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NEGRO HISTORY AND ITS WEEK
From The Birmingham World
A strictly orthodox observance amon.tr
us would be our native reverence for Ne¬
gro History Week. Every year from
February 7th through the 14th, young
Negro America digs away into old files
and dejected attics ihe to find out what can
be brought upon scene in the line of
the Negro’s contributions .and his reac¬
tions to the annals through which he
passed. The colleges and common schools
will observe the occasions with the added
attractions of the Negro’s contribution in
art. literature, science and what not. Sne-
cial speakers selected for the occasion
will refresh the youngsters in the lore of
Negro history and that attendant pride
which should accompany the oroner and
well merited appreciation justly due.
For a long time, the most valuable con¬
tributions. state papers and imperishable
relics of Negro worth and patriotism,
were allowed to drift here and von to be
passed up and forgotten. The history
books in the common schools bore the
characteristics and nhilosophies of those
favorable to the authors approved by the
various text book commissions. Seldom
any reference was made to such leaders
of the Negro race who figured in the.
contributions and development of the
state and nation.
The late Dr. Carter G. Woodson and
his associates saw the fallacy in allowing
so much of the contributions of a people
going to waste for no other reason than
their creators were Negroes. They went
about to do things about it and from the
very first their efforts at digging out and
producing factual history of the Negro
and his times, proved encouraging, and
soon there were thousands of takers on
the scene.
Negro history has become the enics in
the nation’s history; the world characters
CONGRATULATIONS TO MELVIN SMITH AND THE PEOPLE
From The Atlanta Daily World
Quite naturally the acquittal of Melvin
Lewis Smith and his subsequent release
from jail, after being held for fourteen
months, would bring great reioicing. not
onlv to his immediate family, but to those
public spirited citizens who helped with
their mites to save the 22-year-old father
from the electric chair to which ho was
sentenced last Anpil.
The trial of Smith occasioned general
concern and there were citizens of both
races who believed from the beginning
that Smith was innocent and the victim
of unfortunate ciMimstances. The jury
substantiated this belief.
In the first place, his counsel are to he
commended for the firm stand and the
devotion exhibited throughout the trials.
Two hard worked -attorneys— Dan Cope¬
land and Phillip Slotin. now have every
reason to be proud of the fight they put
up.
The jury is to be commended for the
firmness of a verdict which stood up in
their minds despite the ugly pictures
painted and the efforts to make the most
of extenuating circumstances and the
tense atmosphere through which the case
at times moved.
In the second place, those fine citizens
whose convictions moved them to assume
what they termed “their’, share of the
litigation, are in for an ovation in a firm
spirit that it “might be mine tomorrow,”
they moved with precision and did not let
up in their giving until it was announced
that it was felt that enough funds were
in for ample defense.
In the third place, here was a glaring
lesson of what can be done at the level
of justice when sentiment arouses suffi¬
What Should a Negro I)o?
By VICTOR CALVERTON
NORFORK. Va.— What do you
think a Negro should do if asked
to speak on General Robert E.
Lee? What could he sav, or
what should he say? Should he
accept an invitation to speak on
the man who headed the military
forces that were striving during
the Civil War to defend chattel
slavei-y?
The late Roscoe Mitchell of
Rktamond, Va... nap ha-" of the lata
John Mitchell, Jr., former editor
National Advertising Representatives
Associated Publishers
55 West 42nd Street
New Yora 35, New York
1M W. Washington Bt.
Chicago 2, 111.
Mr. Robert Whaley
Whaiey-Simpson Company
6608 Selma Ave.
Los Angeles 28. California
Mr. Gordon Simpson
Whaiey-Simpson Company
700 Montgomery St.
San Francisco 11, California
A
that race have produced would go beyond
the boundaries of the nation.
This effort, so humbly begun has
gained momentum and it is quite appro¬
priate that the week be celebrated in
grand style.
This year would he one of the most im¬
portant annals in the area of Negro His¬
tory Week. It finds him the principal
topic of the century, with hardly any
newspaper being without him on its front
page.
Never in the record of all time, has
the Negro been such a disturbing and in¬
teresting factor. State General Assem¬
blies. District Courts and Federal edicts
.mark the stride of this once forgotten
men.
Thusly. the year I960 brings to mem¬
ory another vear of fete bearing a 60
ftio year 1860 when this same humble
human being became an issue which split
the Union, the Methodist Church and po¬
litical parties. There was so much fuss
over Mm that even Fngland and France
figured in the quarrel rocking the new
World
1960 sees the days of fate re¬
turn- the decade of decision as thp
world again listens to the rattling of
“drv bones in the valley.”
We have come noon saner days than
those whieh divided the Unions, the
church and political parties.
Negro History and its week came u>'on
manv chapters which bv the time the
year 2060 rolls around, it should find it¬
self beginning a third century richer in
racial enterprise and more abundant in
the revelations of the 1st and the 2nd
C onim-uidments—
“Thou Shalt Love Thv Neighbor
As Thvself.”
Negro History—and its week, make the
most of them.
cient interest for the pooling of the
strength of those of a oneness in faith
and purpose. It carries also the lesson
that we are each our brother’s keeper and
that there are times when the whole
people shoidd unite to gain what is justly
due them in a legalized society.
And we appreciate the fact that the
Solicitor General has drooned other
charges. The Atlanta Daily World is
especially happy. The time, hard work
and the publicity and what not, have been
amplv rewarded in the main objective
sought, the freedom of Melvin Lewis
Smith.
After being in the very shadow of
the electric chair, Melvin Lewis Smith
walks the street a free man. This is
Cod’s grace through which he moves and
there may be a bright side to look up¬
on after all should one realize that we
cannot understand the move of fate and
the lessons that come from the bitter
dregs of misfortune.
Aloiv with others, we are proud to have
had a hand in this fight. We felt that
righteousness would prevail in the end
and that innocence would be vindicated.
We bad faith also in our people and
through it all the testing stone by which
tbev were tried proves something to the
everlasting credit of those who neither
failed nor faltered.
All in all. the enactment and its rami¬
fications give a new meaning to loyalty
and a new emnhasis on unstinted devotion
and racial fealty.
Melvin Lewis Smith is eternally grate¬
ful to those people, many who never saw
him, and who, across the dark waves,—
“Threw out the life-line.”
of the Richmond Planet, was in¬
vited to address a Negro parent-
Teacher Association in Richmond
I on Robert E. Lee. Everyone was
j curious and anxious to know what
| Mr. Mitchell would say. The
j | , meeting was crowded.
j Mitchell brought the audience
under control with a simple bu*.
challenging statement. He said:
“Long ago I decided whatever
else I would leave my children, I
would not saddle or. them j.r of
my prejudice^.” Ihu statement
, did the trick. Mitchell had no
I trouble giving his appraisal of
j the man who is the idol of the
South. Incidentally, he set a fine
example for all colored and white
parents.
Negro children in Virginia are
attending schools named for gen¬
erals who served in the Civil War
as rebels against the government
of the United States, Stonewall
Jackson elementary school which
was built in Norfolk for white
children is now attended by colored
children.
-Love ye your enemies.—
THE SAVANNAH TRIBUNE, SAVANNAH, GEORGIA
Must Be Destroyed If There Is To Be Understanding
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NEGRO EDITORS- |
Fifth in a Series I
I
EDUCATE FOR FREEDOM I
The publisher of the St. Louis
Argus is one who got his roots
in the operation of the newspapel
having started in the company’s
job department at the age of 10.
Young Frank Mitchell, undei
the guidance of his father, the
late William Mitchell and his
uncle, the late J. E. Mitchell,
founders, worked his way to the
position as floorman, pressman and
then to the linotype machines.
Feeling that he needed to ex
pand his activities beyond his
family ciicle, Mr. Mitchell moved
to Chicago where for two years
he was employed in the composing
room of the Chicago Defender. He
Returned to the St. Louis Argus
in 1943 as director of mechanical
operations where he put into
operation a number of significant
programs.
Mr. Mitchell is a native of St.
Louis and in this way has the feel
and tenor of the community his
newspaper s e r v e s. Probably the
most unassuming and modest pub¬
lisher in the profession, Frank
Mitchell, Sr., is one of its most
experienced. Beneath his quiet
manner lies a ready knowledge of
the printing and publishing busi¬
ness.
Through the years, the Argus
has stood in the forefront of ev¬
ery crusade and project for the
betterment of its readership. A
forthright crusade on the question
of a public accommodations (civil
rights) bill for the city, was
launched last year under Mr. Mit¬
chell's personal direction. Taking
the initiative, Publisher Mitchell
first called together the four Ne¬
groes presently on the St. Louis-
Board of Aldermen for a “civil
i-ights conference” and briefing on
what the Argus proposed to do.
Following this meeting, the St.
Louis Argus began a detailed
analysis of the “political facts of
life’’ as they related to the whole
question of public accommodations
legislation. The consistent cam¬
paign by the Argus on this issue
later caused the defeat of a can¬
didate for the St. Louis Board
of Education.
y. c. r. c.
Reports on
(Continued from Page On*;
whole meeting was recorded by a
court stenographer and copies of
the transcript were provided to
the U. S. Commission on Civil
Rights and members of the Con¬
gress.
The witnesses were questioned
by Belford V. Lawson, Jr., attor¬
ney in Washington and counsel for
the National Business League.
Summing up after the witnesses
had testified, he said there is
“one central issue, namely,
right of the Negro to vote in
South.”
Bishop Edgar A. Love of
more was general chairman of
meeting at which the hearing wa
j held. Invocation was by the
I RANK W. MITCHELL, SR.
St. Louis Argus, Publisher
The Argus has always been
keenly sensitive to the field of
athletics. During his earlier years
in the business Frank Mitchell
played on the Argus basketball
team and one of his happiest mo¬
ments came when he lead, as
general manager, the Argus Bull¬
dogs itv breaking the color line in
the St. Louis Municipal Athletic
Association.
The Argus publisher has not
been derelict in his responsibility
to civic matters. 1 nder appoint-
ment by Gov. PhH M. Donnelly,
he served the Missouri State
Board of Education as a member
for five years. For one year he
guided the destinies of the school
children of the state as the board’s
president.
The Boy S co uts of America
recognized Mr. Mitchell through
its area council with a citation of
merit. He is presently a member
of the board of trustees of the
Berea Presbyterian Church
Since the founding of the St.
James J. lheeb. A welcome was ex¬
tended by the pastor of the church,
the Rev. James D. Foy. The clos¬
ing statement was by Aubrey W.
Williams, president of the South¬
ern Conference Educational Fund,
and by Bishop Oxnam.
The organizations sponsoring
j the mock hearing were the Ala-
bania Christian Movement for Hu¬
man Rights; Baptist Ministers
Conference of Washington and
Vicinity; F. 1 k s Civil Liberties
League of Washington, D. C.;
! Methodist Ministers Union of
j Washington and Vieinity; Missis¬
sippi Regional Council of Negro
Leadership; Montgomery Improve-
ment Association; National
ternal Council of Churches; Non-
Partisan Voters League of
Ala.; North Carolina
Civic Union; Southern
Leadership Conference; Southern
Con fere nee Erh, toiona! F ».n
Tennesse Civic Leagues;
Louis Argus in 1912 by the Mit¬
chell Brothers, it has pursued a
course designed to enhance the
status and conditions of Negroes
in its trading area. Mr. Mitchell,
since his ascendancy to the posi¬
tion of publisher in 1955, has
continued to pilot the newspaper
along this path. He works closely
with his mother, Mrs. Nannie | i
Mitchell-Turner, who serves the (
corporation as president. 1 o- I
gether they make an excellent ex¬
ecutive team which is presently
ma ppi n g qlans for a bigger and
j newspaper soon to be
printed in an expanded plant.
St. Louis is regarded as Amer¬
ica’s most desegregated border
city. The Argus has paced every j
step of St. Louis interracial prog-
ress with singular, distinction.
Mitchell is married and the
father Eugene. of two Eugene sons, Frank graduates Jr., and this j
from Missouri University i
year 1
School of Medicine. He was the
1 first Negro student from St. Louis. 5
j
gee Civic Association; United!
Christian Movement of Louisiana;
Veterans Benefit of America,
Inc.; and Walker-Lassiter De¬
fense Fund of North Carolina.
Some of the witnesses and lead-
ers of several of these groups
visited Representatives and Sena- 1
tors on February 1st and reported :
a good response to their requests 1
to, effective civil rights legislation j
Among those in the delegations Shuttles-1 •
"ere the Rev. Fred L.
worth, Birmingham, president of
the ACMHR; Miss Ella J. Baker,
Atlanta, executive director of the 1
SCLC; and Aaron Henry and
I Amzie Moore of the Mississippi
Regional Council
! Representatives of most of the
sponsoring organizations met after ;
the nux ' k hear >ng and voted to :
! continue to work together to h « ! P ,
I the voteless speak.
___
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Patronize Our Advertisers
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 13U0
Do Drops
By R. W. Gadsden
It must be clear now that
one of the things Negroes can
do for themselves that nobody
else can do for them is to
qualify as voters. What it takes
to do this has been told time
and time again. It involves
such things as, being able to
read and write—to be able to
read and write some section of
the Constitution, or to write it
as it is read, or prove good
character, or own property $300
worth—and answer a number
of questions from a list of thir¬
ty, such as. who is the presi¬
dent of the United States, who
is governor of Georgia, how
many congressmen are elected
to represent Georgia. The list
of questions is easily obtainable.
Of course, the assumption is
that one desires to be a re¬
sponsible citizen eager to have
a voice in government.
In some cities schools in cit¬
izenship are set up in churches
and halls and social clubs in
the community give some time
in their regular program for im-
parting information about the
duties of citizenship, about how
voters may lose their right to
vote by failing to vote in two
consecutive general elections
and then face the necessity of
having to register all over
again.
It is obvious that even this
sort of activity requires unified
action under united leadership.
Experience in this county, in
this respect, Is a sad one that
Between The Lines
By Dean Gordon B. Hancock for ANP
THE NEWEST OUTBREAK AGAINST JEWS
The latest anti-Semitic
break fills us with profound
distress! We had hoped
with Hitler had g-one that
cions hatred that consigned
lions of Jews to doom and
death. In his violent rage
against the Jews Hitler destroy¬
ed himself, and humane and
reasonable humans had
that the Jews could have a
pite from the persecution
have known through many cen-
urles '
That the Jew has been hunt
ed and hounded and hated
through so many generations
at once the shame and
grace of history and
Jews are not a race but a
which approximates in
ways the Caucasins
have been the chief
the Jewish peoples.
The whv of the persecution of
IP Jews JeWS is IS a a question OUeStiOn of Of great great-
significance. The Jew’s are
great people, having given to
w’orld its God. its Bible and
Jesus Christ, who was Him
a Jew.
We are well within the realm
f the truth when we say the
are the greatest people
to live upon the earth.
I was teaching anthropol¬
I never failed to give my
quotations from Mark
Zebulon Vance, literary
of yesteryear.
Zebulun Vance .. The
ig without doubt the most
man of hk worId .
or present. Of all the
of the sons of men, there
, ^ ^ ^ sQ wonderful
full of extreme mutation so
with suffering and hor-
so abounding in extraordi-
providences so overflowing
scenic romance.
There is no name that ap¬
him in the extent and
of the influence which
has exercised over the hu-
family. His history is the
of civilization and pro-
in this world, and our
and hope in that which Is!
come. j
^ ^ ^ have ^
of all that is excellent
the earth or in Heaven—
his home, was the cen-
chamber of God's adminis-
He was at once grand
er to those glorious courts
the of the repository Most High, of the and coun- the; j
of the divine mandates
0 the consciences of mankind.
anc j as SUC h, faith-giver and
to mankind, in spite of
jibes and jeers he must be
as occufying a pecu-
Bar and sacred relation to all
peoples of this world.
has contributed in no small de¬
gree to decreased interest in
voting on the part of a large
number of people who were
among the 1.9,900 voters of 1946.
Jealous, venal and embryonic
leaders pounced upon these new
voters like wolves upon a herd
of shepherdless sheep, and di¬
vided them, misled them and
disgusted many and destroyed
their potential • effectivenes.%
This was bad enough, but this
splinter, self-appointed leader¬
ship, ruthlessly stabbed in the
back the leadership that was
responsible for getting the larg¬
est enrollment of voters Chat¬
ham County has ever had. So
the thing needed now is lead¬
ership.
As true in any community,
leadership must come from
among the better trained, the
better educated, the more in¬
telligent, from among those who
are already in places of leader¬
ship.
Whether they wish to be or
not Chatham County is rich in
leadership resource. What
will it take to mine It, to pry
or coax it forth to service? or
is it true, as some hold, that
“you’ll have to knock him over
the head in order to awaken the
Negro?” Professor Bosworth has
said, that “whenever men have
suffered enough from . . (any
evil) . . they will discover ways”
of removing it. Have we suf¬
fered enough from our failure
to register and vote?
Even now, though the Jews
have long ceased to exist as a
consolidated nation, inhabiting
common country, and for 1800
years have been scattered far
and near over the wide earth,
their strange customs, their dis¬
tinct features, te'hir personal pe¬
culiarities and their scattered
make them still a won-
der and an astonishment”
Mark Twain takes up the great
refrain thus: „ the statistlcs
are right, the Jews constitute
but one per cent of the hu-
man race. It suggests a nebu-
l°tts dim puff star-dust lost in
blaze of the “Milky Way.”
Properly the Jew ought hard-
ly to be heard of. But he is as
prominent on this planet as
other peoples, and his commer-
cial importance is extravagantly
out of proportion to his small¬
ness of numbers. His contribu-
tions to the world’s list of great
noman names in in lUorafnro literature, science, caionno
art, medicine, finance, music
and abstruse learning are also
way ou t 0 f proportion to his
weakness of numbers.
He has made a marvelous
fight in this world in all ages
and has done it with his hands
tied behind him. He could be
vain if he would and be excus¬
ed for it. The Babylonians
and the Persians arose, filled
this planet with sound and
splendour, then faded to dream-
stuff and passed away.
The Greeks and Romans fol¬
lowed and made a vast noise
and they are gone. Other peo¬
ples have sprung up and held
their torch for a time but it
burned out and they sit now in
the twilight or have vanished
from the scene. The Jew saw
them all, and is now what he
has always been, exhibiting no
decadence, no weakening of his
parts, no slowing of his ener¬
gies, no dulling of his alert and
progressive mind.
All things pass away and are
mortal but the Jew and all
other forces pass out but he
remains.
What is the secret of his im-
m0 rtality?”
jj. wou i d pay a ;i the minor-
ity and p ersecut ed groups to sit
at tbe f eet 0{ t he long persecu t-
ed Jews and i earn (.he scret of
„„ rv i V ni The l^eZyl Tew is the world’'?
He has
been p ersecu t e d in every age
and in every j and bu t he lives
on.
This writer’s explanation of
the great persecution of the
Jew is jealousy. The superior-
ity of the Jews drives the peo-
pie to a rage of jealousy. Long
live the Jews'.