’age Two
THE BENNETT BANNER
April, 1945
TIIK JIKNNETT BANNER
“Aiivtliiiiii \\';>i*th Kfiulinsi, W Write”
TEN CKM'S A COI’V
iti.-r, I'KK SUIiSCRIl’XIOM
GLORIA DIX, ’45
KDITOHIAL HOARD
Chairman MYRTLE L. BROWN, '45 Feature Editor —
Business Manager
News Editor „ THORA E. KELLY, ’45 CAROLYN L. ROBERTSON,
STAFF ASSISTANTS
Secretary MAYME HARRIS, ’45 Assistant Busm^f^s^^Manager^^^^^^^
Circulation Manager , Excliange i-ditor
NANCY PINKARD, '46
TYPISTS
Thelma Thomas, '47
Gwen Alexander, '47
Edith Bishop, '46
Margaret Caldwell, ’46
Willie Ruth Coles, ’47
Precious Copeninc, '45
ADVISER
PROOF' READERS
Miriam McTeee, '47
REPORTERS
Helen Davis, '47
Roberta E. Favors, ’45
Goldwyn a, Foster, '45
CAROL E. carter, ’45
Eleanor Chippey, ’45
Rose Hogans, '47
Jean McCord, ’47
Betty L. Powers, '47
Mary Wagstaff, '45
M. Eugenia Sims, '48
DR. FREDERIC A. JACKSON
EDITORIALLY SPEAKING
l^ooscvc li-W or LI C Kixcii
The untimely passing of President Franklin Delano
lioosevelt came as a severe shock to the nation and the world
at large. The nation has lost a capable leader and an inspir
ing personality: the world has lost a true world citizen and
an energetic champion of world peace and international
brotherhood.
President Hoosevelt’s death was widely and deeply felt.
He, more than any other individual, was recognized by the
peoples of the earth as a lover of peace and democracy and
as a dreamer of a workable international organization aftei
the war.
It is our duty to help make real the dreams of interna
tional brotherhood for which President Roosevelt sacrificed
and to perpetuate the high principles for w'hich he stood.
Of all the tributes made to President Roosevelt, we can
think of none more fitting than a statement made by one of
the many radio commentators w'ho spoke of him shortly
after his death. He was truly a world citizen.
I^cciclc IN
()\\
The sudden death of President Franklin I). Roosevelt
did more than any single thing to focus the American p^^o-
])le’s attention on the critical position in which we find our
selves at a time w^hen the decisions we must make can have
such vital effect on the w'orld in which w’e must live in the
future. The need for trained perso-'.nel capable of ^ dealing
satisfactorily with the great political and economic prob
lems is already at hand, and this need is bound to grow^ as the
war nears a close.
The hour has arrived when all the people of this coun
try must make the decision about the kind of a world w’e
should like and must have after this war is over. Just as this
country could not remain half free and half slave back in
1862. so today the country must make the decision for a w'orld
of international brotherhood, guaranteeing all peoples com
plete economic, and iiolitical freedom or accept the woild
envisaged by another Hitler or a Mussolini some 25 yeais
from now. A decision must be made; there is no middle
ground.
This Free World which every American desires is in
the making now. Teheran, Yalta, C’hapultepec and now San
Francisco are all steps in the right direction. And concerned
as we are about the matter, it cannot be said that the women
of America are being educated in the direction of giving
the importance to these problems that they deserve. A type
of unconscious isolationism seems to have permeated the
thinking of the American woman to the extent of believing
that the final victory which will send our boys back home is
the complete victory for an enduring peace.
To indulge in such idle folly is to invite another World
War more devastating than the present one. We won such a
victory in 1918 and we inherited a Pearl Harbor in 1941.
V-I)ay is not complete victory day; it cannot be; it must not
be. Complete victory day can only come with a peace so last
ing, so enduring that all people, wherever the\ aie, speak in
the same terms when they speak of morality. A comiMete
victory will be a realistic one when freedom from want, from,
fear and the other guarantees in the historical “Four Free
doms” and the “Atlantic Cnarter” signify the identical goal
for all people everywhere.
This type of world is being molded today. We, as Negro
women, cannot afford to set ourselves apart from this great
molding because we are a great gear in this molding ma
chine, whose product must be a world so rich in heritage as
to last and serve all humanity well throughout the ages to
come. Indeed, this is the hour for the great decision.
Doris Low^ery, 46.
Inquiring
Reporter...
Wliat sliiiulil XeKi'iH'S do to cryst.il-
]\7.t' ji.'iins iiiiidc in (‘iiiployuieiit dui'ing
I lie wai'"'
'i'lic voluMic of retained in
tlie iiost-war jx'i'iod depends upon the
number ol' I'actories and plants that
will remain open, or that will coiivei't
to peace time schedule. However, the
crystallizalion of the Negroes gain,s
and Iht' guaranl(‘e of tlii‘ iiermanencey
of his i)osition (It'pend ii])on his p.ar-
ticii>ation in iniion activities. Ni'groes
will only Ik; consideriMl in iiriioii poli
cies thi'oiigh the wholehearted co-
opi'ration of all the Nesro(‘s in industry
lo exert powei' in the unim.
DOROTHY WAl.KER.
Reader's Retreat
:|
i
T1 le Long iew—
stepney in the 185t('s was a little
town in New .Jersey steeiied in Quaker
ti'aditions and characterized by the
Quietness and peace of a Friends' set
tlement. Ashei' Allen, a small boy, came
from a family of Friends who had a
long and intei'esting iiistory. Asiier's
grandniottier had related this Iiistory
to him over and over again and slie
told it so vividly that all tlie ancestors
seemed to Asher to be alive as he
tliought and dreamed of them. A deep
regard and respect for tiie glories of
the past became a part of Asher and
throughout his lifetime his f;ivorite
indulgence was that of I’eflecting up
on bygont' days aiul the tralitions and
loyalties wbicli had cai'ried over from
these days.
AsIkm' was the yoimgest of I'our cliil-
dren of I!enjamin and .Mary Allen.
Hannah, the oldest was married to a
wealthy I’hiladelphia businessimin,
Iieboraii, when Asiier was still a boy
niai'ried the Rf'vei'eTul .John (iriffin.
Margery was six years older tiian
Asher and very lovely. Asher often
Ihought of tlu' other .Margerys of the
family, all of whom iiad died yoimg.
Somtdiow he I'eared that Margery might
die young, too. The (.Uvil War came
and most of the yoimg men of Stepney
went away to figlit. Asher rebelling
against his youth, in a moiiient of dar
ing, ran away to .join tiie Union Army.
Xaturjilly, he ^^■as too ynuig to with
stand (he rigors of battle and was sent
bacl home. He liad expected to be
thrilled by the sight of battle l)ut he
saw only cruelty. It seemed even more
crnel when Margery's fiaiu’e, .lonty
j Chase was killed anl he saw the light
ivrhaps the .nost effective way for |K‘='ve her eyes,
the Negro to insuri' the jol)S he now j Asher tuid always loved to tinker
liy standing beliind the F. E. ! with machinei-y anl to invent new
])u'tting (-very iiossible effort to-j things. When it was time for liim to de-
its "ro"ili with it oni’ guiiiujcide what sol'! of work he would do,
to ajipease his mother, he decided to
go to I’hiladelphia to study medicine
In oi'der to keej) the gains whicii tlie
.\egro has made during the prest'ut
war. it will be nec(*ssary for us to lie-
coine mor(‘ skilled and more prolicient
in all tyjK’S of skilled induslrial labor.
We must also take advantage of all
labor unions and movements imdt'rfoot
t(] tin' best of our ability.
We uuist also stijjpoi't pressure groups
as the F. E. P. t'.. N. A. A. C. P.. and
othei' groujis whose aim is to secure
cconoinic freeiloin for all regardle.ss
of rac(‘. color or creefl. nuist light
continuously for all peoplt's ol the
v\(n-ld to hav(' (‘coiiomic security and
betler Jobs.
CASSANldiA MOORE.
’i'o crystalize the gains nuule in em-
|)loyinent during the war. Tlu' Negi'oes
should win'k cooj>eratively and \\holt*-
he.-irtcdly with oi'ganizations as the
F. I>:. I’. ('. Organizations of their type
ar( better aiile to have laws passed
to insure fair employment f(U' the
Negro.
SENOltA .lOHNSON.
has
P.
war'
then
oni’
be no pissil)le defeat.
.lOCELVN P,LAN('IIET.
Nind for the first time he left iionie. His
first summer home from school, Asiiei'
I foiind a little d\dl. And then a few days
befoi'e liis i'eturn a severe epidemic of
The Negro will 1)(‘ wise to begin now
making permanent the gains which lie
has obtained during the war. To do
this he should retain the skills that ''liolera spread through the town. Asiier
he has learned during the war period |'""iself was stricken lightly and was
iand develop new ones s,. that he will' over.-ome witii grief upon ins reentry
ibe as necessary a part of pea.'e time | to find that Margery liad (hed. After
industry as he was war time. He sliould tl>at Asher stayed home and took a
1(- a uniti'd effort to bt'come an
m:
integral part of unions—bt' solidly be
hind any movement to oiieu unions to
Xegro membership. He must learn co-
opi ration and iierserverance.
NATALIE LYNN.
One of the most important tilings
that we can do today in order to
crystalize tlie gains made in euiploy-
nient during the war is to organize and
back the fight wholelii'artedly for a
l)ermanent l'\ 1^. P. W* should join
miions and make a plact' ol distinction
for ourselves by partici]iating willful
ly and earnestly iii them.
P.AIU’.ARA .JEAN SANFORD.
Th(“ most important action Negroes
11 take to crystallize gains made in
war is to support wlioleheartedly
the
tlie
ing
by
moral
mean the ]>a.ssage of
will make Negroes's
war a i'(>ality aftei
DORIS NEWLAND.
F. !■:. 1’. ('., which is presently be-
lobbied all over the United States
minority groups. Financial and
su|i]iort of Ibis endeavor may
the i>a.ssage of Ibe bill, wliich
■f dreams in this
tlu‘ war.
We should help llie current campaign
of th(> F. E. P. C. Tlu'y are striving to
get a iH'rnianent F. !•;. P. ('. law passed.
Oliposiiioii will bt‘ nu't but we can put
pressure on our Congressmt'n liy writ
ing to llieni and getting others to
write too. The others we get to write
should include other minority groups
as well as whites. Once the F. E. P.
is permanent then the Negro's eco-
nomi( status will be not only visualized
but realized.
.JANET WHITE.
job at Chase's Machine Shop. Within
two or three years Aslier was left alone
in the big liouse. His sisters and ti'ieuds
tried to persuade him to iimrry Imt
Asher was not ready for marriage.
Ashei' had perfected an invention and
sold the patent to a chain and cable
fai'tory in New York state. W'lieii De-
i)orali and her minister iiusband left
Stejiney for a Poston ciuirch, Asher
too bid farewell to Stejiney and took
a job in Horatio, Ne\\' \ ork with tlie
chain and cable factory. l‘'or some time
after ills arrival Aslier was sc, ai)-
sorbed in business that he found no
time to explore the town or make ac
quaintances other tlian those in his
boarding house. One Sunday, iiowever,
he went to church and was invited to
Singing School, a fu'iu of recreation
of the young people. There he met Char
lotte Hoardnian, town beauty and
Sybil, her cliarming younger sister.
'I'liese two were tiie daugiiters of Scpiire
Hoardnian, tiie wealthiest man in the
town. Asher was soon hopelessly in
love with Sybil but tiiat young woman
was much too interested in becoming a
famous painter to lie interested in such
■•foolish" things as love. However, they
had nnich fun together with the other
young people. The.v became increas
ingly close. Asher was patient with
Sybil :ind soon she surrendered iier
ambition to )ier love tor Asher. They
wtM-e married a year later. After their
marriage the wiiole world was a sun
lit plact>. The two comiiliniented each
iitli,.,-—Asher with his modified t^uaker
sobriety and Sybil witli her efferves
cent joy and delight in life. The two
had a liome of their own in wliich
Sybil took great pleasure.
Squire and Mrs. Hoardnian
MORRIS
much concerned aliout Charlotte, their
older daughter. She was in love with
and determined to marry Humphi'ey
.\nsoue, a young farmer. Humphrey
was a strange young man, a sort of
social outcast and Charlotte could have
(lone so much better. Despite everyone's
efforts at dissuasion, Charlotte was
adamant and married Humphrey.
In 1883 tliere was a financial crash
and S(iuire Hoardnian lost everything
except some property. In order lo sup
port the older people Asher and Sybil
had to move in with them. Chailot'e's
Humphrey was so close with his money
that she could give the older folks no
help. A few nights after the crash the
old S(iuire died. 'I'he company with
which .\sher had i)een working was
forceil to close so that Asher took over
;i machine repair shop and at the same
time he was perfecting an invention in
heat radiation. After repeated efforts
to make the machine shop pay and sell
his boiler patent Asher finally accepted
a good offer witii a company in Dune
Hariior. .Michigan. Sybil was loathe to
leave Horatio but she hioked forward
avidly to new adventures.
Asher and Sybil with their family
of five—P>en, Richard, Deborah, and
Itoard and Laura, the twnis — liked
their new home and soon became ad
justed. 'I'he business went very well ex
cept for a labor dispute. The years
pas.sed (luickly and Asher and Sybil
found their children grown. Hen liad
become a succe.ssful businessman and
had married Nell Cheritree. Richard
went off to college and came baciv de
termined to he a writer and was quite
a success. Deborah, the bachelor maid
of the family finished college and had a
.series of interesting jobs. Jjaura mar
ried a young German in the town and
Hoard was working in tiie Chicago fac
tory.
In 1!)17 the war came to America.
Ricliard went off to Europe as war
correspondent and P)oard was a inem-
i)er of tiie armed forces. Richard was
killed in Europe and Hoard married
a young Swiss girl and so remained in
Euroiie after tlie war.
1!)23 was the golden wedding an
niversary of Asher aiul Sybil. Now
that Asher had retired from all work
—lie was 74 and Sybil 70—he could
abandon himself in reflections of his
own life. It was a long view and
Asher loved to survey it—the lives, ex
periences, and traditions of his ances
tors ; his own hnig life—it liad not been
exciting and adventurous but pleas
ant and peaceful : the lives of his
children and of his grandchildren.
BENNETT QUARTET KETLKNS
FKOM TOUR OF EASTERN STATES
(Continued from page 1)
Hanks, second .soprano, Allethia W’alk-
er, first alto, and Petty Ann Artis, sec
ond alto. .Joyce Picot also traveled with
the group as contralto soloist. Mrs.
(iladys Thomas Gomez wa.s director of
the quartette and acconiiianist. ilr. A.
A. Morrisey was manager.
The Banner is looking forward to a
recital by the group on our campus.
BARGE HALL PRESENTED
Sir-VER SERVICE SET
.Mrs. David I). .Jones presented a
lovely silver service set in memory of
.Miss Ada C. Lndy to the girls of Harge
Hall and their dormitory dii'ectory,
Jlrs. Wallace. The gift was a present
of a group of women interested in tlie
welfare of Hennett College and ad
mirers of women of worth.
Wilhelmina r)oyle, vice-president of
the hall, accepted the gift and ex
pressed the hope that future occupants
of Harge will appreciate the gift as
much as tlie girls appreciate receiving
it. In addition, each girl is writing to
the donor personally thanking her for
the gift.
President .Tones accompanied Mrs.
.Jones to liarge to pre.seiit the .set and
promised to return to tell the girls of
Miss Carrie Harge, for whom the buihl-
wereling was named.