Library
lie Carolina Cime0
^THEThuThilNBPIQCEP'^
FOR 29 YEARS THE OUTSTANDING WEEKLY OF THE CAROLINAS
Entered as Second Class Matter at the Post Office at Durham, North Carolina, under Act of March 3, 1879.
VOLUME 29—NUMBER 49
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA, SATRDAY, DEC. 8th, 1951
PRICE TEN CENTS
Another School Suit Brewing In S. C.
Father Gets Son to Heip Him In Suicide
Three Kids Die In Fire
-i TTn-i^p-PSi tV Of N C I
T. J. HIGH, JR.
Last Rites For
T. J. High Here
Thomas James High, Jr., 42
year-old resident of 2504 Otis
Street and husband of Mrs. Mary
High, died at Lincoln Hospital
here of a heart ailment Tues
day, December 4 at 10:50 A. M.
Although Mr. High had been
in ill health for several years,
he was not considered seriously
ill until three days before his
death when he was admitted to
the hospital.
Mr. High was the son of
Thomas J. High, Sr., and the late
Mrs. Lucy Morning High.
He was born in Durham and
had lived here all of his life.
For the past eight years he had
been employed at the Duke Hos
pital.
In May, 1940 he was married
to the former Miss Mary Louise
Hughes of Durham. No children
survive.
Last rites will be held at the
Mount Vernon Baptist Church,
Friday, December 7 at 3:00 P. M.
The Reverend H. H. Hart, in ab
sence of the Reverend E. T.
Browne, pastor, will officiate.
Interment will be in Beechwood
Cemetery.
Surviving in addition to his
wife, are his father, Thomas
James, Sr., his stepmother, Mrs.
Mary High and five aunts and
two uncles.
Local Group
Protests
Fla. Shooting
A Groveland Memorial Pro
test Meeting held last Sunday
afternoon at the White Rock
Baptist Church in Durham,
adopted a resolution calling up
on the President of the United
States to urge th« Justice De
partment to pro,'■eoute Florida
Sheriff Willis McCall for mur
dering Samuel Shepherd and
shooting Walter Lee Irvin, as
these two handcuffed Negro
youths were on the way to a
new trial ordered for them by
the United States Supreme
Court.
Principal speakers for the
NAACP event were Dr. Rose
Butler Browne, who spoke on
“Civil Liberties and Values,”
and Attorney C. O. Pearson,
chairman of the Legal Commit
tee of the North Carolina Con
ference of the NAACP. Attor
ney M. E. Johnson, president of
the Durham Branch, officiated.
Separate resolutions were
presented by Mr. Fred Edwards,
representative of the State Board
of the Daniels Defense Commit
tee, and Miss Betsy Tyree, co
(Please turn to Page Eight)
Reprieve Claim For
Doomed Man Hoax
Claim Of Praying Evangelist Of Execution Stay For
Clyde Brown Virtually Denied By Parole Officials
The claim by a praying evangelist here this week that she had effected a
stay of execution for Clyde Brown, sentenced to die for rape, was virtually de
nied here by State Parole officers.
Reverend Mrs. Edna Graves, who operates a prayer band in High Point,
mailed early this week to Attorney Frank Brower in Durham, a letter which
stated that she had obtained a stay of execution for the doomed man. Attorney
Brower turned the letter over to the TIMES for confirmation.
Foil Essick, assistant to the Paroles Commissioner, virtually denied the
claim in telephone conversation to the TIMES Wednesday.
Brown, given a death sentence
for raping a 17-year-old white
girl in Winston-Salem last year,
lost an appeal for a writ of
habeas corpus from the U. S.
District Court at Baltimore,
November 3.
His death sentence had pre
viously been upheld by the State
Supreme Court.
Essick told the TIMES that
his office had no information
concerning an execution stay for
Brown, and that, as far as he
knew, Brown would die on
schedule.
Essick stated that execution
stays, granted by the Governor,
are cleared through his office.
He did say that Mrs. Graves had
been in his office, at least on
two occasions, but repeated that
he knew nothing of her claim
of obtaining a reprieve for
Brown.
Mrs. Graves is known to pri
son officials because of her long
time work with prisoners. She
is said to have gone to prison on
numerous occasions to meditate
and pray with condemned men.
The letter which was mailed
to Attorney Brower was accom
panied by a picture of herself
standing before a pulpit in a
preaching pose. The letter con
tained a request for publication
of an article concerning her suc
cess in effecting a repreive for
Brown and a plea for a new
trial.
It stated, in part:
“Rev. Edna Graves, who put
her trust in Jesus Christ, in
prayer, asked for a stay of ex
ecution for Clyde Brown, and
it was granted.
“Now with the help of the
citizens of North Carolina, she
is trying to give him a new
trial within 60 days.
“All churches and organi
zations wishing to donate to
this cause, please send in your
donations as soon as possible.
(Continued from Page-One)
Parents File Plea '
Citing School Bias
SUMTER, S. C. — The fight
against the inequalities inherent
in a segregated school system
moved another step forward in
South Carolina this week, as
attorneys for the National Asso
ciation for the Advancement of
Colored People, representing
the parents of more than fifty
students of the Jim Crow Lin
coln Elementary and High
School, filed a petition here with
city and county officials, charg
ing discrimination against Ne
gro school children.
Noting that the school has in
sufficient classroom space and
that children are forced to at
tend school in four shifts, from
8 A. M. until 6:02 P. M„ the
petition charges that these
hours “force them to have to
go through the streets of the
city after dark and in many in
stances long distances,” thus
contributing “to the possible
moral delinquency of these and
other children.”
Because of existing inequit
able conditions, the NAACP as
serts, Negro children are being
deprived of educational ad
vantages afforded white chil
dren, in violation of the equal
protection clause of the 14th
Amendment. The petition asks
immediate action allowing the
parents to appear before the city
and county boards of education
for relief.
Rev. J. M. Hinton, president
of the South Carolina State Con
ference of NAACP branches,
indicated that if relief is not
granted within a reasonable pe
riod of time, the case would be
carried to the courts “with pos
sibilities of becoming another
Clarendon County suit.”
Three Children, Left Alone, Die
In Blaze Which Sweeps House
NEW BERN — Three small
children, apparently left alone,
met death in their flaming dwell
ing here last Friday.
The victims, children of Mrs.
Francis Jones, were burned to
ieath when fire virtually de
stroyed the upper story of their
frame dwelling while their
mother was away at work.
Dead are Jessie Mae, four;
Bernice Maria, three; and Leroy,
L3 months.
Fireman said that they were
trapped by flames in the upper
story of their house. An un
identified older sister, in whose
custody the children were left,
was prevented from reaching
them by flames which lashed up
the stairway, it was reported.
Reports on the possible cause
of the fire had not been released
by investigating firemen.
Funeral arrangements for the
victims were incomplete here
Saturday.
' *8.
Marine Pfc. Nathan N. White,
son of Mr. and Mrs. T. W.
White, 515 McCoy Place, was
injured in an automobile ac
cident in Mexico recently.
Pfc. White suffered broken
legs in the accident which oc
cured while he was enroute to
camp on November 21. Pfc.
White is a graduate of Hillside
High School.
Wife, Small Son
Watch As Man
Hangs Himself
LUMBERTON — A 24 year
old man solicited the aid of his
small son in hanging himself,
called his wife to witness his last
curtain call and took his exit
via suicide with the phrase,
“Here I Go.”
Roscoe Davis, a man apparent
ly with a sense of the dramatic,
hanged himself from the rafter
of the front porch of his house
near St. Paul’s last Friday after
getting his small son to bring
him the rope and calling his wife
at the last moment to witness
the scene.
Or perhaps Davis had no idea
of how realistic the scene he
was staging actually was, for
investigating officers said that
he had been drinking heavily.
Davis made elaborate pre
parations for his last big scene.
He told his son to bring him a
rope, tied it to a porch rafter,
climbed onto two chairs and
slipped the noose around his
neck.
Before kicking the chairs a
way, he called his wife, shouted
“Here I Go,” kicked away the
chairs and dangled in mid-air
before his bewildered son and
horror-stricken wife.
The wife, frozen from horror
for a few moments, ran for a
neighbors house instead of cut
ting the rope. When the neigh
bors and St. Paul’s police ar
rived, Davis was dead.
He had recently been in dif
ficulties with the court on a
drunken driving charge, ac
cording to Coroner D. W. Biggs.
Negro Captains
Quaker Team
PHILADELPHIA — At the
traditional annual banquet, hon
oring the University of Pennsyl
vania ’s beloved football squad,
the famed school announced
that six foot, two inch, Robert A.
Evans, junior tackle, was elect
ed Captain of the team for 1952.
Thus history was made as Evans
became the first Negro to be
named Captain at Penn and the
second Negro so honored by a
major Eastern College. Levi
(Please turn to Page Eight)
TT^TttTTTtTTTTTTttttTT
MAN TAKES LAW IN OWN HANDS
Avenges Raped Sister,
Metes Out Penalty
DANVILLE, Va.—A Halifax County man
charged with raping and wounding a 15
year-old girl met death at the hands of the
girl’s vengeful brother amid a copse of dead
and dying honeysuckle vines, scene of the al
leged crime, here Monday.
Tommy Harris was the victim of the rare
case of the kind of assumed self justice
practiced by the ancients. He was shot to
death from ambush while walking, chained
between two law officers, through the scene
of the alleged crime.
Harold Dixon, the avenger, gave himself
up to law authorities and was placed in jail
to await trial for murder.
According to police, Harris lured Dixon’s
young sister into a belt of woods where she
was allegedly “mistreated” and criminally
assaulted, shot in the shoulder. Wounded
and distraught, she made her way home
after three hours, and an alarm was given.
Harris was arrested but he denied the
charges.
Monday, Harris was taken from jail and,
manacled to Sheriff Luther Matthews and
Deputy George Satterfield, was led to the
woods where the attack was alleged to have
occurred, the officers being desirous of re
creating the scene. While the three walked
among the honeysuckle vines, five shots
rang out from ambush, and Harris’ lifeless
form slumped on his chains.
The two officers, unarmed and chained to
the dead man, saw the gunman vanish but
could not offer pursuit.
Later in the evening, Dixon surrendered
to Sheriff Addison Tune on a murder charge.
When officers, taking him back home to
get a .22 rifle, the murder weapon, approach
ed his home, Dixon leaped from the car and
evaded three shots fired at his fleeing body
to make an escape.
He surrendered again three hours later
and this time was lodged in jail where he
remained early this week.
REV. T. R. De ADWYLER
Youth Day Set
At Church Here
Youth Day will be observed
here at the Mount Gilead Bap
tist Church Sunday.
According to Rev. Harold
Roland, pastor of the church,
young members of the church
will be in charge of conducting
services for the entire day.
Speakers for the two services
Sunday will be Reverend T. R.
DeAdwyler and James C. Alex
ander, divinity students at Shaw
University.
Rev. DeAdwyler will speak at
the regular morning service and
Rev. Alexander will be heard
at the evening service.
Music for the day will be
furnished by the church’s jun
ior chorus, directed by Mr. J. H.
Gattis.
Youth Day is an annual fea
ture of the Mount Gilead Baptist
Church.
Train Wreck Spurs
Fight On Jim Crow
NEW YORK — The death of >
fifteen Negroes in a Jim Crow i
coach on the ill-fated “South- i
erner,” which was involved in a 5
disastrous wreck on November e
25, gave new impetus to the c
fight of the National Associa- ‘
tion for the Advancement of (
Colored People to secure en- ]
forcement of the United States 1
Supreme Court decision banning ;
segregation in interstate com- <
merce.
“The Association will not rest <
until all segregation in trans- 1
portation is removed,” NAACP j
Special Counsel Thurgood Mar- 1
shall declared. Marshall sent let- !
ters to all branches of the NAA 1
CP, urging an immediate check :
of segregation policies of rail- j
roads in their localities to serve j
as a basis for an all-out attack j
against these Jim Crow prac- !
tices. 1
In a letter to E. E. Norris, 1
president of the Southern Rail- ;
vay System, Marshall deplored
he death of the fifteen Negroes
n the segregated car. “This
iraphic demonstration of the.
vil of segregation cannot be
veremphasized,” he asserted.
But for the segregation policies
'f the Southern Railway, Negro
>assengers would have been dis
ributed throughout the train
ind would have had an equal
fiance of survival.”
The NAACP attorney re
[uested an immediate discon
inuation of the railway’s segre
'ation policy, “in obedience to
he decision of the United States
Supreme Court,” and also “in
he name of human decency.”
!e indicated that the NAACP
lational office had received a
lumber of complaints from Ne
?ro passengers being forced to
lit in Jim Crow cars, and that
he Association has been pro
lessing these cases and awaiting
iction by the railroads.
Leaders From Three Councils
Meet In Wilson For Conference
WILSON—Scout leaders from,
three councils met here Satur
day for a divisional training con
ference.
Scouters from East Carolina,
Tuscarora and the Occoneechee
councils were in attendance at
the meeting.
M. D. Williams, conference
chairman, presided over the con
ference which got underway
with registration at nine o’clock.
A formal opening program was
held at ten o’clock at which Rev.
CHAIN TO ELECT OFFICERS
a special meeting ot the Dur
ham Business and Professional
Chain for Sunday afternoon at
five at the Algonquin Club
has been anounced by the or
ganization’s president, T. R.
Speight.
Among the items on the
Chain’s agenda Sunday is the
election of new officers. Presi
dent Speight indicated that
other very important matters
were due for discussion at the
meeting.
Action Resumes For Surviving Florida Victim
NEW YORK — Court action in the celebrated Grove
iand case, tragically interrupted when Sheriff Willis Mc
Call of Lake County, Florida killed Samuel Shepherd, one
)f the defendants, and seriously wounded Walter Irvin, the
sther, was scheduled to resume Thursday, December 6, it
was announced Friday by attorneys for the National Associa
tion for the Advancement of Colored People.
The NAACP is moving for a change of venue for the
second trial of Walter Irvin, on the ground that the passion
and prejudice in the community is even more severe now
-han at the time of the original trial. The convictions of
Shepherd and Irvin, tried in Lake County in the late sum
mer of 1949, were unanimously reversed last April by the
United States Supreme Court, with Justice Robert H. Jack
son issuing a biting opinion denouncing the role played by
the local press in preventing a fair trial.
The NAACP holds that the publicity given the case since
the shootings of the defendants, and the subsequent white
NAACP Attempts To Get Changed
Trial Scene; Feeling High Now
wash by local authorities of the “investigation” which fol
lowed, will stigmatize Irvin as having “attempted to escape”
and jeopardize his chances for a fair trial in Lake County
even more severely.
Also to be heard by Judge Truman Futch of Lake Coun
ty Circuit Court are NAACP motions to disqualify the State’s
Attorney Jess Hunter, as prejudiced, and to suppress illegal
ly obtained evidence. Alex Akerman, Jr., of Orlando, will
represent the NAACP at the hearings. He will be assisted by
Special Counsel Thurgood Marshall, Assistant Special Coun
sel Jack Greenberg, and Attorney Paul Perkins of Orlando.
Sheriff McCall’s cold-blooded shooting of his prisoners
on a dark country road, as he was transporting them from the
State Penitentiary at Raiford to attend the hearings (ori
ginally scheduled for November 7, the day after the shoot
ing), and his exoneration by local and state authorities, had
repercussions throughout the world.
The case was widely discussed by delegates to the Paris
session of the United Nations General Assembly, with Soviet
Foreign Minister Andrei Vishinsky seizing upon it as a sub
ject for a speech bitterly denouncing the United States and
its racial policies.
Before leaving for Florida, Mr. Marshall summed up
the present situation in these words: “As matters now stand
two Negroes have already lost their lives as a result of this
charge of ‘rape’ of a white woman; one being killed by a
sheriff’s posse and one by Sheriff McCall. Another is serving
a life sentence. The fourth, Walter Irvin, although shot
twice in the chest and once in the neck, must still stand trial
and face the threat of the electric chair. This is typical ‘South
ern Justice.’ ”
T. A. Watkins, Wilson, gave the
invocation; Williams made in
troductions and M. M. Daniels,
Wilson, welcomed the scouters
to the conference.
Also during the morning ses
sion, Herbert Stuckey, Deputy
Regional Scout executive, dis
cussed progress in the various
scout divisions during the year
and R. H. Mozo talked to the
conference on the three year
program of the Boy Scouts of
America.
An instruction period, divided
into areas of interest, concluded
the morning’s session. Instruc
tion period leaders were Paul
Runge, who lead a group study
ing Region Six Leaders Study;
Rodney Sener, Unit Basic Train
ing; N. B. White, Getting Scouts
at Summer Camp; Bruce Boyers,
Advancement of Boys and Ralph
Mozo, Boys Life and Boys.
A luncheon was held at 12:30
and at two o’clock a demon
stration on the Model Divisional
Roundtable was given by H. L.
Owens and East Carolina Scout
ers.
The bulk of the remainder of
the afternoon session was taken
up by a discussion period on the
same topics used in the instruc
tion period during the morning
session. E. A. Brown, Goldsboro,
led a discussion of Region Six
Unit Leaders Study; C. I. Bland,
Goldsboro, Unit Leaders Basic
Training; W. C. Taylor, Golds
boro, Getting Scouts to Summer
Camp; Kelly Bryant, Durham,
Advancement of Boys; J. M.
Schooler, Durham, New Units
and Together Plan; J. H. Betts,
Durham, Decreasing Dropping
Units; and G. D. White, Jr.,
Boys Life and Boys.
The conference closed with
presentation of awards at five
nVlnnlr