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PAGE FOUR Ctlir Wbm. Established 1S7S MRS. WILLA A. JOHNSON..Editor A Publisher EZRA JOHNSON........Promotion A Ady. Rep. PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY 1009 WEST BROAD STREET Dial ADams 4-3432 — ADams 4-3433 Subscription Rates In Advance One Year _______________________________ 3412 Six Months........... $309 tingle Copy ______________________________ .10 Remittance must be made by Express, Post Office Money Order or Registered Mall. Second Class Mail Privileges Authorized at Savannah, Georgia 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 I • : | I | 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. ___ ' 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'.