Fall—1956
THE FEDERATION JOURNAL
Page 6
CONVENTION
(Continued from Page 1)
“Essentials of a good club.”
“How to travel peaceably as
First Class Citizens.”
As usual, a most attractive
Handicraft Hobby Show was dis
played. It proved to be the best
ever. A new feature of the annual
meeting was a display of posters
from each club depicting briefly
the story of activities of each
club.
Highlighting the whole occasion
was a Musical and Dramatic Re
cital by Miss Geraldine Lawhon,
a versatile blind artist from Long
Island, New York. The credit for
this treat goes to Mrs. L. V. Mer
rick, 4th Vice President.
Climaxing the session was a
mass meeting at Seabrook Audi
torium on Sunday with Prof.
Frankie P. Adams of Atlanta
University as guest speaker.
Speech found elsewhere.
Sandwiched in on Saturday
was a record-breaking parade,
beginning at the home of Presi
dent Henley, the host, and going
down the main street where there
was an hour-long clearance for
the parade.
There were some twenty-five
cars including the special ones
bearing placards to identify Fed
eration officials. There were four
bands. Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts,
other youth groups, 4-H Clubs, i
adult groups and floats. |
Officers for 1956-1957 are:
Honorary President, Dr. Char
lotte Hawkins Brown, Palmer
Memorial, Sedalia.
President, Mrs. Rose D. Aggrey
700 West Monroe St., Salisbury.
First Vice President, Mrs. Mag
gie Jones, 4 George Washington
Dr., Asheville.
Second Vice President, Mrs. L.
B. Curtwright, 119 E. Washington
St., High Point.
Third Vice President, Mrs. E. O.
Donoho, 1104 Cameron Ave., Win
ston-Salem.
Fourth Vice President, Mrs. L.
V. Merrick, 906 Fayetteville St.,
Durham.
Fifth Vice President, Mrs. Ethel
Hines, 615 E. Green St., Wilson.
Recording Secretary, Mrs. E. M.
Spellman, 606 Euclid Ave., Eliza
beth City.
Assistant Recording Secretary,
Mrs. A. W. Pridgen.
Corresponding Secretary, Mrs.
A. P. Collins, 135 S. Fifth St.,
Smithfield.
Treasurer, Mrs. E. M. Barnes,
152 N. Dudley St., Greensboro.
Parliamentarian, Mrs. Norma
Darden, 209 Pender St., Wilson.
Chaplain, Mrs. Beulah Perrin.
Director of Music, Mrs. J. S.
Brown, Morrison Training School,
Hoffman.
Senior Organizers, Mrs. E. B.
Taylor, Box 405, Pinehurst; Mrs.
Anna B. Johnson, 1008 East Nash
St., Wilson.
Junior Organizers, Mrs. Lille B.
Gibson, 419 Carolina Ave., Shel
by; Mrs. Ruth J. King, 23 Adams
St., Asheville; Mrs. Cora Haw
kins, Box 311, Warrenton.
Supt. of Training School, Miss
Mae D. Holmes, Training School
for Negro Girls, Kinston.
Editor of Journal, Mrs. Fannie
T. Newsome, Box 295, Rich
Square; Assistant Editor, Mrs. Lu
Sybil Taylor, 123 Masondale Ave.,
Durham.
Executive Board, Mrs. A. B.
Byrd, Chairman, 835 W. Thomas
St., Rocky Mount; Mrs. David
Jones, 714 Gorrel St., Greensboro;
Mrs. F. V. Avant, 813 Red Cross
St., Wilmington; Mrs. A. B. Nel
son, 903 Lindsay St., Greensboro;
Mrs. H. H. Hawkins, 63 Chestnut
St., Concord.
Mrs. Esther Moore, 445 First
Ave., Hickory; Mrs. Hardy Lis
ton, Johnston G. Smith Univer
sity, Charlotte; Miss Connie
Young, 611 Mobile St., Durham;
Mrs. Sallie Orr, 43 Walton St.,
Asheville; Mrs. M. A. Hauser, 910
West Horah St., Salisbury.
Mrs. M. C. Holliday, 241 Gar
field St., Statesville; Mrs. Ammie
Foster, Box 343, Pinehurst; Mrs.
Jennie Lee Enloe, 330 Hudson St.,
Shelby; Mrs. Isabelle T. Smith,
P. O. Box 583, Laurinburg.
for children to recreate. We have
even failed to open our church
basements for supervised recrea
tion and guided programs. I drive
at night through an area toward
home where there are twelve
churches, I see the joints opened
but not the churches. I see our
children are not being protected
physically and spiritually.
Second, I believe in the Sacred
ness of marriage. Just recently I
looked at one of our weekly pa
pers, a long column gave the
divorce decrees. The number of
children born out of wedlock is
exceedingly high. When marriage
vows have been made and kept,
we find creative homes and solid
communities. We find children
who are leaders in the world and
we find affection and love domi
nating human endeavors.
Third, I believe in the dignity
of all men. Sometime ago, I talk
ed about the need for intercul-
tural education. It did not seem
timely then, but there is upon us
now a closer view of unsegre
gated schools, churches, transpor
tation and all facilities. Hence,
our regard for all men as equals
becomes increasingly important.
We were born neither evil or
good—we were born with free
dom of choice.
Fourth, I believe in the con
templation of beauty. The Apro
’'Some Belie .'s of Our Times" | crypha portion of our Bible says.
by Miss Frankie V. Adams,
Professor Atlanta University
School of Social Work.
In our times when the world
is sorely threatened by so many
factors of persecutions, including
wars of annihilation by bombs
and germs, it seems rather im
portant that Christians re-define
and reaffirm their beliefs. For
what we believe determines our
quality of living for our times.
There are a few beliefs I want
to call our attention to. If you
can say in your heart as the pop
ular song “I Believe” in the ideals
I will mention. I foresee the reali
zation of a safer and happier
world for all of us.
First, I believe in the protec
tion of children. Children need
two kinds of protection (1) mate
rial (housing, adequate schools,
playgrounds), (2) spiritual-religi
ous life and love of parents (nat
ural or foster). We begin the
realization of our beliefs where
we live and let it spread. You
may not know that many Negro
children still have inadequate
schools; that we still have high
incidences of crime and delin
quency because of poor homes;
that one orphan home is insuffi
cient; that many children are
hungry; that Child Welfare
agencies cannot find adoptive par
ents; that the little boys and
girls hang out in beer and wine
joints to dance, because somehow
we have failed to develop places
“Look upon the rainbow and
praise him that made it.” No life
enriched by seeing beauty can be
poor, bad or think evil. During
the war, I worked in California
briefly. I saw the fruit, and vege
table arrangements the Japanese
had taught us. I bought a pin
made of tiny sea shells, superbly
colored and intricately set to
gether. I could not then hate the
Japanese, although I was being
taxed to fight them. A California
woman, who sensed beauty in all
she saw, saved her home finan
cially. She made gourds into
lovely household wares. But an
other woman lost her funds, she
could not buy jewels any more
so she refused to look at them
because she could not possess
them. “No point in looking at
things you can’t own,” she said.
Stupid. One can’t own the golden
orange sunset over Atlanta’s
shadowy buildings, but one can
enjoy it. And the enjoyment calms
the struggles of the day and
erases the tiredness of the soul as
one drives homeward. Haw
thorne’s delightful story of the
Great Stone Face tells of a little
boy who grew to be the coura
geous man he saw. Langston
Hughes says in a poem, “I’ve
known Rivers, My Soul has grown
deep like the Rivers.”
Th?^ great sociologist, Margaret
Mead,’ tells us we need models of
leadership, people who believe in
contemplating beauty of living.
Finally, I believe in the Father
hood of God and the Brother
hood of man. Theology is not my
forte, it is not clear to me. There
are innumerable unanswered
questions about the nature of
God in my mind. There are ques
tions, too, about the planting of
one bean seed from which a
bunch of beans comes to supply
my need for food. I can’t answer
that either. But I experience it.
So it is with the Fatherhood k)f
God, I believe, because I have
experienced mercy, graciousness,
and gifts of love, too abundant
to measure.
The story of The Robe con
cerned the persecution of the
early Christians in Rome. The
play itself proved for me again
what can happen to men when
they truly believe in the Father
hood of God. Their works and
their ways are made real in world
brotherhood.
In these things I believe, for
our times.
PRESIDENT
(Continued from Page 3)
ern and the National Associations
also.
The Northeastern District is in
the heart of our colored popula
tion, and is in an area where some
of our most experienced leaders
live. Although this is the young
est of our district organizations,
we shall be looking to the North
eastern for help in every need,
and in the words of that well
known hymn, therein also, is “our
hope for years to come.”
How many questions have we
not had to answer about Greens
boro-cultured Gateway City. Why
so few clubs from that area? An
other district association is need
ed that will include Durham, Ral
eigh, Greensboro, Asheboro, High
Point, Lexington, Thomasville
and adjacent areas. Durham with
twenty applicants on the waiting
list for membership in one of its
historic clubs could easily furnish
both the leadership and the in
spiration. Plans for the organiza
tion of a Central District Associa
tion are being formulated. ’ J
Let me thank all who sent cardf
to me during my illness at coni
vention time; let me thank at
the clubs also for their extraordi
nary cooperation. May success
follow every lifting and every
climbing effort throughout the
year. May your membership in
crease and your interest deepen
as the months roll by!
ROSE D. AGGREY
STATE PRESIDENT
Happiness is not a monopoly.
No one can corner it. It is for
sale in the market place of life
for everyone who is willing to
pay the price. He who gives it to
others gets a double portion for
himself.