MURDER-SUICIDE ORPHANS SIX
\ •
Cemetery Caretaker Kills
Spouse, Takes Own Life
WINSTON-SALEM—A 38 year-old cemetery caretaker, apparently ovecome by blind
rage, shot his wife to death while three of his children looked on in frozen horror, then walk
ed out of his house to the garage and ended his own life with a shot gun blast to the head.
The double slaying took'tlie lives of Mrs. Enuna Lee Miller and her husband, Luther
Miller late last Friday night. It left without parents six children, ranging in ages from 20 to
13.
An aura of funereal silence settled over the neat Miller residence on New Walkertown
Road as poker-faced ambulance attendants carried the bodies from the house to waiting
ambulances.
The spell of stillness crept
over the curious crowd of neigh
bors and passers-by who hudd
led in the chill rain outside tha
'Miller home, stalked the hard-
.eped battery of detectives, re
porters and photographers who
did their jobs quietly and even
' gripped the older three children,
who watched calmly as the bod-
ie|s of their parents were whel-
ed away.
Funeral services for the coup
le were held a the Goler Me
morial AME Zion Church here
Wednesday. The Rev. A. A.
Perry conducted the church rited
at three o’clock and interment
was held at the Evergreen cem
etery.
Masons of Prince Hall lodge
795 were in charge of services.
The first shooting took place
around 11:30 at the Miller resi
dence. According to the story
told police by 15 year old Her-
,bert Miller, his father came
home late Friday and started
an argument with his mother
because she was washing clothes
in the kitchen.
Herbert told police that his
parents had quarreled many
times in the past and that hi»
father had threatened on sever
al occasions to kill his mother.
The boy said when his mother
went to thei front bedroom to
retire, he and two of ‘his broth'
ers watched In fright as hii^
father went into the bedroom,
heard a scuffle then one shot. He
said he ran to the bedroOm and
found his mother lying acrosai
the l>ed, fully di^sed, in a pool
of blood.
He said he then ran to a
neighbor's house to telephone
for help and on his return to the
house, he and his two brpthers
went out to the garage where
they discovered their “father,
lying facp down in a pool of
blood, dead.
He had shot .himself through
the head with a 20 guage shot
gun, which was found lying be
neath his body. i.
It is believed that he shot his
wife with a .88 calibre pistol,
ti|^gh a pistol had pot be^n
l^phd early this wek.
Miller had been employed
a caretaker of Evergreen ceme
tery for nine years. He and his
(Please turn to page Eight)
Congressman Adam Clayton Powell visited Dur
ham Monday night for an address at the Saint
Mark A. M. E. Zion Church launching the city’s
NA'ACP’s membership drive. He was greeted by
an overflow crowd, part of which can be seen in
above pictures. Large photo at left shows a por
tion of the estimated 1,900 persons who jammed
the auditorium and entrance-ways of the church
to hear his address. The New York Citt^ressman
sees details of the program prior to his speech
with Attorney Floyd B. McKissick, left, and the
Reverend Williom H. Fuller, president of the Dur-|
ham NAACF, right. McKissick was in charge of
tlve program. Powell, who pastor’s Abys^nia
Baptist Church in New Yerk, one of the counti^’s
largest, makes a point during his address in inset
left. He signs autograph for unidentified girl in
bottom inset. — Photos by ALEX RIVERA.
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jl^'THE Truth UNBRiogE5|f
VOLUME 34 — NUMBER It
DURHAM, N. C., SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 1958
PRICE: TEN CENTS
iiV BEAVTICIAP^S* CONTEST
Steele Leads, But
Mrs. Eula Steele junked into the lead this week in the
CAROLINA TIMES Beauticians’ Pcnularity Contest., At
noon Wednesday Mrs. Steel6 iiad poll^ a total of 600,000
points. Trailing her for second place was Mrs. Callie Daye
with 575,000 points.
This week thfe race is expected to gather momentum as
interest in the contest mounts. Already whispers of a dark
horse were beginning to be heard as many of the lesser con
testants w.ere said to be organizing their customers and
friends to support them.
At stake in the contest is a full round trip with one
week’s hotel expenses paid to the Beauticians’ Annual Con->
vention which meets in Miami, Florida in August.
This week’s relative standing of contestants is as follows:
600,000
575,000
_:_.400,000
345,000
345,000
300,000
300,000
300,000
=275,000
275,000
275,000
275,000
J260,000
280,000
260,000
245,000
MRS. EULA STEELE, Durham
MRS. CALLIE DAYE, Durham
MISS VICTORIA MOORE, Durham
MRS. SYMINER E. DAYE, Durham
MRS. BEATRICE MOSS, Durham
MRS. ODELL LEAKE, Durham
MISS MARY FOUST, Chapel Hill
MISS LILLIE WELL, Durham
MRS. PECOLA JONES, Durham
MRS. EARLIE GRANDY, Durham
MISS BLANCHE SCOTT, Durham
MRS. NOTIE J. CURRY, Durham
MRS. ROSETTA HARRIS, Roxboro
MRS. CORA M. BYRDINE, Durham
MRS. CATHERINE LUNSFORD, Durham
MISS HAZEL McKOY, Chapel Hill
MRS. W. D. JEFFREYS, Burlington 245,000
MRS. HENRIETTA BATES, Durham 245,000
MRS. THELMA HILL, Durham .230,000
MRS. MARGARET MINOR, Durham 230,000
MRS. ESTHER BLAND, Durham 195,000
MRS. HATTIE GEER, Durham 195,000
MRS. J. DeSHAZOR JACKSON, Durham 195,000
MRS. ESTELLE FREELAND, Durham 195,000
MRS. ELIZABETH BROWN, Durham 195,000
MRS. ALICE PAYNE, Hillsboro „180,000
MRS. J. N. LOVE, Durham 180,000
MRS. C. D. ASHFORD, Durham : - 180,000
MRS. ELVETA MONROE, Durham 180,000
MRS. JOSEPHINE E. DAYE, Durham
MISS LENAY WILLIAMS, Durham
MRS. ETHELENE PRAYLOE, Durham .
MRS. DILSIE CHANDLER, BurUngton-.
MRS. ANNIE B. TILLIE, Burlington
MRS. MATINS DICKENS, Roxboro
90.000
90.000
75.000
75.000
75.000
60.000
MISS MINNIE JOHNSON, Roxboro 45,000
45.000
45.000
45.000
30.000
15.000
15.000
15.000
15.000
15.000
15.000
MRS. MARIE BRADLEY, Durham 15,000
MISS DAISY HAWLEY, Durham
MRS. S. W. WEAVER, Chapel Hill
MRS. IRENE JACKSON, Durham ..
MISS DAISY CARMAN, Durham „
MISS MONTEZ BATES, Durham _
MISS JANIE COUSIN, Durham
MRS. JEROLINE BAIRD, Roxboro
MRS. lOLA GOSS, Durham
MISS ROSA HENDERSON, Durham
MRS. E. A. JOHNSON, Durham
MISS MARTHA PETTIFORD, Roxboro
MRS. WILLIE E, WATKINS, Durham
MISS MABLE OXENDINE, Rocky Mount
MRS. JULIA PERRY, Durham
MRS. CLASS^ BROWN, Durham
(Flease turn iu page Eight)
15.000
15.000
15.000
15.000
15.000
t V
J. L. WILKINS
Powell Likes
Williams As
Demo Nominee
Democrat Adam C. Powell, Jr.
told the TIMES this week that
he would like to see Michigan’^
Governor G. Mennen Williams
get the nomination for president
on the Democratic party’s IPeff
national ticket.
“Williams and (Stuart) Sym
ington would make a good team.
. . . hard to beat,” the New York
Congressman said. He made
these and other observations on
the political scene following his
speech at St. Mark AME Zion
Church Monday night.
“Kennedy (Senator) has fad
ed.”
“Bunche has a good chartce
for the solnate, if Re wants it.”
Powell,‘who bolted the Dem
ocratic party for Eisenhower inj
1056, said he did not t^elieve
Negroes would stick with he Re
publicans unless they take a
strong civil rights stand.
J. Ernest Wilkins, Top Aide To Pres.
Eisenhower Awaited By Durham
■ "a caj»cl^ c«m4 1* Ho
to greet J. Ernest Wilkins, Chi
cago lawj'ter and top Negro In
the Eisenhower administration,
when he speakii at North Caro
lina College Thursday night.
Wilkins, who i& assistant, se
cretary of labor for internation
al labor affairs, will be the fea
tured speaker at a banquet to
be held in the NCC dining hall
Thursday night.
The public is invited to attend
the banquet. On Friday morning
at ten o’clock, he will speak at
Shaw University’s Greenleaf au
ditorium.
Wilkins’ appearance in pur-
ham is being sponsored by the
Civic Committee of The Durham!
Committee on Negro Affairs
and several other cooperatingl
organizations
L. B. Frasier, chairman of the
sponsoring committee, said Dur
hamites are expected to turn out
in large numbers to hear the dis
tinguished Republican and
Methodist Church layman.
Wilkins, as chairman of the
Methodist Judicial Council, is
the 'highest ranking layman in
the Methodist Church in Amer
ica.
Agencies cooperating in spon
soring his appearance here re
present a wide cross section of
the Durham community.
Among cooperating sponsors'
are the Durham Committee on
Negro Affairs, NAACP, Kappa
Alpha Psi Fraternity, Durham
Business and Professional Chain,
the Labor Unions, Ministerial
Alliance, Ona O’clock Luncheon
Club, Durham Council, the Dur
ham Branch of the National
Council of College Women, and
A s b u r y Temple Methodist
Church.
Ghana Press. Officer Slates April
Appearance At N. C. College
R. O. Mensah, press attache
in the embassy of the new state)
of Ghana, wil be the keynote)
speaker at the Third Annual
Publications Conference at N.
C. College on April 11-.
Designed for high school pub-*
licists throughout the Southeast
area, the conference is sponsor-
ed by'the Campus Echo, award
winning student newspaper at
North Carolina College.
Mensah, a native of the Goldi
Coast of Africa, will speak on
the challenges of journalism and
'(PIcmd6 turn to page Sight)
Egypt Declared
'Neutral State
Egypt “must remain neutral
if it is to survive. It cannot be
come pro-West in the sense of
losing its identity.”
This was the role described
for her country by the wife of
an Egyptian envoy in a
last week at North Carolina
College. ,
The address was given by.
(Please turn to page Kisht)
fltoviWg'''u^
to Iffis
present position in the depart
ment of labor, Wilkins received
two Other Eisehhower appoint-
ment|g/ In 1953, he was vice
chairnian of the President's
Committee on Government Con
tracts. And hc\ also served as
chairman of hte U S. Govern
ment Delegation to the Interna
tional Labor organization in Ge-
nevaT* Sw^Bzertand, hi' 1954, 65, >
and 56.
Shelby Teacher Dies
In Automobile Wreck
WINSTON-SALEM
A 28-year-old Winston-Salem
man was fatally injured early
last Saturday about 11 miles
west of Salisbury on Highway
150, when his 1953 Dodge over
turned, pinning him beneath it,
and crushing his chest. Thf' vr
cident occured about five a. in'
Preston Drake, of 2021 Eab..
14th Street, was pronounced
dead on arrival at Rowan Me-
mpri^ Hospitai at Salisbury^-
J3rak#Kad I^b tlie tacuttif'
of a Shelby sdiool threp y«ars.
He resided there at 403 Antrom
Street.
An investigating State High
way Patrolman reported that
the car, going east, was appar
ently traveling at a high rate of
speed and that Drake may have
fallen asleep. The Patrolman
stated that the car ran off the
right side of the hijghway, then
(Please turn to page Eight)
Georgia School Teachers
Bock Negro Ministers
Smith President’s
Inauguration
Set For Easter
CHARLOTTE
* The Ninety-first Anniversary
of the founding of Johnson C.
Smith University and the inaug
uration of its seventh president
will be combined into stream
lined ceremonies on Easter
Monday, April 7.
The services will begin at
10:00 o’clock in the morning.
Dr. Kenneth Irving Brown,
Executive Director of the Dan
forth Foundation, St. Louis Mis
souri, will deiiver the address,
in celebration of the Ninety-
first Anniversary of the found
ing of the University.
Following the address, the
program will continue with the
inauguration ceremonies for Dr
Rufus Patterson Perry, seventh
president of Johnson C. Smitli
University. The ceremonies will
be conducted by Dr. Walter L
Moser, president of the univer
sity’s Board of Trustees.
Dr. Perry was unanimously
elected by the Board of Trustees
last spring.
He is a graduate of Johnson C,
Smith University in the class o£
1926. He received the Master o£
Science and the Doctor of Phil
osophy degrees from the State
University of Iowa, in 1956, h^|
Alma Mater conferred upon hiin
tha honorary degree of Dbctor
ot Law.
• Dr. Perry taught Chemistry,
and served as Director of the
Division of Arts and Sciences at)
(Please, turn to page £ight)
D. CARNES
ATIJVNTA. GA.
Seventeen professors of Em
ory University’s Chandler
School of Theologooy, a Metho
dist school here, have endorsed
the “Ministers’ Manifesto” on
race relations issued last fall by
80 Protetant clergymen of At
lanta, including 20 Methodist
pastors.
Pointing out that they were
“acting individually and not aa
a group,” tha Emory profesors
stated in a public anouncement:
“Wmie we have individually
expressed our appreciation for
the courageous leadership which
(Please turn to page Eight)
R. N. HARRIS
ttWHaS’ NEW
JOB TOUGHER
R. N. Harris, who won tha
plaudits of members of lx>th
races for his work on the City*
Council, said this week that his
new job as member of the Boaiti
of Education promises to b^
even tougher than the one hei
held as first Negro Councilmaiu
He made this appraisal of his
new position after being form-*
ally sworn in Monday night.
First Negro to serve on the
Council, Harris repeated tbei
“first” when he was unanimous-*
ly elected by the CouncU ta
serve on the School Board.
Also during Monday’s session,
the school board turned a blan^
ear to pleas by the newly estate
lished Human Relation^ Com
mittee that it hear suggestions
by Negroes on the question of
school desegregation.
Chairman Frank Fuller inter-i
preted the school board’s silence
on the Committe's suggestions
as meaning simply silence.
Masonic Temple
Dedication Sel
WINSTON-SALEM
Dedication and cornerstone
laying sorvices for new Masonic
«(templ^ of Prince Hall Free and
Accepted Maso»is of Winston
Salem will be held Saturday at
Goler Metropolitan AME Zion
Church at the newly renovated
nuisonic hall.
Dr. George D. Carnes, of Wil
mington, grand master of North
Carolina Masons, will be guest
'Speaker for he occasion. City
dignitaries Marshall C. Kurfees,
mayor, and William R. Craw
ford, alderman, will also take
part in the exercises.
The formal ceremonies will be
(Please turn to page Eight)
Funeral Services Held In Durham
Friday For Mrs. Mary Henderson
BIRS. HENDERSON
Last rites for Mrs. fiCarjf
Frances Henderson, wife of W»
Fred Henderson, prominc]^
Durham merchant and busit^j^
man, wqre held at White RodB
Baptist ‘Church, Friday,
7 at 4:00 P. M. The Rev. MiltAr'
Mark Fisher, pastor, deUveret|:
the eulogy.
Mrs. Henderson, the daw^itee.
of the late Williun and
Bella Bullock, was bwa
Granville County. She was
ril'd in 1921. ■
For a long number ot yhmr»
she was a member o
Rock Baptist church wkuaej
served as a member oi !
lathean Sunday Schaet
District Eleven and i
turn ta pafB.