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66 YEARS OF CONTINUOUS PUBLIC SERVICE LXVI THEY WAITED IN VAIN—A view of the large crowd which waited In vain Tuesday night at the City Auditorium to hear Paul Robeson, re¬ nowned singer and speaker. For Refusing to Hold Segregated Meeting, Robeson Rally Forced to Disband Under Police Pressure Because the sponsors of a rally refused to segregate white and Negro attendants w'ho gathered Tuesday night at the City Auditorium to hear Paul Robeson, internation¬ ally famous singer and a member of the executive commit¬ tee of the Peoples Progressive party, the meeting was dis¬ banded a few minutes after it had got underway when R. V. Summerlin, the manager of the auditorium, would njM permit the stage curtain to be raised unless the audi¬ ence was seated Separately as to whites and Negroes- There were approximately 1,200 persons present in the auditorium, about 100 of whom were whites, seated among the main floor attendants, at eight o’clock when «• P. Mooney, In¬ ternational Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter workers represen¬ tative and chairman, of the meeting, emerged through the curtain and began addressing the crowd, telling them that their organization did not countenance segregation of the races and thus the meeting was free to everybody to sit where they pleased. No soon,er had he finished two or three paragraphs of his opening talk than Mr. Sum¬ merlin, the auditorium manag¬ er, took the mike out of Mr. Mooney’s hands and proceeded to tell the audience that an unsegregated meeting could not be held in the auditorium and that the meeting could npt proceed unless the races were separated. He asked the crowd to withdraw quietly when the sponsors refused to do this. Af this point the squad of policemen who were on hand began to get busy and when Reid Robinson, the internation¬ al vice president of the orga¬ nization sponsoring the meet¬ ing and who had flown here from Chicago (to address the meeting, attempted to speak to the crowd he was prevented from doing so by the police, who pulled him away from the microphone and pushed him behind the curtain. In discussing the incident af¬ ter the meeting, Mr. Robinson said: “Tonight’s action by the po¬ lice was not only an attack on American constitutional rights of free speech and free assem¬ bly, but must be considered as part of the evil fruits of the Taft-Hartley pattern of de- j^rw/ing unions in the United 'M&p: This brutal action at at Municipal Auditorium re¬ minds one of pre-Roosevelt administration days when the workers had to fight alone for their elementary rights of or¬ ganization and collective bar¬ gaining.” national Clarke Foremarf. treasurer of the Progressive party and a leader hi "or microphone to speak. He auanrali (Mmim Photo By Tolbert PAUL ROBESON seized by the police and pushed behind the curtain. At this point the crowd began to disband, leaving orderly, though with a look of disap¬ pointment on their faces at not being able to hear Robeson, who was making his first visit to Savannah. Among the other outstand¬ ing Progressives present who were to address the meeting were James L. Barfoot, candi¬ date for governor of Georgia; Larkin Marshall of Macon, candidate for the U- S. Senate; Flo J d Hunter, candidate for the U. S. House of Representatives from the Fifth congressional district and Raymond Tillman New Orleans, representative of the Union of Transportation Workers. Robeson had not arrived at the auditorium while these in¬ cidents were going on. He was not scheduled to be on the scene until 8:30 o’clock. When Mr. Robeson was told of the un-American incident and one which will not give Savannah a very pleasing name throughout the country, he said. ' - MMT “I regret exceedingly I was unable to appear before the (Continued on Dane <!> Rickenbackei—Graves Mrs. A L. Rickenbacker and Mr. J. G. Graves were Monday, September 27, in lanta Ga at the home cf Mr. isiding l sr: vj i CL Y tso ■ A lavs twinI at 511 West Henry street, SAVANNAH GEORGIA THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1948 Disappointment was occasioned by the retu- sal of the auditorium authorities, with police assistance,, to allow a mixed racial audience to listen to the presentation. BARFOOT SHOCKED AT INCIDENT James L- Barfoot, guber¬ natorial candidate of th.i Peoples Progressive party of Georgia, makes public the following personal statement expressing his in¬ dignation when he witness¬ ed how a peacefully assem¬ bled audience w’as by strong-arm tactics compell¬ ed to leave the Municipal Auditorium of Savannah last night and not allowed the opportunity of hearing Paul Robeson, world famous singer and actor! “As a citizen of Georgia and as a guest in the his¬ toric city of Savannah, I was shocked and deeply miliated at the action of certain local authorities in refusing the people of Sa¬ vannah the privilege of hearing the world-renown artist, Paul Robeson. In defense of our state, I would like to say publicly that I know' the great ma¬ jority of the people of Georgia will not approve this kind of police censor¬ ship. My faith in the Progres¬ sive party’s future was re¬ doubled when the audience, both colored and white, dis¬ ROBESON RALLYISTS HEAR PROGRESSIVES— 'Left) Raymond Tillman, Orleans, speaking to the mixed audience at Masonic Temple Wednesday night at a Paul Robeson Rally: (Center,. A portion of the large drowd present; j ~ --- --- --------O rrrisar “.r; jreal and active Civil Bights program Court Decisions Spur NAACP Education Drive New York, Sept. 30—The NAACP drive for the elimina¬ tion of segregation in educa¬ tion and equality in teachers’ salaries was accelerated by three court decisions handed down this week by federal and state courts. In Oklahoma City a special three-man federal court inval¬ idated the state's laws pro¬ hibiting co-education of the races insofar as it prevented admission of a Negro student to ^he graduate school of the University of Oklahoma. In Atlanta a federal judge ruled that the Atlanta School Board could not maintain a discriminatory salary scale bas¬ ed on race. And in Austin, the Supreme Court of Texas refus¬ ed to grant a writ of error which would have brought be¬ fore the highest court of the state the now famous Sweatt case challenging Bhe segregation laws of that state. “These cases illustrate the irregular course of our drive against jinn Crow in education,” Thurgood Marshall, NAACP special counsel, said. “In the Atlanta decision we won a victory which establishes the right of Negro teachers to sal¬ aries equal to those paid white instructors. In Oklahoma, (al¬ though the court failed to or¬ der the university to admit our client, we succeeded in winning a declaratory judgment which we believe will enable us to Continued on Page Six Growth of Negroes In Colleges By Carter Jewell NEW YORK (ANP) — The annual educational number of The Crisis,, reveals that at least 88,557 Negroes were en¬ rolled in 1947-48 in American colleges, universities and pro¬ fessional schools- Of this number, 5,635 graduated with bachelor degrees. That Negroes are seeking ed¬ ucation in increasing numbers is indicated by the fact that Negro enrollment in colleges in 1946-47 was 74,095 or 14,462 less than that for 1947- 48. This increase is noted in both the Negro institutions of higher learning and the white educational institutions. The Crisis report, likely the most inclusive one available at present,, shows that there were 5,636 graduates with the bachelor’s degree; 451 with the master’s degree; 9, Ph. D.; one doctor of education; one, doc¬ tor of theology; 126, M. D.; 68 Continued on Page Six played a genuine reluctance to leave. Dozens of people approached me to ask if somehow the concert could not go on. This expression of a dem¬ ocratic people’s will is w’hat made Georgia great. It has enabled the Progressive pvrty to place its national candidates, Wallace and Taylor, on the ballot in Georgia, and it will enable the Progressive party to place its stette candidates rtn the ballot also, thus as¬ suring the voters a real choice in the general elec¬ tions November 2. DR. THOMPSON IN CHARGE DENTAL CLINIC Dr. Luther Thompson has been appointed in charge of dental clinic for Negroes at Chatham-Savannah Health De¬ partment. Dr. Thomson is a native of Pittsburgh, Pa., where he received his elementary and high school training, grad¬ uating from Sc,henley High School. He entered Fisk Un¬ iversity as a pre-dental student graduating in June 1944, He then entered Meharry Medical Continued on Page Six Smash Pliilly Dope Ring; Jail Business Man Girl Scouts To Celebrate Issuing of Low Stamp Mrs. M. B. Payne, chairman of the Negro division, invites all of the Negro Girl Scouts to take a part in the big celebra¬ tion of the issuing of the Ju- li^tt Low Commemorative stamp on October 29. This stamp will go on sale imme¬ diately after this ceremony. The stamp is being issued by the past office in honor of the late founder of the Girl movement in America, and it is very befitting that this stamp should be issued at the shrine where Girl Scouting began in America 36 years ago. Many persons of great note from all over the country will be in attertdance at this cele¬ bration. Among the dignitari¬ es incited will be the Postmas¬ ter General, Mrs. Lawrence, niece of Mrs. Low; Mrs. Dr. Hayes, first vice president of the national board of New York, and members from the nation- and regional staffs; Mrs- New, director of public infor¬ mation, Miss Betty Brooks, re¬ gional director, and perhaps mart others. The Mayor other city officials will be on the program. Included in the program will be the three color guards, each guard composed of four Girl Scouts, three white and one Negro from Savannah, Pic¬ tures will be made for televis¬ ion and movies- All stamp collectors will be on hand io receive one of these commem¬ orative stamps and others will want one for their friends and scrapbooks. All Girl Scouts who have uniforms or who are properly identified by their troop lead¬ ers will be allowed to leave school and attend the cere¬ mony, which will be held downtown headquarters. This celebration comes just Girl Scout week, which begins Oct. 31 and continues through Nov. 6. Mrs. Payne is very anxious that all girls meet with their troop leaders and get their troops reactivated so that they may be ready for the coming events. If a girl is not » scout arVl is desirous of becoming one, she is asked to contact Mrs. Countess Y. Cox, field di¬ lector, at 714 West Broad street or by calling 3-9966. Balked in their effort Tues¬ day night to hold a mixed au¬ dience Paul Robeson rally at the City Auditorium, the Mill, Mine, Smelter Workers Union, sponsors, held a very success¬ Member Audit Bureau Circulation Price 7c Nurses Told To Fight For Integration NEW YORK (ANP) - The J fortieth anniversary of the National Association of Color¬ ed Graduate Nurses, honoring charter members and actress Lena Horne, was observed on Saturday at the Tavern-Oiir the-Green in Central Park. The guest speaker was Dr. Charming Tobias, Phelps- Stokes director. Estelle M. Os¬ borne presided. Addressing the group of some 306 distinguished guests of all races at the luncheon, was Dr. Channing Tobias. The speak¬ er said this is a “momentous occasion for all of us and es¬ pecially the founders and early pioneers of this movement. The organization has called atten¬ tion to the contribution of the Ne «. ro nurse in . lhe .. , busmess . of , healing and care in this coun¬ try.” Dr. Tobias urged the nurses to fight for full integration in¬ to all phases of health educa¬ tion. He also stressed the im¬ portance of deleting the word colored from the name of the oorganization. “We can’t eat our cake and have It, too. Full and complete recognition for Continued on Page 6 Discrimination in Veterans’ Housing Ordered Ended Trenton, N. J. Sept. Commission' 30 -By action of the City this week. , . Negro veterans , were assured an opportunity to ob¬ tain housing in a Trenton veterans’ housing project. Ac¬ cording to charges made by Clifford R. Moore and Charles Williams of the Trenton branch of the National Assocciation for U/ie Advancement of Col¬ ored People, city officials had planned, while refusing to pass on applications of Negro vet¬ erans, to admit white veterans to the completed units. ful unsegregated meeting last night at the Masonic Temple on West Gwinnett street. A leader of the organization said at last night’s meeting NUMBER 51 PHILADELPHIA (ANP) — A dope ring was and a prominent street business man was as the alleged opera¬ by members of the nar¬ cotics squad after a month of intensive investigation. James Gibbs, the suspect, alias James Gardner, 46, was to get in his flashy Lin¬ sedan when he was ar¬ rested by Lt. William Lienhau- and three detectives- The accused was held in $5,000 ball for court by Magis¬ trate Haga|> when arraigned at Central police station on the charges of unlawful possession and sale of Narcotics and con¬ spiracy. Lienhauser declared that Gibbs, who operates a hotel, a cleaning establishment and a restaurant, has been the source of supply for South Philadelphia dope traffic for several months. There has been a tremendous increase in the flow of drugs in South Pliilly within the last six months, he continued. In an to ease the financial burden incurred by the habit, are enticing teen-agers to use the drugs. An all-out campaign to rid the city of “peddlers of living death” was climaxed with the arrest of Gibbs, Eleven ad¬ have been placed under arrest and held for court since the drive began five weeks ago. The arrest of Joseph Gor¬ don, 26, was the major break the case which resulted in the apprehension of Gibbs. Thirteen capsules of heroin Continued on Page Six Protests were made to city officials and to the State De- nartiment of Economics Develop ment, which had built the homes, by NAACP branch offi¬ cials and by Mrs. Marian Wynn Perry. N4ACP assistant special counsel. The City Commission and representatives of the Trenton Committee on Veterans’ Hons- ing have now agreed that no applicants will be admitted to ^he project until # all applica¬ tions have been screened and passed upon without discrimi¬ nation. 1 Photo By Tolbert— Tribune Staff Photog. that he had been told by a high police dffieial that no un¬ segregated meeting would ever Continued