North Carolina Newspapers

198 Negroes Bum To Uf.. FLASHII Jtiak ffoinff to pr«M th* CAAOUHA TBOB hM b*en iafonn^ that th« M«r arid- •M9 pr«Mnt«i thia w««k b»ton Jad(« Lao C«rr, by Attoraajra for tlia pUtntiffa, in tha «M« a«(ai9at B4ah«p M. H. Davia and ti>a tniatoaa of KlMraU Collaga wAa aulficiant to aaoaa fba court to gnnt a ratiaarine. Tima /or fta Nhaartng wiU ^ 10 o'ck>ck in Gm- bam. on tha motninct qf May 11. tnt(0 VpiAIME at NUMBER IT lyaHP^UTlTtlNBRigEBjg DURHAM. N. C., SATURDAY. APRIL 27tk, lt40 MAILING EDITION ★ ★ PRICE SEVEN CBirrS NONA TO HOLD 4TH ANNUAL SESSION Dr. Shepard To Address Meet Here Sunday DURHAM — The North Caro- luia Cowaittee on Ne^ro Aifaira iriH hold ita fourth annual meat' tag har Bannday, April 28 tM|| Nart)t Caroliaa College for N>e- fraea. The theme of the confer^ aMa will be ‘‘Hxploring the Pre sent Statua and Needs of North C«rolii^ Negroea.” Dr. Jamea E. BiMpard, preaident of the North Carolina College will be the ytiBaipal apaaker. Due to hia ex- Varianae fuid deep insight in Nafro aifaira. Dr. Shepard is con- ^dared tha logical man to atrike Iba key-nota for the conference. According to Mrs. Irma Ne«3 Uaary, executive secretary of the Committee, thia meeting will be one of the most important in tba biatory ^ the oz:ganiMtion. A special qsU to tha women f tba atata ia^l>eiiig issued'for Uia fuipose of diacuaaing woman’a ftaae in tba economie, civic and feMtieal aifaira ct tha race, and b*w aba play ' •' greater part In abapiag tba * poUciea «f tba or- ■sMtat^ •' , .^Ceftders 6f the discif^Baion gleov^ are as follows: W. D. Hill, aaaistant secretary. North CN^)lina Mutual; J. A. Tarpley, ■»F«rTiaor Negro ^Schools, Greentf’* boro; L. I. Austin, editor of the C«rolina Timea and Dr. A. Hen> lacbarg aaaistant to tha preai* 4aat. North Carolina! College for Nvroea. Speakers to the wo men’s section will include MrsJ Clyde R. Hoey, wife of the Gov ernor of the state; Miss Lpuise Latham, dean of girts, W^hinc- ton High School, Raleigh, Mirs. J W. V. Cordice, of the Durham Public Schools and Hiss Phylia O’Kelly, Weifelre Worker of Wadesboro. f In keeping with ^e policy of tl.'e committee, several important factora will l>e discoaaed center- i!i& around tba economic, educa tion^ and civic problema effect ing Negroes of the state. The afternoon session whieb w>ll be opened at 4 o’clock )vili be taken up by discussion groups of the several aub-committees. At the evening session, which wii be held at Duke Auditorium of the College, Prof. Jamea A. Taylor, dean of the cc^ege will aOdreaa the group amd his sub- Je1; will be ‘‘After the Confer ence What.” DeSHAZOR BEAUTY CCHXEG E HOLDS SPRING GRADUATION EXERCISE V. V Those who will act aa ais.aaul* ' 4t the open forum disCUaa- ara J. G. BUdais, Misa £. M. Harper, Atltfrney Curtis Todd and C. A. Haywood of BaleSgh; Dr. F. D. CTaSt, Dr Clyde Donnell, of Dur^alm, Dr. O. Max King, of Franklinton, Dr. Geo. Simpkins,' of Greens1>oro, Lean- der Hill of Winston-fialem, and other pfominenir .leaders of Ihe state. ' ' : n't i National Negro Insurance Ass'n Kioids Session There were 3,5 in the Spring church last flktnday ^temoon ciire ’seats in the bakoniea. In ^ Nance^ Mrs. S. Bishop Whitfield, graduating class of the DeShfiaor j with eiwry seat on the entire j the foreground j*id seated are Beauty College. The exercises I lower floor of the church taken. I members of the faculty. Reading were held at St. Joseph AMiElLate comers were forced to a»*|let to right they are; Prof. N. Mrs. Sadie -Tboma.s, Mrs. E. Bis hop, Mrs. Defihazor J^Vkson and Dr. Leo Bruce. Dancers Trapped In Buiiding; Five Persons Jailed Hu ndreds A t tend N lass Meetin^i At Hillside CHICAGO, (ANP) — The NatiijMial Negro Insurance aaaii^ion, organized in 1920 for tb« purpose pi maintaining the btMinaaa of life insurance atod atijian^thening the bonds of con- fi^naa between Negro insurance a«pipanies, policyholders and tlM pM>lic, this year during Na- U*nal Negro ^ insurance Week, Mtey • to lit will celebrate the Iwaa^ittli annlYaraary of ita or- ganlaa^n. -i Negro insurance comiMtnies, wktch ttot only are aelling a com- nMdity to lha public but f>> r a tr«inin|r *»d educating tbou- aaUda ^ youn^ men and women tbvougbout the country to be- aome courteous and efficient aalaiq>eople, b a t a progreaaed diptaiaticany in the twenty years siAca ofganization of tiia as- aofltation, ^ and now, filling an iw^rtani niche in Negro life, tbay repijeaent a hii^ atindard of efficiency, aafety and atren- gtfl. ¥be Ne^ro insurance convpany pefbapa m>re than any other Ne- gM busing orgsmization, baa disproved ^e old adage that Naprroea wii) not support a Negro biiainess. IferdUng what seemed to be oVfltiwhelming handicaps twenty y^tn ago, the Negro' in- a.rance con|pany has ' amassed millions in money, securities, asMts ^nd reserve, built up a pride in Nefro business, t.i.)d made work -for tBousanda of young Negro- men and women. Surviving one oj; the worst de- praasiona in history, Negro in- aumnca companies have emerged atronged for that experience, Mtording to business sf^$Uatlct, •nd fa»T)i mada more consistant gate* dislnff tha last tan year period th,'«!i.c»n be said of moat aa-! other businesses. In this field Negroes are demonstrating, to an amazing degree, live benefita to be derived from honest racial cooperation. ■National . Negro insurance re cords reveal that approximately $2000,000 worth of itaauranca v'aa produced during National Irsur^nce Weeic, J9i95, and ap- proximfktely |20,000,000 during ti>e Mnve period, 1984. This ia tha result of planning, direction, aud group cooperation, aaya the officiaU. With $2£,000,000 aa this year’s goal. Insurance Week 1940 will be set aside to depict progress of NegrO insurance and it'* value to the Negro. F. A. Young, New . Orleans, ia chairman for Nation^il Insurance Week; Spsor TiniIIi Promni BY CATHERINE BLACKWELL An excellent youth program w^ti .celebrated on “Young Peo- plea' Day,” Sunday evening April 14th at 3t. Joseph CB£E Church. Devotiona wera conducted by J. Winford Bucbert, folloiwed by tha sermon which was preached by the Rev. J. H. Lightsey. After a brief intermfssion, the young people took the entire program in charge. The spealoer fbr this occasion waa Rev. W. H. Bland. On Sundajr, April 36 at 11 o’clodc the pisbtor will apeak from the aubj«ct “The right source ot knonrledge” at 7:46, "Tha diacloaiiv God." DURHAM — The large.st mass meeting ever held by the Dur ham branch of the North Caro lina Committee on Negro Affairs tcok place llere Sunday after noon when most of the ^entire ^'uditorium of the Hillside Park High School was filled with per sons from all walks of life who • had gathered there foKthe pur- pcse of formulating pV*is for the new registration to be hold in Durham county during the month of May. R. N. Harris, chairman of the politic^tl division of the com mittee opened the meeting . by explaining, to those present the purpose for w'ich they had ga thered. A well organized plana of contacting every qualified Ne gro in Durhfin was presented and adopted by the organization. If the plans cf the committee are carefully c^lrried out the larcfest registatton in the history of Durham is expected. Every block in every community n which Negroes live will be Work ed, and each person present promised to ffct as a committee of one to do his best to have as many Negroes register as possi ble. Talks on registering and vot- ii.g were made by sever.pers n present, and crooked politicians who go out for the purpose of obtaining money with the pro mise that they can deliver the Negro vote were declared menace and out of keeping with _ the ideals of the organization. | Special effort on the p.fl.'t cf tha committee is made necessary' this year on account of the new rcgistraion order by the elec tion board of DurK|n County. Prior to the new re^jistration or dered . there were practically 4,000 Negro voters in Durham, and the Committee hopes to swell the numfber to 5,000 before the book* close at sunaet on IMy 1^. KITTRELL COLLEGE CASE APPEALED F1>ITUR’S NOTE: Below is full account of the hc^L'ing held in Graham last Friday -before Judge Leo Carr which dissolved the rdstr^dning order brought by laymen of the AME church to prevent Bishop M. H. Davis,, from disposing of stock belonging to Kittrell College. The account written by D. B. Martin, one of the plaintiffs in the action, Uid a prominent layman of the AME church, gives in detaal just why the action was brou^t and the viiws of those who attempted to save the bonds belonging to the school. The hearing ak Graham before tlie Honorable Leo Carr on Pri- dny, April 19, at which time Bishop M. H. Davis and the Board tf Trustees of Kittrell College were given the “green- light" to sell the Duke Power Stock supposedly left as an en- dcwmant fund to the institution climaxed the eff rt of North Qi^irolina laymen of the AME Church to take legal steps for the best interest of th* Church and. School as a whole. The deci sion was il.ipealed by the plain- fffs. The reason why the re straining order waa issued was bccause of the faX:t that we as laymen- were relisl>ly inforraed> that the stock was in procea* f sale. The c^mmittea composed of G. W. Cox, Ch^rman; Wat son Law, GreenAoro; Kenneth Jones, Chapel Hill; E. D. Mickle, J C. Scarborough, Sr. and D. B. Martin, appointed by the k|y- men who met on March ftl, 1940 to discuss thU mattar wanted an opportunity to confer wfth BU' hop D^/is and his committee as business men to make what we thought better soggestions in going about to liquidate the enormous debt of fhe institution. A letter was addressed to the Bishop on April 9 tand a copy sent to all members cf his com mittee, but the venerable prelate in answering would not agree to the suggestion for a conference mi,Me by our ccmmittee.* We reulized that the school had debts and were Just as mxious as any of the fearless ministers, who openly did tlie biddings of the Bishop to ifet these debts paid, but we did want to know the Items which m^e up a total f $14,136.77 said to be due Bishop Davis personally artd $12,071.00 said to be due the kite John R. Hawkins. The committee was also in- fi'rmed that the good Bisho'p de posited aJl funds of the college in the name of M. H. Davis and our investigation has not disclos ed 11 bank account in the name of Kitt»l^ College. However, tt:r« may be one. The above represents some «f the things paramount in the dis cussion of the group of laymen from Greensboro, Cl^^pd Hill and Durham, who formed a tem porary* organization on M#lrch 31, 1940 in Durham. These important matters did not get /kn opportunity to be presented at the hearing due to the fact that the able Counsel fcr the Defense pleaded to ex pedite time an conaider tha legal phaaa of tha reatnkiing order PlMte turn to Page Eight TO. SPEAK HERE SB. mXBTT 3. scon Republican National Cvmmittee- ."lan who will speak at the North C^irolina College in the B. N. Duke auditorium, Sunday after noon at 3 o’clock May 5. Doctor Scott is one of the nation’s out- stnding men of achievement ;iid h'? appearance here is expected to draw an unusually l;(,ge audience. NATCHEZ, MiSs., (Special to •he TIMES) —Five peracns were in jail todjt'y as suspects in the firing of a dance hall which cost the livea of 198 persans here early this morning. Although the arrests h|ave been made police hove not definitely as yet pinned the tragedy on any particul^V person or persons. According to several persons who escaped the building whicn went up in fl^liries within 1,5 minutes after the fire was dis covered, there were several drunken persons in the building on the grounds, some of which were overheard to remark thtit they were going to set fire to th“ dance hall. It was the belief a't first that the building was set on fire accidentally. Dtdaring that the buiiding was the worst fii’e tr^a-p iniagmabie. Mayor William J. Byrnes order ed a tb(^^d|^^uestigation into the '^ntliov^^Dn^-s that were going around.' bejjeved the ouset that hiore than 250 persons per ished in the flames, but a eye ful count today revealed that only 188 ,j?eMons actu#».lly lost their live* iit the buUiding which burned like paper after it once becam* ignited. Several other persons seriously burned or in jured! were expected to die ac cording toho^i^tii attaches which tvill run the number well over 200. The dance was being given by the Moneyw«4en social club and the Walter Balrnes orchestra was furnishing the music. It was believed that all of the members, inlcuding Barhes himself perish ed in tre burning. .... There were practicalry 3'00 peiv | sons in the building at the time it caught fire, and a few of them escaped through the front door which w,aa the only exit the building possessed. Several others were able to get through the ticket window which stood near the door. Others ifiaue a futUe attempt to bre^k through the the windows that bad been ^well barred to prevent persons from slipping into the dance hall. Th» first which wJIs quieked by dry spanish moss hung from tha rafters of the building as decorations apparently vied with time in consuming the building, before fire fighting a.pparatus could be brought into play the streams and moans of the dying could be heard above the ^ling walla crackling of the flam es. After the flaimes b««n brought* under control and fire men Could enter the rbilding moans of the dying could bm heard beneath the ruin^ Several who were brought out and ruab- ed to the hospit.41 died enronte. Others are expected to die. Many were believed to have over cons* with smoke or crushed to death in the stampede whkh followed the alarm. More than half of the popula tion of this city Negroes and there is hiirdly a home that ha*^ not been touched by the tragedy in the loss of relatives or frienda. Grief, sadness, woe, tears, cried are left in the w^^ke of thia moat terrible catsstropTTe aa r«lativea discover some mark of identifi- wtion on burnt body at Many stretcted out on a garaga floor or in a funeral pairlor. Jn Mi»ir families aa uiany aa ttara* nift- tives were loat in the flamaa^ WASHINGTON, D. C^— Tha American Red Crosa ruahed thra* disaster reltef woekera to Nateb- ez, Mississippi today to aid tha in.’ured and the families of th* Negroes who perished in « danca Dr. William DeKleInc, medical Aoviaor of the Red Croaa, prepar ed to leave Wfilshinfton today by air^ne, weather permitting, to aid in hospitalia^ion of tha injured Negroes, the Red Croaa announced. Mrs. Molly Hodgm, Mississippi field representativa left Jackson early to^^ by motor and expected to ba ia N itchez at noon. Miss Roberta Horg)£>n',' Red Cross relief work er at the Amite. Louisiana Red Cross headquarters set up follow ing a recent torn^o, waa in structed by telephone to go to Natchez, the Red Cross also an nounced. From Mrs. Hodges, the head quarters here learned that 20S Ntgro men and women wera re ported dead and probably 100 injured, including 40 with a«'- ous burns and broken bonea. Among the de;.id were said to be members of a Negro orcheatra from Chicago. DeWitt Smith, national diMC- tor of the Red Croaa Diaaater Relief Service, st.4ted Uiat Dr. IHKleine would inumediatly in vestigate needs for hoapitaliaiag the injured, and that Miaa Mor gan «ould arranage in cooperai- tion wiih local agencies for tem- pon&xy care of the familiea of vhnse who lost their live*. DeShazor Holds Spring ^ Graduation Exercises DURHAM — 'rhe DeSh^izor Beauty College held ita Spring Graduation exercise here Sunday afternoon at St. Joseph AME church three o’clock with 95 kr>embera of the school receiving diplomas. The program w,Aj presided over by M. H. Thompson, attor ney for the couege. The address to the graduiftes was delivered by L. G. Blackus of Raleigh, stata supervisor of recreation among Negroes. I The Spring gr fluation exercise this year was of unusual beauty and dignity, and eclipsed in n^biy respects those which tha college has had heretofore. The climax of the entice program was the address delivered by Mr. Bk.t;kus to {he graduation class during which he admonished its members to regard their profes sion with aeriousness. ) The Defihazor Beauty College was organised in DurK&m four years ago, and since that time hi^ had remarkable growth under the leadership of Mra. J. DiShazor Jackson its secretary- supervisor. Mcs DeShazor ia not ed for her thoroughness and de sire for the best. On the school’s fii.'ulty are some of the beat qualified instructors.^ that it i* possibla to obtain. In addition all ot til* facilities aire medern and modem and tae best that can buy. The instructon are: Mm J. DeShazor, superviaa*; Mr*. S. B. Whitfield, ^at««r: L Bi»yd Oglesby, buaiDcas; ¥»ott. M. Nsnce, eectricity; Dr. chemistr); and Dr. Lae Brace, arLtonay. Grades of the eaa* fi-«: Mra. Elizabeth Andrew, Baieltfct ypt |> -s Josephine Le4 Baaaell^ ton; Evelyn Bellamy, Clill*—; Annie Moaell Bosey, Ba**MH; Mrs. Msmei Moaell BIwit, am; Mrs. Mary J. Br*ii^ Jdmr* ham; Mrs. Callie B... Aiir> ham; Miaa Charlie B4 n**a* turn lo P*t*