Negroes wanted to remove the cross from the Williams' house be– fore the police arrived. It was said also that colored people were "ready" if any trouble had been started Fete Out-of-town Guests Honoring Mrs. Gwendolyn Camp– bell of Los Angeles and Mrs. Rena Wilson of Berkeley, Mrs. W. Cal– ' houn served a delicious waffle I breakfast Wednesday morning at I her home_ Others present were I Mrs, Wilma Chandler, Miss Nellie Winslow and Miss Ruth Roston. Mrs_ Armeta Hearst entertllined I Mrs. C. Mumford, Mrs. Gwendolyn I Campbell, Miss B. Quarles of Los I Angeles and Mrs. Rena Wilson of I Berkeley with a po-ke-no party Wednesday afternoon. Prizes were awarded and a delicious luncheon served. Others present were Mes– dames Elizabeth Hubbard, Augus– ta Shannon, H. C. Thompson, Jes– sie Shields, Le Etta King, Marjor– ie Clifton, Viola Benning, Ruby Bell, Misses Nellie Winslow and Ruth Roston. L. Trivers, the latest victim, who was sworn in on June 17, was forc– ed to leave last week because of the insults heaped upon him. Both he and Midshipman Johnson were assigned to segregated rooms on the second deck (third floor) in a remote, unused part of Bancroft Hall. White midshipmen refused to associate with the youth and made insulting remarks when passing him in the corridors. "During the period that Midship– man Johnson (the other Negro to gain admission) was at the insti– tution, pebbles and sticks were tossed against his window, and bottles broken nearby after he had gone to bed at 10 p. m. The youth was able to prove that the white lads entered his room and disarranged it after he had cleaned it. "Congressman Mitchell states that there are two angles to the present case. The first is to de– termine whether the Academy of– ficials mistreated Trivers because of his color. The second angle in– volves Johnson, who was so fair in complexion he could hardly be dis– tinguished from his white class– mates. "If private educational institu– tions can matriculate students of the Negro and other races, with– out this racial friction so common at the Naval Academy, there should be no reason why there should be this difficulty at a gov– ernment school, except with the sanction of those heading the gov– ernment. And if their actions have the approval of President Roose– velt and Secretary Swanson, the public should know about it. "We hope that Congressman Mitchell will go the limit in the expose and that sufficient pres– sure will be brought to bear by Negro voters to clear up this tra– vesty on the name, 'democracy'." Mrs. Vivian Marsh Addresses Sorority At a forum meeting, Sunday, July 25, at the Phyllis Wheatley YWCA, Alpha Omicron Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority presented Vivian Osborne-Marsh, Grand President of the sorority. The affair was splendidly attend– ed and the intensely interested audience was responsive to Mrs. Marsh's address, entitled "The Place of the Negro Sorority in the Community." One of the particu– lar points stressed by Mrs. Marsh was that the Negro Greek Letter organizations are not merely so– cial but have as a fundamental purpose service to t}teir race by such means as: encouraging our young people to secure as much education and training for life as possible; by fighting legislation unfavorable to the Negro and by fighting for the enactment of leg– islation benefiting the race; by en– couraging the membership to maintain the highest physical, mental, moral and spiritual stan– dards, individually and collectively. A brief but most enjoyable and instructive word was had from Rev. Beane of Los Angeles, a member of Alpha Pi Alpha Fra– ternity, the first Negro Greek Let– ter organization. Beta Theta Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority graciously sent ii beautiful bouquet of gladio– las to Alpha Omicron Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta to grace the place of meeting. Aside from numerous courtesie3 extended by the local sorqrs, tht Grand President shared honors Sunday morning at a breakfast by the chapter, with Sorer Martha Anderson of Beta Chapter of Wii– berforce, and Soror Maybelle Craig of Kappa Chapter, Berkeley, California, and Mrs, Ann Brown– ing and Mrs. Kathryn Flippin of San Francisco. Seattle is indeed honored to have enjoyed a visit from the gra– cious National President of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. The mem– bers of Alpha Omicron Chapter are DeLoris Brooks, Bertha Camp– bell, Alberta Browne, Jane Chand– ler, Syvilla Fort, Virginia Gayton, Irene Graves, Naomi Hyatt, Wini– fred Ingram and Idell Vertner, in the city. Absentee members are Madge Cayton, Tessie Miller and Geneva Turner. A former Seatlle girl of national fame who is a sor· er is Shirley Graham, known here as Lola Graham McCants.