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Vol. 1
Retiring from Babcock
GOD'S RAM
IN THE BUSH
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Al Irby is many things to
many people. He is supervisor
of the grinding department at
Babcock and Wilcox
Refractories.
Al Irby is an articulate civil
rights activist and a dedicated
church worker. He is also a
prolific writer. Many people
know him through his frequent
letters to the editor which
appear in the Augusta
Chronicle-Herald. Irby has
written for the Weekly Review
and is now a columnist for the
News-Review.
Irby, who has described
himself as a conservative, will
retire at the end of July from
his job at Babcock and Wilcox
where many of the workers
regard him as a militant.
Prior to working at Babcock
Irby had spent nineteen years
in New York during the hey
day of Marcus Garvey. He says
that most of the Blacks
working at Babcock during the
thirty’s were rural and
submissive, but he was
branded, as he still is today, as
an “uppity nigger.”
He credits his thirty-five
year tenure at Babcock to Carl
Qaus, Plant Supervisor, and
Roy Purvis his foreman. Irby
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CELEBRITY OF THE WEEK
Bobby Green is a native of Swainsboro, Georgia where
he attended the Emmanual High School. Green is
assistant manager at Bright’s Gulf Service Station, 1502
15th Street.
recalls, “they would cushion
my actions and they
understood me better.”
In 1936, Irby said,
“Babcock was a northern plant
in the deep south. The plant
administrators were fine, but
the lower workers were
horrible. I agitated for the
upgrading of Blacks long
before the federal government
did. Blacks were ninety percent
of the work force. Beginning
salary was twenty-four cents an
hour.
“I never wavered from the
principle of believing in the
dignity of the human soul.
Everything I stood for has
come to pass but unfortuantely
it was forced by the federal
government.”
Irby speaks with passion and
with compassion when he talks
about Babcock. He says
“Company policy is second to
none. Wages are above average.
But it’ll be a long time before
Blacks break into the ‘inner
circle; and in no instance are
Blacks in policy making not.
even on the lowest levjjJ.
Listening to Irby one notes
bitterness mixed with a certain
contentment. Asked what
changes in worker attitudes he
has noticed since 1936, Irby
said, “Lower echelon whites
accept you grudgingly just like
in the integration of the
schools.
Section foremen do not
consider Blacks’ advice in
making decisions. Yet it is a
good place for Blacks to work
because it is above the average
in benefits and wages.
“There are other companies
that excel Babcock in the
upgrading of Blacks. The walls
of the ‘inner circle” is cracking,
but those men have been there
for years. One of the paradoxes
of the plant is that the white
top echelon is so nice yet sb
little is done to upgrade Blacks.
“Babcock is guilty of the old
cliche ‘We will use any
qualified.’ But how in the hell
are any Blacks going to be
qualified if the company does
not help to qualify them? e
Irby lives at 1913 Third
Avenue. He is married and has
three children.
“I’d like to pay high respect
and regard to Roy Purvis.
Without his moral aid, having
the temperament 1 have, I
would not have been able to
work at Babcock for thirty-five
years, also to my first foreman
Mr. Ed Jones who is now
retired. He’s one of the finest
white southerners I’ve had the
pleasure to meet.
Pausing for a moment, Irby
continued, “God always has a
ram in the bush to keep it
clean.
I was the moral cleansing
force for the entire plant.”
Although Irby attended the
City College of New York for
two years he never finished. “I
should have finished my
schooling he said; “but if I had
to live my life again, I’d still
work at Babcock because I
learned about life there and it
made me stronger. It was a
great thirty-five years and I
enjoyed every year of it. I have
no pangs of remorse. I’d say I
was successful. 1 was able to
live by my principles and I call
that success.
Belk
Contributes
SI,OOO To
Feed-A-Kid
Belk Stores of Augusta, a
pace setter in the 1970
Feed-A-Kid Program when it
donated $500,000, gave
another $500.00 toward the
1971 Feed-A-Kid Program. The
program which served
thousands of children
participating in the summer
program sponsored by the
Richmond County Board of
Education and Recreation
Department in 1970, hopes to
serve 312,000 meals by the end
of the 10 week summer period.
At present, over 8,200 free
lunches are served each day to
children in the program at
recreation centers,
neighborhood centers and
other agencies.
Donations are still needed,
as $21,781.00 is needed to pay
for local expenses while the
U.S. Department of
Agriculture will reimburse
funds providing for lunches
served. Donations can be
mailed to Summer Recreation
Food Program - P.O. Box 333,
Augusta, Georgia.
930 Gwinnett St. Augusta Ga Phone 722-4555
SEPARATISM DEPLORED
BY A BLACK JURIST
A prominent black jurist
said today that an alarming
number of Negroes “accept
and encourage racial separatism
as a desirable and potentially
rewarding way of American
life.”
Judge William H. Hastie of
Philadelphia, recently retires as
chief judge of the United
States Court of Appeals for the
Third Circuit, made his
observation in an address
before the 52nd annual
convention of the National
Association for the
Advancement of Colored
People.
He said that the trend he
described had to be halted and
reversed, adding that “it can
lead only to greater bitterness
and frustration and to even
more inferior status than black
Americans now experience.”
Judge Hastie said that the
separatist attitude had been
created in part by a system
that had locked millions of
poor blacks into overcrowded
center-city slums. He made it
clear that there were other
factors.
On the Other Side
He said that young blacks,
like young whites, had become
distrustful and even cynical
about the values of a white
society that he said tolerated
poverty in the midst of
national affluence, spent
lavishly for war and grudgingly
for domestic well-being and
spawned white racist who
murdered the Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. and other
blacks and whites who fought
racism.
“But the other side of the
coin,” Judge Hastie continues,
shows a black society that is no
better in its aping of white
materialism, and its
accommodations of hucksters,
hustlers and other operators as
predatory and cynical as their
white counterparts; in its
spawn of sick, violent men who
murdered Malcolm X just as
viciously as whites murdered
Dr. King and who continue to
disfigure the black community
with sporadic homicidal
guerrilla strife among rival
separatist groups.”
The black judge added that
“revulsion against the vicious
and indecent aspects of white
society is no justification for
glorifying and building a black
society which in itself minors
and at times intensifies the
same evils.” He attributed the
rise of separtist philosophies to
Mclntyre
Backs
Manpower
At a meeting of the
Cooperative Area Manpower
Planning System (CAMPS), on
Wednesday, County
Commissioner Edward
Mclntyre pledged his support
to the manpower programs.
Citing his own poverty,
Mclntyre said, “I firmly believe
that most of our social
problems stem from the
inability of many citizens to
provide for their families;
Mclntyre also said that he
believes that the rising rates of
crime and drug abuse stem
from a lack of saleable skills.”
The County Commissioner
added that he feels that job
training programs would raise
the economic level of the
community and eliminate
many problems.
He urged Manpower to
invite elected officials into
their meetings “so they will
know what you’re doing.”
THE PEOPLE’S PAPER
Negroes who reason that the
black slums are now a
permanent feature of urban
life. Judge Hastie, the first
Negro to sit on a United States
Court of Appeals, retired June
1 after 21 years as chief judge
of the Third Circuit court.
Beyond ameliorating slum
life, he said, the basic direction
and drive of black efforts
should be toward bringing
blacks into the mainstream of
American life.
“Life in the ghetto may be
hard,” he said, “but because
the environment is familiar
some find it more congenial
than the unfamiliar large world
where white strangers, many of
them hostile, constitute the
dominant majority.”
He told the convention
delegates that the black
separatist should face the facts
that black slums have never
afforded and will never afford
worthwhile employment
opportunities for more than a
small percentage of the black
community..
“The major units of our
economy will continue to be
located elsewhere,” he said.
Judge Hastie’s address,
which seemed to startle some
delegates, received polite
applause. In closing he said:
“For too long in America,
whites have been up and blacks
have been down. We are trying
as never before to correct this
racial disparity. In the process,
whites must free themselves
from the false pride in their
whiteness, and many of them
are doing so. But it will not
elp for blacks, aping the
worst characteristics of whites,
to acquire false pride and
arrogance in their blackness.”
Reprinted from THE NEW
YORK TIMES, of Thursday,
July 8, 1971
Augusta-Aiken Reunion
July 18 In Newark
Honorable Matthew Carter,
Black Mayor of Montclair,
N.J., will address the second
annual Augusta, Ga. - Aiken,
S.C. national reunion
conference slated for Sunday
afternoon, July 18, 2 to 4 p.m.
at the Robert Treat Hotel in
downtown Newark, according
to Philip Waring, Connecticut
Urban League executive and
Lavonzier LaMarr, Newark
YM-YWCA executive, who are
serving as chairman and
co-chairman of the event.
Mayor Carter is expected to
greet the former residents of
these two cities and challenge
them to continue their practice
of remaining in contact for
civic betterment and old school
ties and fellowship. Mayor
Carter, who is Community
Relations Consultant for
Hoffman-Laßoche of Nutley,
N.J. is a graduate of Virginia
Union University with further
studies at Union and Columbia
Universities. He was formerly
on staff of the National
Council of the YMCA in New
York City.
“What’s Happening In
Augusta, Ga.?” will be
discussed by Philip Waring of
Stamford, Conn., who will
highlight findings from the
National Urban League’s recent
civil rights survey of that city
which had a race riot in which
several black youth were killed
by police gun fire. Mr. Waring
is expected to outline some of
the political advancements
made since the 1970 riot.
Thomas Smoot, formerly of
Aiken, S.C. and now a civic
leader in Jamica, Long Island,
will serve as master of
ceremonies. The program is
also expected to draw alumni
['On
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William H. Hastie
LAW FIRM TO TRAIN
BLACK LAWYERS TO
AID POOR WHILE
EARNING LIVING
NEW ORLEANS - An
integrated team of lawyers
with deep roots in the civil
rights movement will open a
new law firm here next
Thursday that will try to show
young black lawyers how to
represent the poor and the
blacks and still make a living.
“All previous attempts to
train black lawyers who were
or would be practicing in the
South have emphasized
training in the handling of civil
rights cases,” the partners’
announcement said. “We
propose to teach the new
young professionals how to
earn a decent livelihood as a
lawyer and still serve and relate
to the black community.”
The partners will be Lolis E.
and former students of
Augusta-Aiken schools and
colleges which include: Paine
College, Lucy Laney, T.W.
Josey, Haines and Walker
Baptist Institutes and Schofield
and Bettis Academy in Aiken.
Persons desiring further
information should contact Mr.
LaMarr at the Southwestern
YM-YWCA in Newark,
201-MA4-8900, Ext. 45. Mr.
LaMarr will introduce Mayor
Carter.
Last year 103 persons came
in from four different states to
hear Mayor Kenneth Gipson
speak at the first
Augusta-Aiken reunion at
Robert Treat Hotel.
Augusta residents who plan
to attend can leave on an early
morning flight to Newark
Airport and return home by
midnight of the same day.
C&S To
Open New
Offices
Bryce Newman, executive
vice president of The Citizens
and Southern National Bank of
Augusta, announced today that
construction of two new C&S
offices has begun. The Forest
Hills Office, located at the
intersection of North Leg and
Wrightsboro Road, and the
Center West Office, on
Washington Road at Center
West, will hold their Grand
Openings this fall.
“For the immediate banking
convenience of customers in
these areas,” said Newman,
“temporary C&S branch bank
Bth Ward Residents
Angry Over Death Os
Tot On Wheeler Rd.
Voicing their opinions once
more about the speeding on
Wheeler Road, residents of
Augusta’s Bth Ward are very
disturbed over the death of
Sarina England, 2 year old
daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Henry England. The Englands
reside at 1901 Wheeler Road
where speeding has long been a
hazard. A curve that begins in
front of the Englands home
seems to be a favorite speed
site of motorist, and
motorcyclist traveling Wheeler
Road.
Mr. Sevis Young of 2833
Wheeler Road, demanded that
a stop sign be put up on the
Elie, a black New Orleans
lawyer who represented the
Congress of Racial Equality in
the South during the early
1960’5. Alvin J. Bronstein, a
white lawyer from New York
who spent three years in
Mississippi as chief staff
counsel for the Lawyers
Constitutional Defense
Committee and George M.
Strickler Jr., a white lawyer
from Houston who has headed
the New Orleans office of the
Lawyers Constitutional
Defense Committee since
1968.
Richard B. Sobol, a white
lawyer who handled several of
the major civil rights cases in
southern Louisiana during the
1960’5, will be attached to the
firm informally, not as a
partner.
Network of Firms Sought
The partners hope to help
build a network of Southern
law firms that will combine
routine civil practice with civil
rights cases and the training of
young black lawyers.
The region has only a few
integrated law firms now, and
they tend to specialize in civil
rights cases. The South in 1970
had 4,251 lawyers and only
273 of them were black
INFANT
FOUND
A Black three-hour old baby
was found abandoned on
Brown Street Thursday
morning.
Forest Epps, who noticed a
dog’s presistent barking in the
lot, found the nude infant.
The baby was taken to
University Hospital where it
was reported in good
condition.
trailers will conduct business at
both locations. The Forest
Hills trailer will open July
12th, and the Center West
Temporary office will open by
the end of July.”
“Residents in the Forest
Hills and Washington
Ro ad-Martinez-Evans areas
have needed more convenient
banking facilities for some
time. Now that county-wide
banking is permissible, the
C&S Bank is pleased to have
this opportunity to make its
many customer services more
convenient to the public by
opening offices at Forest Hills
and Center West.”
July 15, 1971 No. 17
Augusta side of Bransford and
that would eliminate high rates
of speed on that curve.
Mr. Robert Lewis of 607
Jefferson Dr. said, “when I
want to go to the store I go
down Royal Street for fear of
getting hit by speeding auto’s.
Mrs. Josie Sanders said “I
am really afraid to have my
two girls play in the front.”
She had a car run right through
her yard.
John Crawford of Basin St.
at Wheeler had another point
of view. He asked, “How are
the police going to stop it
when both City and County
police go just as fast as the
speeders. I noticed a
motorcycle policeman leaning
so far in the turn where the
baby was hit, 1 thought he was
going to fall.”
The child Sarina Lattice
England was killed on July 9,
1971 when struck by a 17 year
ols youth identified as Denny
Russell Hudson of 226
Sherwood Drive. Hudson has
been charged with involuntary
manslaughter, reckless driving
and driving under the influence
of alcohol in connection with a
traffic death.
according to a study by the
Law Students Civil Rights
Research Council.
The partners in their
announcement noted that
Southern black traditionally
had gone to black lawyers for
civil rights representation and
to white lawyers for other
“fee-generating” cases.
‘‘This reflected a realistic
evaluation of who would be
best to deal with the all-white
power structure or all-white
jury,” their announcement
said. “These all-white patterns,
of course, are now changing,
and together with the
SEE LAW page 5
W 11 Mays II
After an extended illness,
William H. Mays II succumbed
on July 9,1971.
Mays, the son of the late
William H. and Ethel Hudson
Mays, was born on August 28,
1917 in Augusta, Georgia.
At an early age, he was
converted and baptized at the
Trinity CME Church and at the
time of his death, was serving
as a steward.
He attended the public
schools of Richmond County
and was a graduate of Paine
High School and the Atlanta
School of Mortuary Science.
A licensed Mortician in the
State of Georgia and owner of
Mays Mortuary, he was a
member of the Georgia Funeral
Directors Association, and the
National Funeral Directors
Association.
A member of the Prince Hall
Masons, he was a 32nd degree
Mason and a Shriner.
Survivors include his wife,
Mrs. Carrie J. Mays; one son,
W.H. Mays III; cousins, Miss
Doris Alva Outler and Mr.
Albert Greenlee; and a host of
other relatives and friends.