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Vol. 3
Frank Yerby Donates Collection
Os His Works To Paine College
By R.L. “Bob” Oliver
Augusta born and
internationally renowned
novelist Frank G. Yerby, a
Paine College Alumnus,
recently donated a rare
depository of his literary works
to the College.
The collection includes
several annotated sets of
pre-printed copies of novels;
unpublished materials and a
EDITORIAL
A Good Move . . .
We would like to congratulate the Augusta Caucus
o n its decision to honor Usher Rhodes at its meeting
Sunday night
The important factor here is the kind of person that
was honored. Most typically, Rhodes is “the
man-in-the-street”, with no claim to fame. But make no
mistake about it, Usher Rhodes is SOMEBODY. He is
the conscience of Augusta’s Black community. But
unlike our conscience, Rhodes does not tell us what we
must NOT do, he tells us what we must DO.
Usher Rhodes is not educated. Imt he can read. And
he does read. Recognizing his limitations, he does not
try to be a leader. But he MAKES the leaders lead. And
without trying to, without wanting to, he makes his
presence felt, he makes his desires heard. He makes men
Who is Usher Rhodes? He is you and 1. Or better put,
he is what we ought to be. He is involved. We are all
involved, simply because we exist. The only decision to
be made is whether we will decide what kind of lives we
will have, or whether we will let others decide for us.
Usher Rhodes recognizes this and he is determined to
chart his own course. He is not asking how he ought to
think. Usher Rhodes tells you what he thinks. Then he
tells you to get it done. He tells you what is wrong, then
demands that you make it right
We can’t all be leaders, but we can be men of
conviction, we can be concerned about ourselves and
our community. We can all do our share, no matter
what our social standing, to make government more
responsible and more responsive. Thank God for men
like Usher Rhodes.
A Bad Move ....
It was with deep regret that we learned of the mayor
and city council’s decision not to take strong action
against two guards who failed to answer the calls of
prisoners yelling for aid for a Black inmate who died of
a brain hemmorrhage an hour after the calls were heard.
The decision not to suspend or fire the guards was
reportedly based on the medical examiners report that
the man would have died anyway.
Whether the man would have died or not is
guestionaHe. But the mayor and council seem to be
saying that if it could be proven that the man would
have lived had he gotten aid, then there would be
grounds for taking action against the guards. But since
he would have died anyway, then, why punish them. We
have to take exception to this line of thought, as did
councilwoman Carrie Mays and Tom Huggins.
No policeman who caught a motorist going through a
red light would tell him, “Well, you didn’t hit anybody.
Nobody was hurt, so 1 won’t give you a ticket.” Os
course not, in running the red light, the motorist created
a condition that jeopardized the lives of other motorists.
He is given the ticket not because somebody died, but
because he created a condition in which somebody
could have died. And the guards at the prison are guilty
of the same thing, only worse. They were called and
didn’t answer.
Why didn’t the guards answer the calls that woke up
prisoners on both floors of the city stockade? If they
didn’t hear the calls, then why not? Where were they?
Everybody else in the prison heard them, according to
the mayor.
We cannot say that we are surprised by the vote of
city council. We did, however, expect more sensitivity
from the mayor. It is inconceivable to us that a white
prisoner could die in the city stockade while prisoners
woke everybody up trying to get Black guards to come
to his aid, and the city council took the position that
the Black guards should not be punished because the
white prisoner would have died anyway.
This double standard must end. Yesterday!
NATIONAL BLACK NEWS SER 1
MEMBER
copy of the play THE
TROJAN WOMAN, a version
of moderns based somewhat
loosely upon the tradegy of
Euripides.
“The Nature of Love”, “The
Trojan Woman”, “Dahomean”,
“Speak Now”, and “The Tents
of Shem” have been presented
publicly. “The Tents of Shem”
which has been twice turned
down by his publishers is his
best work according to Yerby.
P.O. Box 953
“It was turned down twice
although it remains the very
best I’ve done,” he said in a
recent correspondence to the
college.
Yerby was bom in Augusta
in 1916. Following graduation
at Haines Institute, entered
Paine College in Sept. 1933,
graduating third in his class in
1937.
It was during his student
days at Paine that he penned
Dismissed Officer’s Home
Looted, Then Burned
Police report that the home
of Paul Collier, 2819 Walters
Court, was looted and then
burned by unknown person or
persons. Fire department
officials report finding two one
gallon plastic jugs at the seen
of The fire. The arsonists
entered the home sometime
during the morning of
November 11 and stole several
household appliances, valued at
SBOO.OO. Culprits then poured
kerosene throughout the home,
fire damage was a total loss to
the $17,500 house and $3,000
in clothing and furnishings.
Collier is one of the 11
Black officers who filed suit
against the Augusta Police
Department.
Julian Bond Rips Nixon
Before 1,20 OAt Paine
“I belong to the finest
profession money can buy.”
With that Rep. Julian Bond
began an analysis of the
climate that has led to a lack of
confidence in government in
general and Richard Nixon in
particular.
Bond spoke to a meeting of
the Augusta Caucus which saw
the 1200 seat Gilbert-Lambuth
Chapel at Paine College filled
to capacity.
The Nixon Administration,
he said, represents a coalition of
the “comfortable, the callous,
and the smug” which has
closed its ranks and its hearts
against the claims and the calls
to conscience put forward by
the forgotten and
unrepresented.”
The incumbent
administration, which he calls
“Uncle Strom’s Cabin”, has
turned benign concern into
malignant neglect, the youthful
looking Bond stated.
The current stoppage of
social progress, according to
Bond, is the result of
C (illusion between a hostile
administration and a seemingly
unfeeling majority seemed
to doom the hope of the
American underclass. ”
The President, he continued,
made an arrangement with the
nationally unreconstructed
mentality that believes that
private profit and public
arrogance could be pursued at
the expense of the American
poor.
Further emphasizing the
insensitivity of the Nixon
Administration, Bond declared,
THE PEOPLE’S PAPER
the words to our often sung
and cherished Paine Hymn
which was set to music by
Mark Fax, then director of
music at the college.
Hailed by many as the most
prolific writer ever, Yerby
wrote one novel a year for
fifteen successive years,
amassed 21 million sales for
his twenty-one best sellers. He
had three of his novels made
into successful movies, “The
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“Fathers want decent wages,
but can’t live on what they
make. Sufficiency for those at
the bottom can mean stability
for those in the middle.
“The Administration
verbally fought crime in the
streets while it secretly
practiced crime in the suites.”
Bond, who once headed the
Student Non-violent
Co-ordinating Committee
(SNCC), called on college
students to become once again
an integral part of the struggle
for freedom. “The college
campus used to be the center
of the liberation movement.
Now it is the center of bid
whist, bugaloo, and Boone’s
Farm.”
Never getting too far away
from his target (the negative
impact of the Nixon years on
the fight for social justice),
Bond noted that in 3 years the
nation will celebrate its 200th
anniversary. “In those 200
years, we will have come from
George Washington, who
couldn’t tell a lie, to where we
are today.
“The power that will steal
the power to work from
work-eager mothers, thinks
nothing of stealing records
from a psychiatrist’s office.”
Bond called for new methods,
new directions for the political
process of the 19705.
Concluding with a Quotation
by Fredrick Douglas, Bond said,
“He who would be free must
strike the first blow. Liberty is
never so precious as liberty
sought and fought for. The
man who is outraged must
Augusta, Georgia
Foxes of Harrow”, “The
Golden Hawk”, and “The
Saracen Blade”. His novel
“Pride’s Castle” is a major
television production, and yet
another novel “The Trojan
Woman” is about to become an
off Broadway play with a
Black cast featuring Diahnn'
Carroll as Helen of Troy.
Mrs. Parker, who received
the package from Spain
proudly displayed an
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Mayor Lewis A. Newman (R) awards Rep. Julian Bond
Key to the City.
make the first cry. Men will
not care much for a people
who do not care for
themselves.
“Men will organize to
prevent cruelty to animals, for
they are dumb creatures and
cannot speak for themselves.
But we are men and men must
speak for themselves or they
will not be spoken for.
“We hold it self-evident that
no class or color should be the
exclusive rulers of this country.
autograph from the author,
“To Paine College, Alma Mater
in a very true sense.” Frank
Yerby, Sept. 1973.
Elated over Yerby’s
donation, a depository of
learning for Black Students at
Paine, Mrs. Parker said, “I
cannot express how I feel, 1
just feel really great.”
Two former classmates of
renowned author Frank G.
If there is such a ruling class,
and when that condition is
established, the government of
the people by the people and
for the people will perish from
the earth.”
Bond, who serves on the
executive committee of the
National Democratic Party,
was nominated for vice
president at the 1968 National
Democratic Convention.
Mayor Lewis A. Newman
presented him with a key to
the city.
November 29, 1973 No. 37
FRANK YERBY
Yerby, Drs. J. Tolbertte Lacy
and I.E. Washington, both
noted Augusta educators
appeared visibly pleased and
proud over Yerby’s gift of
several of his original
manuscripts to Paine College.
Dr. Lacy is Dean of Students at
Paine College.
Dr. Lacy said this of the
gifts, “The students will take
pride in the fact that one one
of Paine College’ sons has
become so renowned and still
maintains contact with his
alma mater. Providing the
materials that will benefit
students in that area to pursue
here is an asset to the college
andan inspiration to the
Usher Rhodes Night
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Attorney John H. Ruffin (R) presents plaque to Usher
Rhodes.
Usher Rhodes Night was
held in Paine College’s Chapel
Sunday evening. The program
was presented by the Augusta
Caucus. Julian Bond was the
featured speaker.
Since the program began to
be publicized, everyone has
been asking, “Who is Usher
Rhodes?” “Is he a real
person?”
Usher Rhodes is very much
for real. He is concerned about
the world about him. He not
only is concerned but he
translates his concern into
pressure on those he feels have
the ability to bring about
change.
According to Attorney John
H. Ruffin who presented
Rhodes with a plaque from the
Caucus, Rhodes “reads, asks
questions, and demands: ‘Y'all
got tuh straighten out the
County Commission. Y’all got
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students.”
According to Lacy this is a
breakthrough for something he
had long hoped for. “I have
long hoped that the student
here would come in contact
with Frank’s works,” the dean
said.
Dr. Washington, principal of
Lucy Craft Laney High School
said, “I think this depository
of greatness Frank donated to
the college is a great thing. It’s
something we all have looked
forward to.”
Yerby and Dr.s Lacy and
Washington attended Haines
Institute and were classmates
at Paine College (1933-1937).
tuh straighten out the board of
education and the police
department.’ ” Ruffin said
Rhodes is a man who “appears
insignificant but acts
significantly”.
State Representative R.A.
Dent termed Rhodes “a
concerned, dedicated citizen”.
Others appearing on the
program were Rev. R.E.
Donaldson, Mrs. Bathine
Hollins, Rev. Arthur D. Sims,
Mrs. Margaret Armstrong,
Charles Walker, Edward M.
Mclntyre, Robert Bush, David
Dupree, Jay Bell, L.K. Reese,
Bert Thomas, John Swint, J.T.
Lawrence, Oscar Brown, Joe
Jones, Quincy Robertson and
Joe Thomas.
Music was furnished by the
Sarah Frazier Gospel Choir of
Good Shepherd Baptist
Church. The Lucy Laney Army
ROTC served as ushers.