1939-05-12

The West's Up-to-the-Minute Negro Weekly The Portland Observer Observer News Is The Latest News AN INSIGHT ON THE NEWS Volume I 5 Cents Per Copy PORTLAND, OREGON, MAY 12, 1939 ....... Number21 Conference Spurs Anti..Lynch Fight Birmingham, Ala., May 11.- 0 Thelma Dale, young sociology stu– ( Ben Davis, Jr., for CNA) .-A dent leader, vice-ch:.irman-at-large; wide campaign for passage of the Edward Strong, re-elected as exe– anti-lynching bill, President Roose- cutive secretary; Gladyse Ran– velt's social measures, and vigorous dolph, treasurer. opposition to amendment of the Unions Represented Wagner Act, featured the out- Dr. F. D. Patterson was elected ~tanding resolutions adopted by the chairman of a new national adult third All-Southern Negro Youth Conference at its closing session. The conference represented organi– zations totalling 750,000 persons, primarily Negroes, the largest rep– resentation in its three-year history. At its closed business session in the Masonic Temple it voted to conccntrate on four fundamental issues in a special Southwide anti– discrimination drive: jobs; right to vote clubs; adequate educational facilities and the promotion of health especially in act!Jally suffer– ing backwood areas. The concluding general session took place in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, at which Dr. F. D . Patterson, outstanding educa– tor and President of Tuskegee In– stitute, and Charlotte Hawkins Brown, principal of Parmer Insti– tute in North Carolina, were the main speakers. Condemn Florida Murder The conference also voted advisory council as a greatly sim– plified and improved organization plan was adopted. There are to be 14 regional vice-chairmen, repre– senting the 14 southern states, and a national council. Every southern state was repre– sented among the 603 official dele– gates, the highest number of dele– gates in the conference's three-year history. Alabama furnished the largest delegation. There were 108 labor delegates representing eight of the most influential CIO and AFL unions, eight farm delegates, 192 students, 54 unemployed. There ·were religious (among them 18 Catholic delegates), fraternal, social, civic, cultural, inter-racial organizations, social welfare and other types of organizations repre– sented. DAYTONA LYNCHERS JAILED FOR MURDER Equestrian Experts Form Club On Sunday, May 7, at 10:00 a. m. twenty-nine sports lovers of Portland's swank Negro society met at the ranch of Vic Mayberry for the purpose of forming a riding club. A hearty· breakfast was served to those present and after- l-Dedi·;t;d"t';ii~i;~-·r 1 -- . 1 Our hearts filled with rever- ! 1 ence; our hands willing to J j serve; our souls filled with ecs- [ l tasy; our voices lifted in praise; ! I and our spirits ever humbled I i because she, is ours. I "'·-~~-··-··--.-.·-··-··--·--+ Popular Co-Ed to KNOWS BUSINESS 8000 Voters Defy Klan In Miami -------------------------o TIDES RISE IN SOUTH FOR ANTI-LYNCH BILL Miami, Fla., May 11-(CNA) -Militant Negro citizens defied Ku Klux Klan threats and cast a wards pla nswere laid to ride, swim dance and play tennis. Wed Law Student record vote in a city primary dec- Birmingham, Ala., May 11.- tion here 24 hours after the Klan (Robert F. Hall for CNA) .- had staged a terroristic auto parade The South is experiencing a high in which wtenty-five fiery crosses tide in the movement for the enact- were burned and placards were dis– ment of the Federal anti-lynching played warning Negroes not to bill. This is particularly true of participate in the primary. Initiation fees were set at $1.00 per person; dues, SOc per month; $5.00 for 13 hours of riding; one hour SOc; 7Sc an hour on Sundays. These rates apply to members only. Guests are charged a small fee of $1.00 per hour. The club will soon announce its contest to select a name for the or– ganization. The election of officers were as follows: Mrs. Hill, president; Mrs. Lorraine Britton, vice-presi– dent; Mrs. Ruby Wright, secre– tary; Mrs. Bonita Duke, corres– ponding secretary; Mr. Rueben Sullivan, treasurer. There were 29 charter members present. Percy Norris Dead Seattle. - Percy Norris, mem– ber of a well-known pioneer fam– ily, met a heroic death Thursday, May 4. Mr. Norris was killed as he was attempting to warn others of impending death. His funeral Saturday was indicative of his life. Many friends attended to mourn The engagement of Miss Julia Blanchard to Mr. Kenneth F. Smits was announced at an in– formal gathering in Potter Hall, Linfield College, last week. Miss Blanchard, a member of the senior class of Linfield, is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Williams, 2726 N. E. Going Street. The bride-to-be was recently selected as a member of a nucleus for an Honor Society of Senior Women. She has enjoyed wide popularity in both scholastic and social realms. The benedict-to-be is a former resi– dent of Kans~ City. He is a grad– uate of the University of Kansas and at present a student of the Northwestern School of Law. He is, at present, employed with the State Unemployment Compensa– tion Bureau. The date for the wedding has been decided upon. Voters' Benefit Assn. Open Membership Drive JESSE B. BLAYTON Professor of Finance and Account– ing, Atlanta Un1versity, Atlanta., Ga., who is also a practical business ex– pert. being senior partner ln the firm of Blayton and Adair, Certified Pub– lic AccoUlltants. president of the Atlanta Negro Chamber of Com– merce, and executive vice-president of the Citi2ens Trust Company of Atlanta. 1\lr. Blayton has also held for the past seven years the post of Grand Keeper of Finances of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. Recently he lectured a.t Howard University, Washington, D. C., on Negro busi– ness. -(Calvin Service) STUDENTS FIGHT JI MCROW AT N. U. the Negro communities, where this movement, in spite of numerous shortcomings, is nevertheless reach– ing unprecedented heights. This is undoubtedly due to the A huge truck carried the crosses, and was followed by some 75 cars of hooded white men. The Klan again showed its true colors, by covering the license plates of their fact that the Negro people in the cars, a violation of the law, but South are more fully aware today, no police were to be found to arrest that at any time since Reconstruc- the law breakers. Hangmen on Parad~ tion, of the discrimination and per– secution which is their lot . At the A dnagling hangman's noose was same time they realize that it is not held conspicuously from one of the necessary to submit to these condi– tions and that an organized strug– gle against them will achieve genu– ine improvement. It is of great significance that an increasing number of Southern whites deplore cars. Evanston, Ill. May 11-(CNA) these conditions and support the -Northwestern University stu- Negro people m the struggle At a Board of Directors meet- dents this week prepared to renew against them. ing, Sunday, May 7, the members their fight against the institution's Discussion of the present anti- a resolution condemning the lynching of Lee Bell, a Negro taxi driver in .Florida, on April 30, and one urging the freedom of the five Scottsboro boys still in Alabama prison~. Daytona Beach, Fla., May 11. the passing of one of Seattle's fin– -(CNA) .-Everett and Earl est young men. d the board unanimously voted to Jim Crow restrictions. lynching bill, therefore, revolves start the spring membership drive Following blunt refusal of their around the general conditions of on Monday, May 15, 1939. request for establishment on the the race in the Sout has much as it The Klan's unsuccessful scare demonstration was held on the eve of the primary. Cards, lettered in red, were thrown from the car windows by the hundreds, and read: "respectable negro citizens are not voting tomorrow. Niggers stay away from the polls." It was signed with one-inch letters, "KKK." The parade passed through the Negro section. An effigy of a Negro was hung from a power pole just on the edge of the Negro se('t!on. A large red– lettered sign pinned on the figure, read: "This nigger voted." On primary day the same effigy ap– peared on a power pole across the street from one of the polling places as a large number of Negro citizens exercised their right to vote. Dra\' ng ~nost enthusiastic ap– plause, was the adoption aLa reso– lution commending Mrs. Roosevelt for resigning from the DAR in the Marian Anderson case. Mrs. Roosevelt is to be sent a letter from the conference praising her stand for democracy. Officers elected were: Herman H. Long, prominent young Birm– ingham school teacher, chairman; Yonkers Bites Nails Over Divine Heaven Yonkers, N. Y., May 11.– (CNA) .-vVhite residents of the fashionable Park Hill section of Yonkers this week looked on with jaundiced eyes as Father Divine's angels nonchalantly whistled at their work of remodeling a palatial old mansion into another "heaven." The whites were busily searching the statute books to see whether there was any law that could be invoked against a "heaven" in their midst, following acquisition by Father Divine of the three-acre estate at 357 Park Hill Ave., heart of the ritzy community. Only one of the Father's swanky neighbors took the situation calmly. He was Maurice H. Blinken, Manattan lawyer, who said : Blackwelder were being held on murder charges this week after a 23 Indicted in cu,unt/, jury fouuJ tl1l} "die! ·.-.il- Ohio Numbers Game fully kill" Lee Snell, Negro taxi For the benefit of Negro voters campus of a dormitory for ·both does around the specific crime of in th~s ~ity ~ho. are._not, ac_qauint-l white and Negro women students, lynching. This discussion reflects ed With the' mtncactes ur t1ty' aud 1~ coeds announced they would go that the drssaustacnon ot tht: l'ie– state government, the Association ahead with their efforts next gro people in the South is spread- driver. The brothers, who had been in "hiding" since the lynching of Snell, leisurely surrendered after attending the funeral services of a youngeh brother accidentally killed by Snell's taxi. Local authorities had made no effort to arrest the men prior to their surrender. The Blackwelders seized Snell from a constable on April 30 while the taxi driver was being taken to a hearing on manslaughter charges in Benny Blackwelder's death. Snell, a vVorld War veteran, is survived by a wife and adopted child. Police Constable James Durden testified before the coroner's jury that he was transporting Snell from Daytona to ne;rby DeLand after the Blackwelders had made threats against Snell's life. He positively identified the two brothers as the slayers of Snell. Snell had been involved in the accidental death of 12-year-old Be nBlackwelder, Jr., brother of the two lynchers, whose cycle col– lided with Snell's cab on April 30. Snell stopped his car immediately to heup the youngster, and was held by police for county authorities. Protests Force .11 ction Cleveland, May 11.-(CNA). will arrange a series of lectures school year. ing, broadening, including new P 1. d d Cl 1 d featuring prominent officials to h d · · - o 1ce squa s toure eve an The 12 girl students, Negro and groups untouc e , m rts course. h . k d h speak: on various phases of citizens' t rs wee to roun up twenty-t ree white, had asked the university for The keynote to the system of · d' d · h obligations. men m rete on extortion c arges permission to rent a house for discrimination is disfranchisement. by a grand jury ordered to investi- ------- dormitory use, pointing out that This is accomplished partly through gate "racketeers and muscle men" First Lady Asks such a step would help to "provide the poll tax, which is in effect in in Cleveland's numbers games. Racial Adjustment a practical solution to the racial eight states, and partly through Authorities estimated that the II R' d l N y M ll.- prejudice problem." registration laws which are de- k d $ 5 000 00 - rver a e, . ., ay . f f Cl 1 d ' d' . I .- emocracy ts to e rae et raws , ,0 a year 1 (CNA) If d , b President-Elect Franklyn Bliss signed for the specific purpose o rom eve an s tstnct a one. d 1 . d h l Snyder told four of the girls: depriving Negroes of the right to N b f b preserve , equa Ity un er t e aw urn ers game war are etween . . . "There are definite reasons for vote. · 1 h b bl d f rs essentral, Mrs. Franklm D. nva operators as een arne or R 1 l . . refusing your request. That is all It matters very little to the re- . k:'ll' h · 1931 ooseve t dec ared thrs week m a srx 1 mgs ere smce · talk at the home of Mrs. Cleveland I can say." actionaries that this is a violation H D d h The four girls were Virginia of the 14th and 15th amendments . o ge, ere. Woman Elected The First Lady advocated equal- Kennelly, 8810 Indiana Ave., Chi- to the U. S. Constitution. What In Los Angeles ity in education, equality in oppor- cago; Pat Clark, 2020 Sherman, probably does matter, however, is -- tunity for work: according to each Evanston; Kana Cole, Whiting, that the growing unity of the Los Angeles, May 11.-~CNA) I individual's ability and in all Ind., all white, and Eloise Boone, whites and the Negro people in the -Fay Allen, an outstandmg Ne-~ phases of American life. 3552 Vernon, Chicago. struggle against the poll tax is a gro woman liberal, ":as el~cted to "Poor whites in many states," Movement for a dormitory be- unity that undoubtedly can be ear- th B d f Educatl n th ek h · ried over int oa struggle against e oar o o rs we · s e pomted out, "as well as Ne- gan in February, following a re- Sh f tw · all restrictions on the right to vote. e was one o o progressives groes are disfranchised because of port by an inter-racial committee chosen by the city's voters. the poll taxes." ~that 33 Negro undergraduate stu- Miss Fay's election was part of a "When individuals have no dents at Northwestern did not have smashing victory by the people's stake in the country," she .con- adequate facilities for living or coalition-progressive ticket which tinued, "they have not the same study. The report stated that no elected six of its nine City Council- feeling of responsibility-they do Negro students lived on the cam– men and only missed a clean sweep not care what happens to it, be they pus; the boys had to live at a by less than 500 votes in each of white or black, foreign-born or of YMCA, and the girls at the homes the three losing districts. the earliest American stock." of Negro families. ANTI BIAS BILL PASSED BY SENATE Albany, N. Y., May 11.- Jim-crow segregation are aspects of the discrimination system that is so ever-present as to be obvious and irksome to even the most back– ward politically. This Jim Crow extends into every phase of life, transportation, education, health, restaurants, housing, everything! Although the Klan has paraded through the Negro section of the city on every election for a number of years, its activity was more vio– lent this year than ever before. The Klan directed its threats particu– larly against the work of the Ne– gro Citizens Service League, an organization interested in improv– ing conditions of Miami's Negro population. The Service League was largely responsible for the registration of 2,000 Negro citizens to vote i~ this election, an unusually large number. Although some 20,000 Negroes here are of' voting age, only 150 to 200 have registered for elections in the past. "I have no objection-as long as they behave properly." A deed transferring the property to Father Divine's followers was filed this week in the Westchester County Clerk's office in White Plains, N. Y. The revenue stamps on the deed indicated that $10,000 cash was paid and that a $5,580 mortgage was continued. The Overcliff Holding Company was the seller. The coroner's jury rendered its (CNA)._ Two anti-discrimina– verdict of wilful murder after the still locked in Republican-control– led committees. dered, depending on the grievance. The Republicans have failed to report out a bill which puts teeth in these provisions by making it a misdemeanor for an appointing of– ficial to discriminate on racial There are those, of course, who say that the Negro people do not object to segregation they simply want EQUAL facilities. There is an obvious fallacy here. Segrega– tion and inequality are twin broth– ers. The very fact of segregation implies inferiority and the result is always some form of discrimina– tion. There was never yet a Jim Crow railway car equal in clean– liness or comfort to the cars in which the whites were riding. There was never, in the South, a segregated Negro neighborhood that had street lights, paving, packs and houses equal to those in the white neighborhoods. Resentment against Jim Crow laws and cus– toms is becoming daily more wide– spread. If any thing, the threats of the Klan made Negroes more deter– mined to vote, and an accelerated vote was the result. During the first two hours of voting only about 8 per cent of the white population voted, a normal figure-during the same time, about 25 per cent of the colored voters already has cast their ballot. International Labor Defense ac- tion measures, relating to Civil Service employment, were passed Upper Chamber provides that an One measure approved by the Purchasers of the property were listed as Glory Light, Sweet Peace, John Revelation, Faithful Love, New Love Devotion, Patience Job, Mrs. True Love, Joy Love, Peace– ful John, Andrew J. Delap, Mary J. Mannes, John de Voute, Eliza– beth Zedda, Sam and Honest Mes– chach. cused the jury of delaying action against the accused murderers in the hope that public indignation over the outrage would die down and thus permit a whitewashing. Jacksonville representatives of the I. L. D. wired Florida's Sena– tors, Representative Hendricks and Attorney General Frank Murphy at Washington, and Governor Cone, demanding action against the two lynchers. The wire to Murphy said: "Sec– ond Florida lynching in one month marks complete breakdown of civil rights in this state. Request your It was reponed that one of Fa- intervention to secure constitution– ther's white followers was instru- al guarantees to residents of Flor– mental in putting through the deal. ida." by the State Senate this week as appointing officer who selects an progressive groups, Negro and applicant for civil service who is white, continuer to press for the graded lower than others on the grounds. f ll l · h · list must state his reasons and u equa ng ts program mtro- Civic leaders pointed out that d d I · h · f swear that the choice was not made uce ear ym t e present sessron o the measures adopted this week h L · 1 on the basis of race, color or creed. t e egrs ature. must be regarded little more than a A similar bill was defeated in the The measures adopte dare two gesture toward equal rights. Con- Republican-controlled Con s tit u- of eleven bills sponsored by the siderable public pressure is needed tional Convention last year. Temporary commission to investi- to force out of Republican-control- gate the condition of the Urban Public Hearing led committees the most vital com- Colored Population after a two· The other bill provides that a missio nbills which penalize public year study of discriminatory prac- civil servant who has been dis- utilities, the worst offenders, and tices. missed or denied promotion because forbid discrimination in housing, A third bill enlarging the defini- of racial discrimination may peti- education and legal contracts. tion of public places where racial tion for a public hearing before Senator Schwartzwald, New or color bias may not be shown the state civil service commission. York City Democrat and head of has been reported on the floor of In the event the petition is upheld, the Temporary Commission, intra– the Senate. The remainder are reinstatement or promotion is or- duced the bills passed this week. The Voters' Benefit Association holds its regular meetings on the first and third Mondeys of each month. N.Y. Fair Admits Negro Exhibit New York, May 11.-(CNA). -After conferences with Grover Whalen, president of the New York World's Fair Corporation, a group of Harlem leaders announc– ed this wek that provision will be made for an exhibit showing the Negro's part in American civiliza– tion. The Greater New York Coordi– nating Committee for Employment announced at the same time that such a venture would have no ef– fect on the fight against Whalen's discrimination policies in hiring personnel for the Fair.