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Entered as Second Class Matter at the Post Office at Durham, North Carolina, under Act of March 3, 1879.
FOR 28 YEARS THE OUTSTANDING NEGRO WEEKLY OF THE CAROLINA3
VOLUME 29—NUMBER 12
DURHAM, N. C., Saturday, March 24, 1951
PRICE: TEN CENTS
i
Raleigh Tigers And
Greensboro Red Wings
Memphis, Tenn. — At its meeting here Sunday, March
18, the Negro Southern Association announced the granting
of franchises to the Raleigh Tigers and the Greensboro Red
Wings of North Carolina. Both teams were last year mem
bers of the Negro American Association and were the only
teams out of eight to survive out of that association.
Federal Judges Lash State Lawyers
In U. N. C. Law School Case
Perennial Candidate Win. B.
Umstead In Retreat
Richmond, Va.—Attorneys for the State paled before a wither
ing cross-examination by jurists in the three-judge Federal Cir
cuit Court of Appeals here last Thursday.
State Attorney General Harry McMullan, of North Carolina,
and Major L. P. McLendon, associate defense counsel, were notice
ability ill at ease as Federal Judge Morris Soper, Harry E.
Watkins, and Armistead M. Dobie, pried into the defense’s claim
that “substantially” equal law school facilities are provided at the
ten-year-old, four-teacher Negro law school at North Carolina
College at Durham.
Concpicuous by his absence
was Attorney William B. Um
stead, former U. S. Senator and
perennial candidate, speaker and
introducer of speakers for North
Carolina democrats. Mr. Um
stead was one of the leading
lawyers for the defense in the
original action of the law school
case brought in Middle District
Court and the equal school suit
brought by Durham Negroes
against the City School Board
and State school officials. Mr.
Umstead is believed to be build
ing his fences for the guberna
torial race in 1952, and there
fore withdrew from active parti
cipation in the case.
In the opening argument At
torney Robert L. Carter, counsel
for the students, told the court
that the judge in the lower
court ignored the United States
Supreme Court’s ruling in the
Sweatt case when he denied an
injunction to admit the Negroes
to the University of North Caro
lina.
Attorney Carter compared the
two law schools in question, us
ing the identical criteria used in
the Sweatt case. He told the
court that in the areas of size
and prestige of faculty, curri
cula, prestige of the schools in
the communities, buildings and
library volumes and facilities
there would be no comparison.
Judge Soper berated the Tar
Heel Attorney General, whom
he accused of being careful in
the lower court proceedings not
to ask Dean Henry P. Brandis,
of the University of North Caro
lina Law School, to testify as
to the equality of the faculties
of the two schools. At this point
the Baltimore justice caustically
accused Mr. McMullan, “If you
thought you could have had
Dean Brandis say the faculties
were equal, I think you would
have asked that question. What
I want to know is why you did
not ask him?”
The Attorney General replied
that he didn’t think that Dean
Brandis was thoroughly familiar
with the State College faculty.
Brandis, however, at one time
was a member of both faculties.
> Attorney Thurgood Marshall,
Chief Counsel for the NAACP,
told the court that his inter
pretation of the Sweatt case was
that equality in separate schools
with “brick and mortar equal
ity,” equality of opportunity for
legal education is impossible.
Judge Soper commented dur
ing the trial that it was appar
ent throughout the testimony in
the record of the lower court
that the State was content in
providing “a good and adequate
law school for Negroes,” one
which would provide the Ne
groes with a sufficient knowl
edge of the law to practice a
mong the Negro people. The
Justice observed, however, that
it is not enough to assume that
because Negroes were not mem
bers of the majority race, that
they were not entitled to the
same education. He added fur
ther that, “Whether a man is
fool enough to want an educa
tion that he cannot use is not
important, but what happens to
a man’s mind when he is denied
that opportunity is what
counts.”
A crowded courtroom, includ
ing the defendants and most of
the law school students from
North Carolina College, heard
Major L. P. McLendon tell the
court that North Carolina had
(Please turn to Page Eight)
Iii Red Cross Drive
W. J. Kennedy, III, who will
head the Schools and Institutions
group in the Red Cross Cam
paign. Mr. Kennedy is a grad
uate of Virginia State College
and New York University. He
holds a master degree in invest
ments and accounting. He is ad
ministrative assistant at the N.
C. Mutual Life Insurance Com
pany.
BIDS COURT
OPEN TENN.
U. TO RACE
Knoxville — A special three
judge federal court sitting here
this week was asked by the Na
tional Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People to
order the admission of Mitchell
Gray and other qualified Negro
students to the law and graduate
schools of the University of
Tennessee.
Aruging before Circuit Judge
Shackelford Miller, Jr., and Dis
trict Judges Robert Taylor and
Leslie R. Darr, on March 13,
Leslie Darr, March 13, NAACP
attorneys alleged that decisions
handed down by the United Sta
(Please turn to Page Eight)
Last Rites Held
For Edward
Martin, March 18
Winston-Salem —Funeral ser
vices for Edward Martin were
held at the home of his parents,
1616 Pittsburg Avenue, Sunday,
March 18.
Mr. Martin was killed in an
automobile wreck Tuesday,
March 13 between Ft. Monroe,
Virginia and Washington, D. C.
Prior to his death he was em
ployed at the Chamberlain Hotel
at Old Point Comfort.
Surviving are four sisters:
Mrs. Bessie Martin, Washington,
D. C.; Mrs. Lillian Galloway,
Winston-Salem; Mrs. Gladys
Walker, Washington, D. C.; and
Mrs. Mildred Martin Hill, Dur
ham. Three brothers also sur
vive. They are: Robert Martin,
Washington, George Martin,
Brentwood, Md., .and William
Martin, Sterling, Va.
The children surviving are
Misses Barbara Jean, Betty Ann
and Robert Edward Martin all of
Washington.
The Rev. R. B. Crawford, pas
tor of Mount Pleasant Baptist
Church, officiated.
NEW HOMEMAKERS TO
MEET DURHAM MARCH 31
Church School
In Kentucky
Admits Negroes
Louisville, Ky. — The board
of trustees of the Southern Bap
tist Seminary announced here
last Thursday that it was open
ing its doors to Negro students—
the first time in its 92 year his
tory.
This action by the board of
trustees follows similar decisions
by Southwestern Baptist Semin
ary and the Baptist Seminary in
New Orleans. All three schools
are operated by the South Bap
tist Convention, which also oper
ates the Golden Gate Seminary
at San Francisco, which never
has barred students of any race.
Following a study of one-year,
a committee, headed by Rev.
Dr. W. Harry Williams of Char
lotte, N. C., recommended the
action to the board.
(Please turn to Page Eight)
Sound New Chord At Teachers’ Meet
Pictured above are principals on the program of the North
Carolina Teachers’ Association annual meeting held in Raleigh last
week. At the right is Thurgood Marshall, Chief Counsel for the Na
tional Association for the Advancement of Colored People; left
J. Saunders Redding, member faculty Hampton Institute and
author and R. P. Anderson, president of the Association. Inset is
Benjamin Mayes, president of Morehouse College, Atlanta, Ga.
WILLIE McGHEE SAVED FROM DEATH CHAIR
BY THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT
Washington, D. C. — For the
fifth time in five years, Willie
McGee, Laurel, Mississippi Ne
gro worker, has won a stay of
execution in his fight against
death for a “rape” which he
charges he never committed.
The stay was granted on the
afternoon of Thursday, March
15, by Supreme Court Justice
Hugo L. Black, less than five
days before MeGee, father of
four young ehldren, was sched
uled to be strapped into Mis
sissippi’s portable electric chair.
Justice Black ordered the
stay to permit a hearing before
the full Supreme Court of the
United States on Monday,
March 26, which will decide
whether to grant McGee’s Civil
Rights Congress attorneys a
writ of review.
The new appeal is based pri
marily on charges that state of
ficials used perjured testimony
to get the conviction, and that
Mississippi reserves the death
sentence for the crime of rape
for Negroes only.
It presents sworn statements
by MeGee and his wife Rosalee,
that the alleged “victim,” Mrs.
Troy Hawkins, had actually en
gaged voluntarily in sex rela
tions with McGee for a number
of years though she claimed at
the trial she had never seen him
before.
It also includes an affidavit
by Mrs. Hattie Johnson, declar
ing McGee was at her home at
Editorially Speaking
MR. BOST AND THE NEGRO
The Reverend W. Thomas Bost of the distinguished
Greensboro Daily News last Wednesday complimented the
Carolina Times in the deft and ambiguous manner that is
characteristic of the State’s senior journalist. The Rev. Mr.
Bost said the Carolina Times “perhaps rates as the race or
gan in North Carolina.” And he said that we are “master of
the mean and the meaningful question.” Coming from the
dean of Tar Heel reporters, these comments make good sense.
Mr. Bost, whose long and productive lifetime has enabled
him to contribute immeasurably to the enlightenment of the
people of this State, however, has not yet cast the moat en
tirely out of his eyes on matters of race. For a man rooted in
the last century, this is not unsual, and if Mr. Bost did not
consistently demonstrate a misleading lack of understand
ing of the nature of the present struggle for Negro equality,
his misinformation on Negro aspirations would not be
significant.
But the good white Episcopalian either can not or will
not see that when we run “Agin My People” and “Fer White
People” close-ups of the State’s No. 1 Negro Misleader, this
newspaper calls to the attention of all of the people that this
is not the kind of thing which we believe in. The chief ob
jection that Negroes have to H. L. Trigg is his hypocrisy in
racial matters. It is this kind of hypocrisy that caused a
member of Trigg’s fraternity at a meeting in Raleigh last
week to call the St. Augustine’s president a “Judas.” The
Carolina Times would not have the Negro representative on
the State Board of Education or any other State official dis
criminate against one race in favor of another. The Carolina
Times believes that all intelligent Negroes are agreed that
“equality of educational opportunity” ought to be a fact for
all Tarheels. Now, where the present Negro State Board
member has failed, this newspaper contends, has been in
his refusal to interpret the aspirations of Negroes to his fel
low-board members on the one hand, and, on the other hand,
in his bland contention that the Negro educational picture in
this State is “rosy.”
(Please turn to Page Three)
the time of the allged crime.
Mrs. Johnson was not called as
a witness by the state, but in
stead was frightened into sil
ence by official threats, the de
fense counsel said.
DEEP FREEZE
WOMAN MUST
LOSE HANDS
Chicago, (CNS) — Braving
the news like a champion,
Mrs. Dorothy Mae Stevens, 23
year old Chicago woman who
hgs survived a usualy fatal
deep freeze condition, must
now lose her hands to amputa
tion. Last week, Mrs. Stevens
lost both feet, cut 9 inches
( from the knees, due to dead
tissue threatening her life.
To face the doctors’ decision,
after it had been declared
that she would be spared any
amputations because her con
dition was improving, Mrs.
Stevens has been prepared
physically and mentally. She
thoroughly understands that
these amputations are necs
sary and has given her con
sent. Before the first amputa
tion, the “deep freeze” case
claimed that if she ever got
well again, she’d be the hap
piest woman alive.
Workers Sign
Petition Against
Wage Freeze
Seasonal workers of the To
bacco Workers International Un
ion A. F. of L. of Wilson, Farm
ville and Rocky Mount, North
Carolina signed individual peti
tions asking the Wage Stabiliza
tion Board of Washington, D. C.,
to lift all controls on wages that
are less than $1.00 per hour at a
Mass Meeting of Protest held for
the workers in these areas at the
First Baptist Church, Wilson, on
Sunday, March 18.
Principal speakers at the
meeting were S. E. Blane, First
Vice-President; George Benj
amin, Second Vice-President;
Myrtle Dunn, Fifth, Vice-Presi
dent and Roy G. Trice, Ninth
Vice-President of the Tobacco
Workers A. F. of L.
The church was full over its
(Please turn to Page Eight)
1,200 Expected
Here At Annua!
Convention
The annual State Convention
of the New Homemakers of
America will be held here at
Hillside High School, on Satur
day, March 31, from 9:30 A. M.
to 3:00 P. M. Approximately
1,200 girls and their advisers are
expected to attend.
Registration will begin at 9:30
and the first seccion, preceded
by musical selections by Mary
Mebane of Merrick-Moore High
School, will begin at 10:00.
Sarah Rose Alexander, State
President of Clear Creek High
School, Charlotte, will preside.
Other state officers will also ap
pear on the program.
After the business session,
each of the eight districts will
present a special feature. Includ
ed among them will be musical
selections, both vocal and instru
mental, readings, tap dancing
and other types of entertain
ment.
An original NHA song will be
presented by Georgie Carter, in
coming state song leader of
Mocksville. All of these features
will be announced by Ann John
son Bethea, state reporter and
National Secretary of the organ
ization.
Native Liberian Speaks
Miss Erna Harris, Native Li
berian, student and NHA mem
(Please turn to Page Eight)
Educators Meet
At A. And T.
This Week
Greensboro — A combined
four day meeting of Negro deans
of men and women from institu
tions of higher learning’ in the
country is being held here this
week-end at A. and T. College.
The conference opened Wed
nesday evening in Harrison
Auditorium with a welcome ad
dress by President F. D. Bluford
of A. and T. College. Dr. Char
lotte Hawkins Brown, president
of Palmer Memorial Institute at
Sedalia, was the principal speak
er.
Workshops on “Better Living
Through Counseling” was con
ducted Thursday morning and
afternoon Panel discussions on
Thursday evening will be on
“Influences For Better Living”
and “Student Prospects For Bet
ter Living in a Free Society.”
The men and women deans
will assemble in separate confer
ences on Friday. Evaluation of
the conference will be held on
Saturday morning.
In charge of the conference
are Deans Jean Spinner and Wil
liam H. Gamble of A, and T.
College.
Officers Of New Homemakers Of America
Officers of the
North Carolina As
sociation of the New
Homemakers of A
merica for the year
1950-51, who will
be present at their
meeting; here next
week, are: (left to
right) Gwendolyn
Pierce, historian,
Beulah Spearman,
treasurer; Mary
(Frances Jones, song: leader; Delores Burwell, secretary; Sarah Rose Alexander, president; Portia
Hunt, parliamentarian; Bessie Evans, vice-president; and Anne Bethea, reporter and secretary of
the National Organization.
Sub-Committee Move Seen As
"Face Saver"; Gov, Scott Mum
Times Newsboy
Champ
Collins Pay lor, CAROLINA
TikES newsboy representative
in Roxboro whose increase in
number of copies sold won him
a free trip to the home office of
the company for Easter Monday
with all exepnses paid. Paylor
will take part in the annual Eas
ter Egg hunt staged for TIMES
newsies. Paylor has been named
champion for the month of
March.
New Attempt To
Limit Immgration
From West Indies
New York — Opposition was
urged by the American Commit
tee for Protection of Foreign
Born to a provision in a bill, S.
716, introduced recently by
United States Senator Pat Mc
Carran, which would limit im
migration from the British and
French West Indies to no more
than 100 immigrants a year.
The Committee announced
that it is preparing to testify in
opposition to this and other anti
democratic provisions of the Mc
Carran Bill at public hearings
now being held by the Immigra
tion Sub-Committee of the Sen
ate Judiciary Committee in
Washington.
The Committee pointed out
that Great Britain has an annual
quota of more than 60,000 im
migrants a year and that Sen
ator McCarran plans to allot 100
of this 60,000 annual quota to |
the British West Indies.
“This proposal discriminates I
against thousands of natives of I
the West Indies residing in the
United States,” Abner Green,
executive secretary of the A
merican Committee, stated to
day, “by preventing them from
bringing’ their relatives to this
country. It is one more expres-'
sion of anti-Negro bias on the I
part of reactionaries in Con-1
gress. We have in the past de-1
feaated this proposal and we
hope that, with sufficient public
protest, it can again be defeated
this year.
(Please turn to Page Eight) I
A sub-committee of the ex
ecutive committee of the Board
of Trustees of the University of
North Carolina appointed by
Gov. Kerr Scott on January 29
met here Wednesday for the pur
pose of considering the admis
sion of Negroes to the graduate
and professional schools of the
institution.
The committee is composed of
I. T. Pearsol, Mrs. Laura W.
Cone, John Umstead, Dr. Clar
ence Poe and John Clark.
Reports were being circulated
in and around here that in anti
cipation of reversal of the recent
ruling of Judge Johnson J.
Hayes on the suit brought a
g’ainst the University by several
law school students of N. C.
College, plus the filing of an
other suit by James Thomas of
Wilmington for entrance to the
Medical school, that the commit
tee would recommend the ad
mission of Negroes.
It is thought that the commit
tee will recommend the admis
sion of Negroes immediately in
an attempt to “save face” should
the Circuit Court’s ruling re
verse Judge Hayes’ decision,
which stated that the law school
of N. C. College was substantial
ly equal to that at UNC and in
some cases superior.
The recommendations will be
made to the Executive Commit
tee on Thursday. President Gor
don Gray stated that the com
mittee met in executive session
and he was not authorized to
discuss its recommendations.
Ex-Slave Hailed As
Leading American
Historian In Miss.
A Negro ex-slave has been
hailed by leading American his
torian and writer Allan Nevins
as “one ol the most interesting
and remarkable of American
diarists.” He is William Johnson,
who kept a diary of events in
Natchez Mississippi from 1835 to
1852, and who rose from bond
age to a position of esteem in
his community.
Johnson’s personal writings
are being published this month
by the Louisiana State Universi
ty Press under the title “Wil
liam Johnson’s Natchez.”
The editors of Johnson’s work,
Edwin Adams Davis and Wil
liam Ransom Hogan, point out
that his diary provides a broad
er picture of everyday life and
more of the well-to-do free Ne
gro’s attitudes on everyday af
fairs than any other known
Southern diary. -
Johnson, freed by a benevol
ent master during his early
teens, became a barber in
Natchez and soon began to ac
quire other businesses. He was
landlord, moneylender, small
farmer and even slaveowner. He
started his diary to aid in keep
ing straight the accounts of his
thriving' enterprises.
He recorded such events as
births, deaths, races, cockfights,
epidemics, scandal, trials, and
off-color news. Many of the oc
currences he mention never
found their way into newspapers
of the day, which make the diary
ioubly valuable to historians of
:he period.
Both professors of history, Dr.
Hogan teaches at Tulane Uni
(Please turn to Page Eight)
Woman Gives Birth To Baby
When Taxi Wrecks In Twin City
Winston-Salem — The stork
pulled a fast one here this
week in a situation that is
usually just the reverse.
Mrs. Margaret Robinson gave
birth to a baby daugther im
mediately following a collision
of the taxi, in which she was
riding, with another car at the
corner of Claremont Avenue
and Fourth Street.
Mrs. Robinson was en route
to Kate Bitting Reynolds
Memorial Hospital at the time
of the accident, about four
o’clock in the morning1.
A life was given, none was
taken. All person involved es
caped without injury.
Mrs. Robinson and daughter
are reported doing fine.