The Panther. (Atlanta, Georgia) 19??-1989, February 01, 1945, Image 1
VOL. I CLARK COLLEGE, ATLANTA, GA., FEBRUARY, 1 945 NO. 4
Clark to Celebrate 76th Anniversary - Feb. 21
One of the dramatic scenes from “Meet the Husband,” by Robert Hilton. Reading from left to right the characters
are: Carter Carruthers, better known as “Ducky,” portrayed by Edward Smith; Gregory Sargent, the lawyer, portrayed by
Adolphus Lester. Dramatic Miss Humphries, portrayed by Dorothy Elliott; Fania Petroff, portrayed by Portia Thomas. Franklyn
Carruthers, portrayed by William E. Thompson and Caroline Stanton, portrayed by Ora J. Bohanon.
Fellowship Among All
Our Challenge
Our present-day Clark College!
This is the animated shrine! This is
the embodiment of a Utopia now in
carnate never to be parted with, but
upon the ideals of integrity, loyalty,
and cultural service will rest until
the end of time.
In the year 1890, Clark Universi
ty was founded. Little did those who
so nobly strove for the magnificent
institution know that their dreams,
though vague they may have been,
would now be exemplified in the per
spective of that new birth of educa
tion. This was the challenge they ac
cepted and translated into a never
dying reality of the true meaning of
possible seed.
Was it not with awe, assiduous
toil, a spirit of benevolence and serv
ice, a limitless faith that they com
bated many obstacles so that we may
now hold the luminous torch of proud
and staunch triumph ? Can we, for
all we’re worth, let this flame burn
out.? We must remember that we
are the heirs of a priceless victory,
the inheritors of a looming, growing
success. Though we may want to
shirk obligations, we are reminded
that the world soon forgets the liar,
the dodger, the proud and haughty,
and hurries to place the crown of
approval on the brow of him who
works, because work is the ordained
plan of life.
When we hear the names Brookes!
Thayer! Lavage! Brawley! we want
to shout for the victors. But, it is
not enough to shout for them. We
must take hold of the imperishable,
the limitless. We must hold fast to
that which is true, just, eternal,
rather than that which is ephemereal.
We are the progeny of a long line
of true Clarkites. While reminiscing
we cannot but remember and day
dream, though we have been with
this family a short while of the
sweet music, the rich teaching, the
religious inspiration, the philosophi
cal nursings of those known and un
known.
These are the incentives that spur
us on to:—
“Build thee more stately mansions, G
my soul,
As the swift seasons roll!
Leave thy low-vaulted past!
Let each new temple, nobler than
the last.
Shut thee from heaven with a
dome more vast,
Till thou at length art free,
Leaving thine outgrown shell by
life’s unresting sea!”
When this is done, we can write
the finale as though to a brilliant
opera, “Clark College is Second to
None!”
Are you truthfully and whole
heartedly accepting the challenge?
Lolita D. Guinart.
Prexy Speaks
CLARK COLLEGE’S SEVENTY-
SIXTH ANNIVERSARY
On February 21, 1945, we shall
pause to do honor to the founders
and builders of Clark College. This
will mark the Seventy-sixth Anni
versary of this renowned Institution.
“Where there is no vision, the peo
ple perish.” The founders and build
ers of Clark College had vision and
courage; thus a great institution has
played a significant role, not only
in helping to keep a great race of
people from perishing, but in inspir
ing in youth the vision for great ac
complishments. As the years roll on
making up the historic tradition of
the College, our task is to carry on
the spirit of devotion of those who
have gone before.
At this crucial period in the his
tory of the world it is ours to dedi
cate and rededicate this College and
ourselves to the making of a new
world order and thus prove ourselves
worthy of the heritage to which we
are heirs. In the living faith of our
founders and builders we may pass
on to those to come after us a richer
heritage and a greater Clark Col
lege.
Many See Clark Players
In Farce
The Clark College players under
direction of Mrs. Norma Hull Bland
presented to overflow audiences here
last Friday and Saturday evenings,
January 19 and 20, their first major
production of the year —- “Meet the
Husband,” by Robert Hilton. The
three-act farce, with its unexpected
twists and comic situations, kept the
large audience roaring with laughter.
The superb acting of the players,
gave to the play a touch of finish
seldom achieved. In “Meet the Hus
band,” the proverbial poor young man
falls in love with the dashing rich
girl who keeps him an easy mark
for the bill collectors. In order to
gain large sums of money to solve
nis vexatious problems in short or
der, he marries a wealthy spinster on
the agreement that they be divorced
as soon as she comes into the pos
session of the fortune left her on
condition that she marry anybody
save her “Ducky”—the man she has
loved for years. With that marriage
the complications began and rose to
a smashing climax.
Gregory Sargent, the struggling
young lawyer in such need of a cli
ent that he accepts a matrimonial
case, was ably portrayed by Adol
phus Lester, who lent his own keen
sense of humor to the role in which
he was completely at ease.
Marilyn Garrett and Maurice
Downs alternated as lawyer Sar
gent’s witty Secretary, each giving
the role her own vivacious interpre
tation and charm.
The much needed client and frus
trated spinster, Eva Humphries, was
so commendably portrayed by Doro
thy Elliott that only seeing made it
credible. Franklyn Carruthers was
ingeniously portrayed by William
Thompson who kept the audience hys
terical with alternating tenderness,
violence and fainting.
Caroline Stanton was portrayed by
Ora J. Bohanon, who with feigned,
child-like simplicity, kept the com
plexities mounting. Eva Humphries’
nurse was brilliantly enacted by Em
ma Phillips, who not only threatened
to steal the show but Miss Hum
phries “Ducky” as well.
With the appearance of Edward
Smith, whose vivid, life like portray
al of Carter Carruthers, better known
as “Duckie,” we thought the cast
complete until the unexpected en
trance of Fania Petroff, ably por
trayed by Portia Thomas.
One-Woman Show
Visits Clark
Sunday evening, February 4, 1945,
the Clark College Playhouse present
ed Miss Marjorie Moffett in the sec
ond dramatic recital given on the
campus this year. Miss Moffett’s pro
gram consisted of five dramatiza
tions, one being “Shropsy Topsy”
which was done by Mrs. Norma Bland
in her recital earlier this year. Miss
Mrs. Overton Speaks to
Clark Students
Mrs. Grace Sloan Overton started
the first week of the semester off
with a series of lectures and discus
sions on Courtship, Marriage, and
Family Life. Mrs. Overton is a na
tive of Indiana, but makes her home
with her husband, Dr. E. A. Overton
in Athens, N. Y., just outside of New
York City. Before entering her pres
ent type of work she taught Psy
chological Interpretation of Dramatic
Literature in a school of the north.
She has taught this and other sub
jects in schools all over America.
Mrs. Overton often works under
the auspices of the Y. M. C. A., the
Y. W. C. A. and other institutions;
concerted efforts of Clark, Morehouse
and Spelman Colleges. She has given
lectures at Tennessee State College,
Fisk University; Bennett College and
other Negro and white schools
throughout the north and the south.
Mrs. Overton’s initial interest in
social problems began immediately
after World War I while she was
teaching. She did not start lectur
ing then; she continued teaching and
studying the personal and statistical
nature of the field. She looked to
see what was wrong and sought a
solution to the many besetting prob
lems of the field.
The answers she found to solve
those problems are the same as those
needed today; a practical attitude to
ward pre-marital relationships; be
lieving and acting in behalf of so
ciety as well as one’s self. She went
on to say that there is a great deal
of good straight thinking going on
among the men and women on
Clark’s campus—more than there was
three years ago when she was here.
She states that the women are think
ing straighter than the men. The
women know that men want “good
girls” for their wives and they have
made up their minds to be “good,”
but some of the men make it diffi
cult for them, by their (using her
pet word) “primitive” actions. How
about that? Are there cave men at
C. C. ? ? ? The girls are concerned
about what men mean by “good
girls” and how they expect to have
any left.
Mason Wilkes II.
Moffett, incidentally, is the author of
“Shropsy Topsy.” Her experience on
the stage was exhibited in the easi
ness with which she projected herself
into her roles.
After the recital Miss Moffett was
honored by a reception given in her
behalf by the Playhouse. The stu
dents and faculty had a chance to
become acquainted with her and to
hear some of her interesting experi
ences. One very complimentary re
mark Miss Moffett made of the Clark
students was that she believed that
they were beteer able to enjoy her
program because of our coeducation
al system.
A History of The Alpha
Kappa Mu Honoring
Scholarship
As a part of the silver anniversary
program of A & T State College,
Phi Beta Tau Honorary Scholarship
Society invited all Negro Colleges
having honor societies to send repre
sentatives to consider the possibility
of forming a national organization.
Six colleges responded and a feder
ation of honor societies was estab
lished. In a second meeting at A &
T College, Greensboro, North Caro
lina, ten additional institutions were
represented and definite plans were
laid to form a national organization.
An executive committee was elected
to draw up a constitution, a ritual,
and to adopt an emblem. At Arkansas
State College in Pine Bluff, the con
stitution was adopted, the name se
lected and plans completed to extend
the organization.
Today, Alpha Kappa Mu has a
membership of over nineteen col
leges. It grants chapters to institu
tions rated by regional or national
accrediting agencies. Election to stu
dent membership is limited to mem
bers of junior and senior classes who
have maintained a grade ratio of 2.3
points in a grading system where A
is 3 points, B is 2 points, and C is 1
point.
The purpose of Alpha Kappa Mu as
set forth by the constitution is as
follows: “The purpose of the Society
shall be to promote high scholar
ship, to encourage sincere and zeal
ous endeavor in all fields of knowl
edge and service; to cultivate a high
order of personal living; and to de
velop an appreciation for scholarly
work and scholarly endeavor in oth
ers.”
Kappa Theta chapter, which is on
this campus was founded in Febru
ary, 1944, before the annual meeting
at Atlanta University.
Mr. George W. Gore, the national
president, had already written here
concerning the organization of a
chapter, so at the annual meeting a
group of representatives, led by Miss
Lucille Davis, went to talk to Mr.
Gore about further steps for estab
lishment. As a result of having made
application and conference with the
officials of the society, Clark was
admitted at that annual session. Its
charter members are: Miss Lucille
Davis, Miss Earline Burns, Miss Al
ma Upton, Mr. Isiah Lawerence, Dr.
J. P. Brawley, and Dr. A. A. Mc-
Pheeters.
One college president holds out the
challenge to the student body that
the honor society in the one Greek
letter organization to which any de
serving student can elect himself.
The founders of Alpha Kappa Mu
conceived of an organization of Ne
gro men and women of superior abil
ities who would be so organized that
their mutual efforts might be co
ordinated and stimulated.
Anna M. Rice.
Printed below is the third annual
Message on Race Relations issued by
tne Commission on Justice and Peace
of the Central Conference of Ameri
can Rabbis in observance of Race Re
lations Week and Abraham Lincoln’s
136th birthday, entitled “Fellowship
Among All.”
“BUT THOU SHALT LOVE THY
NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF: I AM
iHE LORD”—Lev. 19: 18.
Our war effort, which has chan
neled most of our national resources
into a single drive for victory, has
also highlighted the moral objectives
tor which we strive. One of these is
the achievement of fellowship among
all the sons of men, whatever their
ancestry or race. Prejudices based on
differences in color are relics of a
primitive age which neither the find
ings of modern science nor the teach
ings of hign religion can justify.
We of the Household of Israel ex
press our sense of brotherhood with
the colored races. We pledge them
our support in the struggle for the
equality which is their right in all
spheres of human endeavor. In seek
ing justice they are claiming their
birthrignt, whicti is upheld Dy the
equality of all men before God and
in the principles of the Declaration of
independence and of the Constitution
of the United States.
We rejoice in the recent progress
made in minimizing discrimination
and segregation which have dishon
ored our democratic society. We wel
come the gains of the Fair Employ
ment Practice Committee in opening
the doors of industrial establishments
and trade unions to those who were
previously shut out by racial and re
ligious intolerance. When that body
is established, as we hope, on a per
manent basis with adequate appropri
ations, it will be all the more effec
tive. We urge that similar commit
tees should be set up by law in all
the states to safeguard the rights of
citizens which might otherwise be
jeopardized by the forces of preju
dice.
We applaud the steps taken by the
army and navy to admit to all
branches of the services colored men
and women who have been eager to
demonstrate their patriotism in posts
of responsibility and danger.
No racial group in our country has
manifested more heroism on the field
of battle than our soldiers of Japan
ese ancestry who have won glory in
the Italian campaign. It is hearten
ing to learn that an act of belated
justice is permitting loyal Japanese-
Americans to return to their home
communities on the Pacific Coast.
Despite all the encouraging epi
sodes in the war against prejudice
we are sufficiently realistic to ap
preciate the great labor before us,
if we are to triumph over the tradi
tion of hate, which sanctions Jim
Crow laws with their accompaniment
of bad housing, sub-standard wages
and inadequate educational facilities.
These survivals of slavery must be
abolished.
We are gratified to note that reli
gious groups are setting examples in
racial justice. The Federal Council
of Churches of Christ in America
elected a Negro as its vice-president
and St. Louis University opened its
doors to Negro students. May we all
prove our consecration to the will of
God by seeking to rid men of the
spiritual disease of race prejudice.
May men of good will of whatever
dispensation hasten the day when all
men, black, brown, yellow, and white,
may recognize that they are breth
ren, children of our father in heaven.
Former Clarkite Serving
With Red Cross
Ralph A. Long, 67 Pinson Street,
Newnan, Georgia, has arrived in Aus
tralia to serve the armed forces as
an American Red Cross Assistant
Field Director. Until his Red Cross
appointment Long was coach and
athletic director for Savannah Street
High School in Newman. He is one
of two hundred Negro personnel now
serving with the Red Cross overseas.
He is a graduate of Clark College
High School and Clark College. He
is a member of the McDonough Ma
sonic Order.
The foregoing information was re
ceived from Clifford B. Tigg, Direc
tor of Public Information Service.