The work and problems of the Commission on Interracial Cooperation in the Southern states

Citation preview

THE WORK AND PROBLEMS OF THE COMMISSION ON INTERRACIAL COOPERATION IN THE SOUTHERN STATES

A THESIS Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Religion University of Southern California

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts

by Eleazar Walter Rakestraw June 1942

UMI Number: EP65123

All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion.

OissGrtaiion ftjblisWng

UMI EP65123 Published by ProQuest LLC (2014). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code

ProQuest* ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48 10 6 - 1346

T his thesis, w ritten by

f f i m . . M m . M E S ! I ! R A I .............. u n d e r the d i r e c t i o n o f h.%M. F a c u l t y C o m m i t t e e , a n d a p p r o v e d by a l l it s m e m b e r s , has been presented to a n d accepted by the C o u n c i l on G r a d u a t e S t u d y a n d Research in p a r t i a l f u l f i l l ­ m e n t o f the r e q u ire m e n ts f o r the degree o f

MASTER OF ARTS

D ean

Secretary D ate.

F a c u lty Com m ittee

C hairm an

TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER

PAGE

INTRODUCTION, .......

.. .

Statement of problem,.

............

6

HISTORY OF INTERRACIAL EFFORT IN AMERICA......

8

Movements for Better Race Relations...........

9

The Effort of the Northern Churches...........

10

The Slater Fund................

14

The Jeanes Fund, The Rosenwald Fund

II.

5

..........

Method of procedure,..,, I,

1

...

. ......

16 18

The Commission on Southern Race Questions,.,.,

20

The National Urban League* . . . . . .....

21

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ......

2?

The Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America.........

33

The Y. M. C. A. and the Y. W. C. A . ..........

42

The Commission on Interracial Cooperation....,

43

SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTION.

47

.....

The Commission and Lynching............ The Commission and Negro He<h..

47 .......

63

The Worlc of the Commission and the Economic Standards of the Negro...........

71

The Commission and Negro Education......

82

iv CHAPTER

PASS The Commission and Civil Rights ofNegroes*....

89

III* WORK OP THE COMMISSION IN CHANGING RACIAL ATTITUDES. *.. .......

97

State Committees.

98

*.........

Local Commit tees.......

103

Nation-Wide Press Service.........

108

Women's O

r

g

a

n

i

z

a

t

i

o

n

s

.

•

114

Schools *.........

124

A Test of Attitudes..........

129

IT. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS................... BIBLIOGRAPHY.

..............................

135

LIST OF TABLES TABLE I* Attitudes Before and After Baoe Relations Studies.................... II* Suggestions of Students in Race Relations Courses of Barriers to Interracial Justice............... III* Suggestions of Students in Race Relations Courses for Better Interracial Cooperation...........

PAGE

132 155 154

INTRODUCTION In America where consciousness of the marks of racial descent

very keen, one of the greatest social problems is

necessarily that of race relations.

Wherever there is race

consciousness, there is social distance, and social distance is productive of false concepts and misunderstandings which make living together a problem. There are various groups of the darker races in a predominantly white-conscious America which give rise to the problem of race relations,

but the presence of thirteen

million Negroes in America, with a background different from that of other races, makes them a major problem in race relations. Of all the races in America, the Negro finds himself the victim of the vilest forms of discrimination, segregation and proscription. The Negro is a native American,

he came to the New

World not in 1619 as is commonly supposed, but with the first explorers more than a hundred years earlier.

Ancient manu­

scripts mention Alonzo Pietro il Negro as a pilot of the Nina, one of Columbus®s ships.

There were Negroes with Balboa when

he discovered the Pacific in 1513; with cortez in Mexico; with DeBoto. when he explored the Mississippi valley in 1539; with menedez when he founded St. Augustine in 1565.

The first

2 explorer of Mew Mexico and Arizona, was Estavanico, a Megro who came from

Spain with Narvarez in 1527*

A year before

the Mayflower brought the Pilgrim Fathers to Plymouth, a Dutch vessel landed twenty Negro slaves at Jamestown, in 1619* The Megro has not been a liability, but an asset to American civilization.

M e has made distinct contributions

to science, art, music, business, and industry*

In the

Southern states where he is chiefly oppressed, he has made vast economic contributions which have played their part in the development and prosperity of that section of America* If being a pioneer and a contributor to the total weal of America entitles people to full rights of citizenship, then the Megro has an equal claim with his dominant white brothers. There are many people, the larger per cent of whom live in the Southern states, who believe that when two races live side by side in the same area, under the same govern­ ment, only three things can result— extermination of the weaker, subordination, or amalgamation.

They are determined

that their third belief shall not come true, and have directed their efforts to the realization of either of the other alter­ natives.

What they have failed to see is the possibility of

races living in close proximity to” each other, with mutual respect for each other, and cooperation with each other for mutual advancement, and still retain their racial integrity.

3 Kquality of rights and privileges does not necessarily mean miscegenation* There is a small but earnest per cent of white people in the Southern states who realize that the welfare of every group in a population is directly or indirectly affected by the social and economic condition of other groups*

They

know that there can be no change in the condition of one race that will not have its effect upon the other race#

They

know: that Booker T. Washington was right when he said, "You cannot keep a man in the ditch unless you are willing to stay there with him#"

They are aware

that the backwardness of

the Southern states is in a large measure due to the unfair and illogical policies pursued with regards to the Negro# These people are the ardent advocates of Interracial Cooperation# John LaFarge says: "The question of the Negrors right under our Constitu­ tion, or the degree to which the Negro Is to be permitted to exercise those rights which are his constitutionally as an Jmerican citizen, has been the theme of a century of political battle and the war that brought the most fearful crisis in our history* It is still active in political issues# By this we mean not partisan politics alone, which skillfully use the issue of the Negro to further partisan ambitions, but politics in a larger sense. It is obvious that me cannot have a constructive policy of Government if the Negro is not taken into account# But considering the Negro means considering his rela­ tion to the white group# Hence the importance of race relations in such matters as the interpretation of the National Constitution; the interpretation of State Con­ stitutions; the relations of Supreme Court decisions to

local and national legislature affecting race relations; the composition of our judicial system, and so forth, to the duty of our national defense, etc* It would be easy to develop the list; but enough is indicated to show that the matter of race relations, is one that vitally concerns the^national good as well as our international relations*" To accomplish these rights to which the iM'egro, as an American citizen is entitled, it is necessary to solidify the sentiment and effort of people in America, and in the Southern states in particular, who concede the Negro full rights of citizenship, and to do a lot of work of education relative to the Negro in America among white Americans*

To

do this effectively such an organization as the Commission on Interracial Cooperation has a place among other organiza­ tions committed to the same ends*

ljohn JLaifarge, Interracial Justice, Mew fork: (Mew Xork American rress, 1937), pp* 3-4*

5 ST&TB0BOT

o f pkobjjsm

For many years in America there have been efforts for interracial cooperation on the part of organizations which have dedicated themselves solely to that objective, or taken it as a phase of their work.

Over a period of years they

have made notable contributions to the cause of interracial justice and amity.

Ihey have varying programs, and employ

different methods and techniques in accomplishing their ends* In the Southern states where certain factors have con­ tributed to more strained relationship between white people and Negroes than in any other part of the united states, there is an organization doing an effective work in interracial co­ operation in a quiet way that has escaped the attention of thousands of people.

If the problem of race relations in the

Southern states, with its particular background, is to be wisely and effectively solved, it will be due in a large degree to an organization of Southern origin, with a personnel of right thinking Southern people employing sound and tactful methods* It was the purpose of this study (lj to survey the work of the uommission on Interracial Cooperation to see if it is of sufficient latitude to encompass the things that should be vigorously attacked and the things which should be promoted to establish a basis of better relationship;

(S) to ferret

out the problems which the uommission confronts in prose-

6 outing its work, that the work can be more equitably tested; (3j to analyze and evaluate the techniques which the Commis­ sion employs in accomplishing its objectives* METHOD OF PROCEDURE In making this study it was not possible to visit any of the .Southern states in which the Commission on Interracial Cooperation works, to make observations of its activities* It was, therefore, necessary to gather information of the work and problems of the Commission by reference to books on race relations which treat the subject, and study all of the litera­ ture which the Commission has published*

Information which

was not found in the Commission’s literature was obtained by correspondence*

Other information was obtained by personal

correspondence with authorities in the field of race relations who are thoroughly conversant with the work and problems of the Commission on Interracial Cooperation.

To test the value

of some of the techniques of the Commission, resort was made to questionnaires which were sent to colleges and universities representing a cross-section of the Southern states* To trace the history of interracial effort in America it was neeessafy to consult

books and periodicals dealing

with the movements, and study literature published by the various movements.

Access was obtained to the files of move­

ments with local branches*

7 Some knowledge of the subject was obtained by personal identification with the Commission on Interracial Cooperation when the writer was a resident of the cities of Atlanta, and Savannah, Georgia. In this study, attention was given to the major inter­ racial movements in America, in order to evaluate the work of the Commission on Interracial Cooperation.

Consideration

was given to all phases of the work of the Commission on Interracial Cooperation, and the respective problems that it confronts.

Special attention was given to the techniques

employed to discover their soundness or inadequacy* Conclusions were derived by consideration of problems and measurements of work and methods by present needs in the field of interracial cooperation*

CHAPTER I HISTORY OP INTERRACIAL EFFORT IN AMERICA Interracial effort began in America in the early stages of her history* As early as 1696 The Quakers were very strong in their opposition to the institution of slavery*

In 1696 the Phila­

delphian yearly meeting had passed a resolution declaring slavery contrary to the first principles of the gospel* William Penn, a great Quaker leader, advocated the instruc­ tion of Negroes, permission for them to marry, and regulations for their trial and punishment.^* The so-called "underground railway" that helped many mistreated Negroes to escape into Canada, was largely made possible by the activity of the Quaker group, as certain Quaker homes came to be known as "stations" on the "under­ ground railway."

The homes of the Quakers became the hiding

places of hunted "runaways", thousands of whom were hidden under loads of hay, often transported by night from one section

to another, and finally landed outside of the Hnited

States, where they found freedom*

Although they advocated

non-violence, the Civil War was supported by many Quakers because it promised emancipation of the Negro race*

^•Besse, Joseph, "William Penn", Encyclopaedia Brittanica* 14th edition, XVII, p. .476*

Interracial effort in America increased with the develop­ ment of the race problem#

The race problem during the days of

slavery was not as pronounced as after slavery*

The conditions

which governed the first relations of Negroes with white people were clearly prescribed and rigidly fixed.

Negroes

were decreed a servile race, subordinate to the will of the white population.

Social insitutions, laws, and public

opinion were predicated upon this decree# As long as iMegroes were slaves and amenable to all the regulations of a slave economy, and did not strongly or widely challenge their status, the race problem was not very acute#

Johnson says, "Slavery is the most efficient form of p accommodation between two dissimilar people."^ The emancipation, which changed the status of Negroes from slaves to free men, greatly intensified the race problem# MOVEMENTS FOE BETTER RACE RELATIONS After the emancipation of the Negro, many white people, both north and south, regarded the role of the Negro in America as fixed, and did not disturb their minds about it# There were other people from various parts of the united States who saw great political advantages in coming to the

^Charles Johnson, A Preface to Racial understanding#• New fork; (friendship Press, 1956), p# 161

Southern states to exploit the suffrage conferred upon the Megro by his emancipation*

They prostituted the vote of the

Megro, who was unprepared to use it intelligently*

These

political adventurers, by the aid of the Megro vote, gained control of state governments.

Corruption in government

abounded; some Megroes were placed in governmental positions at a most unpsychological and inexpedient time.

These poli­

tical maneuvers by those least interested in the Megro and most interested in themselves were most unfortunate, and provoked the ill-will and resentment of the white people of the South.

These exploiters of an underprivileged and hapless

race earned the opprobrious name of "carpet-baggers", and. widened the chasm between the white people of the South and the Megro, which had already begun because of the emancipation of the Megro. In contrast to those groups were individuals and groups both in the north and south who s a w .the great possibilities in the Megro race, and texieYi that the elevation of the Megro demanded their respect, good-will, and help, and spared not themselves in the work of uplifting the Megro. The Effort of the Northern Churches*

Organized effort

on the part of Northern churches in uplifting the Megro was begun after the emancipation.

The denominations which did

major work along this line were the Methodist Episcopal Church,

11 the Baptist Church, the Congregational Church, and the Presby­ terian Church; other denominations did work on a smaller scale. The Methodist Episcopal Church sent preachers and missionary-minded laymen into the Southern states to work among Negroes.

The Negroes heartily received these preachers

and workers, for they felt the Methodist Episcopal Church had played a great part in their emancipation.

At first the

whites and Negroes belonged to the same Annual Conferences, and worshipped in the same churches, until the period between 1872-1876 when separate Annual Conferences and churches were 3 organized. Separate churches and Conferences were organized because the white people were opposed to belonging to the same churches and conferences with Negroes.

The white people

who worked among Negroes were ostracized and persecuted by the Southern whites, but their devotion to the cause with which they had identified themselves could not be lessened. Hundreds of devout Northern Methodists, imbued with a missionary spirit volunteered to serve the former slaves. In 1892, the Bishops paid them this tribute: "Many of our noblest and most chivalrous sons and daughters gave themselves to this needy field. The pages of heroic deeds that make human history endurable have no truer or sublimer martyrs than many who have given their lives in this section. Our Church remembers their services with gratitude, and will reverently cherish their memories."4

^Paul Neff Garber, "The Methodists Are One People". Nashville: (Cokesbury Press, 1939), p . 64. 4Ibid. , p . 64

13 The work of the Methodist Episcopal Church was not only that of preaching and organizing churches among Negroes, hut it was also educational,

xn 1866 the Freedman*s Aid

Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized for the purpose of improving the social and moral conditions among both colored and white people, hut among Negroes in particular,

The instruction in the schools established was

literary, professional, and industrial# During the first year.the Society sent fifty-two teachers into the Southern states, and 13,000 Negroes were enrolled in classes.

By 1896 it had expended #4,000,000 in

erecting and sustaining educational institutions in the South.6

The schools established by the Society for Megroes

were Clark university, Atlanta, Georgia; Claflin university, Orangeburg, South Carolina; Bust university, Holly Springs, Mississippi; .philander smith College, Little Bock, Arkansas; Walden university, Nashville, Tennessee; Bennett College, Greensboro, North Carolina; Mew Orleans university, Mew Orleans, Louisiana; Wiley university, Marshall, Texas; Bamuel nouston College, Austin, Texas; Central Alabama college, Birmingham, Alabama; Morgan College, Baltimore Maryland; Gammon Theoloi

Church.

^The Doctrines and Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal New-fork: (Easton and Mains, 1900), p. 217# 6Garber, op. pit., p. 64.

13 gleal Seminary, Atlanta, Georgia, for the training of Megro preachers; Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tennessee, for the training of Negro physicians, dentists, and pharmacists* The Congregational Church established the American Missionary Society, and through it expended large sums of money and effort in uplifting the Negro*

Many consecrated:,

men and women, actuated by a motive of service to an under­ privileged people, went into the Southern states and devoted their lives to the cause of promoting the welfare of the Negro* Fisk university, which has always ranked as one of the leading universities for the training of Negroes, was founded by the Society in 1866*

Out from this university went the famous

wJubilee Singersn , composed of its students, ?/ho toured the United States

and Great Britain, raising ^150,000 for the

Institution*s need, and winning the respect of the white man, both in America and Europe, for the musical ability of the Negro* Among other schools established by the Congregational Church for Negroes in the South were Atlanta university, Atlanta, Georgia, in 1869; and Talladega College, Talladega, Alabama* The jr'resbyterian Church did its work among Negroes chiefly through the schools which she established.

Among

the schools established for Negroes were Biddle university,

14 now Johnson C. Smith

College, Baleigh, North Carolina; and

Lincoln University, Philadelphia* Hie Northern Baptist, like the Methodist Episcopal, sent a large number of her choice sons and daughters into the Southern states to w ork among Negroes*

They did heroic work

and suffered the same loss of social status among the Southern whites, and were subjected to the same persecution*

Hie

Baptist Church founded many institutions of higher learning for Negroes*

Some of the institutions established for Negroes

by the Northern Baptists were Atlanta Baptist College, Atlanta, Georgia, now Morehouse College; Spelman Seminary, Atlanta, Georgia, a College for the training of Negro girls; Shaw University, Baleigh, North Carolina; Benedict College, Colum­ bia, South Carolina; Arkansas Baptist College, Little Bock, Arkansas; Virginia Union University, Richmond, Virginia; and Bishop College, Marshall, Texas. Hie Slater Pond*

John Fox Slater, of Norwich, Connec­

ticut, a manufacturer and close observer of social, political, and religious conditions of America, became greatly interested in the condition of the Negro in Southern states, and felt disposed to do something about it*

Me. Slater expressed his

feelings and intentions toward the Negro in a letter written to a group of men whom he chose as trustees of his fund: Gentlemen:. It has pleased God to grant me prosperity in my business, and to put into my power to apply to

15 charitable uses a sum of money so considerable as to require the counsel of wise men for the administration of it. it is my desire at this time to appropriate to such uses the sum of one million dollars ($1,000,000); and I hereby invite you to procure a charter of incorporation under which a charitable fund may be held exempt from taxation, and under which you shall organize; and I intend that the Oorporation, as soon as formed, shall receive the sum in trust, to apply the income of it according to the instructions contained in this letter. The general object which 1 desire to have exclusively pursued is the uplifting of the lately emancipated popu­ lation of the southern states, and their posterity, by conferring on them the blessings of Christian education. The disabilities f o r m e r ^ suffered by these people, and their singular patience and fidelity in the great crisis of the nation, establish a jqst claim on the sympathy and good-will of humane and patriotic men; I cannot but feel the compassion that is due in view of their pre­ vailing ignorance, which exists by no fault of their own* I have the honor to be, c-entlemen, your friend and fellow-citizen, John jr. slater. Morwich, Conn., March 4, 1882. The trustees named by mt. Slater were Rutherford B. nayes, morrison m. waite, William

.Dodge,

js

Phillips Brooks, Daniel

Gilman, John A. Stewart, Alfred Colquitt, morris A. j'esup, James soyce, and William,A. Slater. The j?und

was legally established April 28, 1882.

The

Slater Bund is used for the support of institutions in the South, for the training of school teachers; and for other institutions.

The appropriations to county Training schools,

City schools, private secondary schools, nampton, and Tuskegee, and to certain Aegro Colleges.

^Documents relating to the origin and work of the slater Trustees, (published by the Trustees, Baltimore; 1894), pp. 5-23.

16 The Slater Fund

has been a great boon to Megro educa­

tion in the Southern states*

Between 1912-1923 County Training

Schools in the South arose in large numbers.

The exceptional

growth is shown by the report of the Slater Fund in 1913* in 1913 a communication was addressed to state Superintendents of jsducation in which the following paragraphs were included: wIt has been found that a very large majority, perhaps ninety per cent of the teachers in the county schools for colored children have obtained in local schools what edu­ cation they have, one idea in the establishment of county Training Schools is to provide a place where a better opportunity would be offered for the preparation of teachers in both academic and industrial lines. At the same time, such schools would afford an opportunity for the better class of pupils to continue their education beyond the meager limits of the one-room school* In many counties there is already a sort of central school which might be turned, with a little additional expense, into the class of school alluded to. The slater Board is desirous of aiding more immediately than hitherto the educational conditions in rural districts, and would be willing to cooperate with county boards and Superin­ tendents in any effort to improve the character and quality of teaching in county schools.”8 The Jeanes Fund.

On April 22, 1907, Anna 1. Jeanes,

a Quaker of great philanthropic spirit executed a deed of trust, turning over to Booker f. Washington and Hollis Burke ifrissell, one million dollars (fl,000,000} which was to become the capital of the Megro Bural School Fund.

On

February 29, 1908, in the city of Mew Fork, the first meeting Q °McKeen, oattell, Carson, Ryan, Jr., Walter, uiditors— School and Society, XIX. (March, 1924). .Mew lork: (The Science Tress, 1924), p. 249. ,

17 of the Corporation and 3 0ard of Trustees was held, and dating from that meeting the Trust became actively operative. The following extract from the will of Anna

t

. ce&nes,

filed in the offioe of the registrar of wills for the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 30, 1907, sets forth the purpose of the Bund; •jitem— And now trusting and believing in the practicable a n d .far-reaching good that may result from the moral and elevating influence of aural Schools for negroes in the South, taught by reputable teachers: t do, hereby, name and appoint Booker T. Washington, of Tuskegee, Alabama, and iiollis Burke Brissell, of nampton, "Virginia, to be Trustees of an endowment fund in perpe­ tuity of one million dollars to be devoted to the purpose of assisting in the southern united States, Community, County, or Bural Schools, for that great class of hegroes whom the smaller Kural or Community schools are alone available, while the larger colored institutions are open to those who desire a more advanced education; and further, I request and direct that the same Booker r. Washington, and the said iiollis Burke ifrissell, do nominate and appoint a Board of Trustees to fulfill the office and duties of Trustees of the aforesaid Bund in Perpetuity, and to insure a succession of the members of the Board thereof* Item--Should, however, Booker T. Washington and nollis Burke Brissell die or decline to become Trustees of the said endowment Bund in Perpetuity, or should a Board of Trustees not have been established within six months after my death, I request that the Trustees of Tuskegee Colored Institute and the Trustees of nampton Colored institute shall select from the members of their own Boards, a special Board of Trustees who are willing to act as Trustees of said endowment Bund in perpetuity of one million dollars to be devoted solely to the assistance of Bural, Community, or County Schools for Southern Negroes, and not for the benefit of large institutions, but for the purpose of rudimentary education, and to encourage moral influence and social refinement which shall promote peace in the land and good-will among men,9

^Arthur D. Wright, The Negro Rural School pund, m e . (Washington, D. C.: Negro Bural School Bund, inc., 1933}•

18 The Jeanes Fund cooperated during the session ending June 30, 1922, with public school superintendents in 273 counties in thirteen states.

Two hundred seventy-five

supervising teachers, paid partly by the counties and partly through the Jeanes Fund, visited regularly in their counties 7,850 county schools, ma'king in all, 33,921 visits, and raising for the purpose of school improvement, $428,528*39. Total amount of salaries paid to the supervising teachers was $207,287*75, of which sum $140,521*51 was paid by the public school authorities, and $92,766.24, through the Jeanes Fund. The business of traveling teachers, working under the direction of the county superintendents, is to help and 10 encourage. . The outstanding characteristic of the Jeanes work has been its concentration on the needs of Rural Schools and Rural Communities.

Through this Fund many Megro children in

Rural districts throughout the South, and the Megro teachers, have been greatly benefited.

The moral tone and social

level of many communities have been elevated by workers supported by this Fund. The Rosenwald Fund.

Julius Rosenwald, an American

merchant and philanthropist, became actively interested in

10

Lange, E. S. Jones, The Jeanes Teacher in the United States. 1905-1955. Chapel Hill, N. C. (University of N. C . Press, 1937), p. 143*

19 Negro welfare in 1911, and maintained that interest throughout his lifetime.

The chief effort, at first, of the Rosenwald

Fund, established in 1917, was to better the condition of Negroes through education. According to a report made at Hampton Institute Con­ ference of State Agents for Colored People throughout the South, up to April

50, 1925, there

had been built 1,700

Rosenwald Schools,

and forty-nine teachers1 homes, at a total

cost of $6,257,492* In this cooperative effort Negroes contributed $1,600,667 or 25*6

per cent; white

per cent; public fund,

$5,100,148,

people, $552,199, or5.6 or 49.5 per cent; Rosenwald

Fund, $1,204,478, or 19.5 per cent. Number of buildings: Alabama, 260; Arkansas, 84; Florida, 7; Georgia, 75; Kentucky, 75; Louisiana, 175; Mary­ land, 40; Mississippi, 215; North Carolina, 257; Oklahoma, 55; South Carolina,*116; Tennessee, 146; Texas, 105; and

11 Virginia, 159. Up to the present time the Fund has contributed to the construction of over 5,000 schools for Negroes in fifteen Southern states*

It was always one of RosenwaldTs principles

in giving, to inspire others by the example of his own gifts, and in nearly all cases he made offers, both large and small, in such forms that they had to be matched by other gifts n

McKeen, Cattell, Ryan, Jr., Walter, Editors— School and Society. XVII. No. 441. New York: (The Science Press, 1924), p. 441.

20 before they ?/ere available#

In addition to his giving toward

the establishment of schools throughout the bouth, he gave approximately §200,000 to Tuskegee Institute,

he also gave

large sums of money for the erection of hospitals for Negroes that they might receive better hospitalization,

rn recogni­

tion of his work, Julius Hosenwald, the founder of the xiosenwald Tund, received the William

xiarmon Award for

distinguished achievement in xcace delations in 1928* The Commission on Southern xiace Questions.

The first

organization in the south which set out boldly to make the race problem a part of its program was the Commission on Southern xiaoe Questions. The commission was organized in 1912, by hr. cames h. Dillard, then of Hew Orleans,

it drew its support from

religious bodies and educational institutions, and this Commission addressed itself more to the sympathetic study of these problems, than to direct a c t i o n . ^ The widespread study of the jrroblems of xiace relations in the bouth, inspired by the Commission on southern xiace Questions, brought about another organization in its wake, dedicated to intensive study and analysis of the southern xiace Question.

This organization gave evidence of its moral

temerity by drafting a strong set of resolutions, setting ^ C h a r l e s s. tiohnson, A .Preface to xiacial Adjustment• New fork, (friendship Tress, 19&6), p. 165.

SI forth new social convictions on the race problem.

Johnson

says, "These resolutions dealt with a wide list of injustices so gross and so obvious as to defy any challenge.tfl^ •The national urban league»

L. Hollingsworth Wood,

President of the National Urban league says: "The National urban League is an organization, or perhaps a movement in which men and women to whom the cooperative basis of life appeals, endeavor to express this feeling in developing better relations between the white and Negro races in the united States, in this joint effort, members of the white race have become increasingly conscious of the valuable contributions which they are not only willing, but eager, to make in the future. Members of the Negro raee have, in turn, become conscious of the earnest desire for better under­ standing by their white friends of the problems that con­ front the Negro, and together the members of the Organization have found new sources of both friendship and sympathy, as they have explored the avenue of approach to the goal of a better and more inclusive democracy than hitherto envisioned.14 The history of the urban League begins with a meeting called in the fall of 1910 by the late Mrs, Buth Standish Baldwin, but the foundation upon which the Urban League was built had taken shape several years earlier. Eugene Hinkle Jones, National Executive Secretary, who joined the movement six months after the meeting at Mrs. Baldwin *s home, says: "This Organization is the result of the intense patriotism of a group of unusual men and women of both

^ X b i d . , p. 165. 14L. Hollingsworth Wood, "Foreword", Twenty-fifth Anniversary Booklet. November, 1935.

22

races, who in New York City in 1906, met at the call of William H. Baldwin, then President of the Long Island 15 Bailroad, and President of the General Education Board,” Almost simultaneously in the same year that Mr. Baldwin called his meeting, Miss Prances Eellar, a worker with immi­ grant ’white women, called together a group of men and women of both races to whom she told the story of the difficulties she experienced in trying to get work for girls who were coming into New York and Philadelphia from the South. * The only difference between the problems of these girls and the problems of white girls was that there was at least a sympathetic community waiting to assist the white girls in the solution of their prohlems, while with the colored girls, neither the white community nor the colored community was sympathetic in any definite way with their hopes and aspira­ tions. They were met at the boats and trains by unscrupulous representatives of employement agencies, both white and colored, who exploited them in the most inhuman ways. were frequently placed at work in houses of ill-repute. received jobs paying starvation wages.

They They

Sometimes there was

no work at all for them, with no one meeting them to give welcome and direction in a strange city.

They were picked up

•^Eugene Kinkle Tones, ”The National Urban League”, Twenty-fifth Anniversary Booklet, November, 1935.

25 from the streets by men and by women who were in search of girls for immoral purposes* To protect these unfortunate girls, a committee was formed, called the league for the protection of Colored Women* The group which Mr* Baldwin had called and organized into a Committee for Improving the industrial Conditions of Negroes in Mew iork, and the league for the Protection of Colored Women— worked along parallel lines and in cooperation with each other for four years* In 1910, Mrs. William H* Baldwin, j r . , then the widow of the late Mr. Baldwin, called together a conference of the various organizations working in the interest of Negroes in the city of New fork, to develop cooperation between these agencies.

This conference resolved itself into the Committee

on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, organized:

(1) to develop

cooperation and coordination among these agencies;

(2) to

make investigations of social conditions among Negroes in cities;

(5) to secure training for Negro social workers;

(4)

to establish new agencies for social service among Negroes when the investigation disclosed there was a need. Later the three organizations mentioned decided for purposes of economy and efficiency to merge into one organiza­ tion; The National League on urban Conditions Among Negroes. The actual consolidation took place in 1911*

For the first

24 two years, with a combined budget of something life f8,500, the activities included a movement in Mew York, one in Philadelphia, and one in Baltimore and Norfolk, and a branch in Mashville, Tennessee, where a specialty was made of training students from Fisk university for Social Service through field activities* Mrs. Baldwin became the first president of the group which included such well-known personalities as Miss Frances Aellar, Miss Elizabeth Walton, Dr. William Jay Schieffelin, Dr. B. E# \

Pratt, Professor B. B. A. Seligman, Mr* Paul D* Cravath, Dr* William Adams Brown, Reverend A. Clayton Powell, Sr., Dr. E. P. Roberts, Hon. Fred R. Moore, and Miss Mary S. Drew.

The

first person to be employed by the League was Dr. George Edmund Haynes, who had aided in the formulation of the plan and was chosen as the first executive officer, with the title of ^Director**. After phirty-one years of existence, the National urban League, with headquarters in Mew York City, has Extended its activities and has branches in forty-three cities. bined budgets of the League now total thousand dollars annually.

The com­

well above four hundred

Thirty-seven of these organizations,

including the National, have executive secretaries with staffs of this number; thirty-three are in community chest cities, and in these cities the League is a member of the Chest and receives the public approval which such membership bestows.

as During its entire existence the National urban League has directed its activities primarily to the economic welfare of the Negro*

The League has consistently fought the exclu­

sion of Negro workers from labor unions, and segregation in the economic world where it is found.

By sane and courageous

efforts it has succeeded in placing Negroes throughout the nation in jobs for which they were fitted, that were hitherto closed to them.

The League maintains a fellowship fund for

the advanced training of Negroes in the field of Social Service.

While it is understood that those who receive the

awards of fellowships, will upon completion of their training, spend at least one year in the field of social service, there is no stipulation that this period of service be spent with the Urban League.

Numbered among the fellows are executive

secretaries in many branches of the League and Social Workers throughout the united States.

The official magazine of the

National urban League is Opportunity.

Opportunity is a venture

inspired by a long insistent demand, both general and specific, for a Journal of Negro Life that would devote itself to an interpretation of the social problems of the Negro population in America.

For almost twenty years Opportunity has consis­

tently and valiantly performed the purpose for which it was founded.

Opportunity, for many years, has attained the

distinction and recognition of Edward J # O fBrienrs Anthology

26 of the Best Short Stories of the Year, couraged by the presentation

Negro artists, en­

of their work in Opportunity,

have extended their contributions to other magazines and publications*

Today, Opportunity is widely read in schools

and colleges, both white and colored, where there is interest in, and desire to know Negro life.

Elmer A. Carter, of New

York City, is editor of opportunity* Extensive work in the Southern states, by the urban League, began in 1919*

Jesse 0* Thomas, a graduate of Tus,-

kegee Institute, at one time principal of the Yoorhis Industrial School in South Carolina, and during the World War, the Supervisor of Negro Economics for the state of New York, began his duties with the National urban League as its Southern Representative in 1919*

In this capacity he

served as advisor in the development of social service pro­ grams in many communities spread through several states* The Southern field office has directed surveys of Negro social conditions in various communities, organizes and directs Negro participation in the community Chest Campaign in many cities, and lays the ground work for the establishment of permanent social agencies to serve the Negro population,

in the Southern states the urban League

is adhering strictly to its motto: nNot Alms, but Opportunity.w

/

27 The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored

People, with headquarters in Mew York City, is an organization playing a major part'in Negro uplift.

Many people unacquainted

with the history of this organization, do not regard it as an organization of interracial effort.

Although Negroes consti­

tute the hulk of the membership and governing board, and seventy-five per cent of all funds received by the Association comes from Negroes, many white people are numbered among its members, and there are white people to be found in its person­ nel of directors.

The program of the Association is based frankly

upon the philosophy of political and cultural assimilation.*^ It was organized in New York City in May, 1910, and represents a merger of two groups founed a few years earlier. One of these groups was the Niagara Movement,

inaugurated in

1905 by a group of Negro leaders who sought to make known, their grievances and their desires for full citizenship status.

The other movement was a movement that began in

February, 1909, with the issuance of a call to persons, black and white, to.join the formation of a national organization to take up the cause of full civil rights for Negroes.

16”0rigin— Purpose” , Bulletin No. 1 — National Association for the-Advancement of Colored People, New York, p. 3#

28 Full civil rights for Negroes have always been the goal of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People*

The specific objectives have been:

of lynching;

(2) the wiping out of peonage and debt slavery

in southern agricultural life; ment;

(l) the ending

(3) the ending of disfranchise­

(4) the abolition of injustices in legal procedure,

particularly criminal procedure, which is based upon color or race;

[5) equitable distribution of funds for public

education;

(6}abolition of segregation, discrimination,

insult, and humiliation based on color or race;

(7) equality

of opportunity to work in all fields, with equal pay for 17 e^ual work* The fight on lynching has been a major activity of the Association, and through its various executives it has inves­ tigated many lynchings and eight race riots* The Associations method is to protest, to secure names and facts omitted from brief news stories of lynchings, through investigations often made at a risk of lives; to prepare and distribute literature on lynching* of dollars fighting lynching*

A

It has also spent thousands report released in 1933 gives

the total amount expended for lynching up to that time as $63,860*^8

17

The first national conference on lynching was held

Ibid* * p. 3.

"Lynching and Biots"— Bulletin No* 1 , National Associa­ tion for the Advancement of Colored People, New York, p. 4*

29 in. New York in May* 1919.

And since then, many more meetings

throughout the country have been held against lynching by the Association. In January, 1922, the Nation-wide f ighjs by the Asso­ ciation against lynching culminated in the passage by the House of Representatives of the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, which was killed in the Senate by a filibuster of the Southern sena­ tors. In the fight for the Dyer Bill,

the Association pre­

sented a memorial to the Senate, signed by Governors of twenty-four states, Mayors of thirty-nine cities; eightyeight bishops, clergymen, college presidents, two former United States Attorneys- general, and nineteen Supreme Court Justices.

This fight for a Federal Anti-Lynching Bill,

although unsuccessful, was

perhaps the greatest single factor

in stimulating right-thinking Southern white leaders to action' against lynching. The work of legal defense, done by the Association, has bden enormous; cases that can be enumerated in terms of hundreds have involved rape accusation; murder charges; the right of Negroes to sit on Juries; disfranchisement; discrimi­ nation and segregation. Hundreds of cases have been won, and many times out of legal defeats moral victories'have emerged, for better condi­ tions in numerous instances have come about as a result of contest of unfair and illegal practices.

Some of the definite

30 legal victories too important to be omitted are: 1. The Supreme Courtrs decision that the infamous wgrand-father clause* in many state constitutions was uncon­ stitutional, won in 1915 by the Association.

This clause

declared that no person was eligible to vote whose grand­ father had not been eligible to vote prior to 1860.^^ £• The Supreme Courtfs decision outlawing segregation when in 1917 a segregation ordinance in Louisville, Kentucky was held unconstitutional.

The Louisville case was reaffirmed

in 19£7 when the Supreme Court ruled that a residential segregation ordinance in Hew Orleans was unconstitutional.^ 3. The Supreme Court*s decision declaring unconstitu­ tional Texas’White Primary Law barring Hegroes from Democratic primaries in Texas..

The first decision was won in 1927.

After the decision Texas promptly designed another method to exclude Megfoes from the Democratic jrrimaries.

This method

was contested, and in 1932 the supreme Court again held the exclusion of Hegroes from Democratic Primaries as unconsti­ t u t i onal.^ A third decision outlawing closed Democratic Primaries to Hegroes was handed down by the Federal District Court of Texas in 1934.

^"Disfranchisement* Bulletin Ho. 1— national Association for the -Advancement of Colored People, Hew fork, p. 9. 20Ibid. . p. 9 . 21Ibid. . p. 9. %%Ibid., p. 9,^

31 Almost immediately after the passage of the national Industrial Hecovery Act, reports came to the national Associa­ tion from various parts of the country telling of discrimina­ tions against Negro workers*

In some places Negro workers

were made to work longer hours and for less pay than speci­ fied under the N. H. A.

She Association vigorously attacked

this problem with the result, that steps were taken by Government officials to end such practices* The Association has been diligent and consistent in efforts to bring about an equalization of teacher1s salaries throughout the united states*

more than §35,000,000 in

salaries is lost by Negro teachers each year, solely because they are Negroes.

This §35,000,000 represents the annual

discrepancy between the salaries

paid to Negro teachers and

those paid to white teachers in fifteen of the eighteen Southern states which maintain segregated schools.

gg

Senator Albert Thomas, of Utah, in introducing the ’’Federal Aid to jsducation Bill” in the Senate on April 7, 1941, said: wIn the fifteen states having the heaviest Negro popu­ lation it will require §85,000,000 annually, in additional funds, to raise the average of Negro teachers to the average of white teachers. This additional amount would

SS^eachers * Salaries in Black and white” . Bulletin— National Association for the Advancement of Colored x-eople* New lork, 1941, p* 3.

3Z represent eighty per cent more than is now spent for salaries of Negro teachers The National Association has dedicated itself to the adding to Negro teachers* salaries the-|>£5,000,000 which is lawfully and rightfully theirs, and significant gains have been made* On June 18, 1940, Judge John j. marker, of the united states Circuit Court of Appeals, in reversing the decision of the lower court in the Alston vs* School Board of the City of Norfolk, Virginia, case, ruled in part: ^ihat an unconstitutional discrimination is set forth in these paragraphs hardly admit arguments, The allega­ tion is that the state, in paying for public services of the same kind and character, to men and ?/omen equally qualified according to standards which the state itself prosecutes, arbitrarily pays less to Negroes than to white persons. This is as clear discrimination on the ground of race as could well be imagined, and falls squarely within the inhibition of both the due process and th^ equal protection clauses of the fourteenth Amend­ ment. ■ This decision, supported by the united states Supreme Court*s refusal to review the case on October £8, 1940, has set the precedent for teachers* salary suits throughout the South* The Association has not permitted discrimination in National Defense and the Navy and Army to escape its notice,

£4 l b i d »f p . 3 #

25 Ibid., p. 2.

but is now conducting a vigorous campaign against discrimina­ tion in these instances* The official organ of the national Association is the Crisis, a monthly periodical* Because of its philosophy and program, the National Association has not been very popular in the Southern states* The larger part of its white membership has been in the northern and eastern states.

One indication, however, of the

changing mores in the south has been the increasing acceptance of its policies, and the increase of membership among southern white people. The federal. Gouncil of the churches of Christ in America* The Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America was organized in 1901*

Its Commission on the Church and m c e

Relations is now known as the Department of Race Relations* Its purpose was to foster, through the churches of America, interracial fellowship and cooperative action consonant with the ideals of Christ*

The Organization, from its beginning,

addressed itself to the big task of eliminating old.evils in the interracial situation in America, preventing new evils from developing, and integrating the Negro in American life* The Department of Race Relations of the Council has followed various procedures in the accomplishments of its objectives. It initiated, on the second Sunday in February, 1922,

34 £t&ce Relations Sunday*

This observance expanded until it

became Interracial Brotherhood Week, and in February, 1940, Interracial Brotherhood Month.

The reason for the expansion

was expressed in a message released that year*

The words of

the message were: "No day or week or month, however, will suffice. Education in Brotherhood is a continuous process* We must emphasize Brother Years; Brotherhood Decades; Brotherhood Centuries* until, by the grace of God, it is Brotherhood now.*^6 The development of the observance is indicated by the fact that in 1941 over 12,000 posters for church bulletin boards, and 85,000 pieces of literature were distributed to more than 1,700 churches and religious groups, and to thousands of individuals in forty states and the District of Columbia.^ Activities that center around this period have greatly increased*

jsxchange of pulpits between white and Negro minis­

ters, white and Mexican ministers, and white and oriental ministers has become a common courtesy, not only during inter­ racial month, but at other seasons, in contrast to the initial try-out in 1923, in Chicago, when seven white and seven Negro ministers exchanged pulpits. Interracial meetings of young people and of women, mass

26t,Interracial unity moves un." Bulletin No* 45--Department of Race nelatidns of the Federal Church of Christ in America* New York> 1924, p. 2. ^7Ibid*, pp. 3-4.

35 meetings, ministerial get-togethers, interracial choir festivals, fireside f o m m s , and other meetings have not only brought members of different racial groups face to face during the annual observance, but have had far-reaching effects in year lround community projects and plans where the races have worked together towards mutual ends* Two projects in the rural south, sponsored by this Organization, are contributing much to interracial, under­ standing and cooperation*

The first of these projects is

the meeting of agricultural gatherings.

These experts give

lectures and lead discussions on farming, rural life, and home-making, and helps from available for such projects.

governmental agencies are Both church and government

leaders have expressed their warm appreciation of the D e p a r t m e n t s service in bringing them together. 'In cooperation with the Home mission council, a project has been started- to serve share-croppers and tenants in a section of the Cotton Belt.

A young negro minister, Y. A.

Edwards, graduate of a Southern Hegro college, and specially prepared for rural work at Cornell university and Drew Theo­ logical Seminary, has been placed as religious extension worker in six counties of Georgia.

His work consists of

visitations to typical rural and small town communities, meeting with the church members and pastors, and organizing

them for the improvement of church property, and the improve­ ment of their church programs by better music, and constructive activities for young people.

he also conducts interdenomina­

tional seminars for ministers in service, offering to these men of limited education and contacts new ideas and wider information. One of the investigators of the Carnegie-myrdal Study of the iMegro in America, in evaluating the work of the Depart­ ment in the rural South said; "No other agency has given such serious attention to work in the small towns and rural districts where the needs of the Negro people are greatest, where racial problems are more neglected, and where opportunity for the churches to serve is very great*" An interesting and helpful interracial project pointing towards economic justice sponsored by the Department, is the Consumers Cooperatives among church members*

rhese Coopera­

tives have two-fold results in bringing methods for self-help to needy groups, and in providing a goal of common interest for Negro and white groups as they struggle together to meet a common need with a new and effective technique. A project, started in 1940 in the harlena district of

^"Interracial unity Moves On." Bulletin No. 45— Department of Kace delations of the federal Churches of Christ in America, New xork, pp. 3-4*

37 New York City, lias shown substantial progress towards a per­ manent ConsumersT Cooperative movement for that whole community. Since April, 1941, a promotional secretary on Con­ sumers r Cooperatives has been placed in the field, and now eight credit unions are organized and about twenty study-action groups have been started. The federal .Council of Churches of Christ in America has always been interested in civil rights for Negroes, and through its department of naee relations has constantly advo­ cated equal civil rights for all people. The Department has always regarded a Federal AntiLynching Bill as a moral necessity.

Facts about each bill that

has been before Congress, the trend of public opinion about it, and what the church people could do to foster such legis­ lation have been kept before the constituents of the churches. Not only in the Southern states, but in states above the m s o n - D i x o n line, Negro doctors and nurses are barred from practice and training in hospitals other than those which are strictly for Negroes.

The Department has taken up the

fight againsl this injustice; as a result of its efforts, doofs of hospitals which have been closed hitherto, have been opened to Negro doctors and nurses in New York and^New Jersey. Another important service of the Department now in its tTirelfth year, is the interracial News Service,

it has a wide

38 circulation, and is probably the only publication giving in brief paragraphs a summary of news and opinions about racial minorities in America and

other parts of the world.

popularity and effectiveness of this service

The

is attested by

the following comments by readers: From a Y* M. C. A. official, Hoanoke, Ya.— "We use it for.special reports for the Mace relations Committee.... it is a splendid periodical, and i enjoy it immensely." From Washington, D. C.— "I never can keep a copy of the .Mews Service, There is always an item someone else must have.*29 The Department set forth as its objective in 1942: Expansion of Mace relations Sunday and Interracial Brotherhood Month, with emphasis on year-round community programs, and world-wide celebration of the Day in other lands. increased effort to remove color discrimination in industrial employment. Further educational work to stimulate movements for Consumers1 Cooperatives and credit unions as an inter­ racial technique. Oreater development of National Conference of Church leaders. Continual cooperation with home missions Council in promoting religious extension service projects in cotton states. More attention to action of government that affects racial minorities. Continuance of Crusade to open hospitals for training Negro nurses and doctors. increased circulation of interracial Hews Service. Continual information, consultation, and clearance service in race problems to local interracial groups and to national church a g e n c i e s . Through the generosity of William B. Harmon, since 1926,

"Interracial unity moves on", Bulletin No. 4 5 — Depart­ ment of.hace delations of the Federal Churches of Christ in America, New fork, pp. 3-4, 9.

•5Ul M d . , p. 12.

39 the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, through the Department of Race Relations, has been giving awards to Hegroes for distinguished achievement*

The object

of this award is to encourage and to recognize genius and special effort on the part of Hegroes, and to inform white people of these achievements through public presentation of the awards, through newspaper publicity, and through exhibits of the art work done in connection with the Contest* William F. Harmon was brought up in a home interested in the negro.

This explains, at least in part, his own

interest in the Negro race.

His father was an officer in the

union Army during the Civil War, and was afterwards stationed with Negro troops at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

It was there that

young Harmon had very close association with the Negro soldiers, and lived a frontier life with them.

When

he later became a

successful business man, he determined to devote some of his money to the cultural development of the Negro race.

He,

therefore, instituted the Harmon Foundation, which was intended to lend money without interest to deserving Negro students who gave promise of leadership in their fields,

xn this way,

many students have been aided in educational efforts. Mr. Harmon, speaking through a release of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, said: tfI believe that the narmon Foundation will afford a rallying point about which ambitions Negro men and women

40

can gather--”No self-respecting Negro desires to secure advantage through special favor without due consideration heing given to his merit. All he asks is a fair field of opportunity, words of encouragement, a sympathetic under­ standing, and the assurance that his work will he judged on a par with the work of the white race, without ei-ther unfair discrimination, prejudice, or, on the other hand, any undue support of paternalism.™^**In 1935 there was a new development of the foundation*s work.

Mr. Harmon decided to offer awards to Negroes who won

distinction in the fields of art, science, and letters.

Thus,

did the Harmon awards for distinguished achievements among Negroes have their inception. The Harmon Awards were first given in December, 1925, and have since been administered by the Department of Bace relations of the*federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America..

Dr. George H. Haynes, secretary of the Department of

nace Halations, outlined the plan: ™To give recognition and stimulus to creative work, the Harmon Foundation, on behalf of William Harmon, has provided f4,000 annually, for awards for distinguished achievement. There are seven first awards of f400 each, offered annually to Negroes who have made distinguished achievements in literature, music, fine arts, industry, including business, science, including invention, edu­ cation, religion, and the award for improvement of.race relations between white and Negro peoples in America.™3^ A gold medal is provided to go with each award in the first seven divisions;

the second award in the first seven

divisions is flOQ and a bronze medal.

Any Negro of American

^IjReport of Commission on Hace relations of the Federal Council or the Churches of Christ in America, July, 1926", cited by raul i&. Baker, op. cit., p. 229. 3SIbid., p. 229

41 residence of either sex is eligible to compete for any one of the first seven awards; the eighth award, for achievement in bettering relations between white and Negro races, is open to either white or Negro persons. more than one. first prize,

No person shall receive

preference is given to persons

who have not heretofore received marked recognition, and no award will be made except for some achievement of outstanding character.

The Harmon Awards are not designed as prizes in

a contest, but are meant to bring a degree of distinction to persons who have made some outstanding contribution of national significance without receiving deserved distinction.33 The Awards are always made on pace delations Sunday at a certain strategic center in the united States.

After the

awards have been made, the Department of pace relations of the federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America each year exhibits the materials submitted in the contest.

the art section of

The pictures and the sculpture

in about twenty leading cities of

are displayed

the country, so that large

groups of white and Negro people have an opportunity to see the work of some of the leading Negro artists. The Department of pace delations of the jfederal Council of the Churches of Christ in America regards the Harmon Awards as a very effective means of bettering race relations.

33Ibid., p. 229.

%

The

42 demonstration of tlie ability of the Negro to make a significant contribution to American life wins the respect of many people of the opposite race who have been ignorant of the Negro capa. bilities.

heretofore, Negroes have not been given an oppor­

tunity to demonstrate their varied abilities# Awards afford the needed opportunity#

The Harmon

Since their inception

people everywhere have acknowledged the value of the narmon Awards in promoting better race relations. The Y# m# C# A# and the Y. 1# 0# A.

The young m e n ’s

Christian Association and the loung W o m e n ’s Christian Associa­ tion are organizations that have extensive interracial pro­ grams.

The programs consist chiefly of the establishment

of branch organizations for negroes in cities w i t h 'population large enough to support them, uhicago* and

sjos

nven in cities like New xork,

Angeles there are separate Negro branches,

although negroes are not denied participation in the activities of

other branches. The interracial efforts have been primarily of an edu­

cational nature,

encouraging joint conferences where race

problems are discussed; presenting negro speakers to white groups; and attempting to promote more-amicable relations between the two races. The type of work done by the local branches varies according to the community in which the Association is located.,

43 since the membership is made up from the populations which reflect local mores and attitudes* The ioung Women’s Christian Association has in its national, as well as its local organizations a separate structure for

its work among Hegroes.

The foung Women’s Christian Association has no separate Negro division in its national office, but has Negroes on both the national board and staff.

Its local branches are separated,

with white and Negro secretaries.

While there are efforts on

the part of these organizations to improve race relations within their general membership through publicity and confer­ ences, the main work the branches carry out is a general program of character building, with the race problem as an incidental feature. The Commission on interracial Cooperation.

The Commis-

sion on interracial Cooperation is not at all the last organi­ zation for interracial good-will to come into existence in America, but since the chief concern of this thesis is the work and problems of the Commission, the discussion of its history was reserved as the last topic of this chapter. During the first World War there was an apparent solidarity of population in the Southern states, white and Negro,

in support of the war, white and Negro were united as

never before.

Two hundred thousand Negro soldiers were sent

44 to Europe* and fought the enemy side hy side with their white comrades, and died in the shambles together*

millions of

i^Negroes at home patriotically responded to every call of their country* After the Armistice was signed a subtle but ominous change took place in the South. phere.

Distrust filled the atmos­

rhe question, was raised, what will

be the attitude

of the Negro troops when they return from France?

Humors

ran rampant; the smoldering embers of race prejudice were fanned and began to glow brightly, and by the time the soldiers began to return, suspicion and fear gripped the Southern whites.

Mob violence, which had greatly declined

during the war, burst out afresh,

m

city after city race

riots flared up, with casualties to Negro and white alike. Tension was high, and with fearful suspense the nation waited for the outcome. Deeply disturbed by the dangers inherent in the situa­ tion of a small group of Southern men met daily in Atlanta, Georgia, seeking some solution for this serious problem. the head of this group were John

j

At

. Eagan., manufacturer and

churchman; Will W. Alexander, who as a representative of ^he Y. M. C. A. War Work Council, was in close touch with the returning Negro troops, and Ashby m. Jones, pastor' of a lead­ ing Atlanta church.

These men represented three of the strongest

45 religious bodies in the South: Presbyterians, Methodists, and Baptists. Out of the thought and prayer of these men and others of kindred spirit, the Commission was born early in 1919. The Commission was set up as a temporary organization to meet an immediate crisis*

nowever, after the immediate crisis

following the Armistice was met, it was obvious that condi­ tions affecting the relation of races in the Bouth were not caused by the war.

War had merely served to bring the vi­

cious sore to a head.

The Commission saw that other situa­

tions similar to the one they had encountered were inevitable. Thereupon, it was decided to increase and intensify the original program of the education of the population, both white and Begro, making the Commission a permanent peace­ time movement. With this in mind, a change in the method of approach was developed.

Representatives of south-wide and state-wide

organizations were elected to membership in' the general Com­ mission, and on state and local committees.

As members of

the Commission, these representatives learned of existing conditions; as leaders of civic and religious organizations, they presented to their constituencies the racial situations of which they had been made aware.

As citizens, they, as

their constituencies, have appeared before boards of education,

46 health departments, city councils, and state legislatures, with requests for more equitable consideration for Negroes. Church schools, churches, medical associations, women’s clubs, teachers’ associations, colleges, and high schools * have become participants in the education of the South in interracial cooperation* The Commission has had six presidents:

Mr* Tohn T.

Eagan, of Atlanta, a founder and the first president, held that office until his death in 1924*

Mr. Eagan was succeeded

by Dr* M* Ashby Tones, of Atlanta; Dr. W. C. Jackson, ^resident of N 0rth Carolina College for Women, Greensboro, N. C.; Dr. John Dope, ^resident of Atlanta University; Dr* E. McNeill Hoteat, Jr., of Raleigh, N. C*; and Dr. Howard W* Odum, of Chapel Hill, N. C., who has served as president since 1927* While the Commission is primarily concerned with dis­ crimination affecting Negro life, every effort is made to see the race problem as bi-racial*

Those conditions which ob­

viously are the result of racial discrimination, which-injure the South economically and culturally, and which defy the principles of Christianity and democracy are the major points of attack. Education of the people to recognize these self-imposed limitations and to work to remove them is the major purpose of the Commission.

CHAPTER II SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTION From its inception, the Commission on Interracial Cooperation has had two objectives:

(1) the correction of

conditions involving interracial injustice or neglect;

(2)

the improvement of mistaken attitudes out of which such conditions grow*'*’ Throughout its history the Commission has not veered from its chosen course, and the contributions it has made to the betterment of race relations is due to the earnestness and ingenuity with which it has pursued these objectives. in this chapter the firBt objective, the Correction of Unsocial .Conditions, or the Work of Social Reconstruction, will be discussed. ^resident Roosevelt,

in speaking of the low economic

status of the Southern states, characterized the South as the "Nation*s No. 1 economic problem”; an observation of the whole social structure of the South will reveal the fact that it is the Nationfs No. 1 social problem, as well,

in the solution

of some of these problems which involve interracial injustice, the Commission on interracial Cooperation has great gains to its credit. The Commission and Lynching.

^ ”The Interracial Front”. Interracial Cooperation, 1939.

Lynching is the greatest

Bulletin. Commission on

48 travesty upon American Justice*

Lynching has proved itself

to be no respecter of race or locality, but most of the lynchings in America have been in the Southern states, and the Negro has been the chief victim* The causes of lynchings in the Southern states have ranged from accusations of murder to speaking discourteously to a white man. A study of the records of lynching in 1935, by the

Commission, for the period 1931-1935, revealed the following facts: (1) A larger proportion of the lynchings of this period occurred in the South than ever before, and larger proportions of the victims were Negroes* (£) Eleven per cent of the mob victims were not accused of any crime; an additional thirty per cent were accused only of minor offenses. Of the other fifty-nine per cent, many were not guilty of the crimes with which they were charged. (3) Contrary to the general impression that rape is the chief cause of lynching, only eleven per cent of the victims were accused of this crime. Scarcely one fourth were accused of rape and attempted rape combined. (4) Courts rarely indict lynchers, more rarely convict, almost never impose sentences commensurate with the crime. Indictments have been returned in but one lynching in twelve, and convictions in scarcely one in thirty. (55 There is evidence that peace officers partici­ pated in several lynchings, and connived in many more. (6) Over nine-tenths of the lynchings oceured in the open country, and a little over four-fifths in counties where the per capita ineome and taxable wealth were below those of their respective states. Over threefourths of the threatened lynchings prevented were also in the poorer rural counties. (?) When a mob does not lynch, it sometimes dominates the court, and so brings about a "legal lynching”. (8) Nearly twenty per cent of the persons lynched,

49 and threatened by mobs, were mental defectives. (9) The number'of lynchings declined from a yearly average of 123 between 1895 and 1905, to seventy between 1905 and 1915, to fifty-three between 1915 and 1925, and to seventeen between 1925 and 1935. The past decade, however, shows more lynchings in the latter half than in the first half— the only decade in which this was true. The number of attempted lynchings also rose during the latter half of the decade. The optimism of ten years ago is waning. Lynchings are not fading naturally from the American scene; the mob still rides. Spurred by the facts revealed by this study, which proved that the mob was still riding with the writ of death by"«Fudge Lynchn in its hand, it committed itself with firm determination to halt the horrible death rides of the iniquitous lynch mob.

The Commission knew that most of the

lynchings were done in the name of the weaker sex, so it set out to enlist the effort'and solidify the sentiment of the women of the South against this blighting evil.

The Commission,

through the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching, launched a great campaign against lynching. Lewis P. Nordyke, a Texas journalist, said,

"Mob

violence, masquerading as the Champion of Southern Womanhood, is petering out below the Mason-Dixon line, and the weaker sex 3 is responsible." 2

"The Mob Still Rides", Bulletin. Commission on Interracial Cooperation, Atlanta: 1935., p. 5. 3 Lewis P. Nordyke, "Reprinted Prom Survey Graphic" Bulletin. Commission on Interracial Cooperation, Atlanta; 1939, p. 1.

50 The accomplishments of the Commission on Inter­ racial Cooperation, through the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching, which is its w o man fs department, are not widely Icnown even in the South.

The

women have worked quietly— -very quietly in comparison with the notoriety of lynching mobs bent on murder.

Through

personal effort, pressure on state officials and peace officers, and with the help of church, social, and other organizations, they have greatly affected the South* s whole attitude toward lynching. Statistics tell part of the dramatic story of the patient, anti-lynching campaign.

In the eight years

previous to the organization of the Women*s Association, there were 211 lynchings in the United States. In 1920, the year the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching was founded, there were twenty-one lynchings in the South.

Eecords of Tuskegee

Institute show that in the first eight years the women were organized, there were 105 lynchings, only half as many as in the previous eight years.

There were thirteen lynchings

in 1931, eight in 1932, twenty-eight in 1933, fourteen in 1934, twenty-one in 1935, eight in each of 1936 and 1937, and six in 1938, and in 1941 the number dropped to four. Moreover, the records show that in forty instances sheriffs and police officers, many of whom were committed

51 in writing to the Women’s Program, prevented lynching in 1938— saving three white men, forty-nine Negro men, and 4 a Negro woman from mobs. The person living outside of the South is surprised to see the white Southern women working earnestly against lynching.

A person living in a section of the country far

removed from the South, who had heard of the efforts of the Commission on Interracial Cooperation, chiefly through the Southern white women, made this remark:

’’Why, that is

peculiar, i s n ’t it the primary purpose of lynching to pro5 tect white womanhood?” To this question thousands of Southern white women are saying emphatically,

"NOI”

The very first thing that the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching did after their organization, was to explode the fiction that men lynch in w omen’s name.

Here is the Organization’s declaration and

personal pledge: We declare lynching is an indefensible crime, destructive of all principles of government, hateful and hostile to every ideal of religion and humanity, debasing and degrading to every person involved. Though lynchings are not confined to any one section of the United States, we are aroused by the record 4 "Ladies and Lynching” Bulletin. Commission on Interracial Cooperation, Atlanta: 1939, p. 1.

5 Ibid., p.l.

52. which, declares our heavy responsibility for the presence of this crime in our country. We believe that this record has been achieved because public opinion has accepted too easily the claim of lynchers and mobsters .that they were acting solely in the defense of womanhood. In the light of facts, we dare not longer permit this claim to pass un­ challenged, nor allow those bent upon personal revenge and savagery to commit acts of violence and lawlessness in the name of women. We solemnly pledge ourselves to create a new opinion in the South, which will not condone, for any reason whatsoever, acts of mobs or lynchers. We shall teach our children at home, at school, and at church a new interpretation of law and religion; we will assist all officials to uphold their oath of office; and finally, we will join with every minister, editor, school teacher, and patriotic citizen in a program of education to eradicate lynching and mobs forever from our land. The pledge of the Women of this Association has not been an idle one, but very dynamic.

Over 40,000 of

the leading white women of the South have signed the pledge and fought for the principle involved, particular­ ly regarding the statement that men do not lynch in the South to protect Southern womanhood. On November 1, 1930, twenty-four women met in Atlanta for the purpose of making a special study of lynching.

Here are some facts which they discovered

and subsequently released: Since 1886, a total of 4,297 persons had been lynched in the United States, most of them in the South — but only twenty-one per cent of the victims had been

Ibid., pp. 1-2.

53

lynched for crimes against white women*

Women had been

present at all lynchings of recent years, and in a number of cases had participated.

Some of the women were

mothers with young children who, on several occasions, were actually balanced precariously on parents* shoulders so as to have a better view.

Young boys and

girls were contributing their numbers to the mobs, both as spectators and as leaders. From 1922 to that autumn of 1930, there had been 211 lynchings, 204 of them in the South,

But only

twenty-nine per cent of the victims had been accused 7 of crimes against white women. In this study the women discovered that seventyone per cent of the victims of lynchings were, lynched for other reasons; many of which were very trivial* The women saw what had been traditionally known as Southern chivalry stripped of its camouflage and re­ vealed in the reality of sadistic barbarism. Under the leadership of Mrs, Jessie Daniel Ames, of Atlanta, now Executive Director of the Association, twelve women of that pioneer group pledged themselves to do all within their power to prevent lynchings and change public opinion to detest rather than approve mob murder.

The women decided to employ

54

two methods in the solution of this big and difficult p roblem. (l)

To carry on an educational program between

outbursts of violence;

(2) to act quickly when a mob

formed, or when there was a threat of a mob. They considered the first method of greater importance, and wrote in their minutes: The time to prevent lynchings is before the mob forms. Investigations have disclosed that no county in the South is free from the shadow of possible lynching. Because the county is the important unit of government, intensive activities are planned to be carried out by women in each county seat before a mob even threatens.8 The women set out to do what they recorded in their minutes.

Each of these twelve women were church

women, and each knew that the church women were strong in numbers and influence.

The women appealed to the

Women's Church Organizations and the response was be­ yond their highest calculation. women offered their aid.

Hundreds of Southern

Prominent women like Mrs.

Attwood Martin, of Louisville, Kentucky, who is well known as a novelist under the name of George Madden Martin, joined actively in the work, and placed their influence behind the program. The efforts of these inspired Southern women was not without great opposition.

^ Ibid., p. 2

The women were ridiculed

5& and threatened.

Organizations which had made the Negro

their chief object upon whom they unleashed their threats and floggings, ordered the women to cease their campaign under threats#

In some communities women were not allow­

ed to speak publicly on lynching.

In other communities

officials ordered that talks be written and censored locally before the women might speak. Mrs. Ames, in speaking of the difficulties these pioneer women had to encounter said: I know women who wouldn’t tell their husbands of the threats because they feared their families would insist that the women quit the work. Women went into communities in which there had been lynchings* Many of the people were belligerent* When we take into consideration the fact that some of the lynchings had grown out of politics and crooked business deals, we can understand that the women were by no means safe at all times. They knew of the constant danger, and they didn’t forget to pray.9 In their work the women of the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching have been zealous in utilizing opportunities that might give force and momentum to their cause.

They have enlisted editors

of some of the South*s leading newspapers who are members of the Commission on Interracial Cooperation, and who have always advocated amicable relations between the two races of the South. 9

Ibid.. p.S.

Such editors as Crover Hall,

56

of the Montgomery Advertiser; Mark E. Etheridge, of the Louisville Courier-Journal; Virginius Dabney, of the Richmond Times-Dispatch; and many others have championed the cause of these women and spoken out clearly and courageously in denunciation of lynching. The women have gained the support of the governors of several of the Southern states, and these governors have taken a firm stand against lynching, and have made it clear to sheriffs that they will be held responsible for lynchings in their counties. One of the most important phases of the work of these Southern women— the part which has shocked a large section of the South into changing their view of the lynching problem, is that of gathering and publicizing facts about lynchings; especially about those which were perpetrated on slight provocations. The following are some of the officially recorded facts publicized in newspapers and in printed circulars: Near Moultrie, G-a. , Bo Brinson, an unaccused Negro, was killed at his home by a mob looking for John Henry Sloan, who had killed a white man. In Baker County, Ga., a Negro killed a white boot-legger at a Negro dance. When the "right man" couldn’t be found, two unaccused Negroes were lynched as an object lesson. In Cheatham County, Tenn., a Negro was lynched for slapping a white woman who was drinking beer in a Negro store.

57 At Tuscaloosa, Ala., a helpless Negro paralytic was.lynched on the charge of attempted rape. In Greenville, S. C . , a Negro was shot to death in his home at midnight, by a mashed mob, after he had repeatedly asked for a settlement for his crop.10 Mrs. Ames said, "The revelation of such facts has greatly aided the Association in battering down opposition and winning popular public approval.

As a result, the

ranks of the Women Crusaders have greatly increased." An example of the speed and the precision with which the women work in preventing a lynching is related in Bulletin No. 32, "Ladies and Lynching"#11 On Christmas Day, 1934, Mrs. Ames was preparing a Christmas dinner.

Her telephone rang; an associate

press editor informed her that a Negro had killed an officer in Schley County, Georgia, and that a mob was forming.

Mrs. Ames rushed to her office and looked over

her files to ascertain the name of the Association representative in Schley County.

Discovering there was

no representative in Schley County, Mrs. Ames quickly telephoned Mrs. F. M. Mullins, of Montezuma, in the adjoining county#

Mrs. Mullins, who was preparing her

Christmas dinner, stopped, and started telephoning

~^Ibid. t pp. 2-3 11

Ibid.. p. 4.

everyone she knew in Schley County, urging each to bring pressure on the sheriff to prevent a lynching.

A short

time later, Mrs. Mullins was informed that the Negro was in a swamp in her own county*

She called the sheriff

and his deputies, and a number of ministers and other social-minded citizens, urging them to aid in preventing a lynching.

Until the afternoon Mrs. Mullins stayed at her

telephone. ties.

Finally the Negro was captured by the authori­

That Christmas day in Georgia was not despoiled by

a lynching.

The law took its course.

The women of the Association know that political strategy is necessary in accomplishing their end, and they do not fail to use it.

No strange woman from the central

office ever calls on a sheriff of a county about lynching, but always a woman voter living in the sheriff’s county, and that is about as firm political pressure as can be applied.

The sheriff knows that if he is negligent when

a lynching is about to take place, when a woman voter has demanded him to act, that he will have to answer at the polls for his negligence. In 1935 the Association adopted as its objectives: (1) To enlist ten thousand men and women in this work. (2) To give immediate publicity to causes behind every lynching. (3) To secure the signature of every sheriff in the county through personal calls by local con­ stituents.

(4) To create an enlightened, public opinion that will refuse to accept any defense of lynching. The Commission on Interracial Cooperation has made an effective contribution to the outlawry of lynching by honoring the officers of the law who successfully protect their prisoners from the lynching mob* Mr. H. B. Eleazer, of the Commission, wrote to Mr. Emil 1. Grex, County Attorney, Bay St* Louis, Mississippi, as follows: In 1925 the Commission on Interracial Cooperation authorized the award of a medal of merit to officers of the law who successfully protect their prisoners from lynching and mob violence. Bishop B. E. Jones has called our attention to the case of Sheriff John V. Bontemps....... suggesting that you might wish to nominate him for one of these awards. We are, therefore, enclosing a nomination blank...... The following February Mr. Eleazar wrote again to Mr. Gex: Some months ago you nominated for one of our distinguished medals Sheriff J. V. Bontemps....1 am happy to inform you that the Committee has authorized the awarding of a medal to Sheriff Bontemps. We try to make the presentation of these medals as dignified as possible, and to give them as wide publicity as we can throughout the South, since a large part of their value is in the edu­ cational publicity involved. I am writing, there­ fore, to ask if you will arrange a public meeting for the presentation of the medal, with appropriate recognition by some of your prominent people. It

12 nThe Business of Lynching” Bulletin No. 4« Commission on Interracial Cooperation, Atlanta: 1935. p. 20* 13

Paul E. Baker, Negro-White Adjustment. {Association Press, New York: 1934)V P*

might be possible, also, to get a letter from your Governor, commending the Sheriff1s action, to be read on the occasion.14 ' In 1928 the Commission publicly awarded a bronze medal to Sheriff Bontemps.

Engraved upon the medal is a

knight holding in one hand a sword, and in the other a small balancing scale; behind him is the court of Justice, while inscribed on the edge are the words: Law and Civilization.n

”In Defense of

Through the Commission wide publicity

was obtained; at least fifty papers were given the story, 15 with cuts of both the sheriff and the medal. The previous year the Commission had presented such medals to a sheriff and a Jailer in Louisiana.

The

State Governor, Honorable 0. H. Simpson, wrote to a state representative, I. W. Holloman, regarding the presentation: As chief executive, I wish you to add my commenda­ tion of the action of these officers in upholding the dignity of the law and order and the supremacy of the courts; therefore, when we find men who are willing to risk their lives in order to pre­ serve law and order, it is our duty to cite them for heroism. Please convey to these gentlemen my sincere expression of appreciation of their action in this c a s e . 3 -6 In releasing press publicity, Mr. B. B. Eleazer, of the Commission, expresses himself as follows:

14 Ibid.. p. 78. 1 . Ibid. , p.' 78. 16

The Alexandria Daily Town Talk. July 5, 1927. Cited by Paul E. Baker* Op. cit. p. 78.

61

Louisiana, as you are doubtless aware, has made notable progress in the last years toward the elimina­ tion of lynching. It is evident that the State is determined to wipe out this blot completely. It is our hope that the presentation of these medals may help somewhat toward the achievement of this worthy end, and also that it may be helpful in other states in which mob madness still frequently’humiliates us at home and discredits our Christian civilization throughout the world.17 The Commission knows that all the lynchers have not died off, nor have they been miraculously regenerated. The Commission knows that lynch-minded individuals have not resolved to stop lynching.

What has taken place to check

the perpetration of this nefarious crime is the heroic work of its strong arm, the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching, the heroic work of some officers of the law, and public sentiment against lynching, which is steadily growing. The Commission is dedicated to the task of a complete change of public opinion in regards to lynching so that this shameful evil will be completely eradicated. . In addition to the problem of threats and intimida­ tion by organized lynch-minded individuals, the Commission, in its activity against lynching, has been hindered by some other problems. Two problems which have retarded the work of the Commission against lynching have been ( l ) t h e problem of 17 April 19E8.

Commission on Interracial Cooperation Release, Cited by Paul E. Baker, op. cit.* p. 78.

62-

apprehending and convicting lynchers*

Though lynching is

a crime violating both the Federal Constitution and the laws of several states concerning murder, riot, assault and the like, still* in many communities it is regarded as an expression of'popular justice.

Many times the officers

of the law are members of the mob, and if not members, they are in sympathy with the mob.

They offer no resistance

to the mob, which forces entrance into jails*

In some

instances have secretly cooperated with the mob, telling them when to storm the Jails, and the exact identification of the prisoner whom they seek.

They always hide behind

the excuse of being overpowered by the mob. When lynchings are investigated people who know the members of the mob refuse to identify them.

Sometimes this

is fear, but in the majority of cases it is sympathy with the mob.

If the lynchers are apprehended, in only a few

cases has it been possible to get a grand jury to indict them. (2} The problem of adequate punishment.

A law is

not an effective deterrent of crime unless it can be rigidly enforced; if it can be circumvented or mollified criminals have little respect for it.

When lynchers have

been apprehended and indicted the punishment meted out in proportion to the gravity of the crime has been farcical* Sentences from one to two years have been imposed,

63 and sometimes these have been suspended* In some instances, when juries have returned verdicts which would demand rigid penalties, judges have criticized the action of juries, and have arbitrarily imposed sentences that mocked the law. The Commission and Negro Health.

The Commission

on Interracial Cooperation has seen the need of improving the health of the Negro, and is directing earnest efforts along this line.

To show the great need of work along

this line a part of this discussion is given to the presentation of facts concerning the health conditions of the South and those of the Negro in particular. Reuter says that one of the more serious problems of the present American South is the condition of public 18 health* The sickness and death rates from tuberculosis, pellagra, the hookworm disease, typhoid and malarial fevers, and the well known social diseases are excessively high. In comparison with other parts of the country the South ia Tar behind in stamping out communicable diseases.

The

health conditions of the South have been such that certain life insurance companies have refused to write policies,in

Edward Byron Reuter, The American Race Problem. (Thomas Y. Crowell Company, New York: 1938) p. 167

6& 19 some of the Gulf states. The health conditions of the South has been due in part to poverty and general educational backwardness. . But it is due in part to the attitude of indifference of the white population to the welfare of the Negro population, and in some sections the Negroes outnumber the whites.

The

health rate of the whites in the South lags behind that of other sections, and the health of the Negro in the South compares unfavorably with the white man.

By indifference

to conditions that have kept the Negro health rate low, the general health of the South is kept low. The white man cannot maintain high health and efficiency standards and neglect the welfare of the Hegro population.

The contact of races is such that the health

of one is conditioned by the health of the other.

Negroes

in domestic employment serve and care for the whites, prepare their food, wash their clothes, and nurse their children, and if they are victims of disease, it matters not how much higher the whites’ standards of living may be, they cannot prevent contamination. Many Southern communities have been so shortsighted as.to provide clinics

for white people, and adequate

medical inspection for white school children, and ignore the Negroes altogether, or provide medical care less

19 Ibid., p. 167

65 adequate.

So far as communicable diseases are concerned

such a policy is self-destructive.

Infectious diseases

arising in the Negro communities spread rapidly to the white.

Infectious diseases beginning in a Negro school

soon spreads to the white school. Heuter has well said that where a population is bi-racial, a diseased colored community means a diseased white community;

the mutual inter-dependence of the racial

groups is such that most public health measures must fail

20 unless they include both racial elements. The diseases to which the Negro has a greater sus­ ceptibility than the white man are tuberculosis and other pulmonary diseases.

But it is not a fact, as some

would have us believe , that the Negro is particularly susceptible to tuberculosis and pulmonary disorders simply because he is a Negro.

This conclusion has no logical

basis, but appears to be a naive inference drawn directly from the fact of the high death rate of the Negro.

It

has not been scientifically established that the Negro is

21 constitutionally weak and prone to disease.

~

20 Ibid.. p. 168 21

"Findings on Negro Health", Annual Conference of Southern California Medical, Dental, and Pharmaceutical Association held at Second Baptist Church, Los Angeles, California, March 8, 1942.

6§

The preponderance of evidence relative to the high mortality rate of the Negro points to inferior standards of living.

Vermin-infested houses, devoid of proper

ventilation, and other sanitary facilities in which he is forced to live; poor diet,lacking the proper vitamins to keep his body up to the normal resistance point; and unfavorable occupational environments are the contribut­ ing causes to his higher mortality rate. Give the Negroes equal standards of living with the whites, and subsequently the mortality rate of Negroes will be no higher than that of white people.

Keuter says that

there is even some evidence for the position that Negroes under favorable environmental conditions would show a lower rate of mortality than whites.

As evidence he states

that the physical examination of the Negro and white recruits incident to the army draft in the first World War seems to show the Negro to be constitutionally the better physiological machine.

A larger percentage of Negroes

than of white men drafted were accepted for service, and after registration, there was a-larger percentage of Negroes than of the whites admitted to full military duty. The death rate of infants and young children is an

22 Beuter, op., eit*, p. 187

67, important item in the explanation of the higher death rate of Negroes.

In 1910 the number of deaths of male

Negro infants in the population for each 1,000 male infants in the population was 280*3; the corresponding figure for the female infants was 248.2.

Thus, more than

one fourth the Negro children born, died with the first 23 year of life. In 1930 the deaths under one year was much higher in the Negro than in the white group.

In 1930, of each

1.000 deaths in the white population, 103 were babies under one year; in the Negro population, 130 of each 24 1.000 deaths were babies under one year. At present the infant mortality rate for both white and colored is lower than preceding years, but the Negro infant mortality rate is still higher than the white infant mortality.

The higher infant mortality rate among

Negroes is also explained by inferior social and economic standards.

Poverty is the greatest enemy of babies;

most infant deaths occur in families where mothers are forced to go out to work because of the low income of the father.

Poverty forces parents to live in unwholesome

environments, and makes them incapable of providing babies proper food and care.

23 Ibid., p. 179 24Ibid., p* 179

There is an important economic factor involved in the excessive illness and death rate among Negroes which America and the Southern states in particular, have been slow to realize.

Gillin says, "one cannot evaluate human

life, of course, in terms of money alone, yet healthful £5 human beings have a very high economic value." For the white man to take a narrow economic view toward Negro health is to ignore a great problem not only disastrous to the Negro, but detrimental to himself.

The

health of persons composing the population is the most important part of the nationrs resources.

Diseases and

unnecessary deaths are an economic and social loss.

The

physical well-being of the Negro as well as the white is a matter of grave concern. itself.

It is fundamental to the race

It is one of the most important problems that

confronts the Negro.

It is important from the stand­

point of economic and industrial efficiency; it is an important factor in poverty and dependence; cant in vice and delinquency.

it is signifi­

The good health of Negroes,

as of any other group in the population, is of concern not only to the group itself, but to the community as a whole.

Negro health, therefore, is not a race problem,

John Lewis Gillin, Social Pathology, ton-Century Company, New York: 1939), p. 18.

(d. Apple-

63 but a community and national problem* The work of the Commission consists of a program of education among both Negroes and whites relative to Negro health.

At community, forums both separate and

interracial, the problem of Negro health is discussed: the cause, prevention, and cure of diseases is discussed. White people are made conscious that the poor health of a servant is a source of detriment to their own health* The Commission cooperates with the Bace Relations Depart­ ment of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America in encouraging the Negro preachers to attend seminars sponsored by the Council, where health is dis­ cussed* The Commission has cooperated with Negro organi­ zations in establishing and maintaining community clinics and recreational centers for Negroes,

it has advocated

the clearance of slums in congested Negro areas, the breeding place of disease and crime. been made along this line.

Small gains have

These rewards, though small,

are encouraging, and earnest efforts through the Commission% media of State Committees, Women’s Organizations, and Church groups are in continuous progress toward this objective. The Commission has addressed itself to the prob­ lems of inadequate hospitalization for Negroes, and

opportunity for Negro physicians and nurses to serve their constituency in public-supported institutions.

The

bed capacity for Negroes in the hospitals of the South is appalling.

In many of the general hospitals of the

South Negroes are not admitted at all; in the approximate two-thirds of the general hospitals that do admit Negroes, Negroes are placed in separate wards with inferior facili­ ties.

In the colored wards of the city and county and

hospitals under private management, the internes and visiting staff are in almost eve r y ‘instance White, and in many instances the white doctors are prejudiced, and the lack of symathetic interest in the patient offsets his skill.

The Commission has brought pressure to bear

upon county and city officials, and facilities for Negroes have been improved in some of the public-supported hospitals. Henry W. Grady Hospital,in Atlanta, and a few others have employed Negro nurses for Negro wards, and established training schools for Negro nurses. *£he problems that the Commission face in the betterment of Negro health are:

the unwillingness of

county and city governments to improve sections in which Negroes reside, and the white landlords to improve the dwellings in which Negroes must live.

The majority

of the white population are unconcerned about Negro health and a large per cent of the rank and file of the

71

white population believe that Negroes increase too rapid­ ly, and that it is good for many of them to die.

They

have not come to the realization that Negro ill health is a threat to white good health.

Many of the county and

city authorities, who control improvement, believe that any condition is good enough for the Negro.

The white

landlord in most cases is only interested in his rents, and since he has no competition by better houses offered to Negroes, why should he have scruples about better facilities in places where Negroes live? The Work of the Commission and the Economic Standards of the Negro.

The presentation of some facts

relative to the economic position of the Negro in the South will reveal both the challenging right and need of better economic standards for the Negro in the South to which end the Commission on Interracial Cooperation is making a contribution.

In the development of the

entire Southern section of .America, Negro labor has made a noteworthy contribution.

As slaves, the Negroes were

employed chiefly in agriculture; especially in the production of cotton, rice, tobacco and sugar, but they were also the chief elements in the supply of common labor in the towns.

A small percentage of the slaves

were employed in the skilled and semi-skilled trades. There is much in the South today that is a testimony

72 to the efficiency of the slaves in the trades and crafts. As far as manual labor was concerned the slaves did the bulk'of it. No group in the whole Southern population, in proportion to its contributions, has profited so little from the economic development of the South as the Negro. For two hundred years the Negro shared not at all in the wealth which he himself produced. no better than the mule he plowed.

His status was

He owned no property,

received nothing but food, a hut, and scanty clothing for his labor, and had no economic status whatsoever in the society. After the period of reconstruction, and the white South came again in control, many laws were enacted with the intent of restoring as far as possible the status of slavery with regards to the Negro. placed upon many occupations. economic progress*

Restrictions were

This was done to obstruct

The state of South Carolina confined

the economic participation of Negroes to farming, domestic service and common labor, and some other states passed laws just as drastic.

But against all of these obstacles

the Negro slowly but steadily progressed until he be­ came a competitor with the white man in many fields of labor, and this competition has greatly enlarged his problem in the economic field, and created difficult

problems in the other fields* Though today the aggregate wealth of the Negro is great, the great majority of Negroes are still poor and dependent. Before- the economic depression, which began in 1929, there were many classes of work which the Southern man looked upon with disdain, and they were considered as jobs for Negroes. hotel bell-men,

Such jobs as railroad firemen,

janitors, domestic helpers, and common

laborers were the jobs the white man evaded.

But the

depression created a scarcity of jobs, and the Negro found himself crowded out of these jobs by white com­ petitors.

Some of the Southern states have reverted to

the methods used following the days of reconstruction, and have enacted laws to keep Negroes from doing certain types of work.

The State of Georgia has enacted a law 26 preventing Negro barbers from serving white patrons. Negroes throughout the South engaged in the same kind of work in which the whites are engaged receive less pay for their labor; the differential sometimes ranges as high as fifty per cent. Dr. Cockling of the University of Georgia, in a report of the findings from the study of low incomes

26 "Brothers In Black", A Sermon by