V
Joe Louis’ Tax Debt May Dropped
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A heavy twnyiit of Negro vo
ters was evidenced in Durham
at North Carolina’s 1B56 Demo
cratic primary went into his
tory last Saturday. An estimated
5,000 of sonic 10,000 eligible
Negroes particivnted in the elec
tion. At the WhHted school pre
cinct, for instaiire, where four
voting machines were operatinu,
a continuous line of- voters all
day forced prc«'inct workers to
remain on the job until well af
ter the polls had closed to allow
voters already inside the pre
cinct a chancc to co*t o ballot.
TIMES photographer caught
these two pictures of voters as
they had cast their ballots at
the precinct. At left is N. J.
Vincent leading the voting ma
chine, and at riaht are Cabana
Morgan, who had just cast his
ballot, while Reginald Dalton,
precinct worker looks on.
Big Switch To GOP
By Negroes Seen
NKW YORK
Negro voters, consistently
Democratic since 1936, appear
to be swinging toward the Re
publican Party and are marked
ly critical of Adlai Stevenson,
a study in THE REPORTER re
vealed this week.
“It is safe to say that if Ste
venson were to nui against
BUsenhower tomorrow,” the
study reports, "the Negro vote
would show tt very marked
swing away from the Demo
cratic Party.. ”
In a copyrighted article, “The
Negro Vote and the Democrats,''
Robert Bendiner, |recent win
ner ot the Benjamin Franklin
Magazine Award, also reports
that a good segment of the Ne
gro press is moving away from
the rtemocrals, and^ he quotes
the editor of the Chicago De
fender as predicting “a major
shift in political alignments"
by Negroes this year.
1
Bendiner, who interviewed
Negro political ana civic leaders
lacross the country, ^attributes
the feeling against Stevenson to
his “gradualist" stand on de
segregation and The bitter op
position by Southern Democrats
to the Supreme Court’s decision.
Bendiner points out that from
1036 through 1952, the Negro
vote has run close to 80 per cent
Democratic, and in close elec
tions, like the Truman-Dewey
campaign, could have cost the
Democrats their victory with
less than a 15 per cent switch
in key states like California,
Ohio and Illinoist.
Today, he says, after inter-,
views with Ncgru political and
civic leaders, the swing against
Stevenson and the Democratic
Party would result in a loss ot
votes greater than the decisive
IS per cent difference.
However, Bendiner adds, “the
saving grace, from the Demo
cratic viewpoint, is that the re
bellion appears to be working
down from thr top and niBy not
go deep enough into the rank
and file by .November to be as
disastrous as Republican strate
gists fondly hope.’
He says, too, Jiat continu
ation of a prosperous economy
is still another fector that will
be decisive in November.
Nevertheless, the study re
veals . that ‘ politic^} unrest
among Negro vo{«rg'has been'
swelling ever since the first
Southern reactions to the Su
preme Court’s ban on segrega
tion in the schools.”
Leaders of the revolt include
officials of the National Associ
ation for the Advancement of
Funeral Rites
Held For Mother
Of AMEZ Bishop
CHICAGO, ILL.
Funeral services for Mrs.
Harriet Edgerton Walls, mother
^ QifUip^. William senior
’’lUshop pt the^ X’MSZ Church,
were )Md Tuesday at Chicago’s
Great:jt Walters A.M.E. Zion
Church, with Bishop Herbert
Bell Shaw of Wilmington, N. C.,
officiating.
Mrs. Walls, who had for a
number of years been the only
Colwed Peopley e»-fl*iw6tetion: inang moQieFoI a tfshop in the
theoretically nonpartisan, but
which “has run in easy harness
with the New Deal-Fair Deal
party,” Bendiner says.
Recently, he reports, tho
NAACP’s .Washington Director,
Clarence Mitchell, warned that
if the Democratic Party persists
in weighing itself down with
such an “albatross' as Senator
James O. Eastland, of Missis
sippi, it may have to “kiss our
votes good-bye.’’
Negro politicians across the
nation told Bendiner that most
criticism is directed against
Stevenson.
“Everywhere I went in Negro
communities, 1 found this word
‘gradualism’ the red rag...,”
Bendiner reports. “Colored lea
ders, Democrat and Republican
alike, seemed appalled at the
staff work that allowed Steven
son to use the iiated word...”
A New York leader, Bendiner
says, said simply that Stevenson
“has lost status among Negro
voters” who feel he la “pussy
footing and playing for South
ern support.”
A.M.E. Zion Church, died in
her home in Chicago on May 16,
several days after celebrating
her 92 birthday.
Several hundred persons, in
cluding bishops, general offi
cers, ministers, district workers
and layity of other denomina
tions crowded the church to pay
last tribute to the 92 year old
woman who was acclaimed
throughout the A.M.E. Zion de-
nomination as “Mother Walls,'
and, in 1955 was selected a
Mother of the year in the Mis
sionary Seer.
Bishop Stephen Gill Spotts-
wood of the Tth Episcopal Dis
trict, comprising Ohio, Michi
gan, Indiana, Texas and Colo-
rado, delivered the eulogy. Tele
grams of sympathy were re
ceived and acknowledged by
Bishop C. Eubank Tucker ot
Louisville, Ky., from through
out the country and from lead
ers ot such organizations as the
National Asspciation for the
Advancement of Colored Peo
ple, the National Federation of
Women’s Clubs, the National
Council ot Churches, the
World Council of Churches, the
Bus Boycott
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Florida A&M Students
yTkE^TWUNBPi^E^^
VOLUME 32 — NUMBER 22
DURHAM, N, C., SATURDAY, JUNE 2, 1956
PRICE 10 CENTS
Rev, William H. Fuller, pas
tor of the Mount Zion Baptist
church of Durham, was con
ferred the honorary degree of
Doctor of Divinity by Shaw
University last Monday at the
school’s commencement exer
cises. Rev. Ftiller is active in
many civic, social and church
interests in the city and state.
For more detmUs, see storp on
this page.
Women’s Home and Foreign
Missionary Society of the A M.
E. Zion Church, also fron^ Ro
land Hayes, famous sing^ of
Brookline, Mass., and leatting
officials. jn Sta^ goyerBxn«its.
Mrs. Walls was, bom in Ru
therford County, N. C. Ui 1884,
little more than a year after
Lincoln signed the Emancipa
tion Proclamation, and less than
a year before ^he was assassina
ted.
She^ married Edward Walls of
Rockingham when she was 18,
but eight years later he was
killed in an accident.
Mrs. Walls had lived in Ashe
ville, N. C., until her four child
ren were through high school.
Bishop Walls was her only son;
of her three daughters, Daisy, a
school teacher, died after a short
illness. Surviving besides Bis
hop Walls, an aunt, Mrs. Ella
Brooks of New York City; two
sisters, Mrs. Mazie Noble of
Tucson, Ariz., and Mrs. Anna
Tay]oT of Chicago.
During her later years, or her
last 26-years in Chicago, Mrs.
Walls resided with Bishop
Walls, who recently celebrated
his 71st blrtliday.
Mrs. Walls specialized in rais
ing funds for oi-phans in India,
South America, Africa and the
Virgin Islands. She w^ inte
rested in children's lyork in the
community, and the Church, be
ing associated with Mrs. J. Wor
thy Fishar of Chicago in organi
zing children's classes, and lead
ing them to the Communion.
Burial was in Lincoln Ceme
tery in Chicago.
PRINCIPALS AND HIGHEST HONOR STUDENTS IN
NORTH CAROLINA COLLEGE’S 45TH FINALS — The
princlpak and the five candidates tor “smnma cum laude”
honors during North Carolina CoU^ce’s 45th finals are shown
here against a background including an aerial view o( the
campus with Its three new buildings for biology, c«MBmerce,
and education. Pictured upper left are President Alfonso
Elder, Dr. William Holmes Hordern, baccalaureate speakm;
Dr. Karl W. Ble^ow, finals speaker; loww laft Dr. Georg*
T. Kyle, dean of the undergraduate school; Dr. Joseph H.
Taylor, chief marshal. Students, left to right, in panel are
Emma Elizabeth Bullock, Tarboro; Walter Navarro Davis,
Norfolk, Virginia; Pheriby Christine Gibson, Raleigh; Elouise
Frances Gould, Hamlet; and lower right, Wade Melvin
Komegay, Mount Olive. Buildings pictured were completed
during past school year. Education Building left is In opera
tion now] Commerce Building Center and Biology Buildii
right, are expected to be available sometime during the Fi
For Retirement Pay
Webster’s Widow
Sues A&T Board
GREENSBORO
A suit has beea filed by the
widow of the late N. C. Web
ster to reclaim snme.$1.800 paid
by the former A tnd T College
bursar into Uio s^jite teachers
retirement fund.
The action was revealed by
the A and T Oo^ege tr',;stce
board Tuesday.
In a summ jns' peeking relief
listing Mrs. Haftie Webster
as plaintiff, action is being
brought against Mrtain officers
of the college, officers and
members of the trustee board
and the board of trustees of the
North Carolina Teachers and
State Employe’ ■ Retirement
System.
fThe 'action asserts that an
amount approximately equal to
the $1,886.60 paid into the re
tirement fund has been turned
over to the college by officials
of the Retirement System to be
apjlnied to shortages charge tt>
Webster upon his dismissal from
the school.
Webster was convicted in
March 1955 on four counts of
embezzlement and sentenced to
a- 15 year prison term. Shor
tages amounting to nearly $40,
was uncovered by an audit
of the college account in Feb.,
1863. Webster was subsequently
dismissed for "irregularities in
^ (Please turn to Page 8)
Bill In Congress To Relieve
Brown Bomber Of Tax Debt
WASHINGTON, D. C.
Congress may get Joe Louis
off the ropes in his long and
losing battle 'vith government
tax collectors.
A bill was introduced in the
House Tuesday by Rep. Siemin-
ski (D-N.J.) to relieve the for
mer world’s heavyweight box
ing tampion from all outstan-i
ding income taxes owed the go
vernment since 1939.
Louis’ much publicized in
come tax troubles stem from
unpaid taxes, penalties, and in
terest reported to total nearly
one and one quarter million
dollars.
At the peak of his fighting
career, betwc'sn 1937 and- IWS,
the Brown Bomber grossed
more than four and one half
million from gate receipts.
Representative Sieminski call
ed on Congre.’s to wipe out
Louis' income tax debt as an ac
knowledgement that Joe has
detM a lot for the United
States.”
Recently, i: ; former terror
of heavyweight circles has turn
ed to wrestling in' an attempt to
square himself with the govern
ment. Roundly ciiticized by for
mer fans and sports writers,
Louis admitted in a recent na
tional magazine article that
wrestling is “a bad act,” but
sees it as the only way he can
hope to tay off some of the back
taxes.
Siemitiski’s three page bill
gave a glowing account of Louis’
achievements and noted that
Louis gave the entire uroceeds
of his lait two fights in 1942 to
war relief agencies, and slated
that he was “generous beyond
any figM|^ on record.”
“He has given American
youth more than just the show
of a fighting champion, more
than just words that tell of his
prodigious feats in the ring,’
Sieminski said.
“Joe Louis gave to every
young American boy engaged in
athletic compi.tition a manner
of conduct, a conscientiousness
of purpose, a“goo3ness of heart,
and a belief in God. Whenever,
he was callod upon, he was
there to help.”
Arrest Of Two
Co^s Trigger
Protest Action
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.
Florida A and M students
stayed off the city buses Mon
day in protest tu the arrest and
fining of two women students,
and it appeared as if a full scale
boycott was in the making by
the college students.
Last Saturday, Miss Wilbel-
menia Jake and Carrie F. Pat
terson, students at the state-
supported school, were arrested
for refusing to move to the rear
of the bus. They were charged
with placing themselves in a
position to cause a riot, released
on S25 bond each and bound
over for hearing in police court
Friday.
Several hundred students
staged a mass meeting Monday
following the arrests and voted
to stay off the buses for an in
definite period. They cheered
and applauded as empty buses
passed tlirough the campus.
It is doubted that a protest
similar in scope to the one at
Montgomery, Alabama will be
mounted here smce commence
ment exercises this week will
bring to a close the regu't^r
school term and send the stu
dents home from the campus.
Student leaders declined to
refer to the action as a boycott.
Broadus Hartley, president of
the student body, told newsmen,
“I wouldn’t call it a boycott.
We’re just refraining from rid
ing the buses until we can have
assurances that we will receive
better treatment.”
Hartley said that Saturday's
arrests were “the latest in a se
ries of incidents in which v,e
have been humiliated by buj
drivers.”
Sunday night, a small v. oo i
cross was burned on the lav/-i
of the bouse in which the two
women students were lying,
Their landlady, Mrs. Bloiae
Kendrick, said they subscquent-
.y moved into the coUege dor
mitory.
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Sheepskins To Be Passed Out
This Week Will Crown Hopes For
Hundreds In North Carolina Colleges
For hundreds of young men
and women in North Carolina’s
colleges, this week will bring to
fruition hopes and dreams
cherished by them their parents
and their friends over the past
four years.
This is graduation week for
a good number of colleges in
the state and degrees will be
awarded to hundreds of eager
yoimg graduates in commence
ment exerciser,
A few Tar Heijl colleges held
commencements last week.
Some 400 students are expect
ed to receive graduate, profes
sional and undergraduate de
grees at North Carolina Colle
ge’s final program in its 45th
commencement in Durham on
Tuesday.
Commencement week ac
tivities begin Friday with the
traditional senior class night di
rected by Miss Clara Wertz of
Charlotte.
Alumni meetings, a special re
ception for new graduates by
the Durham alumni association,
a students’ art exhibit, the Dean
of Women’s breakfast and the
P*resident’s receptions are high
lights on the college’s com
mencement calender.
Baccalaureate services are set
for Sunday at the college gym
nasium, at four o’clock. Dr.
William Hohr.es Borders, pas
tor of the Wheat Street Baptist
church of Atlanta, will be the
speaker.
Commencement' activities will
culminate on Tuesday when de
grees will be awarded at the fi
nal program in the gymnasium
ihe exercise wm start at 11 a.m. Columbia, delivered the com
mencement address at Memorial
auditorium.
Baccalaureate services had
been held Sunday at the Univer
sity church. Dr. Frederick
West, minister of the Hillyer
Memorial Church of Raleigh,
delivered the sermon.
Honorary degeres of Doctory
of Divinity' were conferred on
Rev. William H. Fuller, pastor
ciared Dr. waroid Taylor in the of the Mt. Zion Baptist church
Dr. Karl Bieglow, professor of
£.aucai.iun m „oiumDia Univer-
aiiy, vviii aeiiver tne commence-
iiiciit address.
1' COLLEGE
"Tbe Negro and wmte snoula
oe euucatea together not simply
oecause it is uie Negro’s rigm
out t>ecause eaca has something
lo give to the otuer, ana each is
poorer wiinout tne other,” ae-
%
Ti
commencement address at ±ien-
iieit College lu Lrreenstwro on
^vionday.
"it Is not enougn to advo
cate moderaucn m tne solution
01 problems, wnat is needed is
the will anu me humanity to
support ttie cause of the Negro
ana to tind ways in which the
iNegro child cau be given his
place in the wnite school, ana
me white society,—not as an in
vited guest, but a weico.me
iriend, aeciared Dr. Taylor iu
the iiuals aaaress. Dr. Taylor Is
freslaent of barah Lawrence
College.
It was Beiiiiett's Bdrd com
mencement.
Some 71 yuuug women were
awarded degrees by the col
lege’s presioeni. Dr. WlUa B.
I'layer. Ur. Matthew S. Davage,
prominent Methodist layman of
New Orleans, delivered the bac
calaureate on Sunday.
SHAW UKIVERSITY
Over at Raleigh last Monday,
81 students were awarded de
grees at Shaw U.iiversity’s 9ist
commencement. The Honorable
Armond W. S>;ott, municip:»l
court Judge for the District ol
of Durham, Rev. Thomas Kil
gore, Jr., pastor of the Friend
ship Baptist church of New
York, and Rev O. A. Sherrill,
executive secretary of the Gene
ral Baptist State convention.
Rev. Fuller was described by
University officials who recom
mended the degree as an “ener
getic minister and church buil
der, outstanding leader in chur
ch organizations, a man of broad
interests in civic and social wel
fare and a staun''h su'?porter ol
Christian education.”
KITTRELL COLLEGE
The 70th commencement pro
gram for Kittr^ll College wai
scheduled to be held June 3
through June 5 in the college's
Duke Memorial autiitorium, ac
cording to an announcement re
leased Monday by Dr. R. W.
Wisener, president of the school.
The baccalaureate sermon wili
be delivered on Simday, June
3, at 2:30 by Dr. T. P. Duhart
pastor of the St. Paul A.M.S
church of Chapel Hill. Dr,
Among the dignitaries to b?
present for tiie occasion is
Bishop Frank Madison Reid, re
cently assigned to second epis
copal district of the A.M.E
church.
J. C. SMlTh JNIVSRStTY
Tl)$ eighty-eighth annual
commencement ol Johnson C
Smith Univer-jity will begin in
Charlotte on Sunday, Jtme 3.
and end Wednesday, June 6,
when 98 candidates from the
college and 8 theologs expect to
receive their sheejiakins.
The commencement address
will be delivered by Dr. Clifford
J. Earle, secretary of the Com
mittee on Social Education and
Action of the Presbyterian
Church, U.S.A. The Reverend
Charles Winslow Talley, field
representative of Atlanta Synod,
will deliver the baccalaureate
sermon.
MRS.MOCKDIES
Mrs. Eva Blahop Mock, om
of the founder’s of the De-
Shaaor’s Beaut; CaSlege, died
In Durham at Llncofai Boa-
pttal Wednesday aftemooa at
3:2* o’clock.
She had beea ■affMBf
from an on disclosed llhaw
for sometime. She «taa admit
ted to the hospital twe
aco.
Mrs. Mock, who-served as
Frank R^ Veal, president-elect dean of the colly stace Ha
of Allen University at Colum- foundinc. Is a sttlar ef Hs
bia, S. C., will deliver the com
mencement address on Tueaday-Jackson.
president, Mrs. J. DeShaaar