This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received

GIFFIN, William Wayne, 1938- THE NEGRO IN OHIO, 1914-1939.

The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1968 History, modern

University Microf ilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan

Copyright by

William Wayne Giffin

1969 THE NEGRO IN OHIO, 1914-1959

DISSERTATION

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University

By

William Wayne Giffin, B.A., B.S. Ed., A.M.

******

The Ohio State University 1968

Approved by

Adviser Department of History. PREFACE

This dissertation concerns the public life of Negro

Ohioans, their standing in the wider society of Ohio and their responses to this. It deals, to be more explicit, with the conditions of Negroes in relation to employment, housing and education; their treatment in public accommo­ dations; and their role in politics and government. The organizational response of Negroes to the status of the

Negro population of Ohio is also stressed. Each of these factors is discussed in relation to the periods 1914-1919,

I92O-I929 and 1950-1 9 3 9 * The research for this monograph was done in sources deposited in government, museum and university libraries.

This dissertation is not, per se, cultural, social or intellectual history of the Negro in Ohio. Therefore, it is not basically concerned with the development of Negro' groups and institutions, e.g., families, churdæs, schools and fraternal organizations. Likewise, it does not cover the development of Negro art, music and drama. These as­ pects of the history of the Negro in Ohio are worthy of study and hopefully will be researched. Unfortunately, very few source materials relating to these fields are

ii now available in libraries. Yet, with the current interest in black history, Ohio libraries are beginning to initiate programs for the acquisition of such materials. Thus, future research students with an interest in Negro history may be more fortunate than I in this regard.

I wish to express my gratitude to all those who assisted or supported me in the preparation of this dissertation. I should especially like to acknowledge that the members of the staff of the Ohio Historical Society Museum Library gave me excellent assistance and made my many hours with them pleasant. I shall always be indebted to “Francis P.

Weisenburger, a good and generous man. Professor Weisen- burger advised me conscientiously and helped me with problems when this was inconvenient for him. Finally and most importantly, I should like to thank my wife, Eliza­

beth Anne, who supported me with hard work, patience and

good humor.

Ill VITA

April 6, 1 9 3 8 . . Born - Bellaire, Ohio

I960...... B.A., The College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio

1962 ...... B.S. Ed., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

196 3 ...... M.A., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

1964— 1968 . . . Teaching Assistant, Uepartment of His­ tory, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

I968-I969 . . . Assistant Professor, Department of His­ tory, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana

PIELDS OP STUDY

Major Field: History

Social and Political History of the United States. Professor Francis P. Weisenburger ( Slavery Controversy and the New South. Professor Henry Simms

Colonial History. Professor Eugene Roseboom.

History of England. Professors Clayton Roberts and Phillip Poirier

IV TABLE OF GONTEÏÏTS

Page No.

PREFACE ...... , . ii

VITA ...... iv

LIST OF TABLES ...... vii

INTRODUCTION ...... 1

PART I.-- THE MIGRANT AND THE DOUGHBOY (1914- 1919) Chapter I. THE GREAT MIGRATION...... 18

II. REACTIONS OF THE NEGRO COMMUNITY TO THE PROBLEMS OF THE MIGRANT AND RACIAL DIS­ CRIMINATION ...... 52

III. WORLD WAR I ...... 108

PART II. THE NINETEEN-TWENTIES

IV. THE CONTINUING MIGRATION IN RELATION TO EMPLOYMENT, HOUSING AND EDUCATION. . . . 144

V. WHITE SUPREMACY...... 197

VI. DEVELOPMENT OF NEGRO WELFARE AND CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS ...... 24$

VII. INDEPENDENT REPUBLICANS...... 253

PART III. THE GREAT DEPRESSION (1930-1939) VIII. ECONOMIC CONDITIONS AND PUBLIC WELFARE. $08

V Page No.

IX. PUBLIC AND PRIVATE HOUSING...... $24-

X. THE RAGE ISSUE IN EDUCATION...... $41

XI. PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS...... $77

XII. POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE ...... 402

XIII. NEGRO ORGANIZATIONS REACT TO THE DEPRES­ SION ...... 44$

BIBLIOGRAPHY...... 48$

VI LIST 0? TABLES

Page No.

1. NEGRO LEGISLATORS IN THE OHIO GENERAL ASSEMBLY ...... 14-

2. COURT SUITS UNDER OHIO PUBLIC ACCOMMO­ DATIONS LAW, 1 914-1919 ...... 50 3 . NUMBER OF NEGRO STUDENTS ENROLLED IN OHIO COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES ..... 355

4-. VOTE IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1935 IN PREDOMINANTLY NEGRO WARDS ...... 4-20

5 . VOTE IN GUBERNATORIAL ELECTIONS IN PRE­ DOMINANTLY NEGRO WARDS IN 1932, 1936 AND 1938...... 4-21

V I 1 INTRODUCTION

Initially Ohio was a free territory which entered the

Union as a free state.^ In the last years of the eighteenth century the Ohio country was covered by the anti-slavery provision of the Northwest Ordinance of 178?« The Ohio constitutional convention of 1802 included an anti-slavery provision in the fundamental law of the state. However,

Negroes in Ohio did not enjoy equality under this law during the early nineteenth century. The state constitution limited the franchise and the holding of public office to white male inhabitants and prohibited Negroes from giving

^There are a number of secondary works which include infor­ mation of the Negro in Ohio prior to 1914-. The six volume History of the State of Ohio, ed. by Carl Wittke; and Eugene Ë.l^oseboom and Francis P. Weisenburger, A History of Ohio make numerous references to Negroes. Charles t. Hickok, The Negro in Ohio. 1802-1870 and Frank U. Quillin, The Color Line in Ohio. À History of Race Prejudice in a Ti^ical Northern State are quite dated general surveys of Ohio Negro history tefore 1914. The only other general survey of the subject is James H. Rodabaugh, "The Negro in Ohio," Journal of Negro History. YXTL (1946), 9-29. Numerous theses, dis­ sertations, articles, monographs and biographies on parti­ cular aspects of Ohio Negro history prior to 1914 are listed in the bibliography. testimony against whites in the courts. The constitution also included a limited indenture provision which in effect permitted virtual enslavement of some Negroes. In 1804- and in 1807 the state legislature enacted the Black Laws which required Negroes to prove their status as freemen before they would be permitted to settle or work in Ohio, to post a five hundred dollar bond upon settling in the state and to register with county clerks if they were already residents of the state. The Black Laws also provided heavy penalties for anyone who aided a fugitive slave. Similarly, the legislature later provided aid for the public education of white children only.

The racial discrimination in the fundamental and statute law of Ohio reflected the fact that contempt was felt for Negroes by many, if not most of the white people of the state, although they did not favor slavery. The contempt for Negroes of many white Ohioans was also mani­ fested in their support of a movement to colonize Ohio

Negroes in Africa. Conversely, a significant group of

White Ohioans were generally sympathetic to giving Negroes equal legal rights and were actively opposed to slavery.

New Englanders who had settled in the Western Reserve and

Quakers who had taken up residence in southeastern and central Ohio were prominent in this anti-slavery element.

James G. Birney, Levi Coffin, Joshua Gildings, Benjamin

Lundy, Charles Osborn, John Rankin, Benjamin Wade and

Theodore Weld among others played well-known roles in the anti-slavery movement in Ohio and the nation. The

Lane Seminary revolt, the establishment of Cberlin Col­ lege, the operation of the Underground Railroad and the

Ohio fugitive slave cases are legendary in the story of the anti-slavery movement in the state and the nation.

Beginning in about 1815 there was a great controversy in Ohio between abolitionists and conservatives. They were divided on the question of whether slavery should be permit­ ted to exist in the South. In relation to Chio itself the issue which separated them was whether the Black Laws should be repealed. After about 183C an effort was made to have the Black Laws repealed, but this campaign for repeal was resisted by racial "conservatives." The exponents of equal rights for Negroes won some concessions in the eight­ een-forties. The legislature provided for public support of separate schools for Negroes but permitted Negro chil­ dren to attend a public school where there were fewer than twenty of them in the school district provided no white person objected. In 184-9 the Black Laws were repealed. but the opponents of equality for Negroes remained strong.

The Ohio constitutional convention of 1850 voted down pro­ posals to permit Negro suffrage and to open the public schools to Negro children. The convention did vote to limit service in the state militia to white male inhabitants.

The Negro population of Ohio increased gradually and remained quite small prior to the Civil War. In 1800

Negroes comprised less than one per cent of the population of Ohio; this figure had increased to one and six-tenths per cent by 1860. Negro migration to Ohio prior to the

Civil War was based upon a variety of factors. In the eighteenth century some escaped southern slaves travelled to Ohio seeking freedom while others were captured in the

South and carried to Ohio by Indians. The appeal of Ohio as a free territory and then as a free state attracted free Negroes and fugitive slaves. Some manumitted slaves came with Quakers and anti-slavery southern whites to live in Ohio. In 1818 some one thousand Negroes manumitted by

Samuel Gist of Virginia settled in Brown County. In 1835 over five hundred former slaves who had been owned by John

Randolph located in various parts of the state after having been prevented from settling on a tract of land in Mercer

County which had been willed to them by Randolph. The great majority of Ohio Negroes lived in the southern part of the State, particularly in Cincinnati.

The social-economic order in ante-bellum Ohio severely restricted opportunities for Negroes. Employment opportun­ ities for Negro Ohioans were very limited. In the early settlements of the state Negroes generally served as in­ dentured servants, with few liberties, to former owners.

Later Negro farmers eked out a subsistence from the land.

In the towns and cities of the state their work .was gen­ erally restricted to menial jobs that were unwanted by white workers. For example jobs on the wharves of the

Ohio River and the docks of Lake Erie were open to them.

White workers were anxious about job competition from

Negroes; this fear led to race riots in Cincinnati and

Cleveland during the Civil War. Despite adversity, some individuals did make modest economic achievements in pri­ vate enterprises. John Malvin, a pioneer resident of

Cleveland, was a successful carpenter. Luke Mulber of

Steubenville, David Jenkins of Columbus and A. V. Thompson,

J. Prestley and Thomas Ball of Cincinnati were contractors.

Hill of Chillicothe was a much sought after tanner and currier. Henry Boyd employed twenty-five mechanics of both races in his Cincinnati cabinet-makers shop. Samuel T.

Wilcox amassed a small fortune as a Cincinnati general merchant. Robert Gordon became financially comfortable by selling coal in Cincinnati.

There was little educational opportunity for Negroes

in the early nineteenth century. Negroes were not included when the state provided for public education. There was

some opposition to any kind of schools for Negro children.

Nevertheless, some small Negro schools were maintained with

the financial support of Quaker groups and other public

spirited white people. After mid-century there was some

public financial support for separate Negro schools. Hence,

racially integrated and segregated schools were maintained

in Ohio. Prior to the Civil War only Cberlin and Antioch

of the colleges of the state were open to Negroes. In

1856 the African Methodist Episcopal Church established a

school for Negroes which became Wilberforce University.

The racial antipathy of whites toward Negroes was

manifested in a variety of other ways. Negroes were usually

not welcome in white church congregations ; this partially

accounts for the establishment of separate Negro churches

in Ohio. The Negro community of the state founded separate

social organizations for similar reasons. Occasionally

Negro communities and individuals of the state were attacked

by white mobs.

Leading Negro citizens opposed racial discrimination

in Ohio. For example, John Malvin of Cleveland was among the Negroes who campaigned for repeal of the Black Laws

and against other legal discriminations based on race.

Yet, the reluctance of the white opponents of racial

equality to communicate with Negroes made their role in

the fight against discriminatory laws considerably less

effective than that of the white abolitionist. For

example, the leaders of the constitutional convention

of 1850 even objected to receiving petitions from Negroes.

Nevertheless Ohio Negroes continued to struggle for free­

dom and equality. A number had fought with Commodore

Oliver H. Perry on Lake Erie in the War of 1812. A con­

siderable number of Ohio Negroes volunteered to fight in

the Civil War with the Forty-fourth and Fifty-fourth

Massachusetts Regiments of Negro troops early in the war

when Ohio military units were not open to them. The Black

Brigade of Cincinnati, a Negro unit, was among the forces

raised in 1862 to defend Cincinnati against a threatened

raid by John Morgan's Confederate cavalry. Later in the

war Ohioans also entered the Fifth Regiment, United States

Colored Troops.

Racial discrimination was gradually erased from Ohio

laws after 1860, although some white people resisted the

charge and even attempted to extend legal discrimination. 8

During the Civil War, for example, the state legislature passed a law prohibiting racial intermarriage. In 1857 an amendment to the state constitution providing for

Negro suffrage was defeated by popular vote. In 1869 the

Ohio General Assembly refused to ratify the Fifteenth

Amendment to the United States Constitution; however, upon reconsideration the amendment was ratified by a narrow margin. Thereafter Negro men voted in Ohio,

although the state constitution still formally restricted

the franchise to white male inhabitants. As late as 1912

an Ohio constitutional amendment to strike the word white

from the suffrage requirement was defeated by popular vote.

Ohio moved further toward racial equality under the

law after 1880. In 1884 the legislature enacted a law

prohibiting racial discrimination in public accommodations.

In 1887 it voted to prohibit public school discrimination

on the basis of race and repealed the remaining Black Laws.

In 1895 the state legislature took a positive step toward

the protection of the rights of Negroes by passing an anti-

lynching or anti-mob violence act.

The Negro population of Ohio increased substantially

during the last four decades of the nineteenth century and

the first decade of the twentieth century. Many former

slaves exercised their freedom by coming to Ohio. The state's Negro population increased by about seventy- five per cent during the eighteen-sixties. Later, grow­ ing racial repression in the South and economic opportunity in the North motivated more Southern Negroes to migrate to

Ohio. The percentage of Negroes in Ohio's population more than doubled between 1860 and 1910, i.e., from one and six- tenths per cent to two and three-tenths per cent.

After the Civil War employment opportunities remained severely restricted for the rank and file of the Negro community. Usually only non-industrial or unskilled in­ dustrial work was available to them. Negroes could get work as delivery men, hack drivers, hostlers, yardmen, bartenders and hotel waiters and could obtain a relatively few jobs as common laborers in industrial concerns. Negro workmen secured employment in coal mines, e.g., in the Hocking Valley in the eighteen-seventies, when mine opera­ tors became willing to hire them as strikebreakers. Negro workmen were not sensitive about acting as strikebreakers because they were generally excluded from the white labor unions. In the eighteen-nineties the United Mine Workers became an exception to this rule by recruiting Negro members. Richard L. Davis, a Negro miner of Rendville,

Ohio, was one of the founders of the United Mine Workers.

Davis was a delegate to the founding convention in 1890 and 10 was elected to the executive board of an Ohio district of the United Mine Workers. He was subsequently elected and re-elected to the United Mine Workers National Executive

Board. Individual Negro private enterprisers continued to make modest achievements in business. They engaged in such enterprises as contracting, general merchandising, catering, saloon keeping, small-scale manufacturing and barbering.

George A. Myers, for example, was the proprietor of the

Cleveland Hollendon Hotel barbershop, which was nationally known for its excellence. Harry G. Smith was the editor of the Cleveland Gazette from 1885 to 194-1. The Gazette was widely read in Cleveland, Ohio and the nation by white people as well as Negroes. By the turn of the century the

Ohio Negro community had a small group of professional men including lawyers, doctors, teachers and clergymen.

The racial pattern in Ohio schools remained varied after the Civil War. The relatively few Negro children who received an education attended schools that were racially segregated as a matter of school board policy

or on a defacto basis or were racially integrated.

Cleveland public schools, including Central High School, were open to Negro students. Negro teachers in Cleveland

taught racially mixed classes. Conversely, Columbus maintained Loving School for Negroes, Cincinnati developed 11 a separate Negro school system after the Civil War.

Public sentiment in favor of permitting Negroes to attend public schools evidently increased during the eighteen- eighties. For example, in 1882 the Columbus Loving

School was abolished and the Negro students and some of the Negro teachers were integrated into the public school system. In 188? the policy of racially segregating public schools was prohibited by state law. The racial patterns in the public schools did not change substantially after

1887» i.e., segregated and integrated schools continued to exist. After the turn of the century there was a greater tendency on the part of school boards to gerrymander school boundaries so as to create all-Negro districts.

Housing for Negroes, with some exceptions, was sub­ standard during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Racial housing patterns did not isolate Negroes from the community at large. There were no large ghettos in Ohio towns and cities, but certain streets or neighbor­ hoods were populated predominantly by Negroes. Even those people who resided in Negro neighborhoods lived in close proximity to whites because the Negro sections were small in land area. The quality of housing for Negroes was somewhat related to the economic status of the individual. 12

Some Negroes with relatively high incomes lived in predominantly white neighborhoods. Economically depressed people resided in vice-ridden slums which were predominantly

Negro in population. Cincinnati's Bucktown and Columbus'

Badlands were example of such slums, which had an esprit de corps similar to that of frontier boom towns.

As the Negro population of Ohio increased, the Negro community was subjected to greater discrimination in public accommodation, as well as in employment, housing and educa­ tion. A growing white antipathy for Negroes was vented in outbreaks of Ijnchings across the state in the eighteen- eighties and eighteen-ninties. Similarly near the turn of the century race riots occurred in Springfield and Akron, where white mobs invaded Negro communities.

Some Negro Ohioans made remarkable achievements despite the Negrophobia of many white Ohioans in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Participation in politics was perhaps the most rewarding pursuit of Negro Ohioans after the Civil War. After obtaining the franchise the rank and file Negro voters of the state remained loyal to the party of’Lincoln. The Republican Party in Ohio recog­ nized its debt to Negro voters by nominating Negro candi­ dates for public office and by offering political appoint­ ments to Negroes who had actively supported the party.

Several Negro candidates were elected to local and state 13 offices with the support of the Republican organizations of the state. As early as 1873 attorney John P. Green of

Cleveland was elected Justice of the Peace. The Reverend

James Poindexter, I. D. Ross, Edward Triplett, J. J. Lee and William E. King were elected to Columbus City Council from 1881 to 1912. During the same period Poindexter and

Joshua H. Jones were elected to the Columbus Board of

Education. At least one Negro served in the Ohio General

Assembly during practically every term from 1880 to 19IO. p Negro legislators are listed in Table 1. State Repre­ sentative Benjamin W. Arnett was instrumental in promoting the passage of legislation which opened the public schools to Negroes and which repealed the Black Laws, State Repre­ sentative Harry C. Smith sponsored an amendment to the state's public accommodations law and Ohio's anti-mob violence act. George A. Myers of Cleveland was probably the most influential political figure in the Negro commun­ ity of the state. Myers' influence was derived from the fact that he was a close personal friend and political confidant of Mark Hanna. Negro leaders secured appointments 2 List compiled by House of Representatives Enrolling Clerk Ella M. Scriven, Columbus, Ohio, 1948, cited in Ernest M. Collins, "The Political Behavior of the Negroes in Cin­ cinnati, Ohio and Louisville, Kentucky," Doctoral Dissertation University of Kentucky, 1950 (Hereafter cited as Collins, "The Political Behavior of the Negroes in Cincinnati and Louisville!!), 158-139. 14

TABLE 1

lŒGRO LEGISLATORS IN THE OHIO GENERAL ASSMBLY

Name House Date Session

Cuyahoga County John P. Green Representatives 1882-1883 65 Jere A. Brown ft II 1886-1887 67 II 11 II II II 1888-1889 68 John P. Green It II 1890-1891 69 II M II Senate 1892-1893 70 William H. Clifford Representatives 1894-1895 71 Harry C. Smith It II 1894-1895 71 II II II II M 1896-1897 72 William H. Clifford II It 1898-1899 75 Harry C. Smith II II 1900-1901 74 H. T. Eubanks n II 1904-1905 76 II II II n M 1909-1910 78

Greene County Benjamin W. Arnett II II 1886-1887 67 Hamilton County George Williams II II 1880-1881 64 Robert Harlan II II 1886-1887 67 William H. Copeland 11 II 1888-1889 68 George H. Jackson II II 1892-1895 70 Samuel B. Hill II II 1894-1895 71 William H. Parham II II 1896-1897 72 George W. Hayes II n 1902-1903 75 It II II II II 1904-1905 76

Mahoning County William R. Stewart II II 1896-1897 72 II II II II II 1898-1899 75 and endorsements "by the Republican Party upon Myers' recommendations. However, Myers never used his influence

to obtain office for himself. The Republican organizations

rewarded Negro party workers with appointments from the 15 local through the national levels. The appointment of

Negroes to clerkships in the departments of the state government in Columbus was a typical reward for service at the state level. The Reverend James Poindexter of

Columbus was appointed to the Board of Directors of the

State Forestry Bureau in 1887» John Mercer Langston of

Chillicothe, Charles A. Cottrill of Toledo and Ralph ¥.

Tyler of Columbus were among those who received notable appointments at the national level before World War I.

Langston was United States Minister to Haiti in the eighteen-eighties. Cottrill served as United States

Collector of the Customs at Honolulu under the adminis­ tration of President William Howard Taft. Tyler was em­ ployed as an auditor in the United States Navy Department from 1896-1914-. Negro Ohioans made notable achievements in the arts, literature, scholarship and the military, as well as in' politics and government between the Civil War and World

War I. The work of Robert S. Duncanson of Cincinnati as an artist received international appreciation. Charles

W, Chesnutt of Cleveland was the first critically ac­ claimed Negro novelist in the United States. Paul

Laurence Dunbar of Dayton won worldwide recognition as

a poet. William S. Scarborough, professor and the president 16 of Wilberforce University, made scholarly achievements in the field of linguistics. George W. Williams of Cincinnati established himself as one of the nation's ablest historians of the late nineteenth century through his History of the

Negro Race in America and the History of the Negro Troops in the War of the Rebellion. Charles Young, reared at

Ripley, was one of the few Negroes graduated from the

United States Military Academy at West Point during this period. After leaving West Point in 1889 Young served as an officer with the Negro regiments of the regular army.

His sundry duties included service in the Spanish-American

War. Young was in charge of a military unit of Ohio Negro volunteers for a time during the Spanish-American War. PART I

THE MIGRANT AND THE DOUGHBOY (1914-1919) CHAPTER I

THE GREAT MIGRATION

The years 1914 through 1919 constituted a formative period in Ohio Negro history because the Negro experience in the state then began to assume its later characteris­ tics. The mass migration of southern Negroes into Ohio from 19I6 through the First World War was the catalyst of this change. The Negro population of Ohio increased significantly. The Negro employment pattern was altered.

The Negro sections in Ohio's cities and towns were enlarged, but overcrowding was nevertheless experienced. Consequent­ ly, Negro Ohioans began to be more isolated from the com­ munity at large. Public school educators began to place migrant children in separate classes. The proportion of

Negro children in some school districts increased, and

school boards had a greater tendency to establish Negro

school districts by gerrymandering school boundaries. How­

ever, the basic educational pattern for Negroes was not

changed during the second decade of the twentieth century.

Racial anxieties of white Ohioans grew as the state's

Negro population increased. The established Negro residents

18 19 of Ohio noted greater racial discrimination in public accommodations following the advent of the mass migration.

Private social clubs, civic organizations and churches remained for the most part racially segregated. Racial violence of major proportions did not break out in Ohio as it did in other states in the Forth and West during the First World War and its aftermath. But, there were instances of racial violence in Ohio during this era, and during the Great Red Scare of the post war period there were fears that Negro Ohioans would be attracted to Bolshevism. The basic causes of the mass Negro migration from the South to Ohio and other northern states were economic.

The labor depression in the South in 1914-1915 severely affected Negroes. The boll weevil plague of these years damaged the cotton crops upon which many poor Negro farmers were dependent for their subsistence. Thousands of southern Negroes became homeless and destitute because of floods in 1915. Meantime, northern industry's war production had created a demand for labor. The northern labor shortage had been made more critical by a sharp decline in immigration which had reduced the potential supply of foreign workers. Northern industrialists gave added impetus to the migration by sending labor agents into the 20 the South to recruit Negro workers. These factors and’ the increasing racial discrimination and segregation in the South were conducive to a greater Negro migration to the North.^ Ohio industrialists stimulated the migration into the state by actively recruiting Negro workmen in the

South. The situation of Cleveland industry was described to the delegates of a district conference of the National

Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which was held in Cleveland in the spring of 19I6 . Speaking of the Cleveland situation, D. J. Campbell, superintendent of the Ferro Machine and Foundary Company of Cleveland, said; "I do not know how many plants in Cleveland are open to colored labor, but I am convinced that those which are not will have to change their policy within the next P three months." He explained: "Europe has stopped send­ ing workmen and has taken away most of the foreign labor we had. It won't be long before the Afro-American will be absorbed in the unions, if only because of numerical strength. Employers are sending into the South for colored

^John Hope Franklin, From Slavery to Freedom, 464-.

^The Gazette of Cleveland, June 10, 1916, 3 (Hereafter cited as The Gazette); The Crisis, XII (July, 19I6), 14-$. 2l labor.Some Cleveland industrialists paid their labor agents one dollar for every Negro workman recruited in the South. The agents of some Cleveland firms carried pictures of the homes of wealthy Negroes which were shown to southern sharecroppers as examples of "the sort of places you'd live in up in Cleveland.Industrialists in other cities of the state also sought Negro laborers in the South. The Columbus Malleable Iron Works and the

Ohio Malleable Iron Works were among the capitol city firms that sent labor agents into the South.^ The Good­ year Tire and Rubber Company in Akron issued calls for as many as three hundred Negro workers at one time.^

A firm in Sandusky promised to pay the railroad fare of those who would come to work in that city.*^ Other agents

^Ibid. h. Julian Krawcheck, The Negro in Cleveland, A History, 1809-1^63. pamphlet ÇÈereafter cited as j^awche’ck, ^'The Negro in Cleveland.")

^Richard Clyde Minor, "The Negro in Columbus, Ohio," Doctoral Dissertation, The Ohio State University, 1936 (Hereafter cited as Minor, Negro in Columbus . All Theses and Dissertations hereafter cited were written by graduate students of The Ohio State University unless otherwise specified.), 4-2. ^ T^ Crisis, TTL (September, 1918), 238. 7lbid.. 211 (July, 1916), 115. 2.2 gave railroad tickets to Negroes loafing at railroad

stations in small southern towns after describing Q opportunities in Ohio. In Barberton the Pittsburg Valve

Company and the Columbia Chemical Company recruited q southern Negro workers. Cleveland attorney Harry E.

Davis noted that, as well as using agents in the South,

Cleveland employers were "appealing to our churches"

and "literally combing the highways of the colored

district" for workmen.The National Carbon Company

of Cleveland was one of the firms that sought the

cooperation of Negro ministers. The company's recruiting program included a plant inspection tour and dinner for

Negro clergymen. By November, 1917, the National Carbon

Company had secured approximately one hundred Negro em­

ployees and required about one hundred more.^^

William Franklin Moore, "Status of the Negro in Cleveland," Doctoral Dissertation, 1953 (hereafter cited as Moore, "Negro in Cleveland".), 38.

^The Gazette, April 29, 1916, 2; The Crisis, XII (June, 1915),' 63.— ------

^^Ibid., XII (July, 1916), 142.

^^The Gazette, November 24, 1917, 3» 23

Some Negro Ohioans attempted to facilitate the open­

ing of the state's industry to Negroes. The Cleveland branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People had by June, 19I6 , established a program to promote employment of Negroes in industry.

Some of the labor recruiters for Chio industry were

Negroes. Joseph L. Jones and Melvin J. Chisum founded

an employment agency in Cincinnati which became a labor recruiting center. Their agency brought men from the

South and sent them to various parts of the North to work in manufacturing and munitions plants. It was

estimated that Chisum recruited thousands of men during 12 his forays in the South.

Municipal officials played a minor role in recruit­

ing Negro migrant workers or at least they regarded such migration as economically beneficial and did not discourage

it. Cleveland's Director of Public Welfare, in response to

an inquiry from the Cmaha Monitor, a Negro newspaper, said:

"... our city offers opportunities for the industrious

Negro from the South. . . . there are a good many firms

^^Wendell Phillips Dabney, Cincinnati's Colored Citizens, Historical. Sociological anS"Biographical (Hereafter cited as Dabney. Cincinnati's Colored Citizens.). 197• 24 here that could use industrious Negro labor.On another occasion the Cleveland public welfare director in­ formed the Dawson, Georgia, Chamber of Commerce that

Cleveland needed all of its Negro workers. The Georgia organization had offered to pay for the transportation 14 of any Negroes who wished to go to Dawson to work.

With the impetus of the above factors Negroes migrated in large numbers from the South to the cities and towns of

Ohio. Reports of their arrival were common in 1916 and

1917. On June 10, 1916, The Gazette of Cleveland reported,

"Another car-load of Afro-Americans arrived in the city,

Tuesday morning, from the South, and others (individuals) 15 from various parts of the state are coming daily to work."

Over one thousand southern migrants arrived in Cincinnati on April 15, 1917-^^ On April 30 and May 7, 1917, The Gazette noted:

. . . carloads of Afro-Americans arrived in Cleveland and other cities in Ohio (parti­ cularly the larger ones) from the South. Most of them came poorly clad and with little if any money...... More than fifteen hundred landed in Cincinnati Sunday ^ a y %/ morning......

^^Letter of Lamar T. Beman to Geo. Welts Parker, May 9, 1917, in The Gazette, May 26, 1917, 5« ^^The Crisis, XV (April, 19I8), 297; The Gazette, March 2, 19I8 , 3- l^ibid.. 3. l^The Crisis. XIV (June, 1917), 86. 25

The movement /migratio^ last summer and winter /19I6/was confined almost wholly to men. .... Now the men have sent for their wives and children. A Sunday ^ a y 7/ train from Cincinnati to Cleveland brought one car loaded with women and children, to join their men folks in Cleveland, Ashtabula and Buffalo. The party was from Biloxi, Miss. '

Similarly, on August 51, 19I8 , The Gazette announced, “A large number of people from Alabama and Georgia arrived "LR ^in Cleveland week before last." The exact number of

Negroes who migrated from the South to Ohio during the period 19I6 through 1919 is not known. Contemporaries estimated the number of migrants. George A. Myers be­ lieved that twenty-five thousand of them had come to

Cleveland between January and October, 1916.^^ A

Cleveland daily newspaper estimated that ten thousand

Negroes had migrated to Cleveland during 1916-1917»

Although the size of the migration cannot be estimated precisely, census figures indicate that it was unprecedented,

The Negro population of the state leaped from 111,452 in

1910 to 186,187 in 1920. Similarly, the proportion of Negroes in the Ohio population rose from two and three- tenths per cent in 1910 to three and two-tenths per cent

^^The Gazette. May 12, 1917» 2. . IGibid. 5. ■ —

^^The Cleveland Plain Dealer, October 19, 1916, in The Gazi^t’e : 0c^;oVer~Sgri-9T^r“g! ---

^^The Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 4, 1917» 5» 26 in 1920.21

As indicated above, the migration was accompanied by a change in the employment pattern for Negro men. In­ dustrial jobs that had been closed to Negroes were opened to them. Thus Negro men performed unskilled industrial labor that had previously been done by foreign or immigrant white workers. The United States Department of Labor, through Director of Negro Economics, George E. Haynes, attempted to facilitate this employment of Negroes throughout the nation and to minimize problems arising out of such employment during the First World War. In order to promote Negro employment the Department of Labor created co-operative Negro Workers' Advisory Committees at state, city and county levels. Such a committee for

Ohio was established at a conference held in Columbus in 22 August, 19I8. Subsequently, Negro Workers' Advisory

Committees operated in thirty-one cities and counties in

Ohio. Each committee in Ohio, as elsewhere, was headed by a Supervisor of Negro Economics. The Ohio Supervisor for Committees, in co-operation with the United States

Employment Service, recruited and placed Negro workers 21 United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Negroes in the United States 1920-1932, 9» 15«

22|The Gazette, August 10, 1918, 2. 27 in plants and industries which previously had not hired them. According to Director Haynes the Ohio Supervisors gave a large amount of advisory service, i.e., advised employers "about improvements and methods of dealing with

Negro workers.

The employment pattern of Negro women also changed during the First World War. These changes, as th^ af­ fected Cleveland in the spring of 1918, were described by

Rachel S. Gallagher, Director of the City Free Labor Ex­ change of Cleveland. Director Gallagher reported:

If you had asked me two years ago /131^ about the colored girls as wage earners, in Cleveland, I would have told you that they could be found in housework, as laundresses and clean­ ing women, as maids, in a few cases in banks and offices, and there were a few employed by a cigar manufacturing concern. Today ^1918/, however, when I started to list the firms where they were employed, I found that they had entered nearly every field of women's work, and some work where women had not previously been employed. To be sure, at times in small numbers, but they have made an entrance. We find them on power sewing machines, . . .; we find them doing pressing and various hand operations in these same shops. They are employed in knitting factories. . . . They are in paper box factories. . ., in button factories. . ., in packing houses. . ., in railroad yards wiping and cleaning engines, and doing sorting in rail­ road shops. They are found in cigar factories. . . ., and in.an electrical supply manufacturing plant. . . .

^^George E. Hayes, "The Opportunity of Negro Labor," The Crisis. XVIII (September, 1919)» 237- PA Letter to Mary E. Jackson, who made an industrial survey of Negro women for the National Board of the Young Women's Christian Association, in Mary E. Jackson, "The Colored Women in Industry," ibid.. XVII (November, 1918), 12. 28

Similarly, Negro women were employed as wipers of engines at the Ivorydale Roundhouse of the Cincinnati, Hamilton 25 and Dayton Railroad.^ Nevertheless, Negro women were not

employed in all jobs open to females. Miss Joy, Cleveland

Plain Dealer columnist, commented on why this was true in reply to a letter asking why Negro girls were not employed as telephone operators in Cleveland. Miss Joy wrote,

"Colored girls are running elevators, checking rooms, and,

in some places acting as ushers in theaters, and I cannot

see where the lot of a telephone operator is to he preferred

to any of these.She added, "It must he admitted that

convention does not yet admit the employment of colored 27 girls in all capacities. . . ." '

During the postwar period Negro working people lost

some of the employment gains that they had made earlier.

The cancellation of war contracts and the return of war veterans contributed to an over-supply of labor or unem­

ployment in Ohio, as elsewhere. Negro and white veterans

Z^ibid.. XIV (July, 1917), 143.

^^The Gazette, November 9, 1918, 1.

^Ibid. 29 were refused their old johs. Many Negroes who had done heavy work in munitions plants and in steel mills lost

p Q their jobs when the war contracts were cancelled. Ac­ cording to the Supervisor of Negro Economics for Ohio,

Charles E. Hall of Columbus, unemployment among Negroes during the early months of 1919 was proportionately no greater than that among the white workers of the state.

However, Ralph M. Smith, head of the men’s department of the Cleveland office of the United States Employment

Service, concluded that unemployment among Negroes in

Cleveland was proportionately higher than among whites after observing that the number of Negro applicants for work at the employment office "far exceeded the number of white applicants.

The curtailment of employment opportunities in Ohio in the postwar period evidently contributed to a decline in the rate of Negro migration into the state. Although the migration into Ohio had continued through 1918, William R. Conners, Executive Secretary of Cleveland's

Negro Welfare Association, observed that the "peak of the influx" had been reached by April, 1918. Conners

^®Ibid., January 25, 1919$ 2.

29lbid.. March 29, 1919, 3.

% b i d .. March 15, 1919, 3- 30 noted that hy that time many migrants had "gone from

Cleveland to other Ohio cities. . . and many / h a ^ returned South.By March, 1919* the migration into

Ohio, at least into Cleveland, seemed to have stopped temporarily. The ticket agent at Cleveland's Union

Station estimated that hundreds of Negroes had en­ trained for the South during January and February,

1919.^^ Conners did not notice any marked exodus to the South but he did see indications that the migration had slackened substantially. Conners reported: "Nearly all of our folks who came from the South during the war are Baptists and so far Baptist ministers haven't noticed any marked return to Dixie. At the same time hardly any new ones have come in.

The great migration of the war period affected the residential patterns of Negro Ohioans. In 1914 there were no large Negro ghettos in the cities and towns of the state. There were predominantly Negro areas and streets, however, such as Central Avenue in Cleveland.

East Long Street in Columbus and the warehouse district

31lbid.. April 27, 1918, 3.

52ibid.. March 15, 1919, 3. 33lbid. 51 along the Ohio River in the West End of Cincinnati.

Most of the Negro populations of Ohio's towns and cities were concentrated in a few wards; however, the proportion of Negroes to whites in such wards was usually quite small. Cincinnati's Ward Eighteen, Cleveland's

Ward Eleven and Columbus's Ward Seven contained pro­ portionately more Negroes than the other wards of the respective cities. Even in 1920 only about half of the people in Cincinnati Ward Eighteen were Negroes, as were considerably less than half of the people in

Cleveland Ward Eleven and as were a little more than a fourth of the people in Columbus Ward Seven.

Usually at least a few Negroes lived in every city ward.

Negro neighborhoods expanded geographically be­ cause of the wartime migration. For example, the Negro

^ Nimrod B. Allen, "East Long Street," The Crisis. XXV (November, 1922), 12; Writers's Program of the Works Projects Administration in the State of Ohio. Cinci^ati. A Guide to the Queen City and Its Neighbors (Hereafter cited as Ôhio Writer's lE^ogram. Ùincinnati."), 225.

^^United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the CeiCensus, Fourteenth Census of the United States. State Go:Compendium. Okio. 411.' 56,'Ibid. 32 population along the Ohio River in Cincinnati's Vest End moved northward during this time.^? Yet, the Negro areas did not expand enough to prevent a housing shortage which resulted in the overcrowding of dwelling units and home­ lessness. The editor of The Gazette, in May, 1917» re­ ported: . the housing of the large number of our people who have come to Cleveland from the South in recent months and weeks is a serious problem. . . . It is dis­ tressing to meet daily numbers of these people almost begging places to stop and house their families, even temporarily.'*^® Again in May the editor noted: "Our local boarding and rooming houses are packed. Few addi­ tional places can be found.The editor later observed that hundreds of southern migrants were "living in old railroad cars, shanties, abandoned buildings, shacks and AO tents." The federal labor department's Director of

Negro Economics received information that migrants in

Cincinnati and Columbus, as well as Cleveland, were

"crowded into basements, shanties, firetraps and other

^^Ohio Writer's Program, Cincinnati. 223» 58, ^®The Gazette. May 5» 1917» 2.

39,'Ibid.. May 12, 1917, 2.

^I b i d . . August 18, 1917» 2. 35 types of house# unfit for human habitation. There were exceptional instances in which employers who re­ cruited southern migrants provided company houses for the new industrial workers.

Housing problems for migrants were exacerbated by the fact that landlords in Negro neighborhoods re­ sponded to the increased demand for housing by raising rental rates substantially.^^ The Cleveland National

Association for the Advancement of Colored People formed a housing committee which kept that body informed about the rental and general housing problem. The Negro

Welfare Association was likewise interested in housing conditions. The Welfare Association's executive secre­ tary informed Cleveland's anti-rent profiteering board that Negroes in the Central Avenue district were required to pay higher rentals than were charged for residences in

Euclid Avenue, then a desirable part of the city. He also noted that in some instances Negroes in the Centrsil Avenue area were required to pay more per room than whites living

^^George E. Haynes, "Negroes Move North," Survey, XLII (January 4, 1919), 459.

^% h e Crisis, XII (June, 1916), 65; Krawcheck, The Negro in Cleveland.

^^The Gazette, June 2, 1917, 2.

^Ibid., June 2, 1917, 2. $4 in the same district. In other instances, the executive secretary said, "landlords raise rents in houses occupied by white people to get rid of them, and then make a higher charge to colored tenants. Public officials expressed concern about the housing problems of Negroes. Governor James M. Cox ordered an investigation of Negro housing conditions in the state in 46 the summer of 1917» The Acting Director of Public Welfare in Cleveland stated:

The large influx of laborers into .Cleveland, especially Negro laborers. . . is causing a danger­ ous situation. There aren't sufficient houses. . . for families. As a result the health of hundreds is being undermined. Perhaps the situa­ tion will be better in the fall /1312/. In the meantime the city should adopt some plan to provide homes for the homeless. Tents in vacant park space seems the most plausible solution for temporary relief. '

A delegation representing the Negro community had called upon the Mayor of Cleveland, prior to the public welfare director's statement, to discuss the housing problems of

/I O the migrants. In 1919 the United States Homes Regis­ tration Bureau canvassed and registered available living quarters in Cleveland and in other cities of the country.

^^The Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 15, 1918, 7; The Gazette, August lY, 1918, 2."

^^The Columbus Evening Dispatch, August 1, 1917» 9.

^?The Gazette, August 4, 1917» 5.

4^1bid., May .12, 1917, 2. 35

The Cleveland agency of the Bureau maintsdned a special office, in the Phillis Wheatley Home for Negro women, for the purpose of aiding Negroes seeking living quarters.

In some instances attempts to relieve the housing problems of Negroes in Ohio advanced residential racial segregation. Cincinnatian Jacob &. Schmidlapp, who had made a fortune in whiskey, built relatively low rental apartment complexes for Negroes. Schmidlapp claimed that he "was appalled by the condition in which this /Negro/ part of our population was housed. . . . He added,

"Even without experience I felt it my duty to do what

I could to improve this condition.According to the

Cincinnati Commercial Tribune Schmidlapp took up the idea of building a Negro community in the firm belief “that the Negro can best develop himself when surrounded by those of his own race."^^ Schmidlapp's motto was

"philanthropy plus 5%*'» i.e., he and his associates expected a five per cent return on their investment in low cost housing for Negroes. Several Schmidlapp

^^Ibid.. May 3, 1919, 3; ibid.. December 20, 1919, 3.

^^Ohio Writer's Program, Cincinnati. 292.

51Ibid.

The Crisis. XVIII (August, 1919), W . 56 apartment complexes were constructed in the Cincinnati area during the second decade of the twentieth century.

The wartime housing shortage for Negroes in Ohio was largely the result of the fact that Negroes were excluded from certain neighborhoods. Generally there was an informal, unstated understanding that dwellings in white neighborhoods would not be rented or sold to

Negroes. The racially restrictive residential covenant, however, had made an appearance in Ohio before the great migration. For example, by 1915 many of the white residents of Greenlawn Avenue off East 105th Street in

Cleveland Northeast had clauses in their property deeds which were designed to prevent sale to Negroes. Never­ theless, a Negro did purchase property on Greenlawn

Avenue. In response, the white property owners met to discuss ways to remove the new Negro resident of the neighborhood. They claimed that the presence of Negro or Jewish residents on the Avenue depreciated property values. The Negro resident remained.

Racial patterns in Ohio public schools were not substantially altered after the state legislature had

^^Ohio Writer's Program, Cincinnati, 292-295»

^^The Gazette. July 3, 1915» 5» 37 prohibited racial segregation in the public schools in

1887. Thus, during the second decade of the twentieth century, as earlier, there were both segregated and

integrated public schools in the state. The segregated

schools were of two kinds. One was the natural outgrowth of racial segregation in housing and the gerrymandering

of school districts. A second kind was the result of

school enrollment policies based on racial discrimination.

The public schools of Cleveland were probably more

integrated than those of any other city in the state, al­

though some schools in Cleveland had large Negro enroll­ ments because of racial housing patterns. Cleveland

elementary school faculties had been integrated for years.

Fifty-six Negro teachers were employed by the Cleveland

school system for the academic year 1918-1919. Most of

them taught in predominately white schools. Only in a

few cases was more than one Negro teacher assigned to

the same school. Few Negro teachers were assigned to schools

in predominately Negro school districts.The number of

Negro teachers in Cleveland schools increased to sixty-

eight for the academic year 1919-1920.^^

^^The Crisis, XVII (November, 1918), 35; The Gazette, Sep^mber "k'S, 1918, 1. ------

5Glbid., November 22, 1919, 3. 38

Small numbers of Negro students were enrolled in sundry predominately white schools throughout the state.

Upon occasion, the right to attend such schools was de­ fended by school administrators. For example, in 19I6 the Cincinnati Superintendent of schools refused to remove

Negro students from Walnut Hills High School. A number of white students had threatened to strike if the Negro students were not eliminated from the high school. The superintendent then replied, "To do so ^strilœ/ would not only be a violation of the law, but also at variance with the spirit of our public schools.

Despite the fact that many predominately white schools in the state were attended by some Negroes, most Negro

students attended schools predominately or exclusively

Negro. This was the result of deliberate school policy

or racial housing patterns or a combination of the two.

In Cincinnati what came to be known as the Douglass School was maintained as a separate Negro institution during this period. It had been organized as a private school for

Negroes about 1850 and, had become a part of Cincinnati's

Negro school system in 1865. It continued to exist

following the 1887 state law prohibiting racial segregation

5^The Crisis, XI (March, 1916), 219: The Gazette, February 5 .1 :9 1 ^ 7 -3 7 ------39 in public schools, although the separate city school system for Negroes, with its own board of education, had been abolished at that time.^® Douglass School in the second decade of the twentieth century had an all-Negro enrollment and was staffed and administered by Negroes under Principal Jennie D. Porter.

During the early years of the twentieth century there was no all-Negro public school in Columbus and a few Negro teachers were employed in several of the city's public schools. This situation changed in 1911 with the opening of the Champion Avenue Elementary

School which had been constructed in a Negro neighbor­ hood. The lines of the Champion school district were drawn in such a way as to include largely Negro students.

Some of the Negro students in the Champion Avenue school district lived across the street from a white school, and white students in the district were sent to other schools.

^ The old Douglass School building was replaced by a new one in 1910 in order to meet the pressure of a growing enrollment. The school, previously called Elmwood Avenue School, was named after Frederick Douglass in 1902. Ohio Writer's Program, Cincinnati, 293. 40

The Negro teachers in the various public schools were assigned to the Champion Avenue school.

Several small towns, such as Baltimore and Gallipolis, maintained separate schools for Negro children.BsuLti- more had a dilapidated Negro high school. The Negro com­ munity of the town was dissatisfied with it and demanded a new building. Gallipolis maintained Lincoln Elementary

School for Negroes as it had since the late nineteenth century. Negro students had been refused admission to

Union High School and discouraged from attempting to attend

Gallia Academy. During the eighteen eighties, Negro par­ ents had persistently tried to have their children enrolled in the high school and the board of education had responded by adding two rooms to the Lincoln Elementary School.

Thereafter, a "high school education" was provided for

Negroes in those rooms. The "high school" for Negroes had one teacher down to 19OO when a second one was employed,

^^Nimrod B. Allen, "East Long Street," The Crisis. XXV (November, 1922^:, 14; Minor, "Negro in Columbus,152; Which September « The Education Committee, The Vanguard League (Colum'bus, Ohio, 1944), 9 in Thomas Baker Jones, "An Analysis of the Interracial Policies and Practices of the Group Work Agencies in Columbus, Ohio," Doctoral Dissertation, 194? {Hereafter cited as Jones, "Group Work Agencies in Columbus,"), 17-I8 ; J. S. Himes, "Forty Years of Negro Life in Columbus, Ohio," Journal of Negro History. XXVII (April, 1942) (Hereafter cited as Himes "N’egro Life in Columbus"), 139»

^ T h e Crisis. IX (April, 1915), 268. 41

In 19I6 the trustees of Gallia Academy offered to transfer that institution to the board of education with the pro­ vision that the board of education should construct a modern high school building. Gallipolis High School was built following the transaction. Negroes were not per­ mitted to attend the new high school. In response to complaints about this the board of education began to repair the dilapidated Lincoln School. Two years later,

May, 19I8 , the board of education was petitioned to sub­ stantially improve Lincoln School or to admit Negro stu­ dents to the new high school. The petition was ignored by the board. The following September several eligible students from Lincoln School sought admission to Gallipolis

High, but were refused. A Gallipolis citizen explained why Lincoln school was regarded as unsatisfactory and why militant action had not been taken until 19I8 . He wrote:

An obsolete, dilapidated building, in­ adequate in every respect for the needs of the scholars, has been given us for years; also, teachers, who are not always appointed without political consideration. Thus was lowered the intellectual and moral standard of the insti­ tution...... An inferior curriculum has characterized our school, since its origin, pupils graduating there from only to learn that their educational training was woefully deficient in every particular. These and many other things demoralized our student body of this city, the attendance being far below normal. These conditions were tolerated for years, the personal interest of the few Æegro teacher^ being of more value than the future possibilities of the many /students/J 42

But with hundreds of thousands of our hoys fighting to make "the world safe for demo­ cracy," and the race at home being loyal to its government in every particular, it became our duty in this city, to see that this "democracy" here.did not degenerate into a mere catch-phrase.

Those who attempted to have the Negro students enrolled

in the high school found it difficult to gain the active

support of the Negro community as a whole. One casual

factor here was apathy which had resulted in part from

failure to influence the board of education previously,

A second factor was that some members of the Negro com­ munity opposed "mixing the schools." Nevertheless, a

Columbus attorney was obtained and an injunction suit

was filed in Common Pleas Court against the school board.

On November 18, 1918, the court found that the board of

education had "wilfully, arbitrarily and illegally"

maintained a separate high school for Negroes and enjoined

the board from maintaining such a high school. The decision

was subsequently upheld by a Cricuit Court of Appeals in ftp session at Ironton.

Racial segregation in Chio schools was advanced by

private interests which were ostensibly interested in

“uplifting" the Negro, i.e., by philanthropists who

^^The Gazette. January 18, 1919» 1. G^ibid. 43

financed the establishment of separate Negro schools. The

Colored Industrial School of Cincinnati was established

in 1914 with an endowment of four hundred thousand dollars, which was a gift of Sallie Peters McCall of Cincinnati.

The school was staffed by nine teachers under a super­

intendent. It offered a curriculum of trade and academic

studies and a special three year trade course which was

designed "for those students who find it necessary to

quit school early to earn a livelihood." In 1918, the

American Rolling Mill Company at Middletown constructed

the Booker T. Washington School for Negroes. The Wash­

ington School, which was turned over to the City of

Middletown by the Company, was staffed by three Negro teachers.

Following the advent of the great migration of the

decade, Negro migrant children were placed in special

classes in the public schools of some Ohio cities. Even

Cleveland, with its tradition of integrated education,

began to maintain all-Negro classes in some of its schools

in 1917. These segregated students were mostly recent

^^Dabney, Cincinnati's Colored Citizens, 355» ^ I b i d .

^^The Crisis, XVII (November, 1918), 35» 44 southern migrants. Cleveland school officials justified their separation from other students on the grounds that their scholastic achievement levels did not match their grade levels according to Cleveland school standards.

Interested individuals, including George A. Myers and

Charles Chesnutt, were satisfied by the assurance of Cleve­ land school officials that the segregation of the southern migrants was temporary, i.e., that it would only continue until the students were properly classified.

Negroes were graduated from several of Ohio’s public and private universities and colleges during the second decade of the twentieth century. The institutions from which Negroes graduated included: Antioch College, Case

School of Applied Science, Denison University, Oberlin

College, The Ohio State University, Ohio University, Ohio

Wesleyan University, University of Cincinnati, Western

Reserve University, and Wilberforce University. The number of graduates from each of these schools ranged approximately from one to eleven per year.^^ Ohio’s higher educational institutions were not completely dis­ criminatory nor free of discrimination toward Negroes.

This fact is illustrated by examples drawn from The Ohio

G^The Gazette. April 21, 1917, 3; ibid.. May 5, 1917, 3. ^^See the July issues of The Crisis for the years 1914- 1919. 45

State University. Negroes participated in some of the non-academic activities at the University, Daniel Ferguson was elected class orator for the Class of

1916.^® William Mason of Cincinnati won first prize in

an oratorical contest in March of 1 9 1 7 * George H.

Dorsey was a member of the 1916-1917 debate team, of which John V. Bricker was the captain. On the other hand, the administrators sometimes tactfully discouraged

Negroes from attending the university. For example, in reply to an inquiry about the engineering course from a prospective Negro student, the University President re­ plied:

I should be very glad to aid you in any way possible in securing an education in Electrical Engineering. I regret to say, however, that I have nothing at my disposal for your encouragement. There is no objection to your coming to The Ohio State University and entering any course for which you are qualified. Every year we have a number of young people of both sexes of the Negro race who attend the University without embarrassment or hindrance. The way is entirely open so far as that is con­ cerned, and I shall be glad to be of any assis­ tance to you in my power.

On one matter, however, I feel constrained to say just a word. The sentiment north of the Ohio River seems to be so persistent against the Negro in skilled labor that I doubt very

Ferguson was the first Negro to win this honor. The Crisis, XI (December, 1915)» 61.

^^The69 Gazette, March 51, 1917» 1«

70The Ohio State Journal, March 11, 1917, ibid., March 17. 1917, T 7 ~ 46

much whether an educated Negro has a fair show or a show worthwhile in this part of the country.'

There was evidently more racial discrimination in social matters than in any other area of life in Ohio in the second decade of the twentieths century. Racial discrimination in public accommodations was widespread although Ohio had had a law prohibiting it since the nineteenth century. Such discrimination seemed to have become intensified as the Negro population of the state 72 increased because of the migration.' For example)le all but one of Cincinnati's hotels excluded Negroes. 73

Racial discrimination in the public places of Columbus was thorough and quite open. One observer noted that in the state capitol "there is not a moving picture house which does not openly declare seating our people in the last seats.Attorney Harry E. Davis of the

Cleveland branch of the National Association for the

Advancement of Colored People reported: f^The Crisis. VIII (July, 1914), 129; 132.

^^Dabney, Cincinnati's Colored Citizens. 146.

^^The Cincinnati Union in The Gazette. October 25» 1919» 2. ^^Chas. S. Button, Enrolling Clerk of the State Senate in ibid.. April 10, 1915» 3. 47

Cleveland is, to a large degree, free from the baneful prejudice with which some of our brethren must contend. But there has been some trouble in the theatres, restaurants and other places of public accommodation, and some attempt at discrimination in institutions supported by public funds. Also there is a noticeable tendency toward inserting clauses in real estate deeds restricting the transfer of the property to colored people, Jews, and foreigners generally.

The Cleveland situation was stated in more personal terms by the pastor of the St, James African Methodist Episcopal

Church in a letter to the Editor of the Cleveland News.

In it the Reverend 0. W. Childers wrote;

Mr. Editor, how would you like to go about your daily duties always in fear you will dis­ turb the quiet of the community and bring upon yourself woe simply because you are a colored man? Ve go into public places, on street cars and into private stores and restaurants always expecting insult and fearing for our safety. Only a few weeks ago four ladies of my congre­ gation, some children and I were stoned on a street car of this city for^no apparent reason than that we were colored.'

^^Report of the Cleveland Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, April 25, 1914, Ohio Correspondence, Branch Files, The Records of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Manuscript Division, The Library of Congress (Hereafter cited as NAACP Records).

7^ïn The Gazette. September 5, 1919, 1. 48

An interested observer made a comparison of racial discrimination and the reaction to it in Cleveland and Columbus which could have been made in regard to Cleveland and other Ohio cities. He wrote, "In Cleveland, although discrimination is clandestinely practiced, there is a con­ viction on the part of prejudiced whites that our people will fight in the courts thereby keeping prejudice and discrimination to a minimum; while here in Columbus there has been but one civil rights case tried in ten years, the prejudiced whites have no awakened public conscience.The Cleveland Negro community seemed more militantly opposed to racial discrimination in public places than did the Negro citizens of other cities. In

May 1917 the Negro ushers of the Miles Theatre quit in a body when a patron was refused a ticket on the main floor on the basis of her race.^^ The concessions at Cleveland's

Luna Park were closed to Negroes except when the Cleveland

Caterers' Association held its annual summer picnic there.

On such days, however the park swimming pool was always out of order and not open for use. For years, The Gazette

^^Letter of Chas. S. Sutton, Enrolling Clerk of the Ohio Senate, to The Gazette, ibid, April 10, 1915, 5» f^Ibid., May 5, 1917, 5- 49 excoriated the park and the Negroes who patronized it.

In 1919» the Cleveland Association of Colored Men used its influence to discourage the. caterers and other

Negro organizations from using Luna Park. The Caterers' 79 Association subsequently held its outing at another park.

Racial discrimination in public accommodations in Cleveland were more veiled than in other Ohio cities because of the resistance to it. In other cities, where there was less resistance, racial discrimination was practiced openly.

Public places used signs such as, "For White People Only" or "Colored Trade Not Wanted" indicating that Negroes 80 were not welcome.

Several suits against racial discrimination in public accommodations were filed under the state public accommo­ dations law. The suits usually involved discrimination in restaurants and theatres. More suits were evidently filed in Cleveland than elsewhere and most of the suits were evidently won by those who had claimed that racial discrimination had been practiced against them. These

*^^Ibdd., May 3, 1919, 2; August 9, 1919, 1; August 16, 1919» 2; Krawcheck, The Negro in Cleveland. ^ T h e Crisis. XV (January, 19I8 ), 144-; The Gazette. Marcïï 2?, 1915, 2; May 12, 1917, 3. 50

facts are indicated by Table 2.81

TABLE 2

COURT SUITS UNDER OHIO PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS LAW

1914 - 1919

City No. of Cases Won Lost

Restaurant Suits Akron 1 1 Columbus 1 1 Cleveland 5 3 2 Postoria 1 1 Springfield 1 1 Total 9 7 È ' Theatre Suits Akron 1 1 Cleveland 1 1 Springfield 1 1 Total 5 1

Most of the suits were filed by lawyers and other profes­

sional and business people. Pew suits were filed because members of the Negro community generally were unaware of

^^The Gazette Editor, Harry 0. Smith, who as a state representative had sponsored an amendment to the state public accommodations law, was naturally interested in public accommodation suits. Editor Smith, who had in­ formants all across the state, was ever alert to such suits. Consequently, The Gazette probably reported on all such suits which came to its attention. Table 2 was compiled by the author from reports of public ac­ commodation suits in The Gazette and The Crisis. See Ibid., January 31, 191^» 3; March IS, 1^14, 3; July 24-, 1^55, 2; August 14-, 1915, 2; February 17, 1917, 5; March 3, 1917, 5; April 28, 1917, 2; May 12, 1917, 5; December 15, 1917, 1; July 27, 1918, 3; November 2, 1918, 3; May 3, 1919, 2; June 14-, 1919, 1; October 25, 1919, 1; The Crisis, VIII (July, 1914), 115; XIV (July, 19Î77, 145; XV (January, 1918), 144. 51

the existence of laws prohibiting racial discrimination

in public accommodations, lacked money to initiate suits, desired to avoid the notoriety of a court case, or wished

to avoid the degrading experience of being refused service.

By the second decade of the twentieth century social

clubs and civic organizations had become almost completely divided along color lines. Negroes had formed their own

groups. In Cleveland leading members of the Negro com­ munity had formed the Social Circle in 1869. Other promi­ nent Negro organizations in Cleveland included the Prince

HallMasons, the Cleveland Association of Colored Men and R2 the Cleveland Caterers' Association. Social and

fraternal clubs in Columbus in 1919 included;

Greek Letter Fraternity Court of Celahthe, Queen of Sheba No. 1 Queen Etta Court No. 2 The Fort Nightly Club Kings Sons and Daughters L. Lallegro Club Biblus Kluklus Knights of Pythias Phillis WheatleygClub Good Samaritans. ^

For the most part, churches had become divided along color

lines. The most numerous denominations including all

®^Krawcheck, The Negro in Cleveland ; Helen M. Chesnutt, Charles Waddell Chesnutt, Pioneer"of the Color Line (Hereafter cited as Ckesnutt. Ôfaiêsnutt). Gl.

®^William A. McWilliams, Columbus Illustrated Record 1919-1920. 97-101. 52

Negro churches were the Negro Baptists, African Methodist

Episcopal and Methodist Episcopal. Practically every city

had a Baptist Ministers' Alliance. In Cleveland social

leaders of the Negro community attended St. James African#

Methodist Episcopal Church, Mt. Zion Congregational Church 84 and St. Andrews Episcopal Church. In Columbus, St.

Paul's African Methodist Episcopal Church was a long estab­

lished one.®^

The First World War and post war period in the United

States was marked by outbreaks of racial violence in East

St. Louis, Chicago, the District of Columbia and many other

cities across the country. Similar violence occurred in

Ohio at this time, but on a much smaller scale. A lynch­

ing was attempted in Lima in the summer of 1916. On

August 30, Sheriff Sherman Eley arrested Charles Daniels,

a Negro transient from Mississippi, for having allegedly

attacked Vivian Baber (white), the wife of a Shawnee Town­

ship farmer, in her home. Daniels had been apprehended

on the same day in the vicinity of the Baber home by a

posse of two hundred men. Fearing trouble. Sheriff Eley

plL Krawcheck, The Negro in Cleveland ; Chesnutt, Chesnutt.14L

®^Nimrod B. Allen, "East Long Street," The Crisis. XXV (November, 1922), 13. 55 took Daniels to Ottawa, some eighteen miles away. Ottawa authorities subsequently transferred Daniels elsewhere.

A mob formed about the Lima jail before dusk and then broke into the jail in search of Daniels. After falling to find him there, the mob broke into the courthouse and into the Sheriff's home. Upon his return to the city,

Eley found the mob awaiting him. He escaped it temporarily, but was finally caught. The mob stripped off his clothes, beat and kicked him, in an attempt to force him to tell where he had placed Daniels. The mob went so far as to string a rope from a telephone pole, place a noose around the Sheriff's neck and pull the rope taut before Eley reveal­ ed that he had taken Daniels to Ottawa. Many of the members of the mob travelled by car to Ottawa where they again fail­ ed to find Daniels. In the meantime, Eley escaped.®^ Sub­ sequently, Lima law enforcement officials got the situation in hand. Governor Frank Willis and Adjutant General B. V.

Hough, who visited the Lima area, decided that it was un­ necessary to send state militia troops to that city.

Nevertheless, it was reported that "a strong undercurrent of feeling" against Negroes continued to exist. Upon the

^^The New York Times, August )1, 1916, 1. 54 advice of Mayor Simpson and Chief of Police McKinney, railroad and street paving contractors removed ahout one hundred and fifty Negro transient laborers from Lima.

White men were hired to take their places. The police advised permanent Negro residents of Lima to remain in their homes after dark.On October 4 Daniels was found guilty of assault and later was given a sentence of three to twenty years in prison. At the trial, a press account stated:

He /Daniel^/ told a straightforward story, accounting for every move he had made since leaving his home in Mississippi last January. He has an extraordinary memory and his recital of the towns he had visited as a tramp resembled a train caller's announcement. Efforts of pro­ secuting attorney Barr to shake his story failed...... Mrs. Baber identified Daniels as her assailant.

Other witnesses, including Charles Cole, Negro prisoner in the county jail told how Mrs. Baber picked him as the man who had attacked her, when Daniels, Cole and other Negro prisoners were brought before her at the city hospital...... The state's case was based solely on circumstantial evidence. It was proved and admitted by the defendant that he had been near the Baber home shortly before the assault, but he steadfastly denied the charge.

^^The Gazette. September 9» 1916, 1; October 7, 1916, 2,

G^lbid.. October ?♦ 1916, 2; October 14, 1916, 2. 55

Subsequently, several of the lynch, mob were brought to

trial, some were found guilty and some were given jail go sentences, ^ Cleveland police were called out twice on June 11,

1917» to qwell rioting in the Central Avenue and East

14th Street area. Negroes and whites of foreign origin

fought with fists, stones, and clubs. Scores of people

were involved, but there were no serious injuries. The

origin of the riot was unclear. It was rumored that a

Negro had insulted a white woman. This rumor may have

originated from a saloon incident. A group of whites

chased a Negro, who represented himself as a beggar,

out of a saloon for sport. Those seeing the Negro being

chased by white men evidently assumed that he had in­

sulted a white woman,Competition between Negro and

white laborers in Youngstown resulted in a riot in that

city in the summer of 191?.^^ Following a racial out­

break in Marion in April, 1919, Marion Chief of Police

James V, Thompson took steps to protect Negro residents

of that city. The Marion police posted bulletins which

^^The Crisis, UV (May, 1917)» 9; The Gazette. September 50, 19I6 , 2; December 2, 1916, 2; December 1915, 2; December 30, 1916, 2; February 3, 1917» 2,

90lbid,. June 16, 1917, 3; 33. ^^Carter G, Woodson, The Negro in Our History, 511; Letter of N.C.A, Eayhouser to Ei3Ttor Gazetie, September 10, 1917, The Gazette, September 15, 1917, 1. 56 read:

The Police Department will pay #25. reward to any person who will furnish evi­ dence that will lead to the arrest and con­ viction of any person posting signs, threatening or intimidating peaceable colored people or destroying their pro­ perty.

Every protection will be given the colored citizens of Marion and those inter- ferring with their rights willqbe punished to the full extent of the law.^

In 1919» attacks were made upon Negroes who used Cleveland parks. On the evening of June 24 about thirty boys and girls, the Reverend 0. W. Childers and two other chaperones of the St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church were attacked on a streetcar while returning grom an afternoon excursion at Garfield Park. A mob of about fifty white men and boys stoned the street car and abused members of the group. Also, in the summer of 1919 two little boys were stoned by whites while swimming in one of Cleveland's park lakes. Upon complaint, the life guards at the lake, who had not tried to prevent this stoning, were dismissed, and the Cleveland Police investigated the streetcar incident.

^^Ibid., April 19, 1919, 4. 95%bid.. July 5, 1919, 5; August 2, 1919, 3; Letter of 0. W. Childers to Friend Smith, August 11, 1919, ibid., August 16, 1919, 2. 57

The Negro community of Ohio was concerned about the epidemic of race riots and racial incidents in the nation. Meetings were held and resolutions passed in protest against violence against Negroes in the nation's cities. For example, in Cleveland the Ministers'

Alliance, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Cleveland Association of

Colored Men sent a resolution to Representative H. I.

Emerson, of the Twenty First Ohio Congressional District, strongly condemning "the appalling outrages committed upon citizens of the United States and residents of

East St. Louis, Illinois.Similarly, a meeting was held at Cleveland's Metropolitan Church to protest against the Omaha riot.^^ Negro leaders in some Ohio cities organized to prevent riots. In August, 1918, about fifteen representative citizens of Cleveland's East End formed an ^ hoc committee which was to report racial incidents and seek protection for members of the Negro community. The

committee was formed in response to a series of molestings of Negroes on East End avenues and streetcars in the summer

^^Ibid., July 14, 1917, 1.

95ibid., October 11, 1919, 3. 58 of I9I8 . The committee, in cooperation with the local

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, sought and secured promises of protection from Cleveland's director of public safety. In 1919» some one hundred members of the Negro community of the state capital organized the Columbus Citizens' Law and Order League.

The purpose of the League was to prevent Negroes from taking any action which might lead to rioting. The means of achieving the objective was to be "instruction on the advantages of being law abiding c i t i z e n s .

Individual Negro leaders had more or less militant reactions to the racial violence of the period. Editor

Smith, through The Gazette, had repeatedly warned his readers that they might be subjected to mob violence.

His repeated advice was that they should arm themselves in order to protect their homes against such violence.

Following the riots in Chicago and in the District of

Columbia, Smith wrote an editorial entitled, "The Mob:

A Warning." He warned, "Cleveland may be the next riot-storm center" and advised, "have a U. S. Army Riot

9Gibid:. August 31, I9I8 , 3. ^^The Crisis, XVTII (November, 1919), 550; The Gazette, October li, 1919, 1. 59

Gun. in your homes. Subsequently, a Cleveland daily newspaper quoted the editorial and implied that Smith

QQ was inciting a riot.^^ In response, Smith elaborated:

The Gazette is unalterably opposed to the mob and our readers well know this. A man's home— where is all that he holds most dear— is his castle.' Advising him to have protection in that home, whether it be against a thief, a would-be murderer or a mobocrat is no crime, is not contributory to the same, is not without the law but clearly within the law and good sound advice. There is hardly an intelligent home in this city, or in the country for that matter, that is without such protection. . . . The law permits it, if in­ deed it does not encourage it.

The Gazette stands for law and orderi No agency among our people of this community has more constantly and incessantly for years urged our people to be law abiding to the last degree but at the same time to be MEN and WOMEN who know their rights and privileges as citizens, and to insist upon them. . . . in a proper way. Among those rights and privileges is the invaluable one of being protected in the . home against any and all unlawful eventualities.

Smith also believed that white mobs would be discouraged by the knowledge that Negroes would defend themselves against violence.Wilberforce University President

William S. Scarborough also commented upon the riots and offered a solution to them. He described the in­ justices suffered by Negroes, especially Negro soldiers, and held:

9Blbid.. August 2, 1919, 2. ^^The Cleveland News, August 4, 1919, 1.

IQOThe Gazette, August 9, 1919, 1. l^^Ibid., August 2, 1919, 2. 60

There is but one remedy for the riots, and that is justice — a willingness to accord to every man his rights — civil and political...... The Negro is law-abiding and only occasionally shows a retaliatory spirit. Will not the American white people come halfway — put aside their prejudices and play fair with this people that has done so much to help win the war? NegroeSnare not rioters, but they can be made so.

Ohio did not escape the postwar Red Scare. For example, in Cleveland Socialist paraders were attacked and Socialist headquarters were ransacked on May Day

1919.^^^ One aspect of the Red Scare in Ohio was an anxiety that the Reds would successfully recruit

Negroes. James W. Faulkner, a Cincinnati Enquirer columnist, reported that Negro political leaders of

Cleveland, including Editor Smith of the Gazette, were discussing "overtures of the Socialist party for a union of forces.Editor Smith denied the report and added: "Negro leaders of ^Clevelan^. . . are impatiently waiting for the opportunity to vote a straight Republican ticket at the next national election. 105 They want no union with other parties, ..."

^^^"Race Riots and Their Remedy," The Independent, xcix (1919), 223. IQ^The Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 2, 1919, 2.

^^^The Cincinnati Enquirer, September 7, 1919, Section 2, 20. IQ^The Gazette, September 20, 1919, 2. 61

Reports were circulated that International Workers of the World agents were attempting to incifie Negroes to mot violence in Akron, Cleveland and other Ohio cities.

Early in October, 1919, Akron police raided International

Workers of the World headquarters in that city, arrested its organizers and confiscated pamphlets. The pamphlets were reportedly "violent in tone," i.e., they urged

Negroes to retaliate against whites for injustices they had suffered.

lO^ïbid.. October 11. 1919. 2.

^^?The New York Times, October 7, 1919» 2; The Gazette octôb;r-^,-T 9 i 9T T r ------CHAPTER II

REACTIONS OF THE NEGRO COMMUNITY TO THE PROBLEMS

OF THE MIGRANT AND RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

Negro Ohioans reacted individually and in groups to their changing experience in the second decade of the twentieth century. Welfare organizations were established to handle the growing problems of the many southern mi­ grants in Ohio. Civil rights groups were founded to protect the rights of Negro citizens, which were being infringed upon to a greater extent than in the past.

The welfare and rights organizations and individual citizens were principally interestedrin seeking aid for the Negro poor from private sources and guarding against public racial discrimination.

In Ohio, prior to the first World War, there were few organizations and institutions that were primarily interested in the welfare and rights of Negroes. Such bodies began to multiply during the early years of the second decade of the twentieth century partially in response to the gradual but steady increase of the Negro population of the state between I9OO and 191O. During

and after the first World War there was a marked pro­

liferation of Negro welfare and civil rights organizations

62 63 which were established for the most part in order to meet the social and civil problems which had ensued from the great migration. These tendencies were especially true of the larger cities, including Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland. In Cincinnati, a few Negro welfare institutions had been established in the nineteenth century. The New

Orphan Asylum for Colored Children had been incorporated in 184-5.^ The Home for Aged Colored Women and The Crawford Old Men's Home (for Negroes, especially ex­

slaves) had been established in the late nineteenth 2 century. A few more welfare institutions and civil rights organizations were created in Cincinnati in the

twentieth century prior to the United States' entry

into the first World War. The Cincinnati Branch of the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored

People was founded in 1915 and during its early years,

had a large and active membership.^ The Walnut Hills

Day Nursery for Colored Children was incorporated in tL 1910. The separate Negro welfare institutions were

^Dabney, Cincinnati's Colored Citizens, 394-.

^Tbid., 396.

^The Crisis, XVII (April, 1919)» 284; Dabney, Cincinnati's CoTored Citizens, 188. ^Ibid., 397. 64 financed in part "by public charities, e.g., Community

Chest, or by individual white philanthropists. Jacob

G. Schmidlapp, James N. Gamble and Mrs. Mary Emery each gave three thousand dollars toward the purchase of a building for the Home for Colored Girls which was opened in December, 1914. The basic objective of the founders of the Home was "to provide a temporary home for young women who were strangers" in Cincinnati.^ The number of organizations and institutions interested in the welfare of Negroes in Cincinnati increased from 1916 through 1919 as southern migrants entered the city.

The Ninth Street Branch of the Young Men's Christian

Association of Cincinnati was opened in 19I6 . A small group of Negro Cincinnatians, headed by Washington

Simms, had begun a campaign for a Negro Y.M.C.A. in

1912. By 19I6 , considerable interest among white people had developed. The Ninth Street Y.M.C.A. building cost approximately one hundred and ten thousand dollars. Local

Negroes contributed about fifteen thousand dollars, Julius

Rosenwald donated twenty-five thousand dollars, and Cin­ cinnati whites gave about fifty thousand dollars toward

5%bid.. 2I6-217. 65 the cost of the "building.^ In September, 191?» the

Salvation Army of Cincinnati opened the Evangeline

Home, an institution to care for unmarried Negro mothers.

Philanthropist Maxy Emery gave a building and an endow­ ment for the Home which was also partially financed by 7 the Cincinnati Council of Social Agencies.' Also, in 1917» the Negro Civic Welfare Association was estab­ lished as a department of the Cincinnati Community Chest.

Director G. M. Bookman of the Community Chest was one of the key organizers of the Association. The Welfare Asso­ ciation was designed to coordinate existing Negro welfare agencies and promote further social work among Negroes in

Cincinnati. In 1918, the Association formulated a city- wide social service program based upon a survey of social conditions in Cincinnati. In 1919, the Cincinnati insti­ tutions for the care of Negro orphans and elderly persons were brought under the Community Chest and the Orphan

Asylum was remodelled through the efforts of the Asso- Q elation. The Friendship Home for Colored Girls was founded in 1918, with the support of the Women's Home

^ibid.. 211; The Crisis. XI (March, 1916), 219.

^Dabney, Cincinnati * s Colored Citizens, 218. Glbid.. 222-225. 66

Missionary Society, as a home for Negro working girls q over sixteen years of age.^ The West End Branch of the

Young Women's Christian Association in Cincinnati was established in January, 1919-^^

In Columbus, the Spring Street Branch of the Young

Men's Christian Association for Negroes was formed in 1912. A new building, costing approximately one hundred and thirty thousand dollars, for this Negro Y.M.C.A.

Branch was erected in 1917- Julius Rosenwald contri­ buted twenty-five thousand dollars while Negro and white citizens of Columbus gave about eighteen thousand dollars and eighty-seven thousand dollars respectively to pay for 11 the construction of the building. A branch of the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored

People was founded in Columbus in 1915 following a lecture given in Columbus by Joel E. Spii^arn, a national 12 leader of the Association. Early in 1917» representa­ tives of churches, schools, the Young Men's Christian

9lbid.. 397- l°Ibid.. 210-211.

^^William A. McWilliams, Columbus Illustrated Record 1919-1920, 115; Himes, "Negro liife in Columbus," 148; The Crisis, XVII (March, 1919), 24-6.

^^The Gazette. March 27, 1915, 2, February 27, 1915, 2; ThF^risis. tVII (April, 1919), 284-. 67

Association and the National Association for the Ad­ vancement of Colored People in Columhus were called to

a meeting to consider the problems of the l»rge number

of southern migrants entering the city. The result of

the meeting was the organization of the Federated

Social and Industrial Welfare Movement for the Negro,

informally called The Negro Welfare League. The Welfare

League immediately assigned a “travelers' aid" worker

to the Union Station in order to assist migrants in

making contacts with social agencies, relatives or

friends. Shortly, the Welfare League of Columbus be­

came affiliated with the National Urban League.In

19I8 , the East Long Street Branch of the Young Men's

Christian Association was founded and the Home for 14 Colored Girls was incorporated. By 1919» the Ohio

Avenue Day Nursery and the Old Polk's Home, both of

which were for Negroes, had come into existence.

In Cleveland, a branch of the National Association

for the Advancement of Colored People was established in

^^The Columbus Urban League, "Twenty Years of Service in the Field of Social Work for Negroes and Interrace Relations 1917-1937“ (Pamphlet) (Hereafter cited as Columbus Urban League, "Twenty Years of Service"), 2.

^^Himes, "Negro Life in Columbus," 149; William A. McWilliams, Columbus Illustrated Record 1919-1920. 83. ^^Ibid.. 99. 68

1912.^^ Also, in 1912, Jane E. Hunter found, dpon enter­ ing the city as a young nurse, that the only living quarters available to her in Cleveland were shabby and disreputable rooming houses. The Cleveland Young Women's

Christian Association discouraged Negro women from membership. Thus, Miss Hunter became interested in pro­ viding a home for Negro working girls and with the assistance of Mrs. Levi T. Schofield, a wealthy white

Clevelander who was associated with the Y.M.C.A., Miss

Hunter founded the Phillis Wheatley Association. A local philanthropist financed the rental of a house for the organization. In 1914-, the Association's board of trustees, of which Mrs. Schofield was president, hired

Miss Hunter as a general secretary. The Association sub­ sequently offered Negro working girls room and board at a reasonable rate and provided employment assistance in vocational training.The Cleveland Home for Aged Colored 1 R People was in existence in 1914. The Playhouse Settle­ ment was established through the efforts of a white group.

16 The Crisis, XVII (April, 1919), 284.

^Annual Report for the Year 1925, The Phillis Wheatley Association, Cleveland, 4; The Gazette, June 18, 1952, 2; Krawcheck, The Negro in Cleveland; Chesnutt, Chesnutt, 262.

^^Ibid.; The Crisis, IX (December, 1914), 61. 69 the Men's Club of the Second Presbyterian Church of

Cleveland, which was located near the Central Avenue

Negro area. A committee of the Men's Club consulted several Cleveland Negro leaders, including Charles

Chesnutt, about the settlement house {ian. Chesnutt, who had been an advocate of such a project for the

Central Avenue area since 1905» fully supported the scheme. But, he suggested that the group take into account the aversion of Cleveland Negroes to racially segregated institutions ;

I would suggest. . . that it ^[the Settlement House/ not be conducted on race lines. A great many colored people object and properly so, to the policy of segregation which seems to regard them as unfit to associate with other human beings, . . . and it would be difficult to reach many of them, even with a good thing, coupled with such a suggestion. Of course, they would be the chief beneficiaries of a settlement house in their district, as do the Orange Street Jaws in the case of Hiram House. . . . ^

The Playhouse Settlement was formally opened in June,

1915. Russell and Rowena Jelliffe, both graduates of the Graduate School of Social Service at the University

of Chicago, were placed in charge of it. The Playhouse

^^Chesnutt, Chesnutt 26$. 70 became one of the agencies of the Cleveland Community

Pund in 1919» According to Scott, Cleveland led other cities in

Ohio in dealing with welfare problems of the Negro 20 migrants. Both Negro and white civic organizations took an active interest in their problems. The Cleveland

Chamber of Commerce investigated the housing problems of 21 the migrants during the summer of 191?. The Cleveland

Welfare Federation appointed a bi-racial committee to 22 study welfare problems caused by the migration. In

December, 1917» the efforts to care for the migrants in

Cleveland by Negro churches and other organizations were coordinated in the Negro Welfare Association. William

R. Conners was hired as executive secretary of the Asso­ ciation. He had been secretary of the Housing and In­ dustrial Bureau of the National League on Urban Condi­ tions. The Association was designed to develop coopera­ tion among existing Negro welfare agencies and to create new ones when necessary. Among other things, the Asso­ ciation was to improve housing conditions, provide ?0 ‘^^Emmett J. Scott, Negro Migration During the War (Pre­ liminary Economic Studies of the War, Division of Economics and History, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, ed. by David Kinley), 126, (Hereafter cited as Scott, Negro Migration).

Z^Ibid.

^% h e Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 4, 1917» 5; The Gazette, August 11, 191?, 1. 71 employment service and assist the adjustment of migrants to new living and working conditions in Cleveland.In

1919» the Welfare Association, with the assistance of the Cleveland Welfare federation and the Mayor's advisory board on demobilization activities, established a Com­ munity House to serve the Central Avenue area and particularly 24 unemployed war veterans as a social center. The annual report of the Association for 19I8 stated that:

. ... 5*195 persons called to the office for service of some kind and that 1,552 ap­ plied for employment of which 1,367 were placed. Thirty-one new openings were made. . . . To urge greater efficiency meetings were held in various industrial plants. Surveys and investigations relative to the conditions, needs and desires of our people were made. . . 60 were given aid and advice about housing conditions. Of these latter, 52 cases came to the office, mainly new­ comers. Several groups were organized into House economics Clubs. The immediate work before the Association now is the establish­ ment of a community center for men (white and colored) in the neighborhood of E. 40th St. and Central Ave. in the helping of the men to secure employment who are out of work because of the closing down of munitions factories. ^

The State of Ohio took an interest in the migration.

Governor James M. Cox directed the Ohio Branch,Council of National Defense, and the State Department of Health

^^Ibid.. December 22, 1917* 5* January 12, 1918, 3; Scott, Negro Migration, 127.

^^The Gazette, December 14, 19I8 , 1; February 15* 1919* 3;"TTarch 1, 1919* 3; May 17, 1919* 3. ^^Ibid., February 1, 1919* 3. 72 to gather information ahont the migration. The main welfare concern of the state was evidently health con­ ditions. The State Department of Health investigated health conditions among the migrants. Health officials and social workers in the state were warned that the overcrowded housing condition of the migrants was detrimental to health and that epidemics of contagious disease might break out in areas where the migrants were located.

A state-wide effort to deal with the welfare problems of the migrants was effected in 1917- In June a state-wide conference on migrant problems to be attended by representative Negro and white people was called for by leading Negro citizens of the state, including J. Walter Wills, president of the Cleveland

Association of Colored Men, The Reverend H. C. Bailey, president of the Cleveland Branch of the National Asso­ ciation for the Advancement of Colored People, William

S. Scarborough, president of Wilberforce University,

Charles S. Johnson, superintendent of the Champion

Chemical Company of Springfield, and Edward P. Banks, member of the Dayton Charter Commission. Delegates to

^^The Columbus Evening Dispatch, August 1, 1917, 1; Scott, Negro Migration. 128-129. 75 the conference were named by mayors of Ohio cities.

Approximately seven hundred people of both races met in

Columbus on July 12, 1917. Out of the conference came the Ohio Federation for Uplift Among Colored People.

The Federation was designed to cooperate with ànd assist local welfare agencies and to establish new ones where they did not exist. The state organization was composed of a State Director, an Executive Committee, a

Special Finance Committee, a lecture bureau and five

standing committees; Research and Statistics, Organi- 28 zation and Publicity, Welfare, Labor, and Housing.

The Federation cooperated with or established welfare

organizations in several Ohio towns and cities, in­ cluding Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dayton, Sandusky, Akron,

Springfield, Xenia, Urbana, Piqua, Troy and Chillicothe.

The Federation also promoted the war effort by cooperating with the War Commission on Camp Activities and the Federal

Food Administration for Ohio. Similarly, it helped pro­ mote the safe of United States Thrift Stamps. The most

active arm of the organization seemed to have been the

lecture bureau which sent speakers to Negro centers in

^^Ohio Federation for Uplift Among Colored People, "Are You With Us?"; Scott, Negro Migration, 128.

^®Ohio Federation for Uplift Among Colored People, "Are You With Us?" 74

Ohio in order to promote welfare efforts and to motivate

Negroes to improve their own living conditions.The

Federation apparently disintegrated after 19I8 as the

Negro Migration into Ohio temporarily subsided.

Branches of the National Association for the Ad­ vancement of Colored People were established throughout

Ohio during the second decade of the twentieth century.

The first Ohio branch was organized in Cleveland in 1912.

In 1915» branches were formed in Cincinnati, Columbus,

Dayton, Springfield and Toledo. During the period

1915-1919, as the migration intensified, branches were established in Akron, Greene County, Lorain, Middletown,

Oberiin, Urbana, Wellsville and Youngstown. Ohio was one of the leading states in terms of the number of

NAACP branches organized during the decade.The

Cleveland Branch was perhaps the most active in the state,

Elsewhere in the state interest in the NAACP tended to decline after the original organizational efforts, but the Cleveland Branch meetings were generally well attended. The Cleveland Branch interested itself in employment and housing problems, occasionally asserted itself in cases of racial discrimination and invited 29lbid. 50The Crisis. XVII (April, 1919), 284-285. 75 national civil rights leaders as speakers.The first district conference of the NAACP was held in Cleveland in May, 1916. Delegates from branches in Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania, which comprised the Great Lakes Dis­ trict, attended the conference.In June, 1919» Cleveland was the site of the Tenth Anniversary Annual Conference of the national organization.^^ The Cleveland Branch, although probably the most active in the state, was criticized, as were other Ohio branches, for ineffective­ ness. Silas D. McElroy, a Cleveland member, held,

"... the local /Cleveland/ branch ought to do something far more practical for the race than merely hold meetings, with white speakers as a rule, and take in new members at one dollar each a greater part of which /the money/ is sent to the National Association headquarters in New

York City.

There was a general pattern to the attempts by Negro leaders to uphold the rights of their brothers. White

^^The Gazette. January 27, 1917» 5; June 9» 1917» 1; June 20, 1917» 3; October 20, 1917» 3; January 12, 1918, 3.

^^The Crisis, XII (June. 1916). 88; The Gazette. June 3.

1 9 1 ^ 3 : — ------^^Ibid.. June 28, 1919» 1. ^^Ibid.. December 28, 1918, 2. 76 civic leaders and public officials involved in a parti­ cular issue were contacted on a personal basis. Negro leaders individually or in committees confronted white leaders with the issue through personal conferences or through correspondence. When issues were not resolved in this way they were sometimes taken to the courts.

Political and governmental channels were also used to uphold Negro rights. Yet, the principal concern in this regard was that the support given to candidates for pub­ lic office by Negro voters be recognized by the appoint­ ment of qualified Negroes to governmental offices.

Examples of the responses of Negro leaders to issues in regard to employment, housing, education and public ac­ commodations have already been given. The general pattern of the effort by Negro leaders to protect the Negro com­ munity and uphold its rights was perhaps best illustrated

in the reaction of Negro leaders to attempts to exhibit racist motion picture films, particularly, "The Birth of

a Nation," in Ohio.

The Cleveland Ministers' Alliance adopted a strong

set of resolutions at a meeting on the showing of the motion picture film "The Nigger" at the Standard Theatre,

in April, I915. The Ministers also visited Mayor Newton

D. Baker to protest the exhibition of the film. Editor 77

Smith of the Gazette called upon the Mayor and the Chief of Police in connection with the film. The Mayor assured him that the film "would be banished from the city if it was as represented by us." The Chief of Police sent officers to see and report on the film. The officers reported that it did not warrant an order of suppression. The officers claimed that the film had been passed by the State board of film censors.In reply to a letter from Editor Smith,

Governor Frank Willis wrote, "I shall take immediate steps to bring this /the film/ to the attention of the State

Moving Picture Censor Board in order that this film may not be exhibited at any point within the limits of this state.Of the film a motion picture industry journal stated;

Repulsive, harmful and void of any moral lesson worth pointing out is a picture pur­ porting to be founded on Edward Sheldon's play, 'The Nigger'. It is a production that never should have been made. It presents the worst sores in American civilization without any decency or restraint and without suggesting a remedy. A drunken Negro, frothing at the mouth, is shown in a close-up as he hides behind a tree, waiting to assault a little (white) girl wandering through the woods. The child dies from the effects of what a sub-title describes as 'the usual crime', and after that we have a manhunt with bloodhounds, a lynching and the spectacle of a Negro being burned at the stake. Nothing so nauseating as 'The

35ibid.. April 5, 1915, 2.

^^Letter, March 29, 1915, Ibid, 78

Nigger' has been shown on the screen as seen by a representative of the Moving Picture World, it is brutal appeal to the most dangerous human passions and prejudices.^'

Mayor Newton D. Baker, also replying to an inquiry by

Editor Smith, said that he had contacted the Censor

Board, The board had informed him, the Mayor wrote:

. . . that the film in question had been officially approved by that body and that it contained none of the disgusting and in­ flammatory details described in, , , the Motion Picture World, , , , Evidently these objectionablethings had been eliminated before the film was exhibited to our Censor Board, I notice that the Chief of Police had sent one of his officers to view the picture and in the opinion of that official it is not subject to interference under the existing law...... One of the greatest difficulties about any kind of censorship is that we are constantly confronted with offenses against good taste and good citizenship which are neither criminal nor indecent. This parti­ cular picture may be one. Certainly its title is sufficiently offensive if the con- tentSjgf the film were otherwise unobjection-

Editor Smith replied that the Chief of Police had informed

him that ten feet of film had been eliminated. Smith stated

positively, however, that objectionable features remained.

These features included, Smith wrote:

^^The Moving Picture World, March 27» 1915» in ibid,

^®Letter, March 30» 1915» in ibid,, April 3» 1915» 2, 79

/The scene showing/ the Negro who hides behind a tree waiting to assault the little white girl. . . . Another, where the dead child, raped and killed by the Negro is brought to the house to its parents; still another scene is the man-hunt with bloodhounds; another, showing the flames indicating the lynching and burning at the stake ; another, showing a 'race war' in which a number of%q whites are killed by Negroes; ad nauseum.^^

The issue of the showing of "The Nigger" in Cleveland was resolved when the Censor Board withdrew its approval of the film. Governor Willis informed Editor Smith; "As soon as I heard from you I got in touch with the President of the /Censo^/ Board. Upon further consideration the Board adopted a resolution rescinding the certification which had been issued for the very objectionable film, 'The

Nigger.' Notification was sent to the Pox Pilm Corpora­ tion at Cleveland, Cincinnati and New York. Also authorities at Cleveland were notified.The showing of the film was then discontinued by action of the Cleveland police. A revised version of "The Nigger" did pass the state's board of film censors. Chairman of the Board Charles G.

Williams stated:

^^Letter to Hon. Newton D. Baker, April 1, 1915, in ibid., April 10, 1915, 2.

^^Letter, April 8, 1915, in ibid., April 17, 1915, 2. ^^Letter to Newton D. Baker, Mayor, to Hon. Harry C. Smith, April 12, 1915, in ibid.. April 17, 1915, 2. 80

The right to exhibit the original picture, "The Nigger" was recalled and every scene to which the colored people objected was eliminated including sub-titles and the title itself ; or in other words a new picture was submitted to the Board under the name of "The Mystery of Morrow's Rest" without the objectionable parts. . . . However, the exhibitors in their advertisements designedly refer to the picture occasionally as 'The Nigger' and this misleads the public. How­ ever, . . . we have no control over their ad­ vertisements...... They tried to show the original under the ^%w title at Springfield, which we prevented.

The attempt of the Majestic Theatre in Springfield to show the original film under the title "The Mystery of

Morrow's Rest" had been discovered by the Springfield

Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The NAACP branch had then complained to the City Manager. The latter had informed the state censor board, which had subsequently stopped the showing of the film.^^

Municipal officials in several Ohio cities took action against "The Mystery of Morrow's Rest" following objections 4P Letter to Prank B. Willis, July 7, 1915, in ibid., July 17, 1915, 2. ^3iiiphe Mystery of Morrow's Rest" had subsequently been submitted to and passed the Censor Board. Letter of Mrs. John R. Rudd, Chas. D. Swayne, V. Forest Speaks, Publicity Committee, Springfield Branch NAACP, to Harry C. Smith, June 10, 1915, in. ibid., June 19, 1915, 2; The Crisis, X (October, 1915), 293. 81

to it by their Negro commimities. In June 1915, Mayor

Hartenstein of Youngstown ordered Police Captain Jenkins

to prevent the exhibition of the picture. Mayor Earten-

stein reported: When it was announced that the show, known as “The Nigger”,was to be produced at the Dome I advised the management of the theater not to produce it because of its tendency to arouse race prejudice. The manager faithfully promised me he would obey my request. When several prominent Colored residents called and objected to the picture, I informed them it would not be produced. /Later/ I found out that the picture called ^The Eystery of Morrow's Rest", advertised to appear at the Dome. . . was really "The Nigger" under another name. I immediately instructed Captain Jenkins to stop the show, and he obeyed my orders.

The exhibition of the film was also stopped in Steubenville

and Toledo under similar circumstances.^^ "The Mystery

of Morrow's Rest" was shown in Lorain despite protest.

Ruth Anna Fisher of Lorain's Colored Women's Association

stated: "... the unpleasant. . . feature of this case

was the apparent indifference of our city officials in

the matter. The chief of police passed the case on to the

mayor; and he in turn gave it over to the city solicitor

who was glad to do nothing about it.

JU\. The Gazette, June 19, 1915, 2.

^^Ibid., 2; The Crisis, X (June, 1915), 86. Aft Letter to Harry C. Smith, July 9, 1915, in The Gazette, July 17, 1915, 2. 82

The Negro community of Ohio objected more to "The

Birth of a Nation" and reacted to it more strongly than to other films of a similar character. Beginning in the summer of 1915 Negro leaders from Cleveland and around

Ohio urged state officials to prevent the showing of "The

Birth of a Nation." At the end of September the pro­ moters of the film applied to the State Board of Film

Censors for permission to exhibit it in Ohio. In re­ sponse a bi-racial protest against "The Birth of a

Nation" was filed with the Censor Board by Columbus civic leaders including representatives of the National Asso­ ciation for the Advancement of Colored People, Mayor

George J. Karb, Dr. Washington Gladden, pastor of the

First Congregational Church, Rabbi Kornfield and Editor

James Carroll of the Catholic Columbian. The Censor

Board subsequently denied the application of the film's 47 promoters. ' Chairman Charles G. Williams, in giving his official opinion on "The Birth of a Nation," stated:

It devolves upon me as a member of the Ohio Board of Censors to render my individual decision as to whether or not the film, "The Birth of a Nation" should be approved or re­ jected. Many protests have been brought to our attention from sources that indicate that the

47Ibid., October 2, 1915» 2, 8)

entire Colored race and those especially interested in their advancement seriously object to said film. Governor Frank B. Willis has repeatedly called the attention of the Board to the fact that many protests against this film have been entered in his department. He has also repeatedly requested that the Board give said film very careful attention, and if it should be found to be of such a character as to reflect upon the Colored race and tend to arouse racial hatred and prejudice, as claimed, he has urgently recommended that we reject the same. On the other hand, the owners of said film have filed quite a number of recommenda­ tions praising the photoplay. It is claimed by many reputable individual citizens that said film ought to be exhibited because of its dramatic and historical value. It is urged that it is the most gigantic produc­ tion from the standpoint of cast and spectacular achievement the film industry has yet produced. After having considered the arguments pro and con, and having inspected said film as well as discussed the merits of the same with the other members of this Board. . . , I now render my decision, looking to the things portrayed in the film itself. It will not be disputed but that it has a great dramatic value and is stupendous from the standpoint of camera achieve­ ments. On the other hand, by no stretch of the imagination can we get away from the fact that it reflects unfavorably upon the Colored race. The entire latter half of said film is devoted to scenes and subtitles portraying Colored men engaged in all sorts of vicious conduct toward whites of the South during the Civil War and Reconstruction Period following. There are many mob scenes where Negroes are in the most repelling way attacking white citizens, and scenes where Negro men are forcing their attention upon white women and are engaged in all sorts of ridiculous and knavish conduct, not only as individuals, but as a race. True, they were led in many instances by what the film terms “scalaweig carpetbaggers"; but this only further reflects upon the government of that period. While the picture is based upon some historical facts, many phases are exagger­ ated in such a way that the child unfamiliar 84 with the real facts of history, would upon viewing the film immediately conclude that the result of the Civil War was the greatest crime in the annals of history, rather than the prevention of human beings being driven by the lash and being sold upon the auction block. The entire film would seem to pro­ claim the very doctrine which it cost half a million lives and billions of dollars to eradicate. It is claimed that the film should not be objectionable because of the time that has elapsed since the period when these episodes were supposed to have taken place. With this I cannot agree. Many soldiers of the Civil War are still livi^, both in the North and in the South. This film cannot but open the wound of ill-feeling between them and their offspring. Not only does it rekindle the feeling of sectional hatred, but it strongly tends to arouse hatred and prejudice among the coming generation against a race that is living in our midst^ 160,000 /sic / of whom are in the State of Ohio. Too, tEere are eight millions of this race in the United States; and since the constitution of the United States guaranteed them equal rights, and having taken an oath to support this constitution, I consider it wholly unwise, unjust, dangerous and harmful to officially ap­ prove a film that reflects upon them and incites hatred toward them, retarding them in their pro­ gress, as this film does. The play also represents the Ku Klux Elan in such a manner that their conduct would be applauded. It tends to justify that organiza­ tion in capturing the Negroes and, as masked vigilance committees, trying them at night, con­ victing them of supposed outrages, executing them and placing their bodies at the doors of state officials who sympathized with their cause. Without discussing the justification of their methods of that day, the same spirit that urged their activities at that time is the same that prompts such appalling conduct in recent times as to cause Negroes to be lynched, making lynching day a day of cele­ bration. The same spirit prompted masked men to take Leo M. Frank from the custody of the 85

law and execute him. Films which present scenes of this character in a manner which to the on-looker seems to be justified can­ not fail to be harmful. It is also true that there are a few scenes on the end of the last reel of said film that show the Colored race in a favorable light. But to my mind, after considering all that has gone before, it is similar to forcing a very nauseating concoction down the throat of a man and then giving him a grain of sugar to take the taste out of his mouth. Again, the objectionable features above described, including the plot, scenes and sub-titles, are so interwoven throughout the entire film that I consider it impossible to eliminate said objectionable matter. My individual decision, therefore, is that said film be rejected in its entirety.

In January, 1916, the owners of "The Birth of a

Nation", through Attorney Joseph W. Héintzman of Cin­ cinnati, threatened to file an injunction suit in the

Supreme Court of Ohio or in a Federal district court if the Censor Board did not revise its ruling on their ZlQ film. In response Attorney General Edward C. Turner personally reviewed the film and subsequently supported the Censor Board's decision. Turner gave the opinion that the picture should have been entitled "An Insult to the Nation."^ On January 18, the owners of the film filed a suit to restrain the Censors Board from prohibiting the showing of "The Birth of a Nation.”

The Epoch Producing Company, the owner of the film,

^^In ibid., October 2, 1915, 2. ^%bid.. January 15, 1916, 3.

^^Turner's opinion was published in ibid., January 22, 1916, 1. 86 held that the Board's decision "is not based upon proper judgement and discretion; that the film is not harmful, and that except in two minor instances has not caused any radical disturbances in its exhibitions before

5,000,000 persons in the United States and Canada.

A Federal district court dismissed the case on the grounds

"that an adequate legal remedy is afforded by Ohio statute in provision for appeal from the ruling of the state board of motion picture censors to the Ohio Supreme Court.

The state Supreme Court subsequently upheld the Board's ruling on "The Birth of a Nation.

The decision of the Ohio Supreme Court on "The Birth of a Nation" did not end the controversy over the film.

Attempts to have it shown in Ohio were renewed in 191? during the administration of Democratic Governor James M.

Cox. A revised version of the film passed the Censors

Board on February 1, 191?.^^ Two days later, George A.

Myers asked the chairman of the Democratic organization

^^Ibid., 2.

^% b i d ., February 19, 1916, 1.

^^The Epoch Producing Corporation v. The Industrial Com­ mission of Ohio, et al., Ohio State Reports. XCV, 400-4-01.

^^Ibid., February 10, 191?, 1. 87 in Cuyahoga County to use his influence with Governor

Cox to have the film prohibited.^ The county Demo­ cratic leader informed the Governor that he had seen

"The Birth of a Nation" while in New York City, and advised, "I doubt very much the wisdom of allowing it to be shown in. Ohio."^^ Nevertheless, the film was exhibited in theaters around the state, beginning in

March, but not without the continued opposition of the

Negro leadership and interested white citizens. A committee of Dayton Negro leaders actively campaigned against the showing of "The Birth of a Nation" in that city in March. The committee obtained the co-operation and aid of the businessmen's organization (the Greater

Dayton Association), the Dayton Federation of Churches and the Young Women's Christian Association of Dayton.

Furthermore, the Dayton Commission passed a resolution condemning the exhibition of the film. The Commission

^^Letter to W. B. Gongwer, February 3, 1917 (Copy), in George A. Myers Collection, Manuscripts Division, Ohio Historical Society Library (Hereafter cited as Myers Collection).

^^Letter of W. B. Gongwer to Governor James M. Cox (Copy), enclosed in letter of W. B. Gongwer to George A. Myers, February 5» 1917» Myers Collection. 88 then received testimony on the film while considering 57 an ordinance which would have prevented its exhibition.

Conservative Negro newspapermen of Indianapolis, George

L. Knox and A. E. Manning, publishers of the Freeman and the World respectively, testified before the Com­ mission in favor of "The Birth of a Nation." Of their testimony, the Dayton forum, a Negro weekly, reported:

"After. . . Knox cringingly stated that he had seen the film three times, that it was all right, as it showed the love of the Negro for his master and the love the black 'mammies' had for the young white soldiers, the Commissioners got 'cold feet', our white friends became mortified, the committee was humiliated, the legal department of the city framed upgan excuse. The ordinance was not drawn up.^

Early in April, 1917, when the opening of "The

Birth of a Nation" at Cleveland theaters was advertised local civic leaders began to protest against it, e.g., the Cleveland Minister's Union (white) sent letters ex­ pressing opposition to the film to Mayor Davis and

Governor Cox.^9 Mayor Davis repeatedly stated that he would do all in his power to prevent the showing of the picture in Cleveland. On March 29, the Mayor issued an

5?The Crisis, XIV (May, 1917), 26.

5Glbid.

^^The Gazette, February 24, 1917, 1. 89 order to stop the exhibition of "The Birth of a Nation" on the grounds that "it might tend to incite riots,

The Epoch Producing Company subsequently filed an in­ junction suit in the local Federal district court to restrain the city officials from interfering with the presentation of the film.^^ Meanwhile, the Cleveland

City Council passed a resolution disapproving of "The

Birth of a Nation" and then passed an ordinance pro­ hibiting its exhibition and the use of advertising that tended to cause riots. The film company's injunction

suit was dismissed from the Federal district court where­ upon it was carried to the local common pleas court.

The common pleas court ruled that city officials had no right to interfere with the presentation of "The Birth

of a Nation" because it had been approved by the state

Censors Board. The Cleveland Branch of the National

Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the

Cleveland Association of Colored Men and the Cleveland

Federation of Colored Women's Clubs had joined in a

^T h e Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 50, 1917, 10; The Ga'^teV April’ 7T W T 7 T 1 T - ---

Gllbid., 2.

^^Ibid.. May 12, 1917, 5- 90 united fund raising campaign to hire lawyers to assist the city attorneys in the case.^^

In Cincinnati the local branch of the National Asso­ ciation for the Advancement of Colored People appealed to the Mayor to prohibit the showing of “The Birth of a

Nation." The request proved to be fruitless. Likewise,

Branch President William Stevenson's effort to obtain a court injunction against the film was thwarted by a GA lack of funds. Opposition to "The Birth of a Nation" was carried to the Ohio General Assembly in 1917. On January 50,

Hamilton County State Representative A. Lee Beaty, the only Negro in the state legislature, introduced House

Bill No. 227 which provided a fine of up to one thousand dollars against any person "who shall advertise, publish, present or exhibit in any public place in this state, any lithograph, drawing, picture, play, drama or sketch that tends to incite race riot or race hatred, or shall represent any hanging, lynching or burning of any human being. . It was hoped that such a measure would

G^Ibid., April 14, 1917, 1.

^Letter of William Stevenson to Roy Nash, February 19, 1917, and Letter of William Stevenson to Roy Nash, April 7, 1917, in NAACP Records. ^^The Gazette, February 3, 1917, 1» Ohio House Journal. CVII ( I W ) , il4. 91 have the effect of preventing the exhibition of “The

Birth of a Nation" and similar films. On January 20, several Negro leaders spoke in favor of House Bill No.

227 before a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, to which the bill had been referred.On February

19, Beaty presented the House with a petition of two hundred forty-one Franklin County citizens favoring the bill.^^

House Bill No. 227 received support from other parts of the state, e.g., Cincinnati. The Baptist Ministers'

Alliance and several other Negro church groups in

Cincinnati passed resolutions in favor of the bill.

President William Stevenson of the local National Asso­ ciation for the Advancement of Colored People gave several speeches in support of the bill and circulated a petition which was sent to the state legislature.^®

Ohio House members of both political parties offered

Beaty support for House Bill No. 227, However, they were made anxious about Governor Cox's position on the bill as a result of an editorial in the Dayton News, of which

Cox was the publisher. The News editorial was favorable to "The Birth of a Nation." The editor asserted that

"it is only the Negro politicians who are trying to stir

®®The Gazette, February 24-, 1917, 1: Ohio House Journal, c v r r ( i ' W ) 7 “i ^ 8 . ------

G^Ibid., 280. ®®Letter]of William Stevenson to Roy Nash, February 19, 1917» in jNAACP Records. 92 up a tempest in a teapot*' about the picture and "it is

hoped that they will not succeed. Beaty and the other

proponents of House Bill No. 227 were fearful that it

would be killed in committee as a result of the closing

of the legislature in March. Consequently, they took

steps to bring it up for a vote. On March 2, Beaty

succeeded in having the bill taken from the judiciary

committee and placed upon the calendar. A few days later

he failed in an attempt to have it moved up on the calendar.

Nevertheless, House Bill No. 227 passed the House with a

unanimous vote on March 9.^^ The next day it was received

by the Senate, given a second reading and sent to the

Senate judiciary committee. On the last day of the

legislature, March 21, Senator White of Columbiana County

attempted to bring the bill to a vote by moving to have it

taken from the judiciary committee. The motion failed and

House Bill No. 227 was thus killed.

State Representative Beaty blamed former Governor

Frank Willis for the death of the Bill. Beaty stated:

"I had hopes of bringing it /House Bill No. 22%/ to a

^^The Gazette, March 3, 1917, 1; The Dayton News, February 21TT9I7T"G.""

fOphio House Journal, CVII (1917), 506, 562 and 685.

flphio Senate Journal, CVII (1917), 616, 640. 95 vote until Willis wrote a letter to the Republican

Senators urging that all vote for it. The letter be­ came public, party lines were drawn and I now realize that Democrats in control of the senate will not let it coane to a vote."*^^ State Senator George D. Jones, who was president of the Columbus Branch of the Rational

Association for the Advancement of Colored People, had offered to promote the passage of the bill in the

Senate. Following Willis' appeal Jones, a Democrat, had withdrawn his support and had abstained on the crucial

Senate vote on the bill.^^ The editor of the Gazette held the Ohio General Assembly's Democratic majority respon­

sible for the death of House Bill Nol 227. The editor wrote : The Democratic assemblymen never intended that the bill should become a law and proved this beyond all question or doubt (to old legislators) when they allowed it to pass UNANIMOUSLY /in the Hous_e/i This was but a part of their well-laid plan to kill the bill and fool the people into the belief that such was not their original intention.’ "The Birth of a Nation" was free to run in Ohio

from early 1917 until October, 1918. During that period

7^The Gazette, March $1, 1917, 1.

'^^Ibido 94 it was shown in many Ohio cities including Cleveland,

Dayton, Columbus, Cincinnati, Toledo and Lorain. Negro leaders had continued to express opposition to the show­ ing of the film.^^ After the film had been shown in

Ohio for over a year Governor Cox took steps to prevent further release of it in the state. Editor Smith of the

Gazette was informed that the producers of "The Birth of a Nation" had agreed voluntarily to stop showing it in

Ohio after October 1, 19I8 , "at the request of Governor

Cox.

Negroes in Ohio viewed politics and government as a means by which they could uphold their rights as citizens, as was seen in their fight against objection­ able films. Government was also regarded as an im­ portant source of employment for Negroes. Over the years since the late nineteenth century Negroes had been hired by governmental bodies for particular jobs, usually menial ones, and more importantly, had been appointed to responsible positions in certain government offices.

Government had become one of the few places where qualified

Negroes could use their special training and abilities in

*^^See Letter of Harry C. Smith to Governor James W. Cox, September 2$, 1918, in ibid., September 28, 1918, 1.

^^Letter of Charles E. Morris, Secretary to the Governor, to Harry C. Smith, September 50, 1918, in ibid., October 5, 1918, 1. 95 responsible positions. Negro politicians had come to expect the Republican Party to place Negroes in such positions in recognition of the consistent Negro block vote for the party.

The rank and file of Negro voters in Ohio remained loyal to the Republican Party. Various localities had

Republican clubs or organizations for Negroes, such as the Crispus Attucks Republican Club of Cleveland.The

Republican organization in the state gave Negro party members limited representation upon party committees, e.g., Thomas W. Fleming of Cleveland was a member of the

Republican State Executive Committee in 1916.^^ The Re­ publican Party courted Negro voters during election cam­ paigns. White Republican candidates addressed meetings of Negro organizations and usually commented upon the im­ portance of Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party to the freedom of Negroes. Republican candidates also ad­ vertised liberally in the Negro press. Negro editors usually supported Republican office seekers, for which they received the commendation of state and national party officials.Prominent individuals in the Negro

7?Ibid.. March 3, 1917, 3. y^The Crisis, XII (June, 1916), 6?.

7^See Letter of C. C. Waltermire, Chio Republican State Executive Committee, to Harry C. Smith and letter of Will H. Hays, Chairman Republican National Committee, to 96 community travelled across the state speaking for Republi- c cans during election campaigns. Such Negro campaigners 80 were usually given a liberal allowance for travel expenses.

Political machines were a significant aspect of muni­ cipal politics and government in Ohio early in the cen­ tury. There were Negro as well as white bosses in these party organizations. In Columbus Alexander "Smoky" Hobbs 81 was a Republican ward boss early in the century. In

Cleveland saloon keeper "Starlight" Boyd was a cog in Op Boss Maurice Maschke's Cuyahoga County Republican machine.

Endorsement by the party organization was essential to the political success of the Negro candidate for municipal office in Cleveland. With Maschke's backing Thomas W.

Fleming was elected several times to Cleveland City Council from Ward 11, which was predominantly white, although more

Negroes lived in it than in any other Cleveland ward.

Negroes who worked for the election of Republican Party candidates in Cleveland, as in other Ohio cities, were rewarded with jobs, usually menial ones such as work in the

79 (Cont.)gg^py 0^ Smith, November 11, 1918, in The Gazette, November 11, 1918, 2.

^^Maurice Maschke to William S. Scarborough, July 7» 192C, in Scarborough Papers, Carnegie Library, Wilberforce Uni­ versity (Hereafter cited as Scarborough Papers.)

^^Himes, "Negro Life in Columbus," 137»

^^The Gazette, March 3, 1917, 3. 97 sanitation department. Negroes who were lower echelon leaders in the party organizations were compensated with more desirable posts. Por example, Juriman Hudson, the manager of "Starlight" Boyd's saloon, was appointed deputy oil inspector for Cuyahoga County in 1916. There were leaders in the Negro communities of the state who actively opposed municipal machine politics, e.g., Hudson's appoint­ ment was protested by Negro professional men in Cleveland.

The Reverend H. C. Bailey, of Antioch Baptist Church in

Cleveland, in reference to Hudson's appointment, asked,

"What are we to do when these contemptible indignities are continually heaped upon us — appointing saloon-men to state and municipal jobs as a reward to the decent

Negro Republicans of this community, thus saying to the people, white and colored, that such men are the repre­ sentatives of the Negroes?"®^ The Republican organiza­ tions, nevertheless, relied heavily upon patronage, limited as it was, as an enticement for Negro voters.

During election campaigns Republican machines emphasized the number of Negroes holding public jobs and the total income derived from such work. The editor of the Gazette complained, "Negroes are given only porterships, janitorships, garbage plant, 'stock' and water closet

^^The Gazette, March 25, 1916, 1. 98

jobs and are told to go out among our people and brag about

the total amount of money they receive from holding such

jobs. . . .

Negroes also received limited patronage at the state

and national levels. The Negroes appointed to state and

Federal positions were generally well qualified to hold

such posts. Some clerkships in state government, such

as engrossing clerk of the House of Representatives, en­ rolling clerk of the Senate and corporation clerk in the

Department of State, were usually given to Negroes.

Some other responsible positions were held by Negroes.

Robert Barcus of Columbus, for example, was appointed

Special Counsellor in the office of the Attorney-General

of Ohio in 1919. Barcus, a graduate of Virginia Normal and

Collegiate Institute and Howard University, had been ad­ mitted to the Ohio Bar in 1905 and to practice in the

United States District Court, Southern District, in

1913.^^ Negroes also held menial jobs with the state

government such as porters in the Statehouse.^^ Negro

Ohioans had received a number of Federal appointments

under Republican Presidential administrations in the late

^Ibid. , August 2, 1919, 1.

G^lbid., January 2, 1915, 3, April 15, 1916, 2.

G^The Crisis, XVIII (August, 1919), 200.

^^The Gazette. January 2, 1915, 3- 99 nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Yet, under the Democratic terms of President Woodrow Wilson there was a dearth of Federal appointments for Negro Ohioans.

In 1914 Republican Ralph W. Tyler of Columbus was removed from the post of auditor in the United States Navy De­ partment, which he had held since 1897* On the other hand, Dr. Joseph L. Johnson of Columbus, Democrat, served

as Minister to Liberia during President Wilson's two terms in office.®®

In view of the facts that the Negro electorate had loyally backed the Republican Party and that government

jobs were an important source of employment for Negroes with special training, especially in law, politically conscious Negroes expected Republican officials in govern­ ment to appoint a fair number of Negroes to public jobs. When Republican officials failed to give Negroes full recognition in this way they were criticized by Negro

Republicans. The small number of appointments given to

Negroes by Governor Frank Willis chagrined Negro Republi­

cans across the state. Harry C. Smith of the Gazette

editorialized vigorously against Governor Willis on this point.®^ In relation to the Governor's neglect of Negroes

®®Himes, "Negro Life in Columbus," 145.

®^The Gazette, January 6, 191?» 1. 100

in making appointments, a Columbus newspaper reported:

"Well known colored men, including Ralph W. Tyler,

. . . said they considered they were entitled to recog­ nition in view of the race having 70,000 voters in Ohio.

'We want tangible recognition,' one of them declared.

A. D. Male, a successful Negro dairy farmer of Central

Ohio, asked:

What has the governor (Willis) done politically. . . for the Colored voters in this State? It is true that he has made a few minor appointments — appointments that no well-posted, energetic Colored man could afford to accept. . . . I can assign but two reasons why he has done so little in a political way for them. Either he considers any and all Colored men incompetent. . . or . . . he thinks when the Colored voter has cast his ballot he has fulfilled his mission until the next election.^

Similarly, a Columbus pastor and anti-Willis Republican

criticized the Republican Party's attitude toward Negro voters :

It is high time that our race awaken to these facts: the Republican Party has always thought that they could carry the Negro vote regardless of whatever outrages they might commit, because they feel they bear first honors in the emancipation of the Negro race. But God accomplished that task and his servant, Abraham Lincoln, has passed to the great beyond. Furthermore, if we ever owed the party any debt

90The Ohio State Journal, in ibid., March 4, 1916, 2.

91Ibid.. April 15, 1916, 2. 101

of gratitude or anything else for any part it may have played in the anancipation or during the ten or more years that followed it, God knows, in fealty, united support and vote for nearly a half century we have paid that debt and, too, with compound interest. It is now. . . high time for the party to be considering the tremendous debt it owes the Negro for his long-time united support and to be paying something far more than it has in late years on that debt.^

Very few Negro Ohioans were elected to public office during the second decade of the twentieth century. Thomas

W. Fleming, who practiced bartering and law after attend­

ing Baldwin College, was elected to the Cleveland City

Council several times between 1910 and 1920.^^ As in practically all other cities of the state, no Negro had

ever been elected to the City Council of Cincinnati.^

Several Negroes; had been elected to the Board of Edu­ cation ar.d the City Council of Columbus from a predominant­ ly Negro ward during the period 1881 to 1912. But in 1912

the Columbus City Charter was revised to provide for the

election of councilmen and Board of Education members at

large rather than by wards. During the remainder of the decade no Negro was elected to municipal office in

*^^Letter of the Reverend Carl W. Haskell to Harry C. Smith, March 1?» 1916, in ibid., March 25, 1916, 2.

9^The Crisis. XII (June, 1916), 57; The Gazette. November lO, 1917, 2, November 1, 191*5, % ^^Collins, "The Political Behavior of the Negroes in Cincinnati and Louisville," 153. 102

Colum'bus.*^^ The election of William Goode to the City

Council of Bridgeport, in 1915» was an exception to the general failure to elect Negroes to municipal office.

There were other exceptions in which Negroes won minor elective office. In 1919» John T. Oatmeal of Washington

Courthouse was elected Justice of the Peace in Payette

County.A considerable number of Negroes, mainly from&

Cuyahoga and Hamilton counties, had won seats in the Ohio

General Assembly between 1880 and 1910, but only one was elected to the legislature during the second decade of the twentieth century, Cuyahoga County sent no Negroes to the

General Assembly during the decade although there had been

Negro legislative candidates from the county including

Theodore B. Green in 1914 and Harry E. Davis in 1918.

Benjamin P. Hughes, a Pranklin County Negro candidate for the state legislature in 1918, was defeated.A. Lee

Beaty of Hamilton County was the only successful Negro

General Assembly candidate during the decade. He was

^^Himes, "Negro Life in Columbus," 136-137*

^^The Gazette, November 20, 1915» 2.

97lbid., November 15» 1919» 1* *^®Ibid., August 15, 1914, 2, September 7, 1918, 2. 103

ÛQ elected to the House in 19I6 and re-elected in 19I8 .

Negro leaders attempted to influence state legislation which especially affected the Negro community in Ohio.

They also proposed and promoted the passage of legislation which would improve the status of Negroes. Negro leaders applied pressure to state officials hy means of writing letters and sending petitions to them and hy holding in­ dividual interviews and having delegations of representa­ tive citizens meet with them. In 1915 "prominent men of the race" brought objectionable features of the Wickline election bill to the attention of Governor Frank Willis.

In its original form the Wickline bill required voter registrants to indicate their race. Subsequently the bill was amended by having the racial designation struck out.^^^ In 1915 prominent Negroes in Cleveland and Columbus, including Ralph W. Tyler, lobbied against the original

Platt-Ellis bill for examination and licensing of any person in Ohio practicing in certain branches of "limited medicine or surgery." The lobbyists assumed that the bill would have discriminated against Negroes and "would have put out of business every colored chiropodist and masseur

99ohio House Journal. CVIII (1919), 1909. lOOThe^^The GazeGazette. April 24, 1915, 2; The Crisis. X (July, 191577 TI5T 104 in the state, and given a monopoly to whites engaged in these professions.The lobbyists were successful in obtaining an amendment to the bill which exempted practi­ tioners who had been in practice for a period of five years. A. Lee Beaty of Hamilton County, the only Negro legislator of the decade, sponsored bills which were of special interest to the Negro community. As already noted, in 191? he introduced and in vain promoted a bill that was supposed to prohibit the exhibition of racist pictures and plays. In 1919 Beaty sponsored an amendment to the nineteenth century Ohio law which pro­ vided penalties for racial discrimination in public accommodations. The New York City headquarters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People had sent him a copy of the New York State civil rights law and had requested him to promote the passage of such legislation in Ohio. On January 29, Beaty introduced House Bill No. 159 which amended the Ohio public accommodations act so as to, among other things, increase the severity of its penalties and to parti­ cularize the kinds of public accommodations covered by the law. A lobby to promote the passage of the bill

^^^The Gazette, April 24, 1915, 2.

^°^Ibid. 105 was organized at a conference of the Ohio NAAOP Branches.

Petitions and telegrams urging passage of the bill were sent to members of the Ohio House of Representatives from

Negroes all over the state. On March 6, the measure 10% passed the House by a large majority. ^ However, on

March 11, Representative Edward A. Winter of Hamilton

County sidetracked the Beaty bill by moving that the vote on it be reconsidered by the House and that "the motion be entered upon the journal and remain pending.

Beaty, on April 4, succeeded in having the bill replaced upon the calendar.Meanwhile, members of the NAAGP declared that Ohio Negro voters would hold the Republican

Party, which held a majority in the House, responsible if the Beaty bill were defeated.On April 17, Beaty attempted to have the bill considered immediately, rather than in its regular order on the calendar. Subsequently a motion by Representative Arthur A. Jones of Hamilton

County to have the bill laid on the table was defeated.

But, Representative John W. Gorrell secured the passage of his motion to have the Beaty bill indefinitely post-

Crisis, XVIII (July, 1919), 140; The Gazette, March 15, 1^19, 2; Ohio House Journal, CVTll (1919), 113, 372-574. lO^fbid., 418.

^^^Ibid.,662.

^°^The Gazette, April 26, 1919, 2. 106 poned. This killed the hill^^? Representative John B.

Morris of Hamilton County had alleged that any representative who should vote to bring the bill up for a vote again would do so "because of political fear" and that he would "brand T_Oft as a coward" every member who should do so. Representa­ tive Beaty attributed the death of the bill to "Those who are full of race prejudice" and to the "over-zealous friends" of the bill.^^^ He explained that his motion of

April 17 had been made against his better judgment. He wrote: ". . . 1 knew that such a motion was inopportune and that I was facing defeat. But a committee favoring the bill was constantly buzzing and nagging me at every turn until, for my own protection and to satisfy the committee, I made the fatal mistake of making the motion I did l_ to bring the bill up for immediate consideration/. Others attributed the bill's death to the opposition of the Ohio hotel lobby.There was some political re­ action against the Republican Party, particularly in

Columbus, as a result of the defeat of the Beaty bill.

10?0hio House Journal. CVIII (1919), 882-883.

^^^The Gazette. April 26, 1919, 2.

^^^Better to Harry C. Smith, May 6, 1919, in ibid.. May 10, 1919, 1. ^l°Ibid.

^^^Correspondent James W. Faulkner in The Cincinnati Enquirer, September 7, 1919» section 2, È0; see Charles F. Kellogg, NAACP, A History of the National Association for the Advancement of ColoreT~I^êôple, 2ÔÈ. 107

The Colored Women's Republican Club in Columbus severed

its ties with the party and became the Colored Women's

Independent Political League. Club President Rosa Moorman stated that Republican state representatives whose aid she had sought on the bill "were utterly out 112 of sympathy with the movement."

^^%he Crisis, XVIII (July, 1919), 154. CHAPTER III

WORLD WAR I

Negro Ohioans entered the military service during the First World War both as volunteers and as selectees.

The men representing the Negro community of Ohio made

commendable records in the war, Negroes from Ohio had

served in previous wars including the War of 1812, the

Civil War, and the Spanish-American War. Sometime

after the Spanish-American War the Ninth Ohio Separate

Battalion had been formed as a Negro auxiliary to the

state militia. By 1914 the Ninth Battalion had become

composed of four companies located in Cleveland, Columbus,

Dayton and Springfield. The Battalion had held occasion­

al drills at Camp Perry under its Negro Major, John

Pulton of Cleveland.^ Also, the Ninth Battalion had

participated in the mobilization of the Ohio National

Guard during the Mexican border crisis just prior to

the First World War.

^The Gazette, September 5» 1914, 2.

108 109

The Ninth Ohio Separate Battalion was ordered to report at the state mobilization center during the

Mexican border crisis in June, 1916. Technically the

Ninth was not included in the order which mobilized the

Ohio National Guard for border service. Negro soldiers were not included in President Wilson's call for state troops to meet the crisis. Under these circumstances the Ninth was used as a labor battalion. Its assignment was to prepare the mobilization camp in Columbus for the white Ohio National Guard troops. The Ninth was to be 2 relieved of duty upon completion of the camp. The

Ninth's assignment disappointed and chagrined elements of the Negro community in the state. The editor of the

Gazette scored the facts that the Ninth had been ordered to "do the drudgery of preparing the state camp for white soldiers" and had not been accepted for active duty.^ Upon returning home, members of Company D, the Cleveland unit of the Ninth, indicated dissatisfaction with their treatment at Camp Willis in Columbus. They reported that they had been required to unload wagons, construct build­ ings and perform other manual labor in addition to standing

^The Cleveland News, June 21, 1916; in ibid., June 24-, 1916, 2. ^Ibid., June 24-, 1916, 2. 110 guard duty. The troops of the Ninth had heen relieved of the chore of digging trenches, which had heen done hy a work detail from the Ohio State Penitentiary. Members of

Company D also stated that on July 4 they had heen “moved from their place in Camp Willis. . . as the result of friction arising from the prisoners* objection to their visitors, largely ladies of color.” However, the men of

Company D agreed that Governor Frank Willis had done “a number of little things to please and coddle them into thinking well of him.”^

During the Mexican border trouble certain elements in the State's Negro community attempted to have the Ninth

Battalion expanded to regimental size. The group claimed that their effort was approved by Republican Governor

Willis and by the Adjutant General of Ohio. Part of the group, including Captain William R. Green, commander of

Company D, wanted Captain Benjamin 0. Davis, of the Ninth

Cavalry, regular army, to be the senior officer of the desired regiment. Captain Davis had been assigned as a military instructor at Wilberforce University in 1914.

Several of the exponents of the regiment were friends of

^Ibid., July 15, 1916, 2. Ill

George A. Myers, the influential Cleveland barber. Myers, who had an "intimate acquaintance" with Newton D. Baker, the newly appointed Secretary of War, was asked by them to use his influence to promote the enlargement of the

Ninth Battalion. Myers accordingly corresponded with

Secretary Baker and with officials of the War Department and of the State of Ohio, during July, August and September,

1916 . The expansion of the battalion was blocked, however, at this time by technical military regulations. Following the entry of the United States into World War I, April 5,

1917, efforts to enlarge the Ninth Battalion were renewed.

For example, Myers now enlisted the aid of Elbert H. Baker,

President and General Manager of the Cleveland Plain

Dealer. After informing Baker of the futile attempt to have the Ninth expanded, Myers wrote: "The Negro is loyal and dependable and as a soldier second to none in bravery and discipline. He is now anxious to shed his blood for humanity and in defense of his country. Why he should be denied the chance. . . we cannot understand.Late in

June, Baker, at Myers' request, wrote James M. Cox,

Ohio's Democratic Governor, "If the colored men wish to

form a regiment, I cannot see the least reason in the

^Letter to E. H. Baker, May 4, 1917» (Copy), Myers Collection. 112 world for not accepting their tender in the fine spirit in which it was made. By early July, officials of the

State of Ohio and of the War Department were corresponding about the organization of the Ninth Battalion."^ On July

11th, the press reported that the Ninth was to be raised to a regiment of dismounted cavalry and that Lieutenant

Colonel Charles Young was expected to take charge of Q raising the men for the regiment.

Meanwhile, the Secretary of War and the President had been receiving “nagging letters" about Negro officers in the regular army. Some white officers had threatened to refuse an order if it were given by a Negro. Lieutenant

Colonel Young, senior Negro officer in the regular army, commanding the Tenth Cavalry Regiment, had been at the center of the controversy. Young, reared in Ripley,

Ohio, had been one of the few Negroes graduated from West

Point (in 1889). He had served in the Philippines, Haiti,

Santo Domingo, Liberia, and in Mexico during the border crisis. In the Spring of 1917 he had been ordered to report to Letterman General Hospital at San Francisco

^Letter of Elbert H. Baker to George A. Myers, enclosure, June 29» 1917» Myers Collection. ?The Ohio State Journal, July 10, 1917» 3.

^Ibid., July 11, 1 9 1 7 » 9 . 115 where his fitness for active service was to he checked by a physical examination. President Wilson had been

concerned about the reaction against Negro officers and

had been especially interested in Young's status. Sub­

sequently Young had been relieved of his command, allegedly because of Bright's disease and had been ordered to pre­

sent himself to the Adjutant General of Ohio for duty with the Ohio National Guard.^ In relation to this fact,

a Columbus newspaper reported:

In assigning Lieutenant Colonel Charles Young to duty with the Ohio National Guard the war department has broken the rule recently announced that the regular army officers, ex­ cept those in the highest grades, will not be detailed in the National Guard. It was explained by Adjutant General McCain /United States Army/ today that the Ohio State authorities asked to have Lieutenant Colonel Young sent to them and that the request was granted without any definite information as to whether he is to be attached to the Ohio Guard.during the entire war or used only for a time.^u

Lieutenant Colonel Young arrived in Columbus in mid-

July and immediately assumed his duties. Governor Cox

and the Adjutant General of Ohio gave him authority to

recommend the officers of the regiment. A lieutenant

"^Daniel R. Beaver, Newton D. Baker and the American War Effort 1917-1919. 22S-2È6.

^^The Ohio State Journal, July 18, 1917, 1. 114 colonel and two majors were needed. Young recommended

out of state men for each of the posts.It had been

expected that Major John Pulton of Cleveland was to be

given the lieutenant colonelcy and that Captains C. C.

Caldwell of Columbus and William R. Green of Cleveland were to be raised to the rank of major in the new 1 ? regiment. The old officers of the Ninth Battalion were dissatisfied with Young's recommendations and complained

to the Ohio Adjutant General about them.^^ Nevertheless, under Young's direction the Ninth had raised a regimental

complement of over fifteen hundred men by the end of

July.

The regimental organization of the Ninth Battalion

had evidently never been officially recognized in

Washington. On August 1 Colonel George M. Mclver,

acting chief of the militia bureau of the war department,

announced to the press that the Ninth "will not be a part

of the Ohio National Guard division and will not be ex­

panded into a regiment."!^ He explained that a full

Negro regiment from Ohio was not needed. Mclver also

lllbid.. August 2, 1917, 3.

l^ibid.. July 11, 1917, 9; ^ Gazette, July 28, 1917, 1

l^The Ohio State Journal, August 2, 1917, 3; The Advocate, August 4, 1917, 1.

^4g?he Ohio State Journal, July 30, 1917, 9.

^^Ibid., August 2, 1917, 3. 115 stated that the "Ohio Battalion will be assigned to service along with Colored troops from other states;" however he was unable to give its definite assignment,

Approximately nine hundred men, who had been recruited for the disbanded regiment, were subsequently fur­ loughed and allowed to return to civil life subject to 17 recall as reserves. ' The events raised a controversy about who was re­ sponsible for the disbandment of the regiment. Some blamed Lieutenant Colonel Young, It was proposed that the bickering which had followed Young's unpopular re­ commendations of officers had directly contributed to no the dispersal of the regiment. Others supported

Young, who denied that he had anything "to do with the failure of the new regiment,Seeking to have the record set straight. Editor Smith wrote Secretary of War Baker, A report on the matter by Brigadier

General William A, Mann, Chief of the Militia Bureau, was enclosed in Secretary Baker's reply, Mann reported l^ibid, ^^Ibid,, August 5, 1917, 5.

^^The Gazette, August 18, 1917, 1- ^^Letter to Hon, Harry C, Smith, August 12, 1917, ibid,, August 18, 1917, 1. 116 that Colonel Mclver's remarks to the press "were based upon almost verbatim quoted language used by the Secretary of War in his memorandum, dated August 1, 1917» to the Chief of the Militia Bureau on the question submitted by the

Governor of Ohio in regard to the proposition to change a separate battalion of infantry into a regiment of dis- 20 mounted cavalry in the Ohio National Guard." He added:

The memorandum of the Secretary of War was regarded as settling a question which had arisen in the usual routine of official business connected with the calling of the National Guard into the Federal Service, and whatever was said or done in regard to any element or unit of the National Guard of Ohio in its transition from the State to the Federal Service was wholly pi and purely according to usual official methods. In the midst of the controversy over the Ninth

Battalion it was announced that Lieutenant Colonel Young had been "found physically disqualified for the duties of Colonel by reason of disability" and "by the direction of the President has been placed on the retired list, the retirement dating from June 22, 1917-“^^

^^Newton D. Baker, Secretary of War, to Hon. Harry C. Smith, Editor, The Gazette, Aug. 14-, 1917» and enclosure. Memorandum For the Secretary of War from Wm. A. Mann, Brigadier General, General Staff, Chief of the Militia Bureau, August 10, 1917» ibid., August 25» 1917» 1.

Z^Ibid.

Z^ibid.. August 11, 1 9 1 7 » 1. 117

The furor over Young's retirement overshadowed the controversy about the organization of the Ninth. For example, the Columbus correspondent of the Gazette implied that the dispersion of the regiment was a small part of a conspiracy among officials in Washington and

Columbus to ease Young out of the service. Eventually the status of the Ninth was practically forgotten in the debate over Young's retirement. This controversy was OtL national in scope.

The Ohio National Guard and the Ninth Battalion (now with reserve status) were transferred from the state to the Federal service on August 5» 1917»^^ The Ohio Guard and the Ninth were assigned to Camp Sheridan, Montgomery,

Mabama. Only Company B of the Ninth Battalion was sent to Camp Sheridan in August, when the first contingent of the Ohio Guard went South. The duty of Company B was to 26 prepare a camp site for the remainder of the Battalion.

^^Ibid., August 11, 1917, i. ^^See W, E. B. DuBois, Dusk of Dawn, 250; The Crisis, XIV (October, 1917), 28Tând"W%Tëbruary,1:^16), l“è5.

^^Emmett J. Scott, Scott's Official History of the Negro in the World Uar (Hereafter cited as Scott, Negro in the World War), $4.

^^The Advocate, September 1, 1917, i. 118

Although some Southern states, e.g., South Carolina, officially protested the stationing of northern Negro troops within their borders, Alabama Representative

S. Hubert Dent, Jr., who was chairman of the United States House of Representatives committee on military affairs and a resident of Montgomery, announced that

Alabama would not officially protest the assignment of Ohio Negro troops to Camp Sheridan. However, it was stated that they would have to be segregated from the white troops and would have to obey the rules of the community, which included the state and municipal segre­ gation laws.^ This announcement was made on August 22 which was prior to the riot of Negro troops in Houston on August 25» Resistance to northern Negro troops in the South intensified following the Houston episode.

Representative Dent accordingly requested Secretary

Baker to have the troops of the Ninth Battalion moved from Camp Sheridan to a camp in the North. Secretary

Baker refused Representative Dent's request upon the grounds that it might promote bitter racial sentiments

^The Gazette, August 25» 1917, 2. 119

QD in various parts of the country.

The press reported that the anxiety of some people in

Alabama about the presence of Ohio Negro troops in their state was unfounded. Regarding the activities of Company

B at Camp Sheridan a press dispatch from Montgomery stated;

. . . the men have been so earnestly at work since their arrival not one has left the camp to visit the city. They have exhibited more energy in getting their quarters in fine shapes» than any other troops from the Buckeye State, and they seem to be feverishly ambitious to excell in every phase of camp activity. The ground about the particular section where Company B is camped has been raised slightly to give it good drainage and the men have placed stones on the site in various designs, giving their surroundings an artistic effect which has created favorable comment. Company B has its own band of 12 pieces and every night it gives a concert in front of its headquarters. Capt. C. C. Caldwell keeps his men on the hop, skip and jump all the time they are awake...... The behavior of these troops has dissipated apprehension among the Montgomery people that trouble might follow their arrival. No one looks for or expects it now and there will be no repetition of the Houston riot in Montgomery. ^

Meanwhile, Companies A, C, and D of Springfield,

Dayton and Cleveland respectively, remained in Ohio and were evidently practically forgotten by the Federal

^®Ibid., September 8, 1917, 1.

29lbid.. September 29, 1917, 1. 120

officials who now had authority over them. The Clevelanders

of Company D complained that some of their members lacked

shoes and other wearing apparel.The neglect of Company

C, encamped at the National Military Home near Dayton, was probably more egregious and eventually received more

attention than that of the other units of the battalion.

The situation of Company C was made known to the general public by Frank W. Howell, Secretary of the Dayton Defense

League, through the following letter, which was published

on the front page of the Dayton Daily News, on September

27, 1917:

There has been so much enthusiasm displayed by the good people of Dayton concerning the wel­ fare of the soldiers, that I thought it a splendid opportunity to mention the fact that out at the Soldiers' Home there is now encamped about two hundred federal colored troops, whose present condition is such that something must be done at once. These boys are all Dayton boys, and all are volunteers in the service. They are enthusiastic and ready at any time to fight for their country, either here or in France. They have been in the federal service since June, and have not received any pay since their entrance into the service. They have not only received no pay since June, but they have received no clothes of any kind; they are without underwear and are compelled to wear their coats next to their bare skin; a large number are without shoes and are compelled to march and drill six to eight hours a day, sometimes walk­ ing fifteen to eighteen miles a day with shoes having absolutely no sole on them; their feet

50The Advocate, September 15, 1917, 1. 121

are sore and their bodies are cold, and yet they do not complain. The Defense League has supplied them with many necessary things, hut this organization will not he ahle to meet their needs without some assistance. The federal government seems to have forgotten these hoys temporarily at least, hut I helieve the good people of Dayton . . . will come to their assistance at once. The colored soldier is as good a fighter as any class of soldiers in the army; they have shown it in the past and they will show it in the future. They should receive the same treatment as other volunteer soldiers, and this has not heen done...... Respectfully yours, Frank W. Howell.

Bert B. Buckley, former State fire marshall, subsequently informed Senator Warren G. Harding of Company G's situa­ tion and advised, "If these colored troops have no in­ fluential friends to get them simple justice, then the

Senator from Ohio should step into the breach. .

George H. Wood, Adjutant General of Ohio, officially

learned about the needs of Company C on October 6, and

since it was in the Federal service he informed military

officials.Senator Harding also notified the War De- partment of Company C's situation.Meanwhile the Dayton

Defense League raised a fund which was used to repair the men's shoes and to purchase underwear, socks and handker­

chiefs for them. On October 12, as the company prepared

^^Letter, September 27, 1917, The Gazette, October 5, 1917, 1. ^^Telegram to Major General W. H. Carter, Central De­ partment, Chicago, 111., ibid., October 13, 1917, 1.

^^Letter of Warren G. Harding to Bert B. Buckley, October 11, 1917, ibid., October 20, 1917, 2. 122 to entrain for Camp Sheridan, its Captain, Robert Mallory, stated;

My men leave Dayton in far better con­ dition because of the efforts of the friends of the company than might have been the case if they had not provided the fund for the purchase of the articles we now have. The men appreciate the kindness of all those who have aided them and I know that each will do his best to bring honor to Dayton wherever they may be sent for service,^

In the meantime Company D had received conflicting orders within a week's time. First it had been directed to recruit one hundred additional men in order to raise it to a new war strength, but a few days later this order had been rescinded and it had been directed to entrain for Camp Sheridan on October 12.^^ By mid-October all of the Ninth Battalion had been transferred to Alabama. The needed clothes and other articles for the Ninth arrived at Camp Sheridan on October 17- Organizations of Negro citizens in Montgomery, under the leadership of Victor H. Tulane, a trustee of Tuskegee

Institute, had promoted a program designed to minimize the possibility of friction between the men of the Ninth

^^Ibid., October 20, 1917, 2.

^^Ibid., October 13, 1917, 5» ^^Telegram of Buckley to Harry G. Smith, October 18, 1917, ibid.. October 27, 1917, 2. 12$ and the white people of Montgomery.Qhilane was reported to have urged the Ohio Negro troops to observe the racial

"customs" of the South while at Camp Sheridan.An attempt was made to keep them occupied while off duty.

Part of the program included a football game between representatives of the Ninth and the Tuskegee Institute zq football team. Despite a potentially explosive situation there were no violent incidents between the Montgomery whites and the Ohio Negro troops stationed at Gamp Sheridan.

One incident, however, did engage nationwide attention, did arouse the concern of Camp Sheridan officials and did adversely affect the men of the Ninth. The incident happened on November 8 while members of the Battalion were on leave in Montgomery. It was plausibly rumored that an

Ohio Negro soldier had been kidnapped and taken out of town by car to be lynched after having brushed against a white woman on a crowded streetcar. A group of men from the Battalion quickly gathered and in order to rescue their comrade started out in the direction the rumored

^^Scott, Negro in the World War, 76.

^% h e Advocate. September 8, 191?, 1.

^^Letter of G. Howard Fields, "A Clevelander in the South," to Harry C. Smith, October 21, 1917, The Gazette. October 27, 1917, 2. 124 kidnappers were supposed to have gone. Military police soon appeared and arrested a large number of the men in the rescue party. The Battalion was ordered to return to camp and to remain there until the completion of an official investigation of the incident.The investigators concluded that the "colored soldiers never at any time contemplated any disturbances", but those suspected of having participated in the episode were confined to quarters, and all members of the Battalion were in effect 41 confined to the camp. In the wake of these events there was general discontent in the Battalion. A Cleveland newspaper reported that members of the Ninth felt that some of the white Ohioans at Camp Sheridan had "embibed"

Southern prejudice while in Alabama and that there was a definite feeling that they were discriminated against during 42 their stay at the Alàbama camp.

The rumor evidently was based upon the arrest by Montgomery police of an Ohio Negro soldier who had been involved in an automobile accident. The Chicago Tribune. November 9, 191?» 1; The New York Times, November 9 , 1^1?, 15; The Gazette, November 10,' T^l?, 1 and November 17» 19177T.

^^Technically the men of the Battalion had been "requested" to remain in camp while off duty; however, when some of them entered Montgomery contrary to the "request" they were arrested and returned to camp. The Advocate, November 24, 1917, 1 and December 1, l9l7, 1. See Letter of Charles W. Chesnutt to Capt. William R. Green, November 24, 1917, Chesnutt, Chesnutt, 275-276.

^^The Cleveland Plain Dealer, December 11, 1917, 18; The Advocate, December 1, 1^17, 1. 125

The Ohio Negro troops were transferred from Camp

Sheridan to Camp Stuart, Newport News, Virginia, in

December.At Camp Stuart they entered the 572nd

Regiment of Infantry, 95rd Division, United States

Army. The 572nd Regiment included Negro troops from the separate National Guard units of Ohio and several other states, ite. the First Separate Battalion of the

District of Columbia; Company L of Massachusetts; the

First Separate Company of Connecticut and the First hiL Separate Company of Maine. The 572nd Regiment in­ cluding its Ohio contingent embarked from Newport News for France on March 50, 1918, after three months of training at Camp Stuart. The Regiment reached port at St. Nazaire, France, on April 15, 1918.^^

A large proportion of the Ohio Negroes who were to serve in the World War were draftees in the National

Army. Under the Selective Service Act of May, 1917,

7,851 Negroes and 159,695 whites from Ohio were drafted

^^The Gazette, December 29, 1917, 3. LlLl Two hundred and fifty drafted Negro men mainly from Michigan and Wisconsin were also in this regiment. Scott, Negro in the World War, 259* 4^Ibid. 126 for duty in the war.^^ Both Negro and white Ohio draftees were trained at Gamp Sherman near Chillicothe, Ohio. The white Ohio drafted men and a smaller number from western

Pennsylvania constituted the 8$rd Division.Ohio Negroes drafted in 1917 were part of the 92nd Division, which was an all-Negro organization composed of units of men trained in seven camps, most of which were located in the Midwest and Northeast. The 317th Engineers Regiment, the 317th Engineers Train and the 325th Field Signal Battalion of the 92nd Division 49 were assigned to Camp Sherman. ^ These units were com­ posed mostly of draftees from Ohio and Oklahoma.Also, many Ohio Negro soldiers were assigned to the 365th In­ fantry Regiment, 92nd Division, which was trained at Gamp

Grant, Rockford, Illinois.Negro Ohioans who were drafted in the summer of 1918, after the 92nd Division

^^These figures are from the Mobilization Division of the Provost Marshal General's Office (December 16, 19I8 ), ibid. , 68.

^^Roseboom and Weisenburger, A History of Ohio, 337« /I Q The various units of this division were not united until they reached the front, which was without precedent. Franklin, From Slavery to Freedom, 450.

^^Scott, Negro in the World W a r , I3I.

^^The Gazette, October 15, 1917, 1 and November 3, 1917, 1.

^^A large number of the Negro draftees at Gamp Sherman were transferred to Gamp Grant because of overcrowding at the Chillicothe cantonment. Ibid., February 16, I9 I8 , 1. 127 had embarked for France, were assigned to the 802nd 82 and 813th Pioneer Infantry Regiments at Camp Sherman."^

These were two of fourteen such Negro organizations which were established in the summer of I9I8 and sent to France after one to three months of military training.A small number of Negro Ohioans drafted in the summer and autumn of 19I8 were sent to Negro units in out-of-state camps.The Negro troops at Camp Sherman were segre­ gated in Section 0, in the northeast corner of the 55 cantonment.For a time Negroes and whitesfhi were segre­ 56 gated in the mass hall at Camp Sherman.

Many Negro Ohioans were eager to serve as officers

in the army. Although no Ohio Negro played a prominent role in the effort to obtain officers training for

Negroes, several Ohioans entered the Officer Training

School at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, which was established

for Negroes in the summer of 1917» Eighteen Ohioans were among those who received commissions at Fort Des

^^Ibid., August 5, I9I8 , 2 and August 31, 1918, 2.

^^Charles H. Williams, Sidelights on Negro Soldiers (Hereafter cited as Williams^ Negro Soldiers), 15È- 155. ^^The Gazette, August 17, 1918, 1 and September 21, 1 9 IF 7 Z ------

^^Ibid., November 3, 1917, 1. ^^Letter of Harry 0. Smith to Major General E. F. Glenn, Headquarters, Camp Sherman, May 3, 1918 and E. F. Glenn, Major General Commanding, to Hon. Harry C. Smith, May 5, 19I8 , ibid., May 11, I9I8 , 1. 128

Moines in October. Two were commissioned as captains, nine as first lieutenants and seven as second lieute­ nants. All but three, who were sent to Camp Grant, were 57 assigned to Camp Sherman.^' Later, more Negro Ohioans received commissions after completing officers training courses at other camps.Wilberforce University alone

sent two hundred Negro students to officers training

camps. 59

Charles Young, although retired from the army, was

also eager to serve in the war. To the people of Ohio he announced :

Although I have been retired because of ill health, I am in fighting trim and mean to do my duty for my country. I can't do any­ thing else. I was reared in the service of my country, and when the call comes I am like an old fire horse. I must be there. As to my retirement, I blame no one - make no charges, but I want the people of Ohio to see with their own eyes that I am in excellent physical condi-

^^The names and addresses of these officers were listed in Scott, Negro in the World War, 4^1-481 and in The Gazette, October"^?» 1917, 1. ^^Ibid., January 12, 1918, 1 and May 4, 1918, 2. ^^Address of President William 8 . Scarborough upon the opening of the academic year 1918-1919 at Wilberforce University, September 17, 1918. The Wilberforcian, I (March, 1919) No. 6 , Carnegie Library, Wilberforce University. The above address was devoted largely to Wilberforce's role in the war. The first six numbers of The Wilberforcian also contain information about Wilberforce's war effort. 129

tion and fit for the front.

Young voluntarily served as an instructor in the military department of Wilberforce University during the academic year 1917-1918.^^ During the following summer he traveled by horse from his home in Wilberforce to Washington, D.C. in an evident attempt to demonstrate his fitness. Upon reaching Washington he was presented to Secretary of War

Baker by Special Assistant Scott.Scott was co-operating with others who sought Young's recall to active service.

Efforts to have Young taken out of retirement were fruit­ less until after the Armistice when he was recalled and assigned to duty "with the Colored Development Battalion at Camp Grant.

Ohio Negroes also participated in the Students'

Army Training Corps or S.A.T.C. program. The S.A.T.C. was created in I9I8 for the purpose of utilizing existing public and private educational facilities in the nation to complement the training programs of the regular army

^^The Gazette, January 26, 1918, 1.

^^Scarborough, The Wilberforcian, I (March, 1919) No. 6, Carnegie Library, Wilberforce University.

^^The Crisis, XVI (August, 1918), 187 and The Gazette July”6, 1914, 1. ^^Scott, Negro in the World War, 64-65. Late in 1919 Young was detailed as military attache at Monrovia, Liberia, a post which he held until his death in 1922. See Abraham Chew, A Biography of Colonel Charles Young (Washington, 1925). 130 camps and cantonments. About five hundred fifty educa­ tional institutions, many of which were located in Ohio, established S.A.T.C. programs. Approximately twenty of these, including Wilberforce University, were Negro in­ stitutions. The S.A.T.C. was composed of qualified volunteers between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one, i.e., men too young to be drafted. The S.A.T.C. program was designed to train officer candidates and various kinds of technical experts.The S.A.T.C. became a contro­ versial issue in Ohio because its program in the state initially involved racial discrimination. In September,

I9I8 , the college presidents of Ohio received the follow­ ing letter from the official in charge of the S.A.T.C. in Ohio. Oxford, 0. Sept. 19» 1918 To the College Presidents of Ohio: I have just learned that Wilberforce University has secured a unit of the S.A.T.C. In consultation with Captain Laigue, Military Director of this region, I learn that there is no reason why a colored boy may not be inducted into the service at any college having an S.A.T.C. While however, this is true, it is contrary to army regula­ tions for white and colored men to be housed in the same barracks. As it would be seriously inconvenient for you to provide separate barracks and also em­ barrassing for the boys, I would suggest that

^^Scott, Negro in the World War, 33^-536. 131

any colored boy be directed to transfer to Wilberforce prior to October 1, and secure induction into the service there. In case they are inducted into the service prior to transfer, it would be a very complicated matter and it would be necessary to take it up through Washington to secure their transfer from your University to Wilberforce. If the transfer is made before October 1, it is merely a matter of college transfer, and could be ac­ complished with very little loss or embarrass­ ment. I believe that such an arrangement would be more convenient for the colored boys-, and also save considerable difficulty in the colleges a little later. Sincerely yours, W. H. Hughes Regional Educational Director P.S. The above letter should be taken as an official suggestion rather than as an official ruling in the matter. I am sending it merely with an idea^that it may save trouble in some localities. ^

On September 23 Negro students who attempted to enter the S.A.T.C. unit at Ohio State University were refused and were ordered to attend a Negro school, on the basis of Director Hughes' suggestion.Subsequently, the students, the Columbus and Cleveland N.A.A.O.P. branches

^^A copy of this letter was received by Western Reserve University President Thwing, who was active in the Cleveland N.A.A.C.P. The Gazette, October 5, 1918, 2. ^^Mrs. J. J. Burr to Hon. Harry G. Smith, October 1, 19I8 (Mrs. Burr was a cou.sin of one of the students involved in the issue), ibid., October 5» 1918, 2 and The Crisis, XVll (November, I9I8), 7» 132

and the national headquarters of the N.A.A.C.P. communi­

cated with the War Department and University officials

on the matter. In response, Emmett J. Scott of the War

Department stated, "The War Department has not issued

any instructions preventing Negro students from joining

/thje/ Student Army Training Corps at Ohio State University

or any other institution.Late in September, Director

Hughes informed Ohio colleges and universities that they

could accept Negroes when it was the usual custom of the

institution.

Several private organizations aided the War Depart­ ment in maintaining the morale and providing for the wel­

fare of soldiers while they were in training in the United

States. The Young Women's Christian Association was promi­

nent among these organizations. Negro branches of the

Y.M.C.A. maintained "Hostess House" at several camps.

^^The Gazette. October 19, 1918, 5-

G^The Crisis, XVII (November, 1918), 7. The NAACP had also received reports that Negro students had been re­ jected for the S.A.T.C. at Oberlin College. Samuel B. Coleman, Secretary, Oberlin Branch, to NAACP, September 28, I9I8 , NAACP Records. Similar situations in regard to the S.A.T.C. had arisen in other northern states, e.g., Nebraska. See Scott, Negro in the World War. 339* 135

Charles H. Williams described the "Hostess House" at

Camp Sherman as "perhaps the largest and most attractive" of them.^^ At its opening the sergeants of the various

Negro companies at Camp Sherman entertained their men in order to arouse the interest of the soldiers in the facility.^^ Subsequently, many of the Negro soldiers at the Chillicothe cantonment used the service of their

"Hostess House." "As soon as their day's work is done," one wrote,"many of them hustle to the . . . IJ._J to spend the evening reading, playing checkers, seeing moving pictures and, above all, writing home to mothers, wives and sweethearts. The War Camp

Community Service was another important national organ­ ization which provided for the soldiers' welfare. It began to serve Negroes several months after its creation.

The War Camp Community Service established "Community

Houses" for Negro Soldiers in eight cities, including

^^Williams observed the religious and social conditions of the Negro troops at the various camps and cantonments as a representative of the Federal Council of Churches and the Phelps-Stokes Fund. Negro Soldiers, 88-89.

?°Ibid., 89. 7^better of Edward L. Moton to Harry C. Smith, The Gazette, February 15, 1918, 1. 134

Chillicothe. The Chillicothe “House*' was located under an Episcopal mission and was described by Williams as having been “beautifully furnished.A Negro service man at Camp Sherman described the facility as a “fairly good Jim Crow Community House," which could “not be compared with the white Community House" there. He added, "Ours has no shower baths and no place to dance. It is nice but it could be improved to a very great extent.The establishment of "Community Houses" for soldiers Stimulated similar projects, during the War, for the Negro community in general in many cities across the country. In Ohio such community houses were estab­ lished in Youngstown, Dayton, Cincinnati, Columbus and

Cleveland.The Red Cross operated a canteen at Camp

Sherman which may have been for white men only. On at 75 least one occasion it refused service to Negro soldiers.

Also, the Reverend J. 0. Haithcox of Chillicothe, who had been active in soldiers' welfare work, was not permitted

'^%ep;ro Soldiers, 133.

^^The Gazette, October 19» 1918, 3.

^^Scott, Negro in the World War, 387.

"^^The Gazette, February 9, 1918, 3. 135 to dine at the Chillicothe Red Cross headquarters with the Ross County War Chest Committee, which had invited him to do so.^^

Negro physicians and nurses also wanted to serve in the war, but the Surgeon General's Office, United

States Army, commissioned few Negro doctors. Some

Negro physicians served as privates and were not per- mitted to serve in their professional capacities.''77

Charles Garvin, a Cleveland physician, was an exception.

Garvin, a lieutenant, was a member of an otherwise white Cleveland hospital contingent created in the summer of 191? for immediate service in Prance. However, he was eventually transferred to the medical section at

Port Des Moines because he was a Negro.Garvin sub­ sequently attained the rank of Captain and commanded the

366th Ambulance Corps, which served in Prance.The

'^^The Wilberforcian, I (May, 1918), No. 4-, Wilberforce University Carnegie Library.

'^'^Scott, Negro in the World War, 4-77»

'^^The Gazette. September 1, 1917, 2. ^^'Scott, Negro in the World War, 287. 156

Surgeon. General's Office and the Red Cross did not accept

Negro nurses during most of the time that the country was

involved in the war. Negro nurses were rejected even when their services were urgently needed, as was illustrated

by an instance at Camp Sherman in I9I8. The Crisis report­

ed:

. . . a colored trained nurse. . . had responded immediately to an urgent appeal in the press for trained nurses to care for sick soldiers at Camp Sherman. . . . The appeal for nurses read, "Don't stop to telephone or write, but get on the next train and report immediately at the base hospital at Camp Sherman." Eighty- eight deaths had been reported the day previous­ ly and appeals had been made for nurses to several Ohio cities, as far removed as Cleve­ land. After the colored nurse had been told that no more nurses were needed, she came back to the Superintendent's office and saw between twenty and thirty white nurses accepted; where upon she was told the truth. . . . Meanwhile Special Assistant Scott and interested organi­

zations had been urging the utilization of Negro nurses

in the war effort. Finally, in July of I9I8 , the

Surgeon General's Office and the Red Cross made some

concessions by accepting about a half dozen Negro nurses. fil Four of them were assigned to Camp Sherman.

G^The Crisis. XVII (December, 19I8 ), 70-71.

®^Scott, Negro in the World War, 448; Williams, Negro Soldiers, 122\ and the Gazette, July 27, 1918, 2. 137

Ohio Negro soldiers, as those from other states, made a commendable record in Europe. The 93rd

Division's 572nd Regiment, with its Ohio contingent, was brigaded with the famous 157th or "Red Hand" Division of the French Army, as was the 371st Regiment. The 572nd

Regiment's most notable combat duty was done under heavy shelling in defense of "Hill 504-" in the Verdun Sector in the summer and in the Champaigne offensive of

September, 1918. An incident involving Ohio men in defense of "Hill 504-" was thus reported:

. . . a company of the Old Ninth Ohio Battalion, under command of its Captain from Dayton, 0., laid in an open field all night, awaiting orders to go into action, while all the time the Germans were dumping 210 shells and 88 machine gun fire at them. But even in the face of such a murderous fire, the line stood firm. Ander­ son Leeoand William Chenault, of Dayton, were killed.GZ

General Goybet, Commander of the 157th Division, praised the "dash" and heroism of the men the 571st and 572nd

Regiments, and, prior to disembarkation from France,

Vice Admiral Moreau decorated the colors of the 572nd

Regiment with the Croix de Guerre.

O p War Correspondent Ralph W. Tyler, ibid., November 25, 1918, 1 . ■' ' ®^Detailed accounts of the record of the 572nd Regiment may be found in Scott, Negro in the World War, 259- 255; Williams, Negro Soldiers, 2 % - 2 4 0 ; The Gazette, March 1, 1919» 1 and. The Cleveland PlainnTealer, February 25» 1919» 1» 2. 138

Most of the Negro Ohioans in the 92nd Division were noncomhatants.®^ The 325th Field Signal Battalion, trained at Camp Sherman, established telegraphic and signal com­ munications between fighting units, sometimes under fire?^

The 317th Engineers Regiment, also trained at Camp Sherman, began construction work soon after it arrived at Brest in June, 1 9 I8 , building among other things, roads, barracks and railroads. The 31?th Engineers' work was sometimes done in combat zones under fire. The Regiment received praise from such officers as General Pershing, especially for its efforts in the St. Die Sector and in the Argonne-Meuse offensive.®^ The Camp Sherman trained

802nd 8 1 3 th Pioneer Infantry organizations reached France just prior to the Armistice and thus saw little or no combat. They worked in the "Service of Supply", per­ forming such chores as savaging battle fields and repair­ ing damaged roads. R4- The exceptions included those who fought with the 365th Regiment trained at Camp Grant.

®^Scott, Negro in the World War, 291.

®^illiams, Negro Soldiers, 175-178 and Scott, Negro in the World War, 146. ^'^Williams, Negro Soldiers, 153-156 and The Gazette, March 8, 191$, 2. 159

During most of the time that the United States was involved in the war press acaunts of the Negro‘s role in the fighting were not very extensive. In June, 1918, a conference of Negro newspaper men, which was attended by Editor Smith and Ralph W. Tyler of Columbus, called for, among other things, the appointment of a Negro war correspondent. In the meantime, the Morale Branch of the War Department and the Committee on Public Information had become concerned about the wartime morale of Negro

Americans who were being discriminated against while QO supporting a war to save democracy. In this situation the Committee on Public Information announced in September,

I9 I8 , that in compliance with the request of the Washington conference of Negro newsmen, it had designated Ralph W.

Tyler "as a regularly commissioned war correspondent to specialize on the conditions surrounding the colored troops in France and to make daily reports on the activities and engagements in which the colored soldiers are promi­ nent."®^ Tyler had been an auditor in the Navy Department.

®®Scott, Negro in the World War, 116.

®9lbid., 284. 140

He had served in various departments of the Columbus

Evening Dispatch and the Ohio State Journal for seventeen years. During the war he was a contributing editor for the Cleveland Advocate and Secretary of the National

Colored Soldiers Comfort Committee. All three of Tyler's sons served in the army during the war. He and his wife,

Carrie, must have had feelings similar to other parents, regardless of race, who had boys in the war. To his friend George A. Myers, Tyler had written, "Carrie. . . is almost distracted over the taking from her all three

of the boys whose return home is only a probability

of war - a fond longing dream - a hope that is distracted by an awful fear."^^ Tyler reached France just prior to the

Armistice and observed some of the final combat of the war.

His dispatches included glowing accounts of the Negro's role in the war.*^^ Like many Negro Americans who were in

France during the war Tyler appreciated the French people's

^^Letter of February 5, 1918, Myers Collection.

^^W.E.B. Du Bois of the N.A.A.C.P. later criticized him for not telling about discrimination against Negro soldiers by the military in Europe. The Crisis, XVIII (July, 1919), 130. 141 lack of racial prejudice, as he wrote;

I am stuck on France. I feel free over here - absolutely. . . free. Were I a young man I would never return, and as it is, were it not for the fight I ABSOLUTELY KNOW we face on return­ ing I would prefer to stay here where you have real democracy. But to stay, and fail to get into the fight back homggwould stamp me as a coward, which I am not.^

Negroes in America aided the war effort on the home front as well as in Europe, as they generously supported the five war loan campaigns.Ohio Negroes did their bit here too. Thus, a Findlay mail carrier sold over nine thousand dollars worth of thrift and war savings stamps.The Fourth Liberty loan received contributions of fifteen thousand dollars from pupils at Stowe School in Cincinnati, five thousand dollars from Big Four Roundhouse employees in Columbus and over four thousand dollars from coal miners at St. Clairsville.^^ The Negro press in the state played an active role in promoting the loan campaigns.Ohio Negroes also participated in the wartime food conservation program. Negro families,

^^Letter to George Myers, December 21, 1918, Myers Collection.

"^^Franklin, From Slavery to Freedom, 463.

9^The Crisis. XVI (August, 1918), 8?.

95lbid.. XVII (December, 1918), 84.

^^Letter of C. E. Dittmer, Publicity Director of the Ohio War Savings Committee, to Hon. Harry C. Smith, November 9, I9 I8 , The Gazette, November 16, I9 I8 , 3. 142 as they had opportunity, planted liberty gardens.

President Scarborough of Wilberforce University was a member of the Ohio Pood Commission and of Governor

Cox's War Cabinet in the Ohio Branch of the Council of National Defense.^®

^^Chesnutt, Chesnutt, 276.

^^The Wilberforcian, I (March, 1919)» No. 6, Carnegie Library Wilberforce University. PART II

THE NINETEEN-TWENTIES CHAPTER IV

THE CONTINUING MIGRATION IN RELATION TO

EMPLOYMENT, HOUSING AND EDUCATION

Migration of Negroes into Ohio from the South accelerated during the nineteen-twenties. Although no precise migration figures are available for the decade, it may be inferred that the rate of migration into the state was then the highest of any decade after

1 9 1 0 . Between 1920 and 1950 the percentage of Negroes in the Ohio population increased from three and two- tenths per cent to four and seven-tenths per cent.

During the same decade the Negro population of the state rose from 186,18? to 309,504 or about sixty-six per cent.^

As in the past, migrants were attracted to Ohio by its relatively favorable social-economic conditions in comparison to those of the South. The motives of the migrants were typified by those of an impoverished

^United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Negroes in the United States 1920-1952. 9, 15-

144 145 potential Negro migrant from Houston, Texas. In inquir­

ing about opportunities in Columbus, the Texan asked

"whether there be any chance for the man Seeking work

and a place for himself and family to sleep at night 2 with both eyes shut?" He added: "I am a married man, wife and 2 children and wants to locate where my children will have a chance in life to make good and wages is beyond starvation prices of course. No need to tell you

% of Texas. You are reading,"

The rate of migration evidently rose and fell with

the degree of economic opportunity in Ohio. Negro workers

in Ohio cities experienced general unemployment as post

war economic readjustments caused a depression in 1921- Ll 1 9 2 2 . In times of economic difficulty Negroes were

usually the first to lose their jobs. In 1921, a research

student noted, "Several factories /in Golumbu_s/ have in­

dicated that they expect to reduce the number of Negro

/si_c/ workers and employ white workers in their stead.

^Letter of J. E. Neal to N.B. Allen, August 5» 1923» Columbus Urban League Papers, Ohio Historical Society Library (Hereafter cited as Columbus Urban League Papers). ^Ibid. ^The Crisis, XXI (January, 1921), 132; Himes, "Negro Life in Columbus," 149.

^Ralph Carling Harshman, "Race Contact in Columbus, Ohio," Masters Thesis, 1921 (Hereafter cited as Harshman, "Race Contact in Columbus"), 26. 146

Employment of Negro workers, however, was relatively high between 1922 and 192?. The economy of Ohio, as that of the nation, expanded during this era of business and industrial prosperity. The Congressional immigration restriction legislation of the early nineteen-twenties, moreover, sharply cut the flow of immigration and reduced the supply of foreign-born white workers. These two factors caused a relatively high demand for Negro labor.

By the summer of 1922 Ohio employers experienced a labor

shortage which was filled in part by Negro workers.

During the summer of 1922, approximately fifteen hundred

southern Negroes migrated to Youngstown and found employ­ ment in the steel mills of that city.^ Similarly, in

June, 1 9 2 3 , a Negro journalist observed, "Owing to the

shortage of labor a number of our people are still migrating from the South to Cleveland.Almost two-

fifths of the job applicants placed by the Negro Welfare

Association of Cleveland in 1923 had been in the city O only two months. Business prosperity in Ohio, as in

the country as a whole, continued until near the end

^Figures obtained from officials of the mills and employ­ ment agencies in Youngstown. The Gazette, December 9, 1922, 1.

^Ibid.. June 9» 1923, ^Ibid., March 8, 1924, 1. 147 of the nineteen-twenties ; however, marginal labor was adversely affected as the economic expansion began to level off in the second half of the decade and the in­ troduction of improved industrial technology reduced the need for manual labor. In Columbus, "The depression for marginal labor, especially colored labor, set in as early as 192?."^ In 1926, George A. Myers had observed that Negro migration to Cleveland had been "on the wane, the demand for labor not being so great as it was for the past few years.In October, 1927» thousands of

Negroes in Cleveland were reportedly unemployed.

Thus, Negro workers had begun to experience economic difficulty even before the financial disaster of 1929 and the Great Depression which followed it. The migration of the decade aided Negro business enterprises in two important ways. First, it enlarged the market of Negro consumers. Second, it brought some southern Negroes with capital and business experience into the state. These factors, in addition to the re­ latively high incomes of Negro wage and salary earners,

"Negro Life in Columbus," 152.

"Answer to Questionnaire from Chamber of Commerce /Cleveland/ Committee on Immigration and Emigration," 1926 (Hereafter cited as Myers, Questionnaire on Immigration and Emigration), Myers Collection.

^^The Gazette, October 29» 1927» 5. 148 gave imprecedented prosperity to Negro business enter­ prises. The same factors benefited Negro professional people. Despite the unparailed prosperity the gains of

Negro business and professional men were quite limited.

Only in comparison with the precarious existence of the Negro business and professional community in earlier years could the situation in the nineteen-twenties be regarded as progress. Myers described the role of the

"Negro in business" in Cleveland as "limited.He also noted that Cleveland's Negro insurance and finance companies were "all conducted by earnest and honest men, but handicapped by lack of capital and the confidence of the masses." He noted the prosperity of others:

"Several building contractors who are doing well. . . .

George G. Jones, who is engaged in making special £stee^/ castings, using a special process of his own. . . . A few small stores and several very prosperous Undertakers and Real Estate Dealers. A superabundance of doctors, dentists and lawyers, which of necessity makes a survival of the fittest, and a meagre living for the many. 12 "Questionnaire on Immigration and Emigration," Myers Collection. l^ibid. l^Ibid. 149

Allen observed almost one hundred Negro business and pro­ fessional enterprises in the vicinity of East Long Street in Columbus. These included “Haberdasheries, photographers, optometrists, music shops, music studios, beauty parlors, 15 printing establishments, corporations, tailors, etc.“

Of Cincinnati in the mid-nineteen-twenties, Dabney wrote:

Our professional men and women are doing well, more doctors, lawyers and teachers than ever: before in the history of the city...... The colored professions do not enjoy so much white patronage as before...... We have hundreds of business houses. A multiplicity of certain kinds, a scarcity of others. Naturally those necessi­ tating small capital and of the type largely in demand are the most numerous. Apart from barbershops, beauty parlors, restaurants, lodging houses, and undertaking establishments, white merchants reign supreme in all realms of commercialism. A colored company owns a chain of drug stores. There are no colored groceries or general stores.

Perhaps the insurance companies and loan associations were the most ambitious Negro enterprises in Ohio during the decade. The Supreme Life and Casualty Insurance Company was organized in Columbus in the immediate post-war period.

By 1922 Supreme Life was attempting to engage in operations throughout Ohio and in West Virginia, Arkansas and the Dis­ trict of Columbia.And, in 1928, the Company opened a

^^Allen, “East Long Street," The Crisis, XXV (November, 1 9 2 2 ), 14.

^^Dabney, Cincinnati's Colored Citizens, 141-142.

^'^The Crisis, XVIII (November, 1919), 348 and XXV (November, 19" ^ , 32-33. 150

Cincinnati Branch office in a building which it purchased 1 O at a cost of five thousand dollars. In addition, Negro enterprisers of Columbus owned the Columbus Industrial

Mortgage and Security Company, the Adelphi Loan and

Savings Company and the Credential Mortgage Company.

In Cleveland the Empire Building and Loan Association,

The Cleveland Finance Company and the Anchor Life In- 20 surance Company were Negro owned enterprises. The Star

Building and Loan Association had been the only Negro banking institution in the state when it was inforporated in Toledo in 1915»^^ The newspapers owned and edited by Negroes were note­ worthy. Many such enterprises were started during the period from the late nineteenth century to the end of the nineteen-twenties. There was little difficulty in initiating a newspaper but there were large obstacles in sustaining one. Thus, few of these newspapers were published success­ fully. Some printed only one or a few issues. Others con­ tinued publication for a few months or a few years. Only a handful1 maintained a continuous existence over a long l^ibid., XXXV (May, 1928), 161.

^^Allen, "East Long Street," ibid., XXV (November, 1922), 16. 20 Myers, "Questionnaire on Immigration and Emigration," Myers Collection.

^^The Crisis, VIII (May, 1914), 10; The Gazette, January 267T91Ô, 2. 151 period. These were small weekly newspapers which

carried news generally of special interest to the Negro

community. They were financed hy income received from

subscribers, commercial advertisers and, perhaps most

importantly, from political advertisers. The owners

and editors usually had sources of income other than

that obtained from the newspaper enterprise. The weeklies were in most instances operated solely by the

editor except for the aid of a secretary or two. Ordi­ narily the weeklies were printed by printing firms owned by white people although some Negro publishers maintained

their own presses. The Union of Cincinnati was one of the

successful weeklies. Wendell Phillips Dabney began printing

it in 1907 and thereafter published it continuously through

the nineteen-twenties. The Union had scores of relatively 22 short-lived competitors in Cincinnati. The Forum of

Dayton, the Gazette and the Union were the only Negro weeklies that had sustained long lives. John Rives founded

the Forum early in the century and published it through

the nineteen-twenties. The Gazette was founded in 1883.

Harry C. Smith, who became its first editor only a few

years after he had graduated from Cleveland's Central

^^Dabney, Cincinnati's Colored Citizens, 188, 190, 197- 198. 152

High School, soon purchased it from its original owners.

The Gazette also maintained continuous publication through the nineteen-twenties. Between 1885 and 1925 the Gazette had nineteen short-lived competitors in Cleveland.

Through most of the decade two other Negro weeklies com­ peted with the Gazette. They were the Cleveland Advocate, which had been published since the First World War and the

Cleveland Call. The Cleveland Call was founded in the early nineteen-twenties by George Morgan as an advertising medium for hair and beauty products which he manufactured.

Morgan sold the Call, a financial debacle, after a few years of intermittent publication. The new owners of the

Call were so disappointed with the project that most of them eventually withdrew from it. Still hopeful of oper­ ating a successful weekly the disappointed entrepreneurs launched the Post in the late nineteen twenties, but their previous experience was repeated. Then in 1928 the re­

sources of the Post and the Cleveland Call, both still

struggling to survive, were merged. Nevertheless, the

subsequent Call and Post was not financially successful 24 until the nineteen thirties. Several other weekly

^^The Gazette, August 22, 1925, 2. 24 "Cleveland's Call and Post," The Crisis, XLV (December. 1938), 391, 4047 153 newspapers were owned by Negroes in other Ohio cities during the nineteen-twenties. Among them were the

Columbus Weekly News and the Black and White Chronicle of Akron.

As for the Negro business and professional commun­ ity the decade was a relatively prosperous one for Negro workingmen. Industrial jobs which had been closed to

Negroes prior to the First World War were still open to them in the nineteen-twenties. Most of the industrial jobs which Negroes were employed to fill were still of the unskilled type. However, there were exceptional in­ stances in which Negroes were employed for skilled, white- collar and supervisory jobs in industry. For example, in 1 9 2 1 , the Jeffrey Manufacturing Company of Columbus employed Harry Alexander in its bookkeeping department.

The Liberty Garment Company and Manual Products Company of Cleveland employed scores of Negro women to operate power machines.During 1920 the Negro Welfare Asso­ ciation placed six personnel workers and eight foremen pQ in Cleveland area industrial establishments.

^Letter of N. B. Allen to the Columbus Daily News, December 9, 1925, Columbus Urban League Papers; Akron Branch Correspondence, NAACP Records,

^^The Gazette, January 1, 1921, 2.

2?The Crisis, XX (October, 1920), 290.

2Glbid., XXI (December, 1920), 82. 154-

Despite some progress, racial discrimination was widespread in many areas of employment in Ohio during the decade. For example, in regard to Cleveland in the mid-nineteen-twenties, Myers wrote:

We have many. . . graduates of the High Schools and Colleges, capable of office, banking and other commercial opportunities, but like every avenue which leads to the good, are closed in the face of negro /sic/ youth...... There is not a bank in Cleveland that employs any of our group as a clerk, teller or bookkeeper, scarce­ ly an office that uses any as clerks or steno­ graphers and no stores, though our business runs up in the millions; that employ any as sales­ women, salesmen or clerks. '

Housing conditions and demographic change, as well as economic conditions, were related to the continuing migration. Thus, the development of the Negro ghetto in the cities of Ohio accompanied the continued migration of

Negroes into Ohio. Whites moved out of the older sec­ tions of the cities and their places were taken by Negroes.

The demographic changes in Cincinnati illustrate this movement. Prior to the late nineteenth century Cincinnati's

West End was populated mostly by relatively long settled white families, some of whom were quite wealthy. Towards the end of the century these families began to move into the city's hilltop suburbs, while they were succeeded by

Eastern and Southern European immigrants. In the nine­ teen-twenties these families followed earlier residents

^^"Questionnaire on Immigration and Emigration," Myers Collection. 155 of the West End èn mass to the hilltop areas. Their places were filled by Negroes and some white hill people ZQ from West Virginia and Kentucky.-^ In reference to this phenomenon in Cincinnati, Dabney wrote: "In every locality, as Negroes increase, the whites diminish.

Before the black invasion, the whites retire and dis­ appear as snow 'neath the rays of the rising sun.

Dabney implied that whites moved in order to avoid

Negro neighbors. This was probably an oversimplifica­ tion of the movement. The whites moved from older residential sections which had been intensively used by different demographic groups. The fact that by the nineteen-twenties these areas were already "rapidly decaying" was probably one causal factor in the move- zp ment.^ By this time many of the white residents of these older decaying sections had acquired the finan­ cial resources to enable them to secure better housing in the more prestigious suburbs. In reference to

Columbus in 1922, for example, Allen wrote that "the

^^Ohio Writer's Program, Cincinnati, 224-229.

^^Cincinnati's Colored Citizens, 149.

^^Ohio Writer's Program, Cincinnati, 229. 156 desire of white people, with means to live in the fashionable suburban sections, causes sales of homes to Negroes over the protest of their white neighbors who object to living next to N e g r o e s , Undoubtedly, the entry of Negroes into such older residential areas stimulated the exodus of whites,

Negroes were generally restricted to these relative­ ly undesirable parts of Ohio's cities. In reference to

Columbus in 1921 a white observer noted:

, , , there seems to be an unwritten law which says exactly where they /Negroes/ shall reside. And while it does not always work, yet in the majority of cases it is very effective. The negro /sic/ has pro­ perty rights in every particular, but he does not always get to exercise them as he wishes. They /Negroe_s/ do have the right to choose where they wish to reside and if the property is available, nothing can keep them out, , , , However in the more de­ sirable localities the properties are not available...... The realty companies , , , will neither sell nor rent to negroes /sic/in more or less restricted districts, , , , , In many advertisements throughout the years 1919-1 9 2 0-1921- appearing in leading Columbus newspapers concerning the selling of lots, , , mention has been made that negroes /sic/ need not make applica­ tion as the companies will not sell to them,^

^^"East Long Street," The Crisis, XXV (November, 1922), 15. ^^Harshman, "Race Contact in Columbus," 21-22; 24, 157

Thus, the Negro residential districts in Ohio cities increased in geographical area and in population. However, the population increased at a much greater rate than did the area of the Negro districts. As the population den­ sity increased, the Negro districts assumed more and more the characteristics of the ghetto. The older sections of citiesIwith high population density occupied by Negroes experienced growing sanitation and health problems, fire hazards and crime, and, typical of sections with a high population density, rentals in these areas were high.

In the mid-nineteen-twenties the Cincinnati Better^

Housing League described the Queen City's Vest End as "a highly congested area built up with tenement and business houses, factories and railroads,In Cinninnati, the

League also stated: "There have been an exceedingly small number of new tenement houses built during the last ten years. So as far as new housing goes nothing has been done for the colored population except the houses built by the Model Homes Company ^Schmidlapp apartments^/,

^^The League added: "The houses in the suburbs /Negro area_s/ are not so congested and are of a better type, including many more single family houses with yards and fairly good conveniences," Dabney, Cincinnati's Colored Citizens, $82, 5Gibid,, 382, 158

Systematic surveys of Negro dwelling units in Columbus indicated that housing conditions of Negroes were far below the average for that city. ' Overcrowding in Negro areas was a serious problem in Cleveland. City Health Com­ missioner Harvey 1. Eockwood noted that there were single dwelling units in Cleveland that were occupied by fifteen to twenty people.^®

Serious health hazards accompanied the growing hous­ ing problems of Negroes in Ohio. Commissioner Rockwood reported that thé death rate among Cleveland Negroes in­ creased eighty per cent from 1920 to 1926 while the death rate among other Clevelanders remained nearly stable for 59 the same period.According to the Cincinnati Health

Department Negroes of that city accounted for twenty- seven and three-tenths per cent of tuberculosis deaths in 1 9 2 2 , twenty-eight per cent in 1925 and thirty and seven-tenths per cent in 1924 although they comprised approximately nine per cent of the city's total popula- 40 tion. The correlation between housing conditions and

^^Lendell Charles Ridley, "A Study of Housing Conditions Among Colored People of Columbus, Ohio," Masters Thesis, 1 9 2 0 ; Hew-Yi Cheng, "A Housing Study of the Negro of the City of Columbus, Ohio," Masters Thesis, I9 2 5 .

^^The Gazette, February 20, 1926, 1. 59ibid. ^Dabney, Cincinnati's Colored Citizens, 381. 159 health status was illustrated by the health record of the Negro residents of Cincinnati's Model Homes Company houses which were much more nearly adequate than the average Vest End housing. The Negro tenants of the

Model Homes houses had an average death rate of twelve and twenty-two-hundredths per cent per one thousand population for the period 1915-1924. This was less than a half of the Negro death rate in Cincinnati.

Public concern about the substandard health of the

Negro community as a whole in the cities of the state led to considerable discussion of the poor housing con­ ditions and to some limited attempts to improve them during the nineteen-twenties. Health education campaigns in Negro communities, however, were the basic means of dealing with the problem in this decade. For example, in Columbus, the Urban League had sponsored

National Negro Health Week since 1917. The Columbus

Urban League also maintained a Department of Health and

Housing which, among other things, distributed litera­ ture, presented health lectures, encouraged people to take physical examinations and immunization shots, and 42 to use dental clinics and other health facilities.

^^Annual Report of the Model Homes Company for 1924, in ibid. 583. IlÇ> Columbus Urban League, "Twenty Years of Service." 160

The crime rate in the Negro commimities also in­ creased as migration from the South accelerated and as the housing congestion worsened. A disproportionate number of Negroes were arrested and convicted for crimes. The white police and the white courts may have arrested and convicted Negroes more readily than they did whites. Yet the worsening conditions of the developing ghettos did cause social disorganization and crime. In Cincinnati, as in other cities, Negroes con­ tributed arrests and jail sentences out of proportion to their numbers in the nineteen-twenties. In the middle of the decade Dabney wrote that the "proportion of 44- colored criminals" in Cincinnati was "appalling." He explained: They /^the southern migrants/ crowded into the tenements, already over fulT, . . . in the West End...... The terrible congestion brought both sexes of all ages together, under conditions most favorable for the generation of immorality. Brought the vicious in contact with the virtuous. Drove the young men to the pool room, or with some young women to the theater, the dance hall and the saloon. The glaring poverty. . . permeated all phases of daily existence, entensifying its horrors, furnishing ever-insistent incentive to theft or harlotry. ^

^See Criminal statistics of the Cincinnati Police De­ partment for 1920-1 9 2 5 » in Dabney, Cincinnati's Colored Citizens, 598-399- ^ I b i d ., 147. 4^Ibid., 147. 151

The crime rate among Negroes in Cincinnati concerned the civic leaders of the Negro community. Early in 1923> meetings were held and ^ hoc committees were formed to deal with the crime problem. It was reported that prostitutes walked the streets, narcotics were peddled, and speak-easies and gambling houses operated openly in the West End. As many as six hundred people attended meetings on crime. The committees called upon the Mayor three times urging him, evidently to no avail, to crack down on vice conditions in the West End.^^ The number of Negro arrests in Columbus was also out of proportion. The rate of Negro juvenile delinquency was the highest for any ethnic group in the city. In response to this the Columbus Urban League urged the city police depart­ ment to cooperate with it in dealing with the problem. The result was the creation of the Friendly Service Bureau of the police department in 1923. The Bureau was given credit for a decline in the rate of delinquency among Negro youth in Columbus during the latter years of the decade.The crime rate among Negroes in Cleveland was likewise high. For example, one issue of the Gazette

^^Cincinnati correspondent. The Gazette, April 14, 1923, 1. ^"^Columbus Urban League, "Twenty Years of Service." 162 reported several murders committed in the area of Central and Scovill Avenues during the previous weekend and added:

'Speakeasies', 'Boot-leggers', 'dope sellers', prostitutes, gamblers, loafers, etc., are so numerous and work so openly and brazenly that it is not at all strange that here of late practically every Saturday and Sunday are al­ most as bloody days, with many crimes, as there were last Saturday and Sunday. They yell, curse and swear, using the vilest of language with the greatest impunity in the public high­ ways at anytime of the day or night, and in the hearing of women and children, too and little or no effort is made to stop them. It seems as if the police fear to say much if anything to them.

Illicit activity was so great in the predominantly Negro third police precinct that it was nicknamed the "Roaring

Third." Cleveland Councilman Peter Witt, who several years earlier had been special assistant to Progressive

Mayor Tom L. Johnson, excoriated Cleveland city officials for the lawlessness in the third precinct. Witt stated:

The vicious and criminal element operates in the 'Roaring Third' precinct through the connivance of city authorities. The police department has been built up by political machination. Its methods are obsolete. Beats are patrolled as they were in days before the telephone. There is one officer to every five privates. The department is not free. The 'Roaring Third' does not mean that the great majority of people in the district are

^^The Gazette, October 21, 1922, 2. 165

vicious, but that.the criminals are suffered to operate there. ^

As in other cities, the law abiding Negro citizens of

Cleveland sought more effective law enforcement. Thus, in December, 1927, "businessmen, taxpayers and citizen residents of the Central Ave. district" petitioned Cleveland officials for greater police protection in the "Roaring Third."50

Despite the inadequate character of rental housing open to Negroes in Ohio, Negroes were required to pay high rental rates. Clark L. Mock, Labor Commissioner,

Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, reported: "High and ex- horbitant rents are frequently being charged colored people in certain sections of the city /Cleveland/ resulting in overcrowding and the spread of disease."5^

Later Editor Smith noted: "... our people of this section [p i Cleveland pay higher rent proportionately, for the worst living quarters in the city, than is paid by members of other groups in other sections of the city...... Much of the property in this section of the city is owned by persons who have long since moved

^^From a speech before the Cleveland Freight and Tariff Association, December 2, 1927» in The Gazette, December 10, 1927, 2. 5*^Ibid., December 24-, 1927, 2.

5^Letter to James Weldon Johnson, 1925, NAACP Records. 164 from it, or never lived in the section. They are getting higher rents now than they would receive from newer and 52 better places. . . .' In Cincinnati the average rental of tenement flats occupied by Negro families increased from approximately four dollars per room per month in

I9 I8 to over seven dollars per room per month in 1925.

According to the Cincinnati Better Housing League the in­ crease in rentals for white tenants during this period was about the same; however, Negro tenants paid "higher rent 55 for similar accommodations.

In Cleveland, during the nineteen-twenties, there were sporadic bursts of interest and concern about substandard housing in Negro areas on the part of the city's civic and governmental leaders. This housing problem probably received the greatest attention in Cleveland in 1928. Early in April, E. J. Gregg, one of Cleveland's Negro city councilmen, began to focus public attention upon the problem through interviews which were published in the daily news­ papers.^^ Also, at this time. City Councilman Louis

Petrach, chairman of the council's committee on health and

^^The Gazette, April 14, 1928, 1.

^^Dabney, Cincinnati's Colored Citizens, 585.

^^The Gazette, April 14, 1928, 1. 165 sanitation, took a special interest in it. Petrach noted that scores of dilapidated buildings, which had been re­ peatedly condemned by the city, had neither been improved nor demolished. Petrach advised the council to have fire and sanitation ordinances enforced and recommended the employment of several more inspectors by the department of 55 sanitation. Late in April, Andrew J. Thomas, housing expert and apartment architect of New York City, appeared before the city council's health and sanitation committee.

Thomas prescribed a scheme, involving public and private cooperation, for replacing dilapidated and condemned housing with new apartments for middle income families. He admitted that his plan would not directly benefit the poor who then occupied shacks. They, he maintained, would be indirectly aided. Thomas held that the rooms vacated by the middle income families who would occupy the new apartment buildings could be rented by the poor who were then living in inade­ quate housing. In response. Councilman Petrach observed that although the city of Cleveland could condemn buildings and have them demolished it did not have authority to appropriate money for the building of such apartment housing.Thomas's scheme did not go uncriticized.

55lbid.. April 28, 1928, 5. 5Gibid.. May 5, 1928, 1. 165

Editor Smith wrote that it would not even indirectly benefit the poor. The problem, he said, was not one of a housing shortage. The poor occupied shacks and condemned buildings because they could not afford other rental 57 housing then available. Smith held.^' Subsequently,

Councilman Petrach urged the Cuyahoga County members of the Ohio General Assembly to promote state legislation which would give the city of Cleveland more power to deal with the housing problem.Late in May, the Cleveland

Women's Civic Association resolved to demand that the city take action on the housing and related problems. After a committee of its members toured the ghetto areas, Mrs.

Eva L. Griffin, Association President, stated: "I am shocked beyond words. I had no idea such conditions could exist in a supposedly enlightened city. The district 5Q is a breeding place for disease and crime.At the minimum the Association demanded that the city strictly 60 enforce building and sanitation ordinances. Late in

June, the city council housing committee met to consider

57%bid., 2.

58ibid., May 12, 1928, 2.

^^The Cleveland Plain Dealer, in ibid., May 26, 1928, 2.

GOlbid. 167 the problem with representatives of the civic and wel-: fare organizations, e.g., the Cleveland Anti-tuberculosis League. The outcome of the meeting was a provision for the appointment, by the council's housing and health committees, of a general committee to make a thorough investigation of housing and health conditions in the

Third Police Precinct.The result of this interest ' - and activity was more thorough enforcement of city codes on housing and sanitation later in the summer. A large number of condemned buildings were demolished by the order of the city at this time. No attempt was made to provide housing for those who had lost their living quarters as a result of this action. The city found it necessary to station police to guard the debris of the demolished buildings in order to prevent the homeless from using it to construct shacks.

The deteriorating housing situation in the state prompted middle income professional people to buy pro­ perty outside the Negro ghettos in previously all white residential areas. White people in these areas reacted by organizing to exclude Negroes by creating anti-Negro

G^Ibid.. July 7, 1928, 3.

G^ibid.. July 14, 1928, 3; July 28, 1928, 3. 168 housing covenants and by harassing new Negro neighbors.

Dr. Charles Garvin, physician and World War veteran, acquired property in the exclusive Wade Park section of

Cleveland in the summer of 1925» The property had been purchased by a white person and transferred to Mrs. Garvin, under her maiden name, after the previous owner had re­ fused to sell it to a Negro. When this was learned representatives of the Wade Park property owners met with

Dr. Garvin and tried to induce him to sell the property.

Dr. Garvin refused and stated that he intended to live

in the house which was to be constructed on the property.

On September 20, 1925» some two hundred Wade Park residents held a meeting for the purpose of preventing the Garvins

from occupying their house, which was then under con­

struction. A permanent organization was formed and

officers elected. Various speakers gave information about

Dr. Garvin's purchase or expressed opposition to residence

in the area by Negroes. A committee was created and given

instruction to seek the cooperation of Cleveland's Negro

leaders in finding a solution to the dispute. Two days

later this group met with an _ad hoc committee of Negro professional men, including attorneys Alexander H. Martin

and Clayborne George. The latter committee firmly

supported Dr. Garvin's intention to retain his property and 169 live in his house when it was constructed. A repre­

sentative of the Federated Churches of Cleveland, who was also present, stated that intelligence and character rather than color, should he considered in seeking solu­ tion for the issue. The conference was adjourned without fix agreement. Early in October, the Wade Park neighbor­ hood council made further attempts to exclude Negroes from the area. Members of the organization-resolved to restrict the sale of property to Caucasians only. The

sale of land and houses in the area was given over to a

committee, which was to investigate the background of a potential buyer. In the meantime, residents were requested

to remove the "For Sale" signs from their property. Also,

it was decided to collect money for a war chest to fight

attempts by Negroes to move into the neighborhood, by

buying property that might be purchased by Negroes. The

amount to be contributed by each member was set at

approximately one quarter of the annual property tax.

Also in 1 9 2 5 » Dr. Edward A. Bailey and Howard

Murrell bought property on Huntington Drive and Fairmount

^^Ibid., September 26, 1925, 1.

G^ibid., October 17, 1925, 1. 170

Boulevard, respectively, in Shaker Heights. In response to this some four hundred property owners met on September

2 5 » in the Shaker Heights High School Auditorium, At this meeting, a permanent organization, the Shaker Heights

Protective Association was formed. One speaker observed that "objections were not only to Negroes but also to

Jews and any other persons not satisfactory to the residents of Shaker Heights.Dr. Charles Haven Meyer, pastor of

Shaker Heights Community Church, suggested that a permanent interracial committee should be formed to meet such situa­ tions. He added, "To buy these people out at a profit is only paving the way for more cases of this k i n d . P r o ­ vision was made for the appointment of a committee to cooperate with the Van Sweringen real estate dealers in formulating a method to restrict all property in Shaker

Heights in order that all sales could be controlled by the established owners. All the residents of Shaker

Heights were urged to assist the real estate dealers in the effort to restrict the community. Provision was also made for a committee which would facilitate the creation of the restrictive covenant. Property owners of each street

^^Ibid., October 3» 1925» 1.

GGpbid. 171 were to be represented on the committee. The committee members were to obtain from all property owners signa­ tures on an agreement regarding the "general restrictive measures.Newton D. Baker, former Cleveland Mayor and former Secretary of War under President Wilson, played a leading role in the Shaker Heights Protective Association^® In 1926, some Negro residents of "Tin Can Alley" and "Tin Town", shack villages, attempted to find better housing in Dayton's West End. The West End Improvement Association was formed in response to this effort. All white members of the Association, some five thousand in number, as a requirement of membership, agreed not to sell, lease or rent their property to Negroes. The Asso­ ciation program included these elements: 1) certain streets in the West End were designated for whites or for Negroes only, and real estate dealers who sold property in designated white areas to Negroes were to have their names published and to be boycotted by members; 2) Negro children were to be removed from Roosevelt High School and new elementary and junior high schools were to be constructed in Negro areas; 3) a community center was

®^Ibid.; The Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 2?, 1923, 1 ( T : ------®®Ibid., October 29, 1923 (clipping), NAACP Records. 172

to be constructed in a Negro district; 4) arrangements

to limit credit for Negroes were to be made with Dayton banks and credit and loan associations and 5) Negroes who agreed to the Association's program were to be pro­ mised peace and protection.Some Negro business and

professional men supported the Association's program

in exchange for the Association's aid in securing a

community house for Negroes, but the Negro ministers of

Dayton expressed their opposition to the racially re- 70 strictive scheme in a statement issued to the public.'

The West End Improvement Association held its "for white

only" meetings in Roosevelt High School. The announce­

ment of the Association's meeting on July 13> 1927,

read; Are we going to let the Negro take the Vest Side? This is for you to decide. Don't wait until the Negro moves next doori All white residents of the west side should attend this meeting.'

Negro leaders of Dayton protested about this practice to

school officials. Subsequently, through action of the

Dayton Board of Education the Association was prohibited

^^Dayton Correspondent, The Gazette, March 5, 1927, 1.

7°Ibid., March 19, 1927, 1. ^Dayton correspondent, ibid., July 25, 1927, 1. 173

72 from using the High School buildings for its meetings.

Persons who sought better housing outside the ghetto in some instances were subjected to physical harassment.

In 1 9 2 4 , the Arthur Hill family was forced by white mobs to leave its recently purchased home in Garfield Heights.

The Mayor refused the Hills police protection on the grounds that the village could not afford to pay for it and because they "had no right to buy such a nice place.The family of Dr. Edward A. Bailey was harassed in a variety of ways after moving into Shaker Heights. An attempt was made to burn the garage, stones were thrown at windows, and gun­ shots were fired at the Bailey house. The family chauffeur had fired upon one of the vandals. When Dr. Bailey sought protection from Shaker Heights officials a police guard was stationed at the house. The policemen searched members of the family and its servants for concealed weapons every time they left or returned to the house.'74 UnderUi this treatment, the Baileys left Shaker Heights. 75

Dr. Charles Garvin and his family moved into their recently constructed Wade Park home on December 31» 1925.

"^^"Resume of Pacts in Case of Intimidation of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Hill," enclosed in letter of Harry E. Davis to James Weldon Johnson, September 15» 1924, NAACP Records; The Crisis, XXIX (November, 1924), 20.

'^^The Gazette, October 17» 1925» 2.

"^^Ibid., February 5, 1926, 2. 174

Several days later a vandal painted "KECK" in large letters across the front of the house. The police department of

Cleveland provided an investigation following Dr. Garvin's report of the incident.At the end of January, 1926, the

Garvin house was damaged by the explosion of a homemade bomb. Following the explosion Mrs. Garvin observed several men running from the scene. Subsequently, a police detail was assigned to guard the Garvin house. At this time. Dr.

Garvin was appointed as an assistant surgeon in the depart­ ment of genito-urinary surgery of the dispensary of the

School of Medicine of Western Reserve University and of 77 Lakeside Hospital.' Early in July, a second attempt was made to bomb the Garvin house. Again the police investi­ gated the incident and provided protection."^® The harass­ ment was an anguishing experience for the family; this was indicated by Dr. Garvin's sister, who wrote:

I am worried nearly half to death over the trouble my. . . brother is having...... People are advising that he put up a "For Sale" sign and sell out. I can't see this, he has made a home for himself and will stay there. All he wants is to be let alone...... His wife ^rs. Garvin/ was very brave the first time and may be nownqbut it is a terrible position to be placed in.

7^Ibid., January 16, 1926, 5- 7^Ibid., February 6, 1926, 1; Letter of Harry E. Davis to Walter White, February 8, 1926, NAACP Records.

?®The Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 7, 1926, 1; letter of Clayborne George to Walter White, July 20, 1926, NAACP Records. 175

Despite the harassment, which eventually subsided, the QQ Garvins remained in their Wade Park home.

Among other victims of such harassment was the family of Ozie Benson of Toledo. The Bensons moved into

a white neighborhood in 1929. Subsequently, all the windows in their house were broken and an attempt was made to burn it, and the previous white owner, who had

sold the property to the Bensons, was threatened with 81 mob violence. The accelerated migration of southern Negroes into

Ohio continued to affect the educational experience of

the state's Negro community. A high percentage of the migrant children had not made educational achievements

in accordance with their age or grade levels according

to Ohio public school standards because of the inade­

quate educational program for Negroes in the southern

states. This fact posed an educational problem for Ohio

schools and often led to problems of racial discrimination

for the Negro community. There was a diverse reaction to

the problem of educational retardation of migrant children

^^The Gazette. July 9> 1927, 2.

G^Ibid., September 21, 1929, 1. 176 by school officials of the state. The responses ranged from legitimate efforts to raise the educational achieve­ ments of the migrant children to attempts to use the situation to justify segregating Negro students in the public schools. Evidently most responses to the edu­ cational problems of the migrant pupils led to greater op racial segregation.

The branch pr^ident of the Cleveland NAACP charged: . . t o all intents and purposes Quthwaite and R. B. Hayes Schools are segregated schools with distinctive curricula that [ ^ o j not make fair allowance for advancement to Junior High and Senior High in the course of time."®^ The Cleveland Superintendent of

Schools replied:

. . . the basis of selection of pupils in these schools /Quthwaite and Haye_s/ is that of age only. That is, they are designed for pupils who are at least three years be­ hind that point in their school work where their age would naturally place them...... I realize that the colored people are exercised about segregation and I do not admit that segregation has been proved. op White racism remained the principal cause of racial separation in the schools. The academic problems of some of the migrant children only gave school officials an excuse to segregate all of them.

®^Letter of Charles W. White to R. G. Jones, March 22, 1927 (copy), Myers Collection.

®^Letter to R. G. Jones to Charles W. White, March 30, 1927 (copy), ibid., See letter of R. G. Jones to George A. Myers, March È3, 1927, ibid. 177

Cleveland's Negro leaders generally were convinced of the good intentions of school officials in trying to deal with the problem.

Similarly, in Dayton Negro migrant children were placed in special classes on the grounds that their edu­ cational achievements did not correspond to their age or grade levels. In 1925» Negro children attending Willard

Elementary School were consigned to basement rooms of the

school building and were required to use the rear exit.

The Parents Protective Association was organized in re­

action against this policy. A protest sent to the Dayton

Board of Education by the Association was ignored. Sub­

sequently, the parents organized and implemented a boycott

of Willard School. The boycott was ninety-five per cent

effective for over two months. The national headquarters

of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored

People sent Assistant Secretary Robert W. Bagnall to

Dayton to assist the parents' effort against the Board

of Education policy at Willard School. Bagnall and various

interested Negro leaders of Dayton led several meetings

at which several hundred dollars was collected in order to

support the movement. Subsequently, an attempt was made

to secure arbitration of the issue by a local judicial

official. However, the arbitration failed to resolve

the differences between the parents and the Board of 178

Education.®^

Opponents of racial segregation in the Dayton school system then focused their attention upon Garfield Elementary

School. The Garfield School was comprised of a main hrick building used exclusively by white children and teachers and two frame annex buildings used exclusively by Negro children and teachers. Negro students were required to attend the separate school and were not permitted to re­ ceive instruction with white students in the main build­ ing.®^ The separate facility at Garfield School had been established by the Board of Education early in the second decade of the century at the request of some members of the Dayton Negro community.®'^

Earl Reese requested the principal of Garfield School to admit his son, who was required to attend the separate annex facility, to classes in the main building. When the principal refused this request, Reese hired a lawyer

^Report of Assistant Secretary Bagnall to the national headquarters of the NAACP, in The Gazette, February 14-, 1 9 2 5 , 1; Dayton correspondent, ibid., September 1 5 , 1924-, I, September 20, 1924-, 1, September 27, 1924, 2, October II, 1 9 2 4 , 1; The Crisis, XXIX (November, 1924), 20.

®®Board of Education of School District of City of Dayton et al., V. The State, ex rel. Reese, Ohio State Reports, CXIV, 188-189. Dayton correspondent. The Gazette, May 16, 1925, 1. ®'^Dayton correspondent, ibid., October 11, 1924, 1. 179 and entered a mandamus suit in the local common pleas court. He requested the court to issue a mandamus writ which would compel the Board of Education to admit his OQ son to the main building of the Garfield School. After several months of inaction on the suit by the common pleas court Reese requested and received a dismissal of the case. He then filed a similar suit in the local court of appeals.

The leading Negro citizens of Dayton were seriously divided on this school issue. Some professional men and women, especially doctors, dentists, and teachers, opposed

Earl Reese's court suit and supported the Board of Edu­ cation's policy at Garfield School. Those who were in accord with the school board were organized in a group called the Hand of Ethiopia. Those Negroes who opposed

Reese's legal effort based their opposition mainly upon the contention that the Negro teachers at Garfield School would lose their positions if the separate annex classes were abolished by court order. This argument seemed to be supported by the Board of Education action toward the

Negro teachers. The Board implied that it would not use

Report of Assistant Secretary Bagnall to the national headquarters of the NAACP, in ibid., February 14, 1925» 1 ; Dayton correspondent, ibid., January 24, 1925» 1.

89Dayton correspondent, ibid., May 15, 1925» 1. 180

Negro teachers in integrated classes and held up the reappointment of the Negro teachers for the next academic year pending the outcome of the Reese case. The Board reasoned that if these teachers were reappointed and the courts ruled in favor of Reese, they would have to be paid full salaries although their services would not be used in the subsequently integrated classes. Eventually they were appointed as substitute teachers and were thus paid a substantially lower salary, although they taught full time, as previously, during the academic year 192$-

1 9 2 5 . Reese's supporters protested that the Board of

Education was using the Negro teachers as a "club" to force them to drop their attempt to integrate Garfield

School. Reese's efforts were supported morally and financially by the local NAACP, by the Alpha Phi Alpha

Fraternity and by a group of school parents. The Board of Education chose to regard Reese's opponents as being representative of the majority opinion on the issue in

Dayton's Negro community. The Dayton Board of Education filed a demurrer to

Earl Reese's mandamus suit in the court of appeals. The

^Report of Assistant Secretary Bagnall to the national headquarters of the NAACP, in ibid., February 14-, 192$, 1; ibid., January 24-, 192$, 1, May lô, 192$, 1, June 20, W F , 1, 2. 181

Board's demurrer claimed that separate classes were used because of the "backwardness" of some of the Negro pupils.

The appeals court overruled the demurrer, reasoning that

the "discretion of the board of education, . . does not permit segregation purely on the basis of race or color.

The Board appealed this decision to the Ohio Supreme

Court which unanimously affirmed the ruling of the Mont­

gomery County Court of Appeals.Subsequently, in 1926,

a school bond issue provided funds for the construction

of an elementary school in an all-Negro district of Dayton.

The Negro students of Mansfield's Bowman School were

segregated in 1925 following a large increase in the

number of southern migrant children in the city. This

was an innovation in Mansfield school policy. Although

a few of Mansfield's schools were composed of only white

pupils down to 1925 the remainder were racially integrated. Cleveland attorney Harry E. Davis registered a protest

9 Dayton News, July 4-, 1925, 9- Reese died a few days before this decision. His wife, Carrie, carried on the suit. The Gazette, July 11, 1925, 1.

9%oard of Education of School District of City of Dayton et al., V. The State, ex rel. Reese, Ohio State Reports, CXIV, 188-189.

95payton correspondent, ^he Gazette, May 22, 1926, 1. 182 with the Mansfield Board of Education and informed the national headquarters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People about this new policy?^

Previously, the Good Citizenship League, an organization

of Negro citizens of Mansfield, had expressed its opposi­ tion to the Bowman School racial segregation in a petition which had been presented to the Board of Education. Sub­ sequently, the Board, after “carefully considering" the petition, had reaffirmed its approval of the Bowman School policy.The following year Superintendent of Schools

Henry H. Helter asserted:

There never has been and never will be so long as I shall be superintendent of schools, any desire or purpose in introduce into the Mansfield Public School System the principal of segregation of colored pupils. . . . The organization of classes of colored children of the Bowman School was effected for the express purpose of helping and benefiting the colored children, a few of whom were slow and many of qzi Letter of Harry E. Davis to James V. Johnson, September 5, 1 9 2 5 » NAACP Records. ^^Letter of John H. Bristor, Clerk, Board of Education, Mansfield, Ohio, to John H. Davis, President, Good Citizen­ ship League, August 26, 1925 (copy}_ in Charles W. White and Clayborne George to V. T. Andrews, Special Legal Assistant, N.A.A.C.P., Report of Investigation, Mansfield, Ohio School Situation, May 22, 1931 (Hereafter cited as White-George, Mansfield School Report), ibid. White and George made a personal investigation in Mansfield on behalf of the NAACP national headquarters. 185

whom were far retarded behind the grades to which their ages and abilities would place them we have employed three fine colored teachers, , , ,

Attorneys Charles White and Clayborne George of the

Cleveland NAACP learned from the Bowman School Principal, through a personal interview, that white foreign immi­ grant and white southern migrant children at the school were not given special separate classes although they respectively suffered language barrier and educational retardation problems.White and George also learned that the Bowman School Negro pupils were confined to three rooms, were not permitted to enter other rooms and were not allowed to leave the building until the white students had been dismissed. However, no racial dis­ crimination was found to be practiced in the rest rooms or on the playgrounds.^® This situation at Bowman School continued through the remainder of the nineteen-twenties.

Although a part of the Mansfield Negro community protested

^ Letter to B. Harrison Fisher, August 14-, 1925 (copy), in ibid. Attorney Fisher (white) of Toledo had protested the situation to Superintendent Helter on behalf of the Good Citizenship League.

9?Ibid., 5.

9®Ibid., 6. 184 this school policy, White and George concluded: "Se­ gregation has the open endorsement of a part of the colored population; and probably the lethargic acquiescence of a majority of it."^*^

Similarly, in 1924-1925, the Woodlawn School of

Hamilton County placed Negro students in special classes under Negro teachers, apparently on the ground that the pupils were academically backward. Subsequently,

William Phillips, a parent of students in the special classes, requested a local common pleas court to issue a writ of mandamus ordering the school to admit his children to regular classes. The common pleas court declined to issue the order after holding that the

special classes were not racially discriminatory.

Thereafter, Phillips carried the issue to a court of appeals which sustained the decision of the lower court.

Then in March, 1925, the Ohio Supreme Court dismissed

Phillips' appeal to that body.^^^

The most sustained resistance to public school racial

segregation by a Negro community in Ohio occurred in

^%ansfield School Report, ibid.

^^^Letter of Courtland Lewis to R.W. Bagnall, December 10, 1924, ibid. Lewis was the Secretary of the Cincinnati Branch NAACP'. The Gazette April 4, 1925, 1, 2. 185

Springfield early in the nineteen-twenties. The

Springfield Board of Education refused to hire Negro teachers on the grounds that there was no Negro school in the city. Consequently, in 1920, a group of local

Negro women secured two hundred signatures on petitions favoring the establishment of a Negro school with Negro teachers. These petitions were presented to the Board of

Education, but this movement for a Negro school was evi­ dently stopped when counter-petitions containing about twelve hundred signatures were presented to the Boards.

Yet, in May, 1922, Superintendent of Schools George E.

McCord announced that a Negro principal and twelve Negro teachers had been hired for Pulton School in order to implement an "experiment of an all-colored school" during the following academic year. At the end of the 1921-

1922 school year all white students living in the Pulton

School District were "promoted" to other schools. The

Springfield Branch of the National Association for the

Advancement of Colored People protested by means of petitions and delegations sent to school officials. The

NAACP protest was ignored. This led to the creation of the Civil Rights Protective League, an organization designed to fight local school segregation. The League 186 held regular weekly meetings with addresses sometimes given by outside speakers, raised funds, and hired attorneys. The League attorneys filed a common pleas court suit requesting the court to enjoin the Board of

Education from making Fulton School an all-Negro insti­ tution contrary to state law. In the meantime, school officials claimed that the Negro community desired a separate school. The League promoted a boycott of the

Fulton School in order to counter this charge. Approxi­ mately one hundred local Negro women formed a pool of pickets which regularly picketed the school from September to December, 1923. The boycott was so effective that no more than about fifty of the approximately three hundred students enrolled in the school ever attended classes during this period. The opponents of racial segregation at Fulton School did not have the complete support of the Springfield Negro community, for the Board of Edu­ cation was supported by a faction led by the pastors of two of the city's leading Negro churches. In the autumn of 1 9 2 3 , however, the common pleas court issued a temporary restraining order against the Board of Edu­ cation's action and in December the common pleas court issued a permanent injunction against the operation of 187

Pulton School as a racially segregated institution. The

Board appealed the decision, and the issue was ended when a court of appeals dismissed the case early in 1924.101 The Civil Rights Protective League had borne the brunt of the Pulton School fight against the Springfield

Board of Education. The Springfield NAACP Branch had cooperated with the League. It had contributed finan­ cially to the League campaign fund and had exercised a voice in the selection of outside speakers who ad­ dressed League meetings. Robert W. Bagnall, Director of Branches, NAACP headquarters in New York City, had visited Springfield during the school campaign, as had a NAACP field secretary, but the national headquarters of the NAACP admittedly had not given its maximum support to the opponents of school segregation in

Springfield.1^^

In 1 9 2 5 » Shaker Heights discriminated against Negro students in a peculiar context. The Boards of Education of Shaker Heights and Beachwood Village had a contract l^llbid., September 16, 1922, 1, Pebruary 2, 1924, 1; ThelETsis, ZXVI (May, 1923), 25. 100 Letters of Sully Jaymes to R. W. Bagnall, October 4, 1 9 2 2 , Robert W. Bagnall to Sully Jaymes, March 1 7 , 1925 (copy). Sully Jaymes to R. W. Bagnall, March 14, 1923, NAACP Records. 188 under which the former had agreed to provide schooling for the latter in the Shaker Heights school system in exchange for tuition payments. The arrangement had heen made because Beachwood had no schools. Negro students of Beachwood were refused admission to tie Sussex School of Shaker Heights at the opening of the academic year

I9 2 5-I9 2 6 . Many of the Negro pupils had attended Sussex

School previously. The parents of the rejected children protested to the Boards of Education of both Beachwood and Shaker Heights and were not satisfied with the reply of either. Upon contacting Cuyahoga County school officials the parents learned that a separate school was being planned for the Negro children of Beachwood, Shbsequently, at the request of the Beachwood Board of Education, the

Cuyahoga County prosecutor filed a suit in common pleas court which charged that the Shaker Heights Board of Edu­ cation had violated its contract with that of Beachwood and requested the court to issue a writ of mandamus ordering the admission of the children in question to the Shaker

Heights school. The issue of race or color was not mentioned in the suit. The Shaker Heights Board argued that it was not required to abide by the contract because it had previously been violated by Beachwood. The common pleas court ruled against the Shaker Heights Board and 189 issued the requested mandamus order. Subsequently, a court of appeals upheld the common pleas court decision 105 and the Ohio Supreme Court refused to review the case.

In the nineteen-twenties the attitudes of white educators, parents and children about racial integration in the public schools ranged from hostility to apathy to sympathy. As previously noted there was evidently greater acceptance of integrated schools in Cleveland than else­ where in the state. Negro students were enrolled in sixty-three of Cleveland's one hundred forty-two public schools in 1924.^^^ Over one hundred Negro teachers taught in schools of varying racial composition in

Cleveland.Yet, as late as 1928, only one Negro teacher was employed in a Cleveland school above the elementary level.Editor Smith of the Gazette, who was especially

^The Gazette, October 24, 1925, 1, October $1, 1925, 5, Noveinter 14, 1925, 2, June 19, 1926, 1; letter of Harry E. Davis to James Weldon Johnson, October 50, 1925, NAACP Records; The Cleveland Call, December 12, 1925 (clipping), ibid. ^^^Carlton H. Mann, Cleveland Public Schools, Division of Reference and Research, The Gazette, June 21, 1924, 1.

105proceedings Second Annual Conference of Ohio N.A.A.C.P. Branches, September 25, 26, 27, 1951, Columbus, Ohio, NAACP Records.

^^^Krawcheck, Negro in Cleveland. 190 opposed to racial segregation in the public schools, expressed general satisfaction with the fairness of

Cleveland Superintendent of Schools Robert G, Jones on the race issue.Generally, Cleveland school officials remedied the grievances protested by Negro leaders. For example, following a protest against such race labelling the Cleveland Board of Education voted to discontinue the practice of requiring students to designate their 1 QO race and religion on certain questionnaires. As the number of Negro students enrolled in Cleveland schools increased during the decade, leaders of the Negro com­ munity declared that Negroes were entitled to representa­ tion on the Board of Education. In October, 1926, and in

April, 1 9 2 9 , organized efforts were made to achieve the appointment of a Negro to fill a vacancy on the Board; both attempts failed although the latter effort involved several hundred people of both races. Negro representation on the

Board of Education was achieved, nevertheless, through the election of Mary E. Martin to the Board in November, 1929.

Mrs. Martin, the wife of attorney Alexander H. Martin, had graduated from Cleveland's Central High School and the lO^The Gazette. May 26, 1928, 2.

108,'Ibid.. March 7, 1925, 1, March 21, 1925, 5. 191

Cleveland School of Education near the turn of the century.

Subsequently, she had taught in schools in Aààbama, Arkan­ sas, and Cleveland.

Yet, Negroes were not fully represented in the

Cleveland public school system, and hostility to racial integration in the schools did exist in Cleveland.

Negroes were under-represented in school administration, which was to be protested later, and with exceptions were not employed as teachers above the elementary level, as noted above. David Pierce, a white junior high school teacher in Cleveland, noted the attitudes of white stu­ dents, parents and teachers were mixed on the issue of racial integration in the schools. Pierce surveyed his classes, composed completely of white students, on this issue. He learned that approximately half of them were

"decidedly prejudiced." The other half of the students

"felt the problem required intelligent and thoughtful consideration"; this group included "a small number in favor of equal rights for Negroes.Pierce held that

^ ^ % b i d . , October 15, 1926, 3, May 4-, 1929, 2, November 1 6 ,1 ^ 9 , 1. ^^^David H. Pierce was an active member of the Cleveland NAACP Branch. "White Children and Their Colored School­ mates," The Crisis, XXVI (June, 1923), 63. 192

Til •'children reflect the views of their parents." The answers given by Pierce's students revealed that "... colored children were only too frequently snubbed and 112 subjected to insults from their white classmates."

Similarly, he observed that racial "antagonism" was taught "in some instances by teachers.

The findings of a survey made by Harshman in 1921 indicated that Negro students were enrolled in all but two of Qolumbus's fifty-eight public schools. As few as two Negro students attended predominantly white schools, while Negro pupils constituted a majority of the enrollment in two schools in Columbus. Only

Champion Avenue School was composed entirely of Negro students.Harshman observed:

In the schools ^of Columbu^/ there is absolutely no restriction in regard to 2racia_l/ mingling. There is no segregation to certain sections of the school room for study periods nor during class recitations, except that done voluntarily, which is very seldom. During the. . . play period, which is supervised, all children play together . . . and only occasionally is mention made of the color line. . . . ll^Ibid.

^^^Ibid. ^^^Negro students comprised somewhat less than three per cent of the total enrollment of Pierce's school. Ibid., 64. ^^^"Race Contact in Columbus," 15»

^^^Ibid., 15-16. 193

On the other hand, he found widespread opposition to school integration hy white parents of school age children. His survey included eighty white parents chosen at random. All of those who replied objected to racial integration in the schools. All twenty of the Negro parents interviewed favored integration.

Of the one hundred and thirty Columbus teachers who responded to Harshman's survey only fifteen favored racial integration in the schools. Harshman gave some of the typical comments of the teachers who opposed integration, including the following, of which he wrote:

Miss 'L', principal of 'L' elementary school, says that the negroes /sic/ and whites cannot be properly educated intthe same building. She says further that she is urging them to petition for a school of their own which will be conducted along industrial lines since they are not capable of adjusting.to the present curricula of the schools. '

During the nineteen-twenties Negro students attended at least a dozen of Ohio's public and private colleges and universities including Akron University, Case

Institute of Technology, University of Cincinnati,

Oberlin College, Ohio Northern University, Ohio State ll^Ibid., 17. l^^Ibid.. I8-I9 . 194

University, Ohio University, Ohio Wesleyan University,

Otterhein College, University of Toledo, Western Reserve 118 University and Wittenberg University. No substantial changes occurred in the status of Negro students in the state's colleges and universities although some color line breakthroughs were made. For example, in 1924, a

Negro earned a degree in electrical engineering at the

Ohio State University, a field which Negroes had pre­ viously been discouraged from entering at that insti­ tution.In 1928, Bernard Young, Jr. was named managing editor of the Ohio State Lantern. Young thus became the first Negro to hold such a position on a student news- 120 paper at an integrated university in the United States.

Some of the private Ohio colleges continued openly to maintain a for-white-only policy. An official of Western

College for Women at Oxford informed the National Asso­ ciation for the Advancement of Colored People that that 121 institution was "exclusively for white women."

^^®List compiled by the author from The Crisis, August educational issues for the years 1920-1929. ll^The Crisis, XXVIII (July, 1924), 110.

IZOihid.. XXXV (December, 1928), 412. ^^^Ibid., XX (July, 1920), 14?. 195

Ohio University allegedly had a rule which discriminated against the admission of Negroes from southern states, i.e., a regulation which excluded from admission all students who were not eligible for admission to a uni­ versity in their own states. Negro students at Ohio

University asked the executive secretary of the Columbus

Urban League and others for help in having the rule 12? changed. Eventually, in March, 1929» Cleveland''s Negro state representative and leading Negro citizens of

Columbus and Dayton protested against the rule before a joint finance committee of the Ohio General Assembly.

The number of Negroes enrolled in and graduated from

Ohio's institutions of higher learning increased during the decade. The growth of Negro enrollment in colleges and universities is illustrated by the fact that in 1928 two hundred fifty Negroes were enrolled at the Ohio State

University, sixty-four at Oberlin College, forty-nine at

Western Reserve University and forty at the University 124- of Cincinnati. The number of Negro graduates from

^^^Letter of N.B. Allen to Dr. C.C. North, April 1, 1926 (copy), Columbus Urban League Papers.

^^^The Gazette. March 16, 1929» 2.

^^^The Crisis, XXXV (August, 1928), 260. 196 institutions of higher learning ranged from one to twenty-four per year during the decade. Several M.A.,

M.D., D.D.S., L L.B, and other graduate and profession­ al degrees were earned by Negro students at the Uni­ versity of Cincinnati, the Ohio State University and 129 Western Reserve University.

129 ^Statistics compiled by the author from The Crisis, August educational issues for the years 1920-19^9. See Chapter I for statistics on Negroes in Ohio Colleges from 1914-1 9 1 9 . CHAPTER V

WHITE SUPREMACY

An ■undercurrent of nativism and white racism had existed in American life prior to the nineteen-twenties.

These attitudes had become particularly noticeable at various times when they had manifested themselves in especially remarkable ways. The nineteen-twenties was

such a time. Nativism and racism were expressed in national immigration restriction legislation, the trial

of Sacco and Vanzetti and in the growth of the Ku Klux

Elan. In Ohio these attitudes were manifested in the

activities of the Ku Klux Klan, racial violence and in­

creased racial discrimination in public places.

D-uring the nineteen-twenties white Ohioans still

candidly expressed their assumption of white supremacy.

For example, the editor of a reputable Cincinnati daily

newspaper, writing in reference to immigration restric­

tions legislation, favored the exclusion of Japanese

immigrants but was willing to welcome "people from all

197 198 white lands.Yet, white Ohioans generally failed to recognize their prejudice; most of them probably sin­ cerely believed that they were not anti-Negro. In fact many white people in the state did have a paternalistic

sympathy for Negroes mixed with their white supremacy

attitudes. A classic expression of this attitude was given by a middle class white woman in a letter of in­

quiry about the activities of the Columbus Urban League to the president of that organization, who was also the pastor of her church, the First Congregational Church

of Columbus. She wrote:

The Negro problem is one which we should all get together upon as it seems as if it may be a very ugly one to bequeath to our children. I said the other day (thoughtlessly) 'The Columbus Urban League is one Philanthropy to which I would not subscribe as the Negroes are spoiled already" but I am open to con­ viction. The deepest^sympathy is of course due them and I have read mahy an article by DuBois which wrung my heart, but when I see how his teachings of race equality (that they must stand upon their rights to get anywhere) is putting them on the defensive and wiping the care-free smile from their faces I cannot help siding with Booker Washington's theories as being best for& their 'pursuit' of happiness.' It seems to me there has been a definite propaganda at work along the former lines; whether emanating from their churches or from

^The Cincinnati Enquirer, April 27, 1924, 6, May 5, 1924, 6. 199 your League I do not know, but I do know the kind-hearted, willing, happy worker has gone and instead we have an imitation of the white race at its worst and a suspicious unkind spirit of rivalry. I have two colored girls working for me doing the housework and because they are of the best type of their race they have seemed illuminating. They have been up from Louisville two years and when they first came they were so kindly and so cheerful, but I have seen a dis­ tinct change in their attitude-towards service- not at all towards me, for I am fond of them and they are fond of me. I have the utmost confidence in their honesty and decency. They are good-I was about to say 'Christian girls', but is it Christian to begrudge service and consider certain tasks beneath one? Christ's washing of the feet proves not. Of course, their lack of an intelligent view of the matter I make allowance for, but is it right to make them unfit for and discontented with manual labor? It is really amusing. These girls of mine are big strong healthy girls but they think because I occasionally lie down in the after­ noon it is the thing to do so up they go leaving me to the mercy of the telephone and door bell. I have never had white girls refuse to help in housecleaning time and these girls had they followed their natural kindly instincts, would not have done so, but they felt they must 'stand on their rights', so let me work all day alone while they did their regular tasks only and went to their rooms for two hours every afternoon. They used my front door for themselves and their callers until I forbade it and then re­ sented it. To be sure I could give no real reason for not permittin^/ it, but if your Christianity carries you that far does it stop this side of intermarriage? At any rate the comfort of Negro servants is gone with this 'chip on the shoulder' atti­ tude. Demanding as they do, equal wages with whites, I feel as if I would never have them again. Is it doing them a kindness to make so 200

many employers feel the same way? It is not only in household labor that this attitude manifests itself. I only speak of that which I know most intimately. Ha’arsay evidence is abundant everywhere. Any one who uses the Long Street cars can testify that the aggressiveness of the Negroes demonstrates the need of a school of manners and Christian kindliness rather than equal rights. Have not most of them more money than it is good for them now? My girls spend nearly as much for their clothes as I do and certainly think of little else. They have a superficial smattering of learning which they like to air but their end and aim of existence is to get through 'work' and to be 'out.' To be sure discontent and unrest are the faults of the age, but is your organization fostering or lessening them? What are you giving the Negroes to take the place of their happiness if you are not giving them the ideal of service? I feel confident you must at least be trying to give them that but what then is the strong influence opposing it?

During the early nineteen-twenties the Ku Klux Klan gained a substantial foothold in Ohio as in other mid- western states. The Klan first began to recruit in Ohio through a base of operations in southwestern Indiana.

As early as the autumn of 1920 the Klan was organized at

Springfield. Dr. Charles L. Harrod, a Columbus dentist and first King Kleagle in Ohio, organized the Franklin

County Klan. Harrod's Columbus office became the

^Fanny Fullerton Miller to Mr. Maurer, Friday, 25th, 1922 (copy), Columbus Urban League Papers. 201 principal recruiting headquarters of the Ohio Klan.

Klan organizers busily recruited across the state and had at least some success in all parts of Ohio. By

1927 the Klan claimed an Ohio membership of three hun­ dred thousand. Klan strongholds were in Summit County

(Akron), the Central Ohio region surrounding Franklin

County (Columbus), and the Dayton-Springfield area.

The Klan was also well entrenched in Pickaway, Washington, % Mahoning and Butler counties.^ Generally the Ohio Klan, with exceptions, was more anti-foreign, anti-Catholic and anti-Semitic than anti-

Negro. Although avowedly white supremacist and segre­ gationist, the Ohio Klan protested that it was not un­ sympathetic to Negroes. In order to demonstrate their

"love of the Negro" Klansmen occasionally made dramatic financial contributions to Negro churches. For example, in December, 192$, about forty Klansmen marched into a

Negro Baptist Church at Wadsworth and gave its pastor a IL one hundred dollar contribution. A similar demonstration

^Embrey Bernard Howson, "The Ku Klux Klan in Ohio After World Wax I," Masters Thesis? 1951 (hereafter cited as Howson, "Klan in Ohio"),. 21-32.

^The Gazette, January 5, 1924, 2. 202 was made by Klansman at a Negro Baptist Church in

Cincinnati in April, 1925.^ Ohio Klansmen even presumed to create a separate

Negro branch of the Klan. In March, 1924, Youngstown

Klan officials, through a Negro agent, Paul Russell, organized the Loyal Legion of Lincoln at an outdoor meeting on the edge of the city's business district.

Russell, who claimed to be a pastor from Atlanta, was placed at the head of the organization, which was to be national in scope with its headquarters in Youngs­ town. At the meeting an uncertain number of Negroes and whites witnessed the burning of a "fiery 'L'." In addressing the meeting Russell opposed social equality for the races and held that the advancement of the

Negro required cooperation between the Negro and "his white Protestant brethren." Abraham Lincoln had been chosen as the namesake of the organization because he had freed the slaves and because he was a Protestant.

The formation of the Loyal Legion of Lincoln, which Klan officials claimed was the first "Negro Klan" in the country, received national press notice.^ However, the

^The New York Times, April 11, 1925, section two, 19.

^Ibid., March 22, 1924, 12; The Gazette, March 29, i W T 1 . ------203

Loyal Legion of Lincoln almost immediately became defunct when Grand Scorpion Russell, who it was learned was an ex-convict, apparently absconded with funds collected from white Klansmen to finance the organization.^ Occasionally Klansmen openly demonstrated against Negroes. For example, in February, 1923» Klansmen in white sheets harassed four Negro families in Cleves. They fired several gunshots and attached notes to the doors of each of the Negro homes. The notes warned the families to leave town "by nightfall" and were signed "KKK."® Also, in 1923» Klansmen burned "fiery crosses" in the Negro section of Q Urbana. Substantial anti-Klan sentiment existed in cities such as Cleveland, Akron and Cincinnati which had sizable Catholic, Jewish and Negro populations. A Klan chapter was organized in Cleveland in July, 1921.^^ Subsequently, Cleveland's Mayor and City Councilman were "bombarded" with anti-Klan protests from Catholics, Jews and Negroes.

^Letter of D.D. Dancy of Youngstown to Harry C. Smith, March 24, 1924, ibid., March 29» 1924, 1; ibid. , April 5, 1924, 1.

^Ibid. , February 24, 1923» 3. ^Writer's Program of the Works Projects Administration in the State of Ohio, Urbana and Champaign County, 105.

^^The Gazette, August 6, 1921, 2, August 27, 1921, 3» 204

A resolution condemning the Klan was introduced in City

Council by Councilman Jacob Stacel and seconded by

Thomas Fleming, still Cleveland's only Negro Councilman.

Speaking before the Council in favor of the resolution,

Mayor William S. Fitzgerald said:

I learn that it /the Klan/ is anti- Catholic, anti-Negro. It will be a hotbed for stirring up race and religious prejudice. I cannot imagine a more vicious organization. I shall use all of my power to keep it from getting a foothold in Cleveland. This is a city of dozens of different nationalities, many different creeds and different colors. We have just gone through a world war in which the value of unity. . . was proved...... I will not wink at an organization which now plans to disorganize the community. I repre­ sent no one creed, nationality or color. I represent the entire city. There is no place here for such an order.

The anti-Klan resolution was passed unanimously by the 12 City Council. Yet the Klan continued to exist in

Cleveland during the decade. Similarly, in April,

1921, a committee of the Cincinnati Branch of the National

Association for the Advancement of Colored People per­

sonally requested the Mayor to "use allmeans in his power to suppress the Klan" in Cincinnati.In response

^^Ibid., September 3> 1921, 1.

^^Ibih., September 3, 1921, 1. l^ibid., March 3, 1923, 3, June 26, 1926, 2, July 3, 1926, 3; The New York Times, October 25, 1924, 14, June 23. 192^ 2: ^^Report of the Cincinnati Branch N.A.A.C.P. for the Conference Year July 1, 1920, to July 1, 1921, NAAOP Records. 205

the Mayor "promised to use the full force of the police

department in case of lawlessness on the part of members

of the Klan" and issued a statement to the local press

which strongly condemned that organization.^^ Anti-

Klan sentiment was aroused in Akron over the issue of a

Klan meeting, featuring King Kleagle Harrod of Columbus, which was to be held at the Akron Armory on May 24, 1924.

Catholic, Jewish and Negro organizations including the

local NAAOP, complained against the use of public pro­

perty by the Klan for its Akron meeting, which was a part

of its 1922 recruiting campaign. In response to letters

of protest Governor Harry L. Davis blocked the use of the

Armory by the Klan. The Klan subsequently secured a local

Baptist Church as a site for its program. However, the

holding of the Klan meeting was finally blocked by a

court injunction issued at the request of George V.

Thompson, the Secretary of Akron's Negro branch of the

Young Men's Christian Association.^^

The Ohio Klan attempted to achieve its ends through

political activity. The Klan initiated its first serious

^^Ibid.

^^Report of Akron, Ohio, Branch N.A.A.C.P., June 18, 1 922, ibid., Akron Beaeon-Journal, May 25-25, 1922 in Howson, ""Klan in Ohio,*' $5• 206 political program in Ohio in 1923. Klan candidates were elected in various parts of the state, and five cities in the Mahoning Valley elected Klan mayors in 1923.^^ The

Ohio Klan also boasted considerable success in the state elections of 1924. In November, 1924, Ohio Grand Dragon

Clyde W. Osborne claimed that enough Klan candidates for the state House of Representatives and Senate had been elected to give the Klan control of the Ohio General

Assembly in 1925.^^ Later Osborne more modestly claimed.ai that forty-five members of the House were Klansmen.'19

It appears, however, that there were never more than 20 twenty Klansmen in the General Assembly. Yet, in 1923,

Klan state representatives introduced legislation which reflected their organization's anti-Catholicism, anti-

Semitism, and white supremacy attitudes. This proposed

^^The New York Times, November 6, 1923, 3, November 7, 1 9 % Ï ^, November 8, 1923, 1; Akron Beaeon-Journal. November 7, 1923, 1; Howson, "klan in Ohio," ?l-72.

^^The Gazette, November 15, 1924, 2.

^^Columbus Citizen, February 26, 1925, in Howson, "Klan in Ohio, " 74.

2°ibid. 207

legislation included bills which would have destroyed the

Catholic parochial school system by requiring all students to attend public schools, which would have excluded Catho­

lics from teaching in the public schools and which would have required Bible reading in the public schools. The

Klan had no success in passing these bills, except for the 21 latter which was vetoed by Governor Vic Donahey,

The Klan bill which most interested the Negro com­ munity of the state was that introduced by State Repre­

sentative George H. Roberts of Youngstown, on February 4-,

1925. Roberts' House Bill No. 218 would have prohibited ministers from marrying white persons to individuals of

other races and would have required a fine and imprison­ ment for violators. At about the same time the Klan se­ cured the introduction of similar anti-intermarriage bills 22 in the state legislatures of Iowa and Michigan. Editors

Wendell Phillips Dabney of the Union (Cincinnati) and Harry

C. Smith of the Gazette (Cleveland) used their newspapers

to urge the Ohio Negro community to fight the proposed

anti-intermarriage legislation. The Roberts' bill was

Z^Ibid.. 74-76.

^^Ohio House Journal. CXI (1925), 152; The Gazette, Pe'Grüâry È1, l ' ^ , T; ^ Crisis, XXIX Tl^rii, 1925), 251.

^^The Gazette, February 21, 1925» 1. 208

subsequently referred to the House judiciary committee, where it met substantial opposition from civil rights 24 groups and others, Cleveland's Negro State Repre­

sentative Harry E. Davis organized delegations to speak against the bill at its hearing before the judiciary committee on March 4 , 1925. Representatives of the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored

People branches of Chio, including Chio State University

Sociology Professor Herbert A. Miller of Columbus, the

Reverend H. G. Kingsley of Cleveland and Editor Dabney

of Cincinnati appeared before the committee, Mahoning

County State Representative Mrs, C. J. Ctt (white) also 25 spoke against the bill before the committee, ^ Cther

opponents of the Roberts' bill, including the President

of the Akron branch of the NAACP, wrote or wired the

judiciary committee chairman. The basic argument used

against the bill was expressed by a Columbus correspondent

of the Gazette, who wrote:

The thing that most concerns our people /ahout/ the introduction of the ^anti-inter- marriag_e/ bill is the fact that as a law it

Z^obio House Journal, CXI (1925), 172.

^^The Gazette, March 7, 1925, 1, March 14, 1925, 1; Letter of iT, B, Allen to Dr, Herbert A, Miller, February 26, 1925, Columbus Urban League Papers,

^^Telegram of Samuel T, Kelly to Hon, Justin V, Harding, March 2, 1925 (copy), NAACP Records, 209

would harm our girls and women most.* Those who would he so unfortunate as to he taken advantage of hy any white youth or man could not compel him to give her child a name, which only marriage can do. More, every white scoundrel, knowing this, would make our girls and women the main objects of their attacks and down would go the moral status of the race because it is determined most largely. . . hy our women. . . . '

Subsequently, the Roberts hill was permitted to die in 28 committee. When the hill had been introduced the activity of the Ohio Klan had already reached its peak.

In Ohio, in 1925, "the dissolution of the Klan began to gather momentum" and hy the end of the decade it was of 29 little significance in the state.

In comparison to other states, Ohio cities with the exception of Springfield, experienced very little violent contact between the races. In March, 1921, a race riot broke out; in Springfield for the third time in the twentieth century. In March, 1904, a Springfield mob had lynched a Negro, who had allegedly killed a police­ man, and had destroyed the "Levee," a Negro section of

^^The Gazette, March ?, 1929, 1.

^^Ibid., March 14, 1925, 1; letter of Harry E. Davis to James Weldon Johnson, July 15, 1926, NAACP Records.

^^Howson, "Klan in Ohio," 72, 95-96. 210 the city. In February, 1905, another mob in that city had burned another Negro section following the murder of a railroad worker. In both riots the state militia had been called upon to put down the disorder.The 1921 disturbance was evidently precipitated by an assault on an eleven-year-old white girl on March 7» A Negro allegedly had been seen in the vicinity of the assault shortly before the girl had been attacked. This allega­ tion and the physical condition of the girl, who was hospitalized, were reported daily by the local press.

Two days later a white mob formed befdre the jail in search of the assailant, who, it had been rumored, had been captured. The sheriff demonstrated that the rumored capture was erroneous by permitting a committee of the crowd to inspect the jail. On the evening of

March 10 a second and larger white mob formed in the

Negro business district and harassed basketball specta­ tors as they left the Negro Center Street Young Men's

Christian Association building where a game has been played. The next morning it was rumored in the Negro community that another mob planned to "burn out the Negro

^^Writer's Program of the Works Projects Administration in the State of Ohio, Springfield and Clark County Ohio, 55. 211 sections*' that evening, March 11, Elements of the Negro community prepared to defend themselves against the mob 51 which did become active. A Springfield correspondent of the Gazette wrote:

Every section of the city, in which theye were any number of our people, was organized for determined resistance to any mob that might molest them. Former soldiers of the World War were of especial service in forming the backbone of the various organizations. As on the preceding nights, the rioters gathered to carry out their threats but the activity of the police and firemen, who were called upon to assist, kept them from invading our sections: of this city where 'warm receptions' were awaiting them. While the rioters were being driven from place to place downtown, the only disturbance in our sections was when Pres. B. J. Westcott of the City Commission, City Manager Parsons and Patrolman Cody were fired upon as they attempted to enter the S. Yellow Springs St. district to assure our people that they would be protected. Fortunately, they were not hit. The firing was caused by fear of raids by auto parties. The officials were of co^se not known at the time the firing was done.^

Ohio National Guardsmen, who were requested of Governor

Harry L. Davis by Springfield officials on the night of

March 11, restored order. Subsequently, forty Negro and white men were fined for participation in the riots, and several were bound over to the grand jury for possessing

^^The Gazette, March 25, 1921, 1.

^^Ibid. 212 concealed weapons and one for carrying dynamite.

Racial outbreaks comparable to that in Springfield did not occur in other cities in Ohio, but racial tension occasionally did become evident in parts of the state.

For example, it was rumored in August and September of

1921 that whites were preparing to attack Negroes in

Newburgh, in the southeast section of Cleveland.The

"mob spirit" was fanned to a "fever heat" in Dayton in the autumn of 1927 by the death of a city policeman as the result of a battle between policemen and Negro law­ breakers. According to a Dayton observer "prejudiced whites and the police made it more or less uncomfortable, for several days, for all our residents of this city.

In response to this situation leading Negro citizens of

Dayton, including the president of the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored

People, expressed to the safety director of Dayton their disapproval of the action of the Negro criminals: "Re­ gardless of race or creed desperadoes, professional crooks or law breakers of any hue do not have the sanction of the better element of the Colored people. . . . we stand

^^Ibid., The New York Times, March 12, 1921, 1, March I3 , i9^rri3. ^^The Gazette, September 3, 1921, 1, September 17, 1921, 2. ^^Ibid., October 8, 1927, 1. 215 for law and order.Subsequently, Roy Freeman was arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of the Dayton patrolman. However, at a second trial. Freeman's conviction was overturned on the grounds that it had been based in part on a confession obtained by means of "third degree" police methods.

The racial attitudes of white ©hioans during the nineteen-twenties resulted in the continuation of blatant and thorough racial discrimination in public accommo­ dations. Indeed, it was commonly believed by contemporary observers that the color line in places of public accommo­ dation became more solid during the decade. The great majority of the Negro community bitterly accommodated to this situation, although many Negroes protested or took action against such discrimination.

In regard to "Prejudice in Public Places" in

Cincinnati, Editor Dabney, writing in the middle of the decade, observed:

. . . generally little personal prejudice prevailed /prior to the World War I migration/. The differentiation between dark and light Negroes . . . was often marked by similar difference in the treatment accorded them by

^Glbid.

57lbid.. March 30, 1929, 1. 214

the public...... They /the latter/often enjoyed the social advantages concomitant with inter-racial commingling. However, Negroes generally got to the point of being accommodated in saloons, restaurants and theaters...... Colored people used to go to Parker's Grove, the site of. . . Coney Island. All of the picnic grounds were open to them, the beer gardens, theaters, Over- the-Rhine resorts, the Zoo Cafe, dining room and most of the ordinary restaurants. In late years, however, the prejudice has grown by leaps and bounds until now. . . colored citizens general­ ly receive welcome, consideration or courtesy in but very fewgplaces of public welfare or ent ertainment.^

The principal theaters of Cincinnati continued discrimi­

nation on the basis of race. Yet as Editor Dabney noted:

"There are a number of smaller picture houses on West

Fifth Street whose prejudice against admission of colored

patrons has been removed by the scarcity of white patrons XQ and consequent diminution of box office receipts.

The theater color line led to the opening of two motion

picture houses in Cincinnati which were owned and operated

by Negroes.Occasionally Negroes moved against dis­

crimination in the city. For example, in 1921, Mrs.

Beulah Smith sued the local traction company and was

awarded five hundred dollars in damages for being called

^^Cincinnati's Colored Citizens, 145-146. 39lbid., 187-188. 4^Ibid., 188. 215 a nigger woman and ejected from a street car by its con- 41 duetor.

A fairly thorough investigation of racial contacts in Columbus was made in 1921. No discrimination on street cars was observed, but "The street car motormen and conductors report there is much dissatisfaction registered by the regular car patrons concerning the 42 mingling that is necessary in the street cars."

Although a few of the smaller hotels of Columbus accepted Negroes, "The leading hotels. . . namely

Deshler, Neil, Southern, Chittenden, Hartman, Virginia, Jefferson, Columbus and Norwich will not cater to Negroes in any regard. The contention of the managers is that they /Negroe^keep the respectable white patrons away.

The public and commercial parks were open to Negroes; however, those who utilized them were confronted with some racial discrimination, for example, the swimming 44 pools and dance halls were "closed" to them. All of

Columbus’ approximately two dozen motion picture theaters

^^The Union, in The Gazette, June 4, 1921, 2.

^^"Eace Contact in Columbus," 50-51.

^^Ibid., 52.

^ I b i d . , 52-55. 216 were open to Negroes. Although there was no racial segre­ gation in the motion picture houses located in Negro neighborhoods, the remainder of the theaters required

Negro patrons to sit in special sections, usually in the rear or in the balcony. These sections were con­ spicuously marked by signs which read "'Reserved,'

'No White Patrons in This Section,' 'Por Our Colored

Friends,' or just 'Please.Of the Columbus

Vaudeville Theaters, Keith's refused admittance to

Negroes while the Broadway admitted them on a segregated basis. The Hartman and the Lyceum, the city's two legitimate theaters, admitted Negroes but segregated iLf. them. It was observed: Negroes are free to enter all the stores of the city /Oolumbus/ with the exception of a few exclusive shops...... In a majority of the stores owned by whites, the Negro patrons do not always receive the same attention and consideration that the whites do. In some stores the management has said that they do not care for Negro patronage as it interferes with the more respectable white trade. '

Negroes were similarly refused service in most of the

^^Ibid., 35.

4^Ibid., 55-37. 4^Ibid., 40. 217

Colmbus restaurants. On rare occasions civil rights 2,0 suits were filed against such discrimination. Never- theless, flagrant racial discrimination in public accommoda- 2lQ tions continued through the decade in Columbus.

During the nineteen-twenties racial discrimination existed in the public accommodations of Cleveland although evidently to a lesser extent than in other Ohio cities.

Similarly, members of the Cleveland Negro community were more vigilant and were more active against such color lines than were Negro groups elsewhere in the state.

In 1921, William R. Green, President of the Cleveland

Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of

Colored People, protested against a recently initiated city police policy of not issuing arrest warrants for persons who violated the law against racial discrimina­ tion in public accommodations. In response to Green's protest Mayor William S. Fitzgerald ordered the appro­ priate officials to rescind the policy.A number of

Cleveland restaurants refused to serve Negroes or flagrantly discouraged their patronage. Often civil rights

^^The Crisis, XX (August, 1920), 196.

^^See letter of Mrs. J. F. Burrell to Nimrod Allen, September 17, 1926, Columbus Urban League Papers.

^^Ihe Gazette, June 4-, 1921, 2, June 11, 1921, 2. 218 suits were filed against the proprietors of such estab­ lishments. Some of these cases were won by the plaintiffs, 51 some were lost, and some were settled out of court.^

Most of the restaurants which practiced racial discrimi­ nation did so by refusing service to Negroes. Some dis­ couraged the patronage of Negroes by overcharging them for food or by requiring Negroes to pay a service charge 52 not required of white patrons.^ The suits against restaurants were usually filed by Negro professional people, especially lawyers, who had been discriminated against or who were especially interested in the enforce­ ment of the civil rights law. For example, attorney

Chester K. Gillespie wrote; "... Isadore B. Cohen of the Delicafe Co., 45 Public Square, on September 2, refused to serve me a meal, stating that by doing so he would injure his trade. This was at two p.m. At 3 p.m. the flying squadron of the Cleveland police department

5^Ibid.. July 10, 1920, 3, October 7, 1922, 2, July 25, 1925, 3, August 22, 1925, 2, September 5, 1925, 3, October 3, 1925, 3, September 22, 1928, 3, November 10, 1928, 2, September 21, 1929, 3.

^^For example, the manager of the Mills Restaurant was fined in a municipal court in 1929 for using a racially discriminatory service charge. Ibid., November 9, 1929, 3; see ibid., February 13, 1925, 2. 219 was taking him to jail."^^ Subsequently, Cohen was fined fifty dollars in a municipal court and later his wife, the actual owner of the establishment, was fined five hundred dollars in common pleas court under the

Ohio civil rights law. Gillespie observed:

I concern myself a great deal with these cases because I feel it my duty to make an example of some of these idiots who persist in deliberately violating your Ohio Civil Rights Law. If we people, who are supposed to know the procedure in such cases, do not take adequate action, we can hardly expect others of our people to make any c. effort to have their civil rights respected.^

Racial segregation was practiced in many Cleveland theaters, including the Stillman and Allen, despite 55 organized protest.No complete color line existed in Cleveland hotels. A contemporary observer noted:

"The hotel situation has changed here ^Cleveland/ with changing terms and management. No hotel admits a policy of exclusion and yet we have reports of refusals.

At the same time we hear of instances where accommo­ dations are afforded without question.Dr. Robert

^^Letter to Harry C. Smith, September 4, 1926, ibid., September 11, 1926, 1.

^^Letter to Harry C. Smith, January 25, 1928, ibid.. February 4, 1928, 1.

^^Ibid., June 16, 1923, 2, April 19, 1924, 2, May 24, 1 9 ^ ^ 2. ^^Letter of Harry E. Davis to Walter White, September 19, 1929, NAACP Records. 220

R. Moton, Booker T. Washington's successor as President of Tuskegee Institute, was one person who had difficulty in obtaining satisfactory hotel accommodations in

Cleveland. Dr. Moton was invited to speak to the Cleve­ land Chamber of Commerce in 1923• The Hotel Statler was willing to give him a room only with the provision that he "take his meals in it." Eventually, Dr. Moton was 57 satisfactorily accommodated by the Hollenden Hotel. '

Similarly, Miss Jane E. Hunter, general secretary of

Cleveland's Phillis Wheatley Association, was refused elevator service in the Statler Hotel, in 1925. She had been invited to the Statler by officials of the Cleveland

Community Chest Fund whom she was to address. Eventually, after refusing to use the freight elevator. Miss Hunter was escorted to the meeting in the passenger elevator by the hotel manager, who had first ordered all other occupants from the vehicle. According to the Gazette the Community

Chest officials "expressed heart-felt sympathy when Miss

Hunter finally arrived, in tears, in their .rooms in the hotel.Similarly, Dr. James W. Eichelberger, Jr. of

^'^The Gazette, March 3» 1923, 3-

^®June 5, 1926, 2. 221

Chicago was refused a room by the Cleveland Hotel in

1928. Dr. Eichelberger had previously made a reser­ vation by mail in preparing to attend the Cleveland

Convention of the Educational Commission's Inter­ national Council of Religious Education. Subsequently, he filed a civil rights suit against the hotel through attorney Gillespie. The case was settled out of court for a sum over three hundred dollars.

Ostensibly the Cleveland municipal parks and

swimming pools were open to all regardless of race, but Negroes who attempted to patronize the pools, for

example, the one at Woodland Hills Park, met violent reactions by white patrons. Upon the request of prominent Negro citizens of Cleveland, city officials promised to provide police supervision of the Woodland

Hills pool after racial disturbances there in the

summer of 1927.^^ Commercial parks continued racial

^^The Gazette, December 29, 1928, 2, January 25, 1929, 2/ — " ^^Eetters of George A. Myers to W. R. Hopkins, City Manager, August 9> 1927 (copy), Thomas W. Fleming to George A. Myers, August 11, 1927; Edwin D. Barry, Director of Public Safety, to George A. Myers, April 20, 1928, Myers Collection. 222 discrimination. Thus, Luna Park still refused admittance to Negroes, except on specified days.

Although racial discrimination in the public accommo­ dations of Ohio was uâtaially not challenged during the nineteen-twenties, greater efforts were made to break / the color line in this area than ini:the past. Por example, in 1920, the Toledo Branch of the National

Association for the Advancement of Colored People filed twenty-four civil rights suits involving racial discrimi­ nation in restaurants, stores and other public accommo­ dations and "secured satisfaction" in eighteen of them.^^

Late in the decade, the Akron Branch of the NAACP took action against blatant discrimination in several South

Main Street restaurants of that city. In the windows of these establishments were signs which carried such declarations as "We Cater Only to White Trade" and

"Colored People Served in Sacks Only, Please Don't

Sit Down.The Akron NAACP branch secured removal

^^The Gazette, August 11, 1928, 2.

G^The Crisis, XIX (March, 1920), 24?.

^^The Black and White Chronicle (Akron, Ohio), May 5, 1927 (clipping), NAAÙP Records; The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Akron Branch, Annual Report, 1928, ibid.; press release, Akron, Ohio, November 30, 1928, ibid. 223 of these signs in 1928.^^ Similarly, the Negro community of Zanesville protested to their City Council against the refusal by officials of Greenwood Cemetery to sell lots 65 in a new addition to Negroes.

As in the past, color lines were drawn in Ohio hospitals. Negroes were admitted to the lax-supported

Cincinnati General Hospital on a segregated basis. Editor

Dabney noted; "The patients, black and white, get about the same treatment, but the colored are segregated and the segregation is received by colored citizens here with the complacence usually accorded by them to such indignities."^^

Mary L. Hicks, who made a hospital survey in Cincinnati, estimated that eight-five per cent of the Negro patients 67 were cared for in the General Hospital. ' Cincinnati Health Commissioner Peters stated: "Not many beds. . . are available /for Negroes/ in private hospitals.

Negro physicians were excluded from practice in the city

^Ibid.

G^The Crisis, XIX (February, 1920), 213.

^^Cincinnati's Colored Citizens. 400; theoretically Negroes had access to all Wards in the General Hospital. See statement by Health Commissioner W. H. Peters, ibid., 380. G^Ibid.. 390. G^ibid.. 380. 224 hospitals. Consequently, as Miss Hicks observed; "In numerous instances, Negro physicians, failing to obtain accommodations for their patients in the hospitals, have kept those patients in their homes to the definite disadvantage of the patients.Similarly, in Cin­ cinnati, Health Commissioner Peters stated: "We have no training school for colored nurses and the colored physicians have no opportunity for postgraduate medical work or bedside instruction in the wards of any hospitals."7^ Mercy Hospital was founded and staffed by Negro physicians in order to compensate for the ex­ clusion of Negro medical men from the other hospitals of the city. Mercy Hospital was to serve paying Negro patients; however, it had a limited bed capacity, lacked income and did not qualify as a hospital under the

"accepted usage of the term hospital.By the end of the decade Mercy Hospital had succumbed to financial difficulties. Thus, in 1929» a group of Negro physicians sought the establishment of a tax-supported hospital to serve Negroes, but opponents of racial segregation

G^ibid.. 392.

7°Ibid.. 581.

?^8ee Hicks survey, ibid., 391. 225 complained bitterly about this hospital proposal.

Editor Dabney maintained that "the establishment of a city Negro hospital would mean the Tinal barring of all Negro patients" from Cincinnati General Hospital.

He added: ". . . if the Negro doctors haven't the courage or wisdom to gain entrance into a place for which they are taxed /General Hospital/ why should others condone their cowardice and bow to an undemo­ cratic custom and perpetuate prejudice by submission to a racial wrong?

No racial discrimination or segregation prevailed in the charity wards of Columbus hospitals, but few white physicians who had "respectable" patients would n.h treat Negroes.' Negro physicians were generally ex­ cluded from practice in the hospitals of the city, which similarly did not offer nurseds training to

Negroes. In response to this Drs. W. A. Method and

R. M. Tribitt had founded Alpha Hospital as a hospital for Negroes; however, after failing as a medical center,

7^The Union, in The Gazette, June 15, 1929, 1.

73ibid.

"^^Harshman, "Race Contact in Columbus," 4-5. 226

it was reorganized as a social agency, the Alpha

Hospital Association.

Negro physicians were virtually excluded from practice in Cleveland’s hospitals, which did not provide nurseds training for Negroes iwr did they use Negro in­ ternes. Consequently, the establishment of a hospital

staffed by Negro physicians was an issue throughout the decade in Cleveland. In 1921, the Cleveland Hospital

Association, a group of Negro physicians headed by

Dr. Joe T. Thomas, solicited funds for the establishment

of Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital. The venture did not reach fruition because the community did not support

it.*^^ In 1926, a second Cleveland Hospital Association was formed to promote the creation of a hospital for

Negroes. The Association included such prominent members

of the Cleveland Negro community as Alexander H. Martin,

William R. Green, Mrs. Lethia Fleming, Jane E. Hunter, 77 and Clayborne George.'' Members of the Cleveland Branch

of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored

People, as well as the Negro community as a whole, were

7^Allen, "East Long Street," The Crisis. XXY (November, 1922), 14.

Gazette, February 19, 1921, 3, February 26, 1921, 2.

77lbid., May 1, 1925, 2. 227 divided on the hospital issue.Robert W. Bagnall,

Assistant Secretary of the national body of the

HAACP spoke at Mt. Zion Congregational Church against the Negro hospital movement, but the Hospital Asso- 70 elation campaign for funds continued.'^ Early in 1927, the group promoting the Negro hospital, then called the

Mercy Hospital Association, claimed about one thousand members, who had each paid a one dollar membership fee.

The Association also hired a full-time publicity agent 80 to promote the campaign for funds. The Negro commun­ ity remained divided on the hospital issue. In March, the Cleveland NAACP branch held a meeting to discuss QT the Mercy Hospital topic. Branch President Charles

W. White reported:

^ Letters of Russell W. Jelliffe (Director of the Play­ house Settlement) to Robert W. Bagnall, May 7, 1925, and May 12, 1925, NAACP Records.

'^’^T h e Gazette, June 5, 1926, 2, August 7, 1926, 5.

GOlbid., February I9 , 1927, 3. ^^Letter of Charles W. White to George A. Myers, March 7, 1927, Myers Collection. 228

On the one hand it /Mercy Hospital/ is being bitterly opposed as a self-inflicted bit of Jim Crowism. On the other hand it is being espoused as a very much needed institution for the training of Negro physicians and nurses who at the present time have no such facilities for training anywhere in Cleveland. Its proponents argue that discrimination in one form or another exists in every large hospital in. . . Cleveland both against patients and Negro physicians. .... The proposed hospital would be opened to all races alike but would be manned and controlled /by Negroe^/. Its opponents fear that the effect would be to close the doors tighter in existing institutions against colored people; its proponents insist just as positively that it would not and that exactly the contrary has been experienced in other cities where similar hospitals have been opened. This issue is a red- hot one now and a campaign for two hundred thousand dollars is to be put on beginning May first. The Hospital Association supported its position by circu­ lating a pamphlet entitled “Does Cleveland Need a Negro

Manned Hospital?"®^ Meanwhile, others pressed a campgign against the establishment of a Negro hospital. George A.

Myers and Editor Smith were at the forefront of the attack

against the Negro hospital, and Myers informed his friend, 84 City Manager Hopkins of his sentiments on the issue.

82Letter of Charles W. White to R. W. Bagnall, March 28, 1927, NAACP Records.

83Enclosure, ibid.

84Letter, March 7, 1927 (copy), Myers Collection. 229

Myers and Smith, moreover, cooperated in an effort to discourage members of the white community from giving financial support to the Mercy Hospital campaign, which they regarded as a Jim Crow movement, Myers provided

Smith with the addresses of influential white men of

Cleveland to whom the latter sent issues of the Gazette which contained arguments against the establishment of a Negro hospital.The'Myers-Smith approach was evidently successful. The Mercy Hospital Association began to feel a financial pinch. Negro physicians who had supported the movement began to drop out of it.

In May, 192?,, the Association's publicity agent resigned after his salary had been cut. After June, 192?» no more was heard from the Mercy Hospital Association.

Subsequently, the issue shifted to the question of whether a branch of Cleveland City Hospital should be established in the East Side Negro community or whether

City Hospital should be forced to use Negro internes and provide nurses's training for Negroes. In June,

1928, Councilman E. J. Gregg, a Negro physician,

^^Letter of H. C. Smith to George A. Myers, March 28, 1927, ibid. ^^The Gazette, May 7, 1927, 3- 230

announced his intention of introducing in the City Council

a resolution providing for the formation of a City Hospital

branch on the East Side "to take care of the poor of that

district.Several days later Councilman Gregg intro­

duced his hospital resolution with the endorsement of City

Manager William R. Hopkins, hut the opponents of the defunct

Mercy Hospital campaign viewed the Gregg resolution also 88 as a "Jim Crow hospital scheme."

Meanwhile, attempts were being made to end racial dis­

crimination at Cleveland City Hospital. As early as

October, 1927, the Cleveland Branch of the NAACP had

begun a campaign to open the intern and nurseds training

programs at City Hospital to Negroes.George A. Myers

had informed the City Manager of his opposition to a

separate hospital and had advised him to end all racial

discrimination at City Hospital.In response the City

Manager had indignantly denied the accusation of racial

G^lbid., June 30, 1928, 2.

GGlbid., July ?, 1928, 2.

^^Eetter of Harry E. Davis to James Weldon Johnson, November 1, 1927, NAACP Records.

^O&etters to W. R. Hopkins, December 13, 1927, and January 25, 1928 (copies), Myers Collection. 231 discrimination and had expressed incredulity as to how'

Myers could have opposed additional hospital facilities for Negroes, which the City Manager had maintained were sorely needed.In July, however, a Negro physician.

Dr. John H. McMorries, was appointed to the staff of

City Hospital. Dr. McMorries held undergraduate and medical degrees from Howard University and had been an interne at Freedman's Hospital in Washington, District of Columbia. Since 1916, he had served on the staff of qp Lakeside Hospital, a private institution in Cleveland.^

Dr. McMorries was not the only Negro physician associated with hospitals in Cleveland. Thus, Dr. Charles H. Garvin had been for several years on the staff of Lakeside

Hospital where Dr. Stanley Brown was also a member of

the staff. Although Dr. Brown had graduated from

Western Reserve University Medical School he had to serve his interneship at Freedman's Hospital in Washington because no such training had been available to Negroes

in Cleveland. Two other Negro physicians were also

^^Letter of W. R. Hopkins to George A. Myers, January 31, 1928, ibid.

^^The Gazette, August 4, 1928, 3. 232 employed, in the Cleveland University Hospital System in 1929.9^ Editor Smith regarded Dr. McMorriesV appointment to City Hospital as an unsatisfactory attempt to placate those who were attempting to open the Hospital 94 to Negro internes and nurse trainees.^ The campaign against public hospital racial discrimination continued.

The local NAACP President requested the Director of

Public Health and Welfare to remove the bars against

Negro nurse trainees and internes at City Hospital, but the director maintained that he had no authority to act in this area.*^^ The next move of the opponents of hospital discrimination, in late December, 1928, was to fortify their position by making an investigation of

City Hospital. A committee of Nggro civic leaders, in­ cluding Councilmen Clayborne George and E, J. Gregg and

NAACP President Charles W. White, visited City Hospital.

Among other things, they found evidence of segregation of Negro patients. Subsequently, members of the committee

*^^Ibid., August 4, 1928, 5«

9^Ibid., July 28, 1928, 2.

^^Detters of D.8. Blossom to Charles W. White, October 24, 1928 (copy), and Charles W. White to Dudley S. Blossom, October 25, 1928 (copy), Myers Collection. 233 called upon City Manager Hopkins to inform him of the hospital segregation. Hopkins replied that "it was not the intention of the City to segregate patients on account of color," and Hospital Superintendent Parker J. McMillen stated that patients were integrated in twenty-three divisions of the hospital.The committee had visited twelve of the thirty-five hospital divisions. Council­ men George and Gregg stated:

In most divisions the committee found no appearance of segregation. In one division it found a modified form of segregation. In Divisions 16, 2 and ISnit found hold and flagrant segregation.™'

The Senior Nurses of the three divisions had told the committee that as long as they had held their positions patients had heen separated by race in their divisions, except when it was inconvenient to do so.^^ Subsequently, the City Manager ordered that patients were not to be segregated by race at City Hospital.It had been known

*^^The Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 5» 1929, 17; Ihe Gazette', January 1È, 1929, 3»

*^*^Letter to the Editor, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, ibid., January 12, 1929, 9Gibid.98 '^'^Cleveland Branch N.A.A.C.P., Annual Report of President, November 21, 1929, NAACP Records, 234 that City Hospital was not open to Negro internes and nurse trainees. But the committee also learned that the Hospital did not employ Negroes in any capacity.

This fact was particularly galling to the Negro community because Negroes were employed, some in- quite responsible positions, by St. Luke's, St. Vincent's (Charity),

Lakeside, Huron Road, Mt. Sinai Hospitals and Cleveland

Clinic, all private institutions.In March, Negro

Councilman Russell S. Brown announced that he intended to introduce in the City Council a resolution designed to

end racial discrimination in City Hospital unless the 10? City administration took action toward this end. No

such action was taken by City officials. Furthermore, in

August, the granddaughter of the Reverend Horace C.

Bailey, former pastor of Antioch Baptist Church of

Cleveland, was twice refused admission to the nurses

10°Ibid.

^^^Letter of George A. Myers to Harry C. Smith, January 5» 1 9 2 9 , The Gazette, January 12, 1929, 1.

lO^Ibid., March 16, 1929, 1. 235 training school of City Hospital.The Reverend Bailey contemplated court action in order to win admission for 10^ his granddaughter.

Meanwhile, Councilman E. J. Gregg continued to advocate the establishment of an East Side branch of the

City Hospital, staffed by Negroes.A number of Negro doctors supported Councilman Gregg on the issue.On

November 11, 1929, the City administration recommended to City Council that three hundred fifty thousand dollars of a proposed one million dollar tax levy be appropriated for an East Side branch of City Hospital. The recommendation was introduced in Council as an ordinance and referred to the finance committee.The bond question was discussed at the finance committee hearing of November 19. Council­ men Brown and George, NAACP President White, the Reverend

^^^Letter of Harry C. Smith to George A. Myers, September 4-, 1 9 2 9 , ibid., January 12, 1929, 1; see Gregg statement to Baptist pastors meeting in ibid., April 30, 1929, 2. lO^Tbid. , November 23, 1929, 1. ^^^Better of George A. Myers to Harry C. Smith, January 7, 1 9 2 9 , ibid., January 12, 1929, 1; see Gregg statement to Baptist pastors meeting in ibid., April 30, 1929, 2.

^^^Ibid., September 7, 1929, 1.

^^^Ibid., November 15, 1929, 2. 236

Horace C. Bailey and Phillis Wheatley Association

Executive Secretary Jane E. Hunter spoke against the financing of an East Side hospital by the City. While admitting that hospital facilities were needed, they refused to support a city hospital branch on the East

Side while the interns and nurses's training programs at City Hospital were closed to Negroes, Councilman

Brown stated: "The administration first should permit the training of Afro-American nurses and internes at City Hospital. This thing £an East Side City Hospital branch/ cannot . . . but end in segregation......

Before I vote for additional hospital facilities I want to see a policy adopted of giving colored internes and nurses equal opportunities. . . at the present City 108 Hospital." Subsequently, the question of bond financing of the branch hospital was permitted to die in committee.On November 25j Councilman P. W. Walz introduced a resolution in City Council designed to end racial discrimination at City Hospital.He had evidently been influenced by a recent trip to New York

^^^Ibid., November 23, 1929, 1. lO^Ibid. ^^^Ibid.. November 20, 1929, 1. 257

City and Boston where he had found no racial discrimina­ tion in public supported hospitals. Councilman Walz stated: "I found that in all of New York City-owned hospitals colored nurses and doctors work without regard to color. Boston's city Hospital adopted the same system a few months ago and authorities there say it has met with no criticism. The colored people are going to have their rights as citizens in the Cleveland City Hospital and I am going to help them get them.Thereafter, the court action planned by Editor Smith and others to gain admission to City Hospital's nurses's training program for the Reverend Bailey's granddaughter was postponed at the request of Councilan Brown, who advised 112 that the issue would be resolved by the City Council.

On January 13, 1930, the Council did pass the Walz resolution to "give all citizens the right to receive training as internes and nurses at City Hospital in accord with the provisions of the U. S. Constitution and the law of the State of Ohio."^^^ Subsequently,

Negro men and women were admitted to the Hospital's training programs for nurses and internes. l ^ Ibid.

^^%bid.. 2.

^^^Ibid., January 18, 1930, 1. 258

Negro Ohioans were also concerned ahout unfair treatment hy the state's daily newspapers. The Toledo

Negro community consistently sought unobjectionable treatment of Negroes by the local daily newspapers.

In 1 9 2 0 , representatives of the Toledo Branch of the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored

People met with newspaper editors on the subject. In

1 9 2 5 , another NAACP committee secured pledges from the editors of the three leading dailies that their news­ papers would not make objectionable references to

Negroes,And in 1926, each of these newspapers adopted the following rules governing items about

Negroes ;

1, This paper does not want to play up the fact that any person figuring in the news is colored, nor does it want to suppress the racial adjective in every case. The fact of color should not be stressed in the news but mentioned casually if at all, 2, The color is never to be used in a head­ line, 5 . The term 'Colored' is to be used when­ ever possible in place of 'Negro', 'Negress' must never be used, 'Black' is prohibited, 4, Whenever 'Negro' is used it must be capitalized. The word is seldom necessary, however, except where it is part of the name of an organization such as 'Negro Business Men's Club' , , , ll^The Crisis, XIX (March, 1920), 249 and XXVI (May, 192377 ^ ^^^The Gazette, February 13, 1926, 1, 259

The discrimination against Negroes was partially the

consequence of the undesirable image of them which was

created by the daily newspapers. It was stated:

A careful observation for a period of a year (December 1919) to (December 1920) was made of the leading daily newspapers, The Columbus Evening Dispatch, The Ohio State Journal and The Columbus Citizen. In all the above mentioned papers it has been noticed that the Negro gets an undue amount of publicity not concerning his commendable features or traits but rather his actions that might well be considered of an anti­ social nature. The press seldom fails to impress these things on the public by glaring headlines, while his commendable traits occupy a small and remote space that is seldom noticed. Seldom an issue appears but that this feature can be noticed.

Another survey of Negro news coverage by the leading

Columbus dailies revealed that fifty-five and seven-

tenths per cent of the items about Negroes during 1924

concerned vice and crime. 117 ' The surveyor also noted:

"Several articles were found in the /Ohio Stat_e/ Journal, and some few in the ^Columbus Evening/

Dispatch and /Columbua/ Citizen which may be classified 1 *1 O as flippant and ridicule of Negroes."

^^^arshman, "Race Contact in Columbus," 46.

^^^Rrather J. Hauser, "Treatment by Columbus Daily Newspapers of News Regarding the Negro," Masters Thesis, 1925, 9.

^^^Ibid.. 51. 240

The handling of Negro news by Cleveland daily news­ papers during the nineteen-twenties was criticized, al­

though the press had become fairer toward Negroes than

in the past. During the second decade of the century

Cleveland daily newspapers had commonly used such terms

as "Negress," "darky" and even "nigger" and had not

capitalized the word Negro. Also, the daily press had

occasionally carried cartoons ridiculing Negroes.

The Cleveland dailies also emphasized crime news involving

Negroes and published "scare-headline" front-page articles 120 about Negroes. Of the leading Cleveland newspapers it

was generally believed that the Plain Dealer treated the

Negro news with the most fairness. But even the Plain 121 Dealer had occasionally used objectionable terms.

Letters protesting unfair news treatment of Negroes had

sometimes been sent to newspaper officials. The Plain

Dealer received these complaints most sympathetically.

For example, upon receiving a complaint that his news­

paper had used the term "darky" the Managing Editor of

the Plain Dealer explained that he had not known that

^^^The Gazette, November 21, 1914, 5» January 20, 191?> 3, April 2l, 1917, 3, January 11, 1 9I8 , 2, March 22, 1919, 2. ^^^Ibid., October 11, 1919, 2.

^^^Harry C. Smith to Eric C. Hopwood, November 1, 1915, in The Crisis, VII (January, 1914), 126-127. 241 the word was objectionable arid added, "... the Plain

Dealer is anxious to do anything in its power to promote the advancement and progress of^egroe^/, .... it would not willingly use a word or do a thing which even by innuendo might do injury or bring in any degree into 122 disrepute so worthy a class of our population."

Nevertheless, thereafter, insulting references to Negroes had occasionally appeared in the Plain Dealer and the

Managing Editor had found it necessary to explain:

". . . in a paper with as many departments as the Plain

Dealer and with the more or less repeated shifting of the staff. . . ., these things will occasionally happen.

The best we can do is to keep everlastingly on the job

. . . . Plain Dealer General Manager Elbert H.

Baker, moreover, had promised George A. Myers that his newspaper would not use insulting references to

Negroes, but even in the nineteen-twenties such words — 124 as "negress" and "darky" appeared in the rlain Dealer.

During the decade, Paul Bellamy, the chief editor of the 1 pp Letter of Eric 0. Hopwood to Harry C. Smith, November 6, 1913, in ibid., VII (January, 1914), 12?.

^^^Letter of Eric C. Hopwood to Harry 0. Smith, The Gazette, January 11, 1919, I-

^^^Letter of George A. Myers to Paul Bellamy, November, 1 3 , 1929 (copy), Myers Collection. 242

Plain Dealer, welcomed complaints from the Negro community

and expressed the view that ordinarily newspapers should not make racial distinctions, except in such matters as

"race uplift.

^^^Letter to George A. Myers, November 14,, 1929, ibid. CHAPTER VI

DEVELOPMENT OP NEGRO WELFARE AND CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS

The Ohio Negro commuaity continued to use organiza­ tion as a means td achieve equal rights and improve the lot of the poor during the nineteen-twenties. Welfare organizations also continued their efforts to ease the problems of Negroes who had migrated to Ohio from the South. The emphasis of these organizations continued to be on providing aid in the areas of employment, housing and health.^ The welfare organizations also extended their services during the decade. The Columbus Urban League initiated auxiliary agencies including the Colored Big Brothers, the Colored Big Sisters and the Friendly Service Bureau. The Big Brothers and Big Sisters were organized in 1925 for the purpose of providing adult guidance to "semi-delinquent" boys and girls. Similarly, the Friendly Service Bureau, established in 1929, attempted, in cooperation with the police department, to prevent juvenile delinquency among Negro youth. Cincinnati's

^See above discussion of these areas for examples of such help. p Columbus Urban League, "Twenty Tears of Service."

24$ 244

Negro Welfare Association listed the following achieve­ ments: 1920 - Recreational program worked out, reaching nearly every /Negro community in the are_a/. . . . Industrial welfare work begun to help colored men and women get into plants and factories and make good. 1921 - Tennis courts established on Ashland Avenue. 1922 - Two day nurseries established. . . . 1923 - A Co-operative Summer Camp for children conducted. 1924 - National Negro Health Week Prize won by Cincinnati...... 1925 - A West End office opened. Survey of Children's Institutions made looking forward to improvement. National Inter-racial Con­ ference, . . . brought to Cincinnati,^ The Urban League of Canton opened a Community House in 1923. The House provided a center for welfare work and recreational activities and a headquarters for social groups. 4 George A. Myers's assessment of the accomplish­ ments of the Negro Welfare Association and the Phillis Wheately Association of Cleveland was equally valid for organizations interested in the welfare of Negroes in other Ohio cities. Myers wrote: "The Negro Welfare Association has accomplished some good, and in some degree creditable, but /i^/ so limited in its scope

^Dabney, Cincinnati's Colored Citizens, 223.

^The Crisis, XXVII (December, I9 2 3 ), 85. 245 that it is practically negligible to, the existing demand."^ The Phillis Wheatley Association, Myers added, was "doing excellent work, but /was_/ circumscribed by reason of inadequate facilities."^ The branches of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Akron, Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Springfield, Toledo and other cities in Ohio became more active than they had been during the previous decade.^ The NAACP branches of the state became more vigilant against racial discrimination, particularly Q in the areas of public accommodations and education. Nevertheless, vigorous action by NAACP branches was the exception rather than the rule. Typically the state's NAACP branches had periods of relative activity, as community interest and membership increased, which were succeeded by periods during which community interest declined and the branches consequently practically became

^"Questionnaire on Immigration and Emigration," Myers Collection.

^Ibid., see also Annual Report for the Year 1923, The Phillis Wheatley Association, Cleveland, Ohio Historical Society Library and a summary of the 1924 annual report of the Association, in The Gazette, January 17, 1925, 3. ^This fact is reflected in the increased volume of correspondence between the Ohio branches and the national headquarters. Author's survey. Q Examples of branch action during the decade are given throughout. 246 dormant.^ The Cincinnati NAACP branch became virtually defunct for a time during the decade.The Cleveland branch in the early nineteen-twenties was described by one of its prominent members as being "in a very bad way.Only thirty people attended its annual meeting of 1922.^^ Editor Smith of the Gazette held that three "drawbacks" prevented an increase in membership of the Cleveland and other local NAACP branches. These obstacles were first, that a high percentage of the income of local branches was used to pay the salaries of the national officers; second, "the abject failure of local branches, like the one in Cleveland, to be of real service" to their Negro communities; and third, poor management of their major activities. Community interest in the NAACP evidently was only aroused when the local branch was vigorously engaged in fighting a cause or

^See the Ohio Branch Files, NAACP Records. ^^See Dabney, Cincinnati's Colored Citizens, 188. ^^The Gazette, January 6, 192$, 2.

^^Ibid. .... l^ibid., May 26, 192$,2. 247 during publicized membership campaigns.In early 1926 the Cleveland branch collected a thonsand dollars in a campaign to raise money for the Legal Defense Fund of the national organization, Walter W. White and Robert W, Bagnail of the national headquarters visited Cleveland to arouse interest in the campaign.Also interest in the Cleveland branch was intensified through a determined two-weeks membership campaign with a goal of three thou­ sand members. Volunteers canvassed the community for members. Director of Branches Bagnall held a workers' dinner and meetings of various organizations. As an in­ centive organizations including tv;o hundred fifty NAACP members were to be rewarded with a free trip to the NAACP Annual Convention. The local Negro clergymen's association cooperated by naming May 30 "NAACP Sunday." The campaign resulted in five hundred six new members and a total sum of one thousand forty-two dollars in dues.^^ The follow­ ing year, 1927, Cleveland Branch President Charles W. White announced that the "adoption of a more aggressive attitude toward all forms of segregation and discrimina­ is See Dabney, Cincinnati's Colored Citizens, 188. ^^The Gazette, January 16, 1926, 3* l^lbid.. May 15, 1926, 3, May 29, 1926, 3, July 10, 1926, 2. 248 tion in Cleveland” was necessary.The Cleveland Branch did become more vigorous, e.g., in its effort to end racial discrimination at City Hospital. By the end of the decade the Cleveland NAACP was the most active branch 1 R of the organization in Ohio. The national headquarters of the NAACP ordinarily did not become involved in the affairs of the Ohio branches during the nineteen-twenties. National officials usually came to Ohio to promote local branch membership campaigns or to raise money for projects of the national organization but rarely to help resolve local civil rights issues. The inferior status of the Negro in the state led some Negro Ohioans into Black Nationalist organiza­ tions. Marcus Garvey, the Black Nationalist of the post World War I period, evidently had a considerable following in Ohio during the nineteen-twenties. 20

^^Ibid.. April 2, 192?, 2. ^®See Ohio Branch Piles, NAACP Records. ^^Por example, the limited involvement of the national headquarters in the Springfield Pulton School issue was exceptional. 20 Prom the evidence available it could not be determined even approximately how many Ohio adherents Garvey had or precisely what their ideology and programs were. 249

Divisions of the Garvey organization, the Universal

Negro improvement Association, were founded in Cin­ cinnati, Cleveland and other cities of Ohio. Garvey addressed Ohio audiences several times during the early nineteen-twenties. His Cleveland addresses in PI December, 1922, were described as "well attended."

Members of the Cleveland U.N.I.A. Division "and its many friends packed the church to the doors" for ?? another Garvey speech in September, 1923. In refer­ ence to the Cincinnati Garvey organization. Editor

Dabney, in middle of the decade, noted:

The Universal Negro Improvement Asso­ ciation, commonly known as the Garvey Move­ ment, has had a large following in /Cin­ cinnati^/. Its headquarters on George Street are always thronged with its adherents. Its founder, incarcerated by the United States Government, is regarded as a martyr, and as desperate efforts for his relief are con­ tinually made, the zeal of the members is kept at fever heat and Sir William Ware, the president, is strongly supported. ^

^^The Gazette, December 2, 1922, 3, December 9, 1922, 3.

^^Ibid., September 29, 1923, 3. See ibid., May 31, 1924, 1, for Garvey appearance in Cincinnati.

^^Cincinnati's Colored Citizens, 188. 250

Cleveland Division Number Fifty nine of the U.N.I.A. held its meetings in Haltworth's Hall and Liberty Hall early in the decade. In 1923 the Cleveland Division began a campaign to raise thirty-five thousand dollars pzi. to purchase a headquarters building.

The point of view of the Ohio Garveyites may be indicated by the remarks of Sir William Ware, President of the Cincinnati U.N.I.A. Division, before a political meeting sponsored by his organization in October, 192?.

President Ware said;

The Negroes' lamentable condition here ^Cincinnat_i/ is largely caused by sticking to preachers and the Republican Party. Many of them go to the Republican campaign managers, get about fifty dollars or a suit of clothes and say, solemnly, my church is with you. They tell us about Heaven. Nobody knows anything more about it than I do. If Christians are so anxious to go to Heaven, why do they send for doctors when they get sick? As far as Hell is concerned, we don't know anymore about it than we do about the other place. If any­ body has gone there they have never come back to tell us about it. Our white speakers are always talking about Abraham Lincoln and their black mammies. We are tired of that stuff. I don't know anymore about Abraham Lincoln than I do about Jesus Christ. I have heard that they have been here, but I have never seen either one of them. About

PA The Gazette. December 2, 1922, 3, September 29, 1923, 3- 251

Ku Klux. Why all white men are Ku Kliix, They all want white supremacy. We should be black Ku Klux. ^

The nature of the programs of the U.N.I.A, Divisions of

Ohio may be indicated by the activities of the Cleveland organization. Early in 1924 the Cleveland U.N.I.A. cir­ culated petitions requesting the President and Congress to support "the creation of an independent Negro Republic in Africa. This effort in Cleveland was a part of a national campaign of the U.N.I.A. to secure six million signatures on such petitions.In March, 1924, the

Cleveland organization held a meeting celebrating the return of U.N.I.A. Delegates, who had toured Europe and po Africa "in the interest of the repatriation of Africa."

In the spring of the same year the Cleveland Division heard an address by a national U.N.I.A. official on the topic "Reclamation of Africa by Negroes of Western

Civilization."^^ The U.N.I.A. Divisions of Ohio expressed political independence. For example, the Cincinnati

^^Reprinted from The Union, October, 1927, in W. P. Dabney, Chisum's Pilgrimage and Others, 21-22,

^^The Gazette, February 25, 1924, 5. ^^Ibid.. February 23, 1924, 3.

Z^Ibid.. March 22, 1924, 3.

^Ibid.. April 12, 1924, 3- 252 organization supported the Charter Party in 1927- 30

In 1928 the Ohio Garveyites endorsed the Democratic candidate, Alfred Smith, for President.By 1928 there were enough U.N.I.A. units in Ohio for them to hold a state convention in Cleveland.-^ The organi­ zation subsequently broke into factions and began to decline.

%Q Dabney, Cincinnati's Colored Citizens, 21.

^^The Gazette, September 29» 1928, 3.

32lbid. CHAPTER VII

INDEPENDENT REPUBLICANS

In June, 1920, Editor Harry C. Smith of the Gazette filed for the Republican nomination for Secretary of

State, and thus became the first Negro to seek a nomi­ nation for a state administrative office in Ohio in a primary election. His primary election opponents were

Secretary of State Harvey C. Smith, former Secretary of

State Charles Q. Hildebrand, and Harold C. Smith of

Elyria. Previously, the desire of the Negro community for a Negro candidate for a state office has been frustrated by the convention nominating mechanism. Editor Smith be­ lieved that he could win the Republican Party endorse­ ment over his three white opponents if two-thirds of the qualified Negro voters in Ohio should vote for him in the primary election. In deciding to run. Editor Smith had not consulted with the leaders of the various factions of the Republican Party in Ohio.^ He had met in conference

^The Gazette, June 19, 1920, 1.

253 254 with leading Negro citizens of Cleveland and Golumhns. -

Of those at the conference, Editor Smith wrote:

All feel that the present Secretary of State Harvey G. Smith's persistent refusal, for nearly two years, to give my people the clerical representation in that office they have iield under every other Republican Secretary of State for many years, except Charles Q. Hildebrant, makes it absolutely necessary that some one of my people should enter the contest. Acquiescing to their view of the matter, I decided to enter and have done so.

In reference to the neglect of Negro Republicans by the

Party's state officeholders in making appointments.

Editor Smith declared:

Intelligent colored voters of Ohio have reached the limit of their endurance in this matter, and in the primary contest propose to serve notice in a practical way to Secretary of State Smith and all other neglectful officeholders and members of the party that there must come an immediate change for the better or intelligent colored-voters will carry the fight into the elections.^

The daily press of the state and evidently most Ohio

Republicans failed to recognize the candidacy of Editor

Smith as an expression of political independence by Negro

Republicans. Editor Harry 0. Smith was believed to be a tool of a party faction which was opposing the re-nomina­ tion of the incumbent Secretary of State, Harvey 0. Smith.

% b i d . , June 19, 1920, 1.

^Ibid. 255

The questioning of the editor's motives was brought into

the open by the action of Thomas A. Goode, a Negro of

Golumbus. On June 25, Goode filed with the Secretary

of State an affidavit charging that Editor Smith's candi­ dacy "was not made in good faith" and that it was the consequence of "a collusion and conspiracy" to confuse voters by entering a candidate with a name similar to

Harvey 0. Smith and thus defeat him.^ Editor Smith denied the accusation, held that his candidacy was purely

a "race effort" and asked Goode to withdraw the affidavit, which he refused to do. On June 30, the Secretary of

State held a hearing on the issue during which the charge

of "bad faith" was repeated by Goode and denied by the

Editor and his legal counsel.^ Subsequently, Secretary

of State Smith ruled that the name Harry G. Smith could IL The implication was that Editor Smith was a dupe for the supporters of former Secretary of State Gharles Q. Hilde­ brant. Ibid., July 3, 1920, 1.

^Letter to Thomas A. Goode, June 15, 1920, ibid.

^Ibid., July 10, 1920, 1. Harold G. Smith of Elyria (white)had also filed for the Republican nomination for Secretary of State. When protests were also made against his candidacy on the ground that it was designed to con­ fuse voters he withdrew from the race. Thus no hearing was held for the Elyria Smith, Ibid., July 24, 1920, 1. 256 not appear upon the primary "ballot. Leroy H. Goodman and Henry L. Thomas, Negro attorneys from Golum"bus and

Cleveland respectively, carried the issue to the Ohio

Supreme Court on "behalf of Editor Smith. On July 16, the Supreme Court ordered the Secretary of State to n place Harry C. Smith's name on the primary ballot.'

Before and after the Supreme Court ruling the daily newspapers of Ohio implied or stated outright that Editor

Smith was a dupe in a ruse to defeat Secretary of State

Smith. The editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer took this view in an editorial entitled "Smith, Smith and Q Smith." The Columbus Evening Dispatch described Editor

Smith's candidacy as a "trick. Editor Smith, never­ theless, travelled the state seeking the Republican nomination. His campaign intinerary included speeches in Lorain, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Springfield, Dayton,

Columbus, Xenia, Toledo and Oberlin.^^ During the campaign Editor Smith received moral and some financial

7lbid.

^The Cleveland Plain Dealer, June 25, 1920, 12.

^The Gazette, August 28, 1920, 1.

^^Ibid., August 7, 1 9 2 0 , 5 . 257

support from the Negro electorate of Ohio. Evidently

A. Lee Beaty and John P. Bowles, Sr. were the only well known Negroes in the state who supported the candidacy

of Secretary of State Smith.Harvey C. Smith won re­ nomination in the August 10 primary election by a sub­

stantial margin. Yet, Editor Smith claimed a moral victory in the fact that he received sixty-one thousand 12 and eighty-one votes.

Two years later, 1922, Harry G. Smith became the first Negro to seek a gubernatorial nomination in an

Ohio primary election. On June 8, 1922, Editor Smith filed for the Republican nomination for governor of Ohio. He

explained that "for months, from all parts of the state, has come the call and insistent demand that we stand as a

candidate.He added:

During that time we canvassed the situation carefully, considered. . . all phases of the matter and finally decided to accede to the wishes of the great majority of our people and enter the race. It is our candidacy pure and simple.

^^Ibid., August 21, 1920, 1.

^^Ibid., August 14, 1920, 2, August 28, 1920, 1.

^^Ibid.. June 17, 1922, 1.

l^Ibid..•June 17, 1922, 1. 258

Negroes had organized to support a Negro for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Negro Republicans from Cin­ cinnati, Springfield, Dayton, Columbus, Xenia, Toledo,

Akron, Yomngstown, Sandusky, Zanesville and smaller cities had sent Editor Smith letters asking him to be their can- 15 didate for the nomination. He was their natural selec­ tion at this point in time. Editor Smith had taken the y initiative in seeking a state administrative office in

1920 and had won a remarkable vote. He was well known as the successful editor and proprietor of the Gazette for a period of thirty-nine years. In the eighteen- nineties he had served three terms in the Ohio House of

Representatives, where he had sponsored a public accommo­ dations law and an anti-lynching act. Furthermore, over the years Editor Smith had enthusiastically supported

Republican candidates for public office. But, in 1922, he complained:

The leaders of the /Republican/ Party seem determined to go on. . . ignoring our people's right to representation on the state ticket. Therefore it is up to us to get it in any honorable way we can and there is such a way. . . .

^^The Cincinnati Enquirer, March 30, 1922, 2; The Gazette April 8, 1$22, 1. l^ibid., 2. 259

The "way" Smith suggested was solid Negro support of his candidacy in the primary election.The editor of the

Gazette argued plausibly that he could win the nomination.

He noted:

Four years ago, the Hon. Frank B. Willis was nominated as the Republican candidate for governor of Ohio, receiving but 45,000 votes. Two years ago the editor of the Gazette received 61,081 votes as /a candidate for the Republican Secretary of State nomination/; over 15,000 more votes than Mr. Willis received in 1918. Remember there are more than 125,000 Afro- American voters.in Ohio and then draw your own conclusion.

The fact that there were eventually nine candidates for the nomination made his argument even more plausible.

The daily press and white Republicans took the

Smith candidacy of 1922 more seriously than they had in 1920. Columbus newspaper correspondent, James W,

Faulkner, reported that Republican organization men did not believe that Editor Smith would be nominated but feared that his candidacy would promote independent iq voting by Negroes. ^ A Cleveland newspaper reported that the Smith candidacy has "ceased to be a joke among

Republicans" and that "the Negro solidarity is being 20 shaken." The view that Smith was a pawn in an intra- l^Ibid. l^Ibid., April 1, 1922, 1.

^^The Cincinnati Enquirer, April 5» 1922, 5.

^^The Cleveland Plain Dealer, The Gazette, April I5 , 1922, 1. 260 party maneuver was revived. Republican Governor Harry

L. Davis of Cuyahoga County had decided not to run for . re-nomination in 1922. Thus, Carmi A. Thompson of

Cleveland won the backing of the Cuyahoga County Repub­ lican organization for the gubernatorial nomination.

Secretary of State Harvey C. Smith was also a candidate for the nomination. The supporters of Harvey C. Smith believed that the candidacy of Harry C. Smith had been promoted by the Thompson Cuyahoga County organization

in order to confuse voters by having two Smiths on 21 the ballot for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.

However, subsequently, Thompson's supporters declared

that "they gladly would join the forces of Secretary

Smith to eliminate Editor Smith and confine the primary 22 election contest to candidates of the Caucasian race."

Editor Smith campaigned actively and won some

enthusiastic support. Harry Clay Smith for Governor

Clubs were organized in Cleveland, Hillsboro, Barberton,

Akron, Cincinnati and Youngstown. He made campaign

speeches in Youngstown, Lorain, Cincinnati, Elyria, Barber­

ton, Martins Ferry and other cities in July and August.

^^The Cleveland Plain Dealer, June 9» 1922, 4-; The Cincinnati Enquirer, March 50. 1922, 2.

Z^Ibid.. April 16, 1922, 52.

^^The Gazette, July 1, 8, 15 and 22, 1922, and August 5 anTT2, 192É. 261

In Elyria he spoke to a large inter-racial audience in a public park. He spoke before a meeting at Cin­ cinnati's Metropolitan Baptist Church, which was jointly sponsored by the Universal Negro Improvement Association and the Hamilton County Negro Republican League. The standing-room-only audience responded to his speech 25 enthusiastically. Some churchmen supported Editor

Smith. Eor example, the Reverend P. A. Nichols of

Toledo declared: "Our choice for Governor is the Hon.

Harry Clay Smith of Cleveland. 1st because he is a

Republican; 2nd because he is competent to fill the position; 3rd because he is a member of the Negro race."^^

However, Editor Smith did not have the undivided backing of the Negro electorate of the state. Editor

Smith estimated that about fifty Negroes campaigned for 27 his white opponents. ' Thompson was endorsed by Mrs.

Harry E. Davis of Cleveland and Miss Hallie Q. Brown, instructor at Wilberforce University and prominent official in the National Federation of Negro Women's

Z^ibid.. July 29, 1922, 1. 25lbid. ^^Warren A.M.E. Church Bulletin, in ibid., July 29, 1922, 1. Z^Ibid., August 12, 1922, 2. 262

pQ Clubs, Editor Smith's Negro opponents argued that his candidacy made "enemies for the race" and that a vote for him would be wasted because a Negro had no chance of winning. He was also the victim of smears designed to curtail his popularity among Negroes. For example, it was alleged that he employed only white people in his newspaper office and that he was living PQ with a white woman. ^

The August primary election gave Carmi A. Thompson the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Editor Smith obtained a disappointing vote of a little more than fourteen thousand, but he did win the consolation of running sixth among the nine candidates and getting more votes than three of his white opponents for the ZQ nomination.^ Editor Smith's basic problems had been apathy and division among Negro voters, which were illustrated by the voting record of Cleveland's heaviest Negro election area. Ward Eleven. Ward

ZGlbid, July 22, 1922, 1, August 5, 1922, 1.

29lbid., June 24, 1922, 1, July 29, 1922, 1.

^^Ibid., August 12, 1922, 1. 265

Eleven gave Harry C. Smith twenty-three votes, Thompson fourteen and Harvey C. Smith three.Editor Smith was not entirely disheartened hy the election returns. He claimed that his campaigns in 1920 and 1922 had achieved a limited objective. As a result of his achievements in the two campaigns the Republican leaders of the state had been warned, he wrote: . . . that our people of Ohio have tired of being made political 'doormats' and propose . . . to force proper recognition /of Negroes/. . . . we are proving to the satisfaction of ” ALL something they, both black and white, would never heretofore admit and that is that the Afro-American vote of this state is many thousands larger than they thought it was and that it is large enough to nominate a candidate for the Republican State ticket. . . . .Several years ago we recognized the fact that it would take at least six years, three campaigns, like we have twice conducted . . . to convince the /Republican/ leaders as well as our own people that wïïat we have herein stated is true.

With a growing political consciousness of many thousands of Negro voters. Editor Smith added:

. . . it will not be long before the resent­ ment within the party will be 'Strong enough to result in the nomination of Harry C. Smith for a state office or in the securing to Ohio Afro-Americans the recognition so long arbi­ trarily withheld. The work shall go onj

^^Ibid.. August26, 1922, 2.

^% b i d ., August 19, 1922, 2.

^^Ibid., August19, 1922, 2. 264

Harry C. Smith did continue his effort to promote voting by Negroes and their recognition by the Republican

Party by seeking an elective state office. He filed as a candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor in the primary elections of 1924, 1926 and 1928.^^ In 1924, there was also a Negro candidate for the Republican nomination for Lieutenant Governor, George W. Shanklin.

Shanklin was born in Gallia County and had graduated from the public schools. He had attended Rio Grande College, had served in the Spanish-American War and had been elected as tax assessor three times in Gallipolis (1906-1912). In 1924 he was employed as a carpenter and contractor in

Springfield.Smith and Shanklin supported each other during the campaign. Shanklin campaigned in southwestern

Ohio while Smith concentrated upon the northeastern section of the State.^ They polled a disappointing vote in the

1924 primary.Editor Smith did not support former

^^Ibid.. June 21, 1924, 1, June.12, 1926, 2, and June 30, 1928, 2. ^^The Cleveland Plain Dealer, June 14, 1924, 1, 5; The Gazette, June 28, 1924, 1.

^^Ibid., August 9, 1924, 1.

^^Ibid., August 16, 1924, 2. 265

Governor Harry L. Davis, who had won the Republican gubernatorial nomination. The Editor maintained that former Governor Davis was endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan and that he had not denied that he was a member of that organization. On the other hand, Smith aided the

Democratic candidate for Governor, Vic Donahey, by re­ porting his statement that he would give Ohio's citizens "an honest, clean government in every branch. . . without prejudice as to race, color or creed.

Editor Smith ran fifth among twelve candidates for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in the 1926 primary elections, although he had not campaigned as xq vigorously as he had in the past.^^ Many Negroes opposed

Myers Y. Cooper and James 0. Mills, respectively the

Republican nominees for Governor and Lieutenant Governor

in 1926, on the grounds that they had allegedly anti-

Negro attitudes. Consequently, there was a greater degree

of political independence on the part of Negro voters in

1926. In the autumn of 1926 a non-partisan league of

Negro voters was formed at a meeting in Columbus. The

league, which elected Dr. E. J. Gregg of Cleveland and

^^Ibid.. November 1, 1924, 2.

39lbid., August 21, 1926, 1. 266 attorney Sully Jaymes of Springfield president and vice president respectively, claimed representatives from thirty-four counties,The state Republican organiza­ tion sought the support of Negro newspapermen in the campaign of 1926, as in the past. For example, the

Republican State Campaign Headquarters paid Editor

Smith's fare to Columbus in order that he might confer 41 with the campaign chairman. In conference with

Chairman Frederickson, Editor Smith said:

. . . that under no circumstances could or would he support Republican candidate for Governor Myers Y. Cooper and Republican candidate for Lieut. Governor James 0. Mills unless each furnished him a letter, over their own signatures, to the effect that they were not members of the Ku Klux Klan and had not been endorsed by that lawless organization; also that they would discontinue drawing the color-line in their businesses. Mr, Cooper in his real estate transactions and Mr. Mills in his chain of restaurais in the leading cities of the state.

Although Editor Smith was not given the requested state- I ments Republican State Campaign Publicity Chairman G. H.

Townsley asked him to publish political advertisements 40lbid. ^^Letter of Charles R. Frederickson, Chairman, Republican State Campaign Headquarters, to Harry C. Smith, October 11, 1926, ibid.. October 30, 1926, 1.

^^Ibid.. October 30, 1926, 1. 267 for Cooper and Mills in the Gazette. I n reply to

Chairman Townsley, Editor Smith wrote:

Permit me to assure you that a denial of civil rights in public places of entertain­ ment as is said to be the case in the Republi­ can candidate for lieutenant governor, James 0. Mills' chain of restaurants throughout Ohio is not atoned for by the employment of 2 2 7 , or 227 million 'colored' people. The same is true in the case of Myers K. Cooper, Republican candidate for governor; it is not how many]-'colored' men he employs but whether or not he is a member of the Ku Klux Klan and endorsed by that lawless organiza­ tion, as is repeatedly stated by the daily press of the state. . . and never to my know­ ledge, at least, denied by him. The statement has also been made and not contradicted that Mr. Cooper draws a color-line in his real estate dealings in Cincinnati. Under the circumstances, it is simply ridiculous to expect self and race respecting 'colored' men and women. . . to cast their votes for either of the two men. . . .

Dr. Joseph L. Johnson, prominent Negro Democrat of

Columbus, informed Editor Smith that the state Democratic campaign committee circulated one hundred thousand copies of his Townsley letter throughout the state prior to the election. Democratic, Governor Vic Donahey and

Democratic Lieutenant Governor Earl D. Bloom defeated

^^Letter, October 26, 1925, ibid. lllL Letter, October 21, 1925, ibid.

^^Letter of Harry C. Smith to Gov. A. V. Donahey, November 5, 1926, ibid., November 20, 1926, 2. 268 their Repuhlican opponents in the election of 1926.

Editor Smith held that Negro voters gave Donahey and

Bloom "the balance of votes" which insured their re- election.^^ Similarly, a Columbus correspondent of the

Gazette reported that many independent Negro Republicans did not vote or voted for Donahey and Bloom in reaction against the Republican candidates. He also stated that members of "Colored Democratic Clubs" of Ohio voted for 47 the Democratic candidates out of party preference. '

Both Donahey and Bloom recognized the support of Editor /I Q Smith and Negro voters.

In the primary election of 1928 Editor Smith ran fifth among six candidates for the Republican guber­ natorial nomination. He obtained almost seventeen thousand votes, although he had not engaged in an active campaign. The Republican nomination for Governor

^^Ibid.

^^Ibid., November 13, 1926, 1.

48Letter of Earl Bloom to Harry C. Smith, December 11, 1926, ibid., December 18, 1926, 1; Letter of Vic Donahey to Harry C. Smith, November 29, 1926, ibid., December 11, 1926, 1. ^^The Cleveland Plain Dealer, in ibid., September 1, 1 9 ^ % ------269 again went to Myers Y. Cooper. During the general election campaign of 1928 Cooper personally sought the aid of Editor Smith, which he had not done two years earlier.

Cooper, with the chairman of the State Repuhlican Executive

Committee and his Cleveland campaign manager, visited the editor in the office of the Gazette on October 15. In an attempt to win Smith's support Cooper "enumerated in detail. . . all the things he claims to have done for our people of his home city /Cincinnati^/ during his business career as a real estate dealer. . . 50 The editor then confronted Cooper with the charge that he had discriminated against Negroes, Cooper's response to the charge did not satisfy the editor who continued his opposition to the Republican gubernatorial candi­ date.^^ For example, he published an open letter written by a Negro teacher at Douglass School of Cincinnati who charged Cooper with using pressure tactics and harass­ ment to drive her and her sister out of a house which they had purchased in an area in which Cooper's real estate firm owned much property. 52 Furthermore, Editor

Smith advised his readers to vote for the Democratic

50lbid. . October 20, 1928, 2.

51Ibid.

^^Hettie G. Taylor to Whom It May Concern, October 15, 1928, ibid., October 20, 1928, 1. 270 gubernatorial candidate, Martin L. Davey,^^ However, the Republican State Executive Committee did have a

Negro bureau, headed by Baptist pastor E. W. Gurry of

Springfield, which campaigned for Cooper.Cooper was elected Governor in the Hoover landslide of 1928.

In 1920 most Ohio Negro Republicans, as most members of the party in the state, favored Warren G.

Harding as a favorite son candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, but Ohio supporters of General Leonard Wood put forward a slate of delegates in the

Ohio primary election of 1920. Ralph W. Tyler of

Columbus headed the Ohio Leonard Wood Colored Republican

Club, which campaigned for Wood convention delegates.^

Harding actively sought to counter the appeal of Wood to Negro voters of Ohio. The Wood forces had accused

Harding of making an address to *'lily-white" Republicans in Texas. Harding denied this accusation in a speech before the Negro Women's Republican Club of Columbus.

He said:

55lbid., October 27, 1928, 2.

^^Ibid., September 8, 1928, 2.

55lbid.. May 29, 1920, 2. 271

I don't believe in preaching democracy to somebody 5,000 miles away until our own house has been put in order. What's the use of fighting for democracy abroad before we have given democracy to everyone in America? Your people have made wonderful strides in all lines of endeavor and I have not the slightest doubt that the day will come when, in the South as well as in the North, your race will exercise the full rights of citizen­ ship. I want the colored boys who went to the front bravely to have everything- that is coming to them. Don't believe that statement that I spoke in Texas recently under the auspices of the lily-whites, I absolutely refused to enter the state until the invitation was indorsed by both 'lily-whites' and the 'black and tan' organizations,^

The Wood people also accused the Harding organization of forcing the withdrawal of Fred D. Patterson of Green­ field as a candidate for delegate-at-large to the Repub­ lican National Convention. Patterson was the head of one of the leading Negro business firms in Ohio, C, P,

Patterson Sons Company, builders of wagonsand automo­ biles,Before becoming connected with the Wood organi­ zation Tyler had encouraged Patterson to become a candi­ date for delegate-at-large, which he did as a protest against the lack of Negro representation upon the Harding slate of delegates, Patterson, who was nevertheless a

5Gibid., April 24, 1920, 1,

57lbid,, March 20, 1920, 2. 272

Harding man, withdrew his candidacy when he discovered that it was not widely supported by Negro Republicans and when Charles Cottrill of Toledo was placed upon the

Harding slate as an alternate-at-large.^^ In order to counteract the charge that he had forced Patterson's withdrawal Harding sought the support of Editor Smith, with whom he had been acquainted since I9OO when they served together in the Ohio General Assembly,Late in March, after a meeting with Harding in Cleveland's

Statler Hotel, Editor Smith reported that he and the

Senator had discussed "matters of racial interest, , , in an entirely satisfactory manner" and stated "our best candidate for the Republican nomination for the Presi­ dency is Senator Warren G. Harding,Thereafter, the

Gazette published matters favorable to Harding in the contest with Wood for Negro support in theprimary election,Also, Harding was endorsed strongly by

President Scarborough of Wilberforce, Editor Smith and

^^Letter of Fred D, Patterson to Ralph W, Tyler, March 10, 1 9 2 0 , ibid,, 1,

59lbid,, April 5, 1920, 2,

GOlbid,, April 3, 1920, 2.

G^See ibid,, April 24-, 1920, 2, 275 several other prominent Negro Republicans.Following the victory of his slate of delegates in the primary election Senator Harding expressed his appreciation for

Editor Smith's support and stated "The Gazette. . . . was a wonderfully helpful influence in having my position 65 fully understood by its large list of devoted readers."

During the election campaign of 1920 the state

Republican organization and the Harding campaign machine made strong appeals to Negro voters. The state Repub­ lican platform included an anti-lynching plank written by Wilberforce University President Scarborough, Charles

Cottrill of Toledo and Councilman Fleming of Cleveland.

The Harding organization had advertisements published in Negro newspapers. For example, one stated;

Harding's Greed for Humanity

Republican Candidates Stand for

Freedom and Equal Opportunity

A Square Deal

A Vote for This Ticket Opens the Door of Hope.^^

G^Ibid. . April 10, 1920, 1.

^^Letter to Harry C. Smith, June 2, 1920, ibid., June 12, 1920, 2. ^ I b i d . , July 17, 1920, 1.

G^ibid., September 11, 1920, 4. 274

During the campaign delegations of Negroes visited

Harding in Marion. For example, on September 10, over five hundred people representing the Morris National

Baptist Convention meeting in Indianapolis, the Boyd

National Convention meeting in Columbus and other churches met the Republican presidential candidate in his home town.^^ At about the same time Lethia

Fleming, wife of Councilman Fleming of Cleveland, was

appointed a member of the national women's advisory board of the Republican Party.

In response, Harding won strong support from Negro

leaders in Ohio. On September 15, in Columbus, a meeting

of Negro Republicans, headed by Councilman Fleming of

Cleveland and John C. Logan of Columbus, formed the Ohio

Progressive League. The League pledged itself "to do

all in its power for the election of Harding and Coolidge

and the state Republican ticket.President Scarborough of Wilberforce University won the appreciation of the

Republican national committee for his support of the

GGlbid., September 18, 1920, 1.

^^Ibid., September 11, 1920, 5.

GBibid., September 25, 1920, 1. 275 party ticket during the campaign.Editor Smith, who

had personal conferences with Harding in Marion during

the campaign, wrote a pro-Harding pamphlet which was

circulated throughout the Negro communities of the

North.

In 1920 the state Democratic organization sought

to take votes away from the Repuhlican ticket in Ohio hy arousing racial prejudice. During the campaign the

Ohio Democratic State Committee issued circulars entitled

"A Timely Warning to White Men and Women of Ohio" and

"White Folks Don't Forget Your Negro Brothers and

Sisters." The circulars, among other things, expressed

anxiety ahout the growing migration of southern Negroes

into Ohio, warned that Negroes were seeking social equal­

ity and implied that a vote for the Repuhlican ticket

was a vote for "Negro domination.The "A Timely

Warning" circular concluded:

An ominous cloud has arisen on the political horizon which should have the attention and consideration of all men and

^Letter of Harry S. New to William S. Scarborough, November 5» 1920, Scarborough Papers, Carnegie Library, Wilberforce University.

'^^The Gazette, October 30, 1920, 3, November 13, 1920, 5- '^^Ibid., October 23, 1920, 1, 2; Cleveland Branch Bulletin, National Association for the Advancement ot Colored People (November, 1920), I, No. 9> NAACP Records. 276 women before casting their ballots. That cloud is the threat of negro /sic/-domi- nation in Ohio. We see negro /sic/ newspapers in the State boasting loudly of the increased balance of power held by their race through the enfranchisement of their women. We find them openly predicting that full social equal­ ity will be insured them by the election of the Republican candidates. It is a well-known fact that the influx of negroes /sic/ from the South into the in­ dustrial centers of Ohio during the past years has been of such proportions as to give rise to a real race problem. Herded together like cattle and brought here by selfish employers to work in our industrial establishments, their presence has brought about serious con­ sequences in many of our cities. White workingmen in many communities own­ ing or paying for their homes in factory dis­ tricts can testify to the effect which the importation of these negroes /sic/ into the community has had upon the value of their properties. In many of our cities it is well known that the best residential districts have not been free from invasion of negroes /sic/. It naturally follows that the efforts upon the part of Republican candidates and leaders to further intensify negro /sic/ ambitions can only result in greatly"magnifying the evils v;e are already facing. Ohioans should remember that the time has come when we must handle this problem in somewhat the same way as the South is handling it, and in such a way bring greater content­ ment to whites and negroes /sic/. We should remember what history tells us of the days# when negroes /sic/ controlled the Governments in the South, the enormous expenditures and debts incurred, the indignities heaped upon white women and children, the vicious attempts of the South Carolina Negro Legislature to give every negro/#ic/ forty acres of land and a mule. 2 7 7

Men and women of Ohio, rally to the ballot box and give such a verdict as will forever rid Ohio of this menace to yourselves and your children.' It was also rumored during the campaign that Harding had

Negro forebears. The rumor originated in Ohio, but its authorship is uncertain.'^75 Negro Ohioans asserted greater independence in presidential politics in 1924-, when a vigorous attempt was made to win representation for Ohio Negro voters at the Republican National Convantion. The Abraham -Lincoln Republican Club of Dayton took the lead in the campaign to obtain such representation. In a memorandum addressed to the state party leaders the Dayton organization held that one of the delegates-at-large from Ohio should be a Negro on the grounds■that the increasing number of Negro voters in the state had been loyal to the party over the years and thus deserved representation at the convention?^ The adviser of the Negro Republican club of Dayton stated that his organization's campaign was given editorial support by the Negro press and encouragement by Negro

7^The New York Times, October 22, 1920, 2. ^Eugene H. Roseboom, A History of Presidential Elections,

7^To the State Executive Committee of the Republican Party at Columbus Assembled, November 22, 1925> The Gazette, December 1, 1925, 1. 278 organizations,The campaign included the circulation of petitions in support of a Negro delegate-at-large. On Nehruary 4, leading Negro Republicans of the state met in Columbus to discuss the subject at the request of the Abraham Lincoln Republican Club of Dayton. The conferens resolved to ask for a conference with the State Republican Executive Committee and for a Negro delegate-at-large, but both requests were denied by the Executive Committee.''77 Then, early in February, those who were chagrined by the failure of the state party to back a Negro delegate-at-large began a movement to organize independent Ohio Negro Republicans. Although not from Chio, there were Negro delegates at the Republican National Convention held in Cleveland in 1924. Thus, the Cleveland convention organization formed an arrangements committee, composed of George A. Myers, chairman, Charles W. Chesnutt, attorney Alexander

^^Letter of E. T. Banks to Harry C. Smith, January 21, 1924, ibid., January 25, 1924, 1. 7Gibid. ^^Ibid., February 16, 1924, 1. f^Ibid.. February 9, 1924, 2. 279

Martin and Jacob E. Reed, to provide housing and enter­ tainment for Negro delegates and visitors at the conven­ ue tion.' ^ Editor Smith and others urged the Negro delegates at the Convention to demand a reduction of southern repre­ sentation in Congress, repudiation of the 'lily-whites,' presidential appointments for Negroes, pardons for the Negro soldiers imprisoned after the Houston riot, Negro representation in Congress, abolition of segregation in the governmental departments in Washington, enactment of anti-lynching and educational bills and repudiation of RO the Ku Klux Elan. The actual appeals made to the re­ solutions committee by the Negro delegates were almost completely rejected and the issue of the Ku Klux K1an was ignored at the Convention, which nominated Calvin Coolidge.

The inaction of the Coolidge Republicans in these matters alienated many Ohio Negro voters. For example, the Gazette^criticized President Coolidge throughout the general election campaign and published information favorable to Democratic presidential candidate, John W.

?9ibid.. January 12, 1924, 5, May 5, 1924, 2. 8°Ibid., May 24, 1924, 2. Glpbid., June 12, 1924, 1, June 21, 1924, 2, June 28, 19^^2, July 5, 1924, 2, July 19, 1924, 2; Roseboom, A History of Presidential Elections, 410. 280

Davis and to the Progressive Party candidate, Robert M. LaPollette, Some alienated Negro Ohioans turned to LaPollette after his nomination in Cleveland. LaPollette made some statements which appealed to Negro voters, e.g., he made a clear-cut condemnation of the Ku Klux Klan. The Reverend Horace 0. Bailey, Peter Boult, Walter Brown and other Clevelanders organized the Inde­ pendent Colored Voters League of Cuyahoga County in August. The League decided to send LaPollette campaign material throughout the state. By September, the League was having nightly meetings. In the same month, the Reverend Horace C. Bailey toured Negro communities in many towns and cities of northeastern Ohio speaking for LaPollette at the request of local and state LaPollette campaign committees. Oswald Garrison Villard, Editor of the Nation and Vice President of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and old Cleveland Progressive Peter Witt, then a City Councilman, were among the prominent men who addressed the League meetings in September and October. League members spoke for La­ Pollette in Painesville, Akron and Springfield in late October.

^^The Gazette, August 30, 1924, 2, September 13, 1924, 2, September 27, 1924, 3, October 18, 1924, 1, October 25, 1924, 1. 281

At the September Emancipation Day ceremonies in Springfield James Weldon Johnson, Secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, urged Negroes to vote independently.®^ Editor Dabney of the Union in Cincinnati advised Negroes to

0/1 "vote for men rather than party." He added : "Having only recently become emancipated from Republican Party serfdom, I most fully realize the evils that have re­ sulted to our race from its ownership by that organi­ zation since the day the ballot was given them. Parties, like people, never respect their slaves."®^ Some Negro Ohioans evidently bolted to the Democratic ticket in 1924. A group of Negro students at Ohio University formed a Davis Club and campaigned for the Democratic presidential ticket. Lawrence T. Young, who headed the movement, stated: There is just a little group of us and we often discuss the political situation as best we know it and we talk about how we in­ tend to exercise our right of franchise. During the summer we have been condemning Coolidge because of his insulting segrega­ tion and his silence attitude in reference

85Ibid., September 27, 1924, 1

®^The Crisis, XXIX (November, 1924), 13. ®^Ibid. 282

to the Ku Klux Klan, and we decided to help Davis as much as in our power and to exert whatever influence we could in his hehalf. Ve, too, although young in politics, have come to. . . sense that we owe no allegiance to any party andothat what we want are men and not parties. Despite defections, prominent Negro Republicans in Ohio remained regular. Harry E. Davis, who represented Cuyahoga County in the Chio House of Representatives, backed Coolidge, although he advised Negro voters to be independent in local, state and Congressional elections. Wilberforce University President Emeritus Scarborough again worked vigorously for the election of the Repub- OQ lican presidential ticket. Miss Hallie Q. Brown of Wilberforce headed the national campaign for Coolidge QQ among Negro women. ^ By 1928 several Negro Republicans who had been active in presidential politics for years were dead or aging. Ralph W, Tyler of Columbus had died in 1921, Charles Cottrill of Toledo in 1924, Wilberforce University President Emeritus Scarborough in 1926 and George A,

^^The Gazette, Cctober 4, 1924, 1. B^The Crisis, XXIX (November, 1924), 12. 88 Prancis P. Weisenburger, "William Sanders Scarborough, Scholarship, The Negro, Religion, and Politics," Chio History (January, 1963), LIT, No. 1 (Hereafter cited as Weisenburger, "Scarborough"), 47.

^^The Gazette, August 23, 1924, 1. 283

Myers of Cleveland would live only until 1930.*^^ There- was evidently less interest among the Ohio Negro voters in the Herbert Hoover-Al Smith presidential contest of 1928 than there had been in previous national elections during the decade. Hoover had some Negro support in Ohio even before the primary elections of that year when former Governor Frank B, Willis was still a candidate for nomina­ tion as the Ohio Republican Favorite Son,^^ Editor Smith was among those who continued to urge independent voting by Negroes.^92 A1 Smith, who was popular among minority groups around the country, had some support from Ohio Negro voters. The A1 Smith League of Colored Voters of Ohio was formed in Columbus in the summer. Dr. Joseph L. Johnson, former United States Minister to Liberia, was elected president of the organization. Other leaders of the League resided in Springfield, Rendville, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Toledo, Columbus and Dayton. The purpose of the League was to promote Smith’s candidacy and that of any "such other officials as may be considered favorable to the progress and advancement of our people.

9°Ibid., June 11, 1921, 1, November 29, 1924, 1; Weisenburger, "Scarborough,” 50. ^^Willis died before the primary. The Gazette, March 51» 1928, 2, April 7, 1928, 1. 92ibid., March 31, 1928, 2. ^^Ibid., September 1, 1928, 1. 284

Ohio Negro voters demonstrated their independence from the Republican Party most graphically in local elections. Negroes of Cleveland expressed the greatest independence and experienced the greatest success in electing candidates in local politics during the nineteen-twenties. Politically conscious progressive Negroes of Cleveland were appalled by the record of Thomas W. Fleming, long time councilman from Ward Eleven. A. D. Boyd, saloon keeper, headed the Republican machine in Ward Eleven and faithfully delivered its votes to Fleming and Maurice Maschke, head of the Cuyahoga County

Republican organization, in election after election. Asd a Councilman Fleming voted according to the wishes of Maschke and seemingly took little interest in the con­ ditions of his ward or the concerns of Negroes in Cleve­ land. Consequently, progressive Negroes of Ward Eleven pressed Editor Smith to oppose Fleming for a seat on the Council in the local elections of 1921. Smith, who did decide to run, as an independent Republican, was endorsed, by the Civic League, the Baptist Ministers’ Conference, the Cleveland Council of Colored Women, the Universal Negro Improvement Association and several churches and other Negro organizations in Ward Eleven. Fleming, 285 nevertheless, was reelected as the Republican Ward machine was too powerful for Smith, who did make a good showing in the election returns.Fleming succeeded Boyd as Boss of Ward Eleven upon the death of the latter in December, 1921. As a political boss and saloon keeper Boyd had amassed an estate of about fifty-four thousand dollars, of which Maschke was qq named executor. Progressive citizens of Ward Eleven formed the Central Body to press the city administration for such things as better streetcar service and.street repairs to compensate for Fleming's weak representation of the Ward.^^ In 1925, independent Negro candidates Dr. E. J. Gregg and Harry Harper challenged Fleming in the Third District for a Council seat, and attorney Clayborne George was a Council candidate from the Fourth District. 97 Again only Fleming was elected.By 1927 the Negro electorate had increased to the point that it could elect

^^Ibid., May 14. 1921, 3, October 29, 1921, 1, November 1271:^21, 1. 95lbid., December I7 , 1921, 1, March 25, 1922, 3. 9Glbid., March 18, 1922, 2, March 25, 1922, 5- 97lbid., October 17, 1925, 2, November 7 , 1925, 2. 286 more than one member of the Council, In 1927 George

and Gregg were elected to the Council as independent

Republicans, and Fleming was reelected with the endorse­ ment of the Republican organization. William R. Green,

former Captain of the Ninth Ohio Separate Battalion, was defeated as an independent candidate for municipal QO court judge. Councilmen George and Gregg, although

they had been independent Republican candidates, entered

the minority caucus of the Democratic Councilmen. They

were expected to receive the support of the Democratic QQ minority in Council on measures which they sponsored.^

Gregg had had the endorsement of W. B. Gongwer, chairman

of the Cuyahoga County Democratic organization. This

was the first time in Cleveland Councilmanic history

that a Negro had been endorsed by the Democratic Party.

Subsequently, the Republican Councilmen backed

attorney Harry E. Davis, who represented Cuyahoga County

in the Ohio House of Representatives, for election as a

member of the Cleveland Civil Service Commission. In

9Glbid., November 12, 1927, 2.

^^Ibid., January 14-, 1928, 2.

l^Olbid., October 19, 1929, 3. 287

January, 1928, Davis became the first Negro member of

the Civil Service Commission after receiving the votes

of thirteen of the twenty-five Councilmen for the post.

In 1929, Chairman Maschke and the members of the Cuyahoga County Republican organization were embarrassed by

the indictment of Councilman Fleming for soliciting and

accepting a bribe to use his influence on the Council

toward the passage of special legislation. He was sub­

sequently convicted of the charge and sentenced to serve 102 two years and nine months in the Ohio Penitentiary,

Fleming's conviction brought Maschke under the fire of

the city's daily newspapers. One editor wrote;

Maschke made Fleming,. In turn Fleming has delivered to Maschke, 'And today, Maschke stands responsible for the conditions which have made Tom Fleming what he is. The conviction of Tom Fleming is the .Q? conviction of the rule of Maurice Maschke, 2

Another editor held that Maschke should not be permitted

to name the person to fill the Council vacancy created by

lO^Ibid,, January 7, 1928, 1,

^^% b i d ,, February 16, 1929, 1.

^^^The Cleveland Press, February 10, 1929, 4-, 288

Fleming's resignation.He added:

Many Clevelanders will feel that a colored man should he named in place of the colored ex-councilman. There are plenty of colored residents of the Third District amply qualified to represent hoth the district and the entire city. But there should he no consideration whatever of any man, whether white or colored, who would enter the Goimcil as the representative . . . of Tom Fleming. ^

The Repuhlican organization subsequently hacked for the vacancy a man of unquestioned character, Dr. Russell S.

Brown, pastor of the Mt. Zion Congregational Church, one / of the prominent Negro churches of the city. Dr. Brown was experienced in welfare work, scholarship and teaching and was not identified with any political faction. He was elected hy the vote of the fourteen white Republicans and two Negroes on the Council.The editor of The Cleveland

Plain Dealer was satisfied with Dr. Brown's election, which he described as "a good selection. Thereafter,

Councilmen Gregg and George began to meet with the

^^^The Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 11, 1929» 16. lO^ibid.

^^^The Gazette, February 25, 1929, 1. iQ?The Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 19, 1929, 24. 289

Republican Councilmanic caucus,

In the latter part of the nineteen-twenties the

Democratic Party in Cleveland began to appeal to Negro voters. In the local election of 1927 V. B. Gongwer,

Chairman of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Executive

Committee, endorsed Negro candidates for City Council and municipal court judge.In the summer of 1928 Gongwer appointed forty-two Negroes as precinct committee­ men in the Eleventh, Twelfth and Eighteenth Wards. Thus, all the Democratic precinct committeemen in Wards Eleven and Twelve were Negroes, although some of their Republican counterparts in the same Wards were white.Gongwer endorsed Dr. James A. Owen for a Council seat in the election of 1929, marking only the second time the Demo­ cratic organization had backed a Negro Council candidate^^^

These moves evidently did not aid the Democratic ticket at the polls. There were numerous Negro Councilmanic candidates in addition to Dr. Owen in the election of

1 9 2 9 . Attorney Lawrence 0. Payne and Dr. Leroy Bundy ran as independent candidates, attorney Chester K. l-O^The Gazette, March 9, 1929, 2. ^^^See Letter of W. B. Gongwer to George A. Myers, June 5, 1927, Myers Collection. llQg^he Gazette, September 1, 1928, 3.

^^^The Cleveland Plain Dealer, October 15, 1929, 8. 290

Gillespie and Councilman Gregg as Progressive Govern­ ment Committee (for the city manager plan) candidates, and Councilman George evidently as a regular Republican candidate. Bundy, George and Payne were elected. Mrs.

Mary B. Martin, previously appointed to membership on the Board of Education, was elected to serve a term of 112 her own on the Board.

During the nineteen-twenties only Cuyahoga County elected Negroes to serve in the Ohio General Assembly.

In the primary election of 1920 William R. Green sought a Republican nomination for the state Senate and Harry

E. Davis, Samuel E. Woods, Sidney B. Thompson and W. T.

Blue each attempted to secure a Republican nomination for the state House of Representatives. Davis was elected to the House, after being the only Negro to win in the primary election. State Representative Davis, who remained a regular Republican, was reelected in

1922 and 1 9 2 4 . Chester K. Gillespie, William R. Green and State Representative Davis sought Republican nomi­ nations for the State House of Representatives in the

1925 primary election. Again only Davis won and he

112^he Gazette, November 9, 1929, 2. 291 was reelected in the autumn. Davis resigned his seat in the House upon being elected to the Cleveland Civil

Service Commission in 1928. Perry B. Jackson won a

Republican nomination for the State House of Repre­ sentatives in 1928. Peter Boult, chairman of the Cleve­ land convention committee of the National Afro-American

Democratic Association, failed to win a Democratic endorsement as a candidate for the General Assembly in

1928. Jackson won a House seat in the general election, and thus Cuyahoga County was represented by a Negro in the House during every term of the legislature during the decade.

Negro Republicans of Cincinnati also expressed growing dissatisfaction with the local Republican organi­ zation in the nineteen-twenties, but they were less successful than the Clevelanders in having Negro can- ■ didates elected to office. In 1920 Henry M. Higgins ran for a seat in the State legislature with a

Republican endorsement. The Negro voters of Hamilton

County were chagrined that Higgins was the only Repub­ lican General Assembly candidate from the county defeated

^^^Ibid., August 7, 1920, 3, August 7, 1926, 2, August 14,"1^6, 5, May 12, 1928, 1, November 3, 1928, 1, November I7 , 1928, 1; see Ohio House Journal for the nineteen twenties. 292 in the general election.Prior to 1921 the Negro

Republican leaders and the rank and file of Negro voters consistently supported the Republican organi­ zation in Hamilton County, Their backing had been so solid that they had been given the nickname the Black

Brigade. In response the Republican county machine had often given its endorsement to Negro candidates for public office but in the nineteen-twenties apparently became reluctant to offer such endorsements.

Consequently, there was discontent in the Black Brigade.

In 1921 the party refused to support a Negro candidate for the Cincinnati City Council.Hence, some Negro

Republican leaders charged their party with being un­ grateful and threatened to support a white independent mayoralty candidate in 1921.^^^ Others, however, remained loyal to the Republican Party. Editor Dabney, although admitting that grievances existed, advised Negroes to vote the Republican ticket rather than to risk identifying

^^^The Gazette, November 20, 1920, 2.

^^^The Union, November 19, 1921, in Collins, “Political Behavior of the Negroes in Cincinnati and Louisville," 150.

^^^The Cincinnati Post, in ibid. 29$ themselves with a new party.Yet, many Negro voters evidently did support the independent candidate for 118 mayor in the general election.

In 1922 the Hamilton County Republican organization failed for the first time in over two score years to support a Negro candidate for the state legislature.

Local Negro leaders complained vociferously against this change. At a July meeting of Negro voters at Metropoli­ tan Baptist Church, the pastor of the church, J. Franklin

Walker, said:

For 45 years the colored people of Hamilton County have been accorded a place on the county /Republican/ ticket, but this year you will look in vain on the ballot for the name of a colored man or womanJ We have never desired these nominations because of the job. What we valued in them was the recognition accorded our race. This year it has been denied us. We resent this slight, and what is more we will^make our resentment felt in this election.

In 1925 Cincinnati began to conduct municipal elections on the basis of proportional representation.

^^'^The Union, November 5» 1921, in ibid., 75-7^»

^^^The Cincinnati Post, November 9» 1921, 12, l^^The Gazette, July 1, 1922, 2.

^^^The Cincinnati Enquirer, July 20, 1922, 20. 294-

Thus, theoretically it hecame possible for Negroes to be represented in the City Council in proportion to the IPl number of Negro voters in Cincinnati. The local

Republican organization, however, did not endorse Negro

Council candidates. In response. Dr. E. Duval Colley, a prominent Negro physician, unsuccessfully challenged

Nicholas Longsworth, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, for a Hamilton County Congressional seat in 1925.^^^ In 192? Frank A. B. Hall became an independent Republican candidate for City Council after an unsuccessful attempt to obtain a regular Republican nomination for Council. Hall was not elected but a local daily newspaper observed that "for the first time the colored voters partly concentrated on a member of their own race."^^^ Two years later, in 1929, George W. B. Conrad and Hall sought Council seats as independent

Republicans. Their candidacies were in part a protest against the failure of the local Republicans to give ipa Negroes recognition. Hall's campaign was managed by 1 PI Collins, "Political Behavior of the Negroes in Cincinnati and Louisville," 150-151. 1 pp The Gazette, August 28, 1926, 1.

^^^The Cincinnati Times-Star, November 1C, 1927, 6. 1 PZl The Gazette, November 2, 1929, 1. 295

A. Lee Beaty, who had been a long time regular Republican and who had served in the state legislature representing

Hamilton County. At a September campaign meeting for

Conrad and Hall, Beaty condemned the Republicans for failing to give Negroes proper representation on the 125 party's governing committees. He stated:

We represent one-fourth of their vote, but we are not given one of eight places on their executive committee. We represent one- fourth of their vote, but we are not given one of twenty places on their ways and means committee and we are not given one of ten places on their platform committee or one of ten places on their nominating committee. Either George Conrad^gr Frank Hall must teach them to respect us.

Neither Hall nor Conrad was elected, but Hall received more votes in 1929 than he had in 192?.^^^ Although

Negro leaders expressed growing dissatisfaction with the

Republican Party, Collins found no evidence that the rank and file Negro voters of Cincinnati strayed sub- 1 ?R stantially from the Republican ticket during the decade.

The political situation in Columbus was similar to that in Cincinnati and Cleveland during the nineteen-

^^^The Gazette, August 28, 1925, 1.

^^^Ibid.. November 2, 1929, 1. ^^"^Collins, "Political Behavior of the Negroes in Cincinnati and Louisville," 152-153» IZSibid., 77-78. 296 twenties. During the opening years of the decade the

Franklin County Republican organization gave backing to Negro candidates for the state legislature; however, thereafter no such endorsements were given. Negro State

Representative candidates B. F. Hughes and G. L. Davis were the only members of the Franklin County Republican legislative ticket defeated in the general election of

1920, and in 1922 Negro Republican candidate R. S. Huston was defeated for a seat in the lower house of the legis­ lature.The Negro vote in Columbus City Council ■ contests continued to be insignificant as a result of the abolition of the ward system for representation in

1912. During the decade approximately a half dozen

Negro candidates ran unsuccessfully for public office in Columbus and Franklin County.

Occasionally during the nineteen-twenties in the smaller cities of Ohio, there were independent Negro candidates for public office who were practically always unsuccessful. In 1920 Dr. Thomas W. Burton, a Spring­ field physician, was a candidate for coroner. Of his experience as a candidate Dr. Burton wrote:

^^^Richard Clyde Minor, "The Negro in Columbus, Ohio," Doctoral Dissertation, 1956 (Hereafter cited as Minor, "Negro in Columbus"), 180.

^^^Himes, "Negro Life in Columbus," 145. 297

I was defeated by a small majority...... Colored men and women stood up for me as a unit but the white Republicans taught their women to scratch my name from the ticket and did so them­ selves, saying to them that if the sheriff dies that a Regro will be sheriff and if there is a lynching that a Negro would have the power to arrest the sheriff, etc, ^

Robert W. Pulley of Elyria was a candidate for sheriff in

1922.^^^ In 1925 Harry H. Stotts ran as a candidate for

Councilman-at-large in Zanesville. Stotts had for fifteen years been assistant superintendent of Greenwood Cemetery, had written Negro news items for the Zanesville Times

Recorder, had been an official of the Odd Fellows and

Knights of Pythias and had been active in local Republican politics, Stotts, who was the first Negro to seek elective

office in Zanesville, was endorsed by the local branch of

the National Association for the Advancement of Colored

People,Also in 1925 Vilberforce University Athletic

Director Dean Mohr was a candidate for clerk of the

Springfield municipal court, Mohr, a resident of Spring­

field, had graduated from Northwestern University with a

degree in chemistry,In 1929 Arthur Johnston became Mayor of Miles Heights, a small Cuyahoga County community,

of which Negroes constituted about one-third of the popu-

^^^Letter to Harry C, Smith, November 8, 1920, The Gazette, November 20, 1920, 2,

^^^Ibid,, July 2 9 , 1922, 1, IS^Ibid., September 19, 1925, 1.

^^^Ibid., September 19, 1925, 1. 298 lation. Johnston, a foreman in the Cuyahoga County highway department and long time active worker in the

County Republican organization, had been president of the town council. Upon being reelected for a second

Council term Johnston received the highest number of votes and thus had been made Council president. Hence, he had been placed in line to succeed the incumbent

Mayor in the event of the incapacity of the latter. 155 Johnston became Mayor upon the death of the incumbent.

Members of the Negro community in Ohio continued to receive governmental appointments during the nineteen- twenties. Such appointments were generally interpreted

as recognitions of support from the general Negro

electorate, rewards to particular individuals for special political service or attempts to mollify disgruntled Negro voters. Yet, the men who obtained appointments seemed

qualified for the positions to which they were named. In

1921 Vilberforce University President Emeritus Scarborough was made a research assistant in farm studies in the United

States Department of Agriculture following his strong

support of Harding in the previous presidential

^^^Ibid., February 2, 1929, 3, February 9, 1929, 2. 299 campaign,Also, in 1921 attorney Chester K. Gillespie was appointed as an assistant in the municipal law de­ partment of Cleveland.In 1922 Dr. Aubrey Lane of

Cincinnati received an appointment as a state veterinarian.

Dr. Lane had received a degree in veterinary medicine from the Ohio State University in 1921.^^® A political observer interpreted Dr. Lane's appointment as an attempt to appease

Ohio Negro Republicans who had demonstrated their dissat- sifaction with the Republican Party's lack of recognition of the support of Negro voters by backing the candidacy of

Editor Smith for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 1922.^^^ Nevertheless, Dr. Lane's reception by the

State Veterinary Bureau caused further aggravation. White state veterinarians reportedly refused to work with him and threatened to resign. Subsequently, Dr. Lane was given "segregated work."^^^ Also in 1922 attorney A. Lee

Beaty of Cincinnati was appointed as an assistant in the office of the United States District Attorney for Southern

^^^Weisenburger, "Scarborough," 49-46.

^^'^The Gazette, July 2, 1921.

^^^Ibid., April 15, 1922, 1.

139ijhe Cincinnati Enquirer, April 11, 1922, 9. l^^Ibid. 300

Ohio after having heen endorsed for the position by the

Hamilton County Republican organization. The County

Republican organization's endorsement of Beaty was

interpreted as an effort to mollify Hegro Republicans who had protested the failure of the Hamilton County

Republicans to back a Negro candidate for the legis­

lature in 1922.^^^ In 1923 Wendell Phillips Dabney was appointed Paymaster of Cincinnati. He had been

1 llo Assistant Paymaster since I907. In 192? John T.

Oatmeal of Washington Court House was appointed as a

justice of the peace of Payette County. Years before

Oatmeal had been elected to the same office. He had

also been an examiner in the United States Pension Bureau

in the District of Columbia. At the time of his appoint­ ment Oatmeal was a practicing attorney specializing in pension law.Other more minor governmental appoint­ ments were made to Negroes during the decade. Generally,

The Gazette, August 25, 1922, 1. 142 However, Dabney resigned the post in 1925 in protest against the fact that his salary had not been raised to correspond to his higher rank. The Crisis, XZVII (November, 1923), 8.

^^^The Gazette, February 5j 1927, 1. 501 however, Negroes found appointments to positions in state government scarce from 1923 to 1929, as a Democrat occupied the Governor's chair during that period. But in 1929 a Baptist pastor, E, V. Curry of Springfield, was appointed to head a special Negro section of the Parole and Probation Division of the State Welfare Department. Gurry's appointment was apparently a reward for his support of Republican Governor Myers Y. Cooper in the previous election.

The political process gave the Negro community very limited representation in the Ohio General

Assembly during the nineteen-twenties. Cuyahoga County

State Representatives Harry E. Davis (1921-1928) and

Perry Jackson (1929-1950) were the only Negroes elected to the state legislature during the decade. Both Davis and Jackson vigilantly watched for potentially anti-

Negro legislation and vigorously opposed such bills when they were introduced in the legislature. In

February, 1923, State Senator Liggitt of Logan County introduced Senate Bill Number 235 which Editor Smith feared would "give jim crow or separate schools legal

^^ I b i d .. April 27, 1929, 1. 302 status in Ohio."^^^ The Senate Bill asked the legislature to amend and repeal certain sections of the General Code in order to provide for "the establishment of an institute for the higher education of the colored youth of Ohio to be known as the Lincoln Normal Institute.Subse­ quently, State Representative Davis consulted with several

State Senators and sought the backing of Negro leaders of the state in an attempt to block the passage of the bill.^^^

His opposition was successful. On March 3> 1923, the original bill was reported from the Senate finance com­ mittee as Substitute Senate Bill 233 which merely con­ cerned the appointment of a State fiscal officer for the

State Normal and Industrial Department already associated with Vilberforce University.Also in 1923, an attempt was made to alter the Ohio anti-lynching law or anti-mob l^^Ibid., March 1?, 1923, 2.

^^^Ohio Senate Journal. OX (1923), 212.

^^^Letter of H.E.D. to Harry 0. Smith, March 9, 1923, The Gazette, March 17, 1923, 1. 1 /IR The original bill would have made this State Depart­ ment at Vilberforce the Lincoln Normal Institute. Ohio Senate Journal, OX (1923), 410-411; Letter of Harry E.' Davis to Harry C. Smith, March 30, 1923, The Gazette, April 7, 1923, 1. 303 violence act. This act made coimty government liable to damage suits to the extent of five thousand dollars if the county failed to protect a citizen from injury or loss of life by a mob. The act did not define a mob numerically but only described it as a "collection of people assembled for an unlawful purpose and intend­ ing to do damage to anyone. ..." Under the act the county government was presumably liable for injury or loss of life sustained by anyone in a criminal assault committed by more than one person. Under this assumption the wife of a man killed by bandits in Cuyahoga County in 1923 sued the County for five hundred thousand dollars in damages under the state anti-mob violence act. The case was settled out of court, but the suit brought the 140 act under attack from county officials. A bill amend­ ing the anti-mob violence act so as to define a mob as- a collection of ten or more persons was introduced in the

Ohio House of Representatives.State Representative

Davis, who did not "feel that a change of this kind would

I'^Sibid., May 5, 1923, 1, 2. 150The measure in point was entitled House Bill No. 3^5, Ohio House Journal, CX (1923), 282. 304 be at all helpful to the purpose of the law," succeeded in having the bill indefinitely postponed in the House 151 judiciary committee. Davis had spoken in opposition to the bill before the judiciary committee,It was never reported out of committee.In 1925 State Repre­ sentative Davis cooperated with others in preventing the passage of a Ku Klux Klan-backed anti- racial inter­ marriage bill.^^^

While a member of the State House of Representatives

Davis also sponsored measures that were in the interest of

Negroes. In 1921 he introduced House Joint Resolution

Number 29 which would have put the Ohio General Assembly on record as having requested the President of the United

States "to instruct the attorney-general to conduct an investigation of peonage conditions in the South in violation of the federal constitution and laws, assist the state authorities in prosecution when necessary or

^^^Letter of Harry E. Davis to Harry C. Smith, March 28, 1923, The Gazette, April 7, 1923, 1. ^^^Ibid. l^Sphio House Journal, OX (1923), 1202-1203. ^^^See above comments on Eu Klux Elan. 505

advisable, and take any other legal prosecutions to

bring all violators of such laws to justice and stamp

out all vestiges of the un-American condition of

peonage.In 1923 Davis introduced House Joint

Resolution Number 5 which proposed to amend Article

V, Section 1 (relative to the franchise) of the State

Constitution.The Ohio Constitution technically

restricted suffrage to white males; however, these

limitations were not enforced after the passage of the

Fifteenth and Nineteenth Amendments to the United States

Constitution. The amendment offered in the Davis resolu­

tion proposed the omission of the words "white male"

from the franchise requirement. By adopting the resolu­

tion the General Assembly submitted the amendment to the 157 voters in the general election of November, 1923.

With the passage of the amendment, without fanfare, in

the November election another old Black Law was

^^^Ohio House Journal, CIX (1921), 349. Action on the resolution was indefinitely postponed. Ibid., 529.

l^Gphio House Journal. CX (1923), 48-50.

157ibid., CX (1923), 48-50, 79, 135, 222-223, 968, 976. 506 eliminated.

State Representative Perry Jackson also guarded the interests of the state's Negro community. In 1929 he blocked a move which would have required racial identification in voter registration. Senate Bill

Number 2, relative to an election code revision, would have required voters to indicate their race in register­ ing. However, the words "race or color" were eliminated from the bill after State Representative Jackson made multiple appearances before committees of both the House and the Senate.Furthermore, in 1929, Jackson blocked a bill which would have required registration of the names and insignia of fraternal organizations. It was believed that under the bill Negro fraternal orders bearing the

same names and insignia as white fraternal organizations,

e.g.. Masons and Knights of Pythias, would have been pro­ hibited from using their previously used names and

insignia.

^^^The Gazette, November 17, 1925» 2.

^5%bid., April 20, 1929, 1; Ohio House Journal, CXIII (19^977 676. 160iphe measure, entitled Amended Senate Bill Number 157, was never reported out of committee. The Gazette, April 20, 1929, 1; Ohio House Journal,13lII (19^9), 561, 385. PART III

THE GREAT DEPRESSION

(1930-1959) CHAPTER VIII

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS AND PUBLIC WELFARE

The economic depression of the nineteen-thirties had a profound effect upon the experience of the Negro community in Ohio. Negroes were among the worst victims of the economic catastrophe. The economic conditions of

Negro workers in the state had begun to deteriorate as early as the middle of the nineteen-twenties when the introduction of new technology in industry, the cooling off of the economy and other factors had contributed to unemployment among marginal workers. The stock market crash of 1929 and the subsequent depression exacerbated the already growing economic problems in the Negro com­ munity. The result was severe hardship for Negro families in Ohio.^ The Negro Welfare Association of Cleveland had been able to make 10,241 job placements in 1929» In 1930 2 that figure dropped to 5»590. Eighty per cent of the 1 Information regarding the number of Negro Ohioans gain­ fully occupied in 1930 may be found in United States De­ partment of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Fifteenth Census of the United States; 1930, Population, iV, 1266.

^The Gazette, January 17, 1931, 1.

308 509 wage earning Negroes of Oolnmbus were unemployed, in

1930. By the autumn of 1935» seventy-one per cent of the wage earning Negroes in Columbus remained unemployed or did not have full time jobs in private industry.^ The recession of 1937-1938 was a severe setback in employment of Negroes, In December 1937» it was reported that unem­ ployment among Cleveland Negro workers was at its highest point since 193^.^ As late as 1940 thirty-five and seven- tenths per cent of the non-white labor force in Ohio was unemployed as compared to fourteen and one-tenth per cent of the white labor force.^ The editor of a Cleveland daily newspaper gave an indication why unemployment figures among

Negroes were disproportionately high when he observed that as "hard times come" Negroes "were the first to be lopped off the payrolls /of Cleveland employer^/ on which they had always held a most humble position."^ Indeed, across z ^Surveys by Columbus Urban League. Columbus Urban League, "Twenty Years of Service." Ll Executive Secretary of the Negro Welfare Association of Cleveland, The Gazette, December 25, 1937» 3-

^United States Bureau of the Census, I960. Census of Popu­ lation, Characteristic, of the Population, Ôhio, I , part 37» 236: ^The Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 15» 1932, 6; The Gazette, September 24, 1^32, 3» 310

the state Negro workers were among the first to he

"laid off" as employers reduced their work forces. Negro

laborers were sometimes replaced by white workers in busi- « 7 ness and industry. For example, in Golnmbus Negro barbers

and waiters were fired and whites were hired in their Q places.

Negro depression victims in Ohio benefited from the

effort of local, state and federal governments to relieve

the hardships caused by the economic disaster of the de­

cade. In fact Negroes received a disproportionate amount

of government aid because many were the hardest hit by

the depression, e.g., a disproportionate number of Negroes

lost their jobs. Negroes constituted thirty-three per cent

of all relief clients in Franklin County in January, 1937

However, government aid programs during the decade were

not free of racial discrimination or segregation.

Ohio's municipal and county governments provided some

aid to tens of thousands of unemployed of all races despite

serious financial difficulties. Yet, as some public

^The Columbus Urban League, "Seventeenth Annual Report, 1935”; The Gazette, January 3» 1931, 3- O Andrew Barta, "A Sociological Survey of the East Long Street Negro District in Columbus, Ohio," Masters Thesis, 1933 (Hereafter cited as Barta, "East Long Street Negro District"), 70.

"^Columbus Urban League, "Twenty years of Service." 311 officials admitted, Negroes were discriminated against by local governments. Racial discrimination was especially apparent in employment by local governments and some attempts were made to remedy such discrimination. In

1934 the city of Cleveland adopted a Civil Service Code and thereafter did not record the race or color of muni­ cipal personnelï^ Nevertheless in December, 1934, Council­ man John E. Hubbard found it necessary to protest against a requirement that applicants for employment on the staff of the Cuyahoga County Relief Administration indicate their race and submit photographs of themselves. During the early nineteen-thirties there were complaints that racial wage discriminations were practiced under municipal public works contracts in Cleveland. In 1935 officials of the local Negro Welfare Association urged the City

Council to provide corrective measures. Accordingly, the

Council adopted an amendment to the City Charter, sponsored by Councilman Lawrence 0. Payne, "to include in every contract for public work, entered into by the city that

^^William Franklin Moore, "Status of the Negro in Cleve­ land," Doctoral Dissertation, 1935 (Hereafter cited as Moore, "The Negro in Cleveland"), $1.

^^The Gazette, December 15, 1934, 2. 312 all persons employed shall be paid wages which are not less than are paid by the city for similar work; that if the city has not established a rate of wages for any particular class of work, employees shall be paid wages not less than are generally paid therefor by others em­ ploying union labor; that in no event shall any employee be paid less than four dollars and fifty cents a day of eight hours, and that there shall be no discrimination 12 because of race, color, religion or national origin,"

This charter amendment was passed by Cleveland voters in the November election in 1935-^^ Similarly, in 1931 the Cincinnati Branch of the National Association for the

Advancement of Colored People had filed with the Cin­ cinnati Civil Service Commission a memorandum protesting the Commission's practices of placing racial identifica­ tion questions on civil service application forms and marking the documents of Negro civil service applicants with a "C" in red ink.Late in the decade Cincinnati

Vice Mayor Klein commented upon the relationship of . ■ ■ - ■ . _ _ , { 12 The amendment was constructed by members of the Board of Trustees of the Negro Welfare Association. Ibid., August 3, 1935, 1. ^^The Amendment altered Section 197 of the City Charter, Ibid., November 15, 1935, 3- ^^Press Release, Cincinnati, November 6 j/193i/. Memorandum, in opposition to the Practice of Requiring Applicants to Specify their Race on Application Forms of the Cincinnati Civil Service Commission /1931/ NAACP Records. 313 government and the problems of.Negroes in Cincinnati.

He stated:

The entire relief and unemployment pro­ blem is filled with dynamite and we must not take it lightly. I am in daily contact with it and I know what is going on. In the Vest End and in the colored sections of Cincinnati, the conditions of the people, both as to un­ employment and housing, is an indictment of good government. There can be no decent government in the true sense of the word, so long as people must beg for work and bread ...... The Negro has been neglected and has not received a square deal at all. If we are to curb crime and trouble, it will not be done by more police, but by changing the surroundings and the economic conditions of the bottom dog. The Negro is a problem because we have made him a problem. The Negro is not to blame. The conditions create his as well as our problems. The same is true of the poor Jewish people of the city and the sections of the city most thickly inhabited by them. ^

The Civil Service Commission of the city of Columbus pro­ vided that employment certifications should be made without regard to color with certain exceptions. More specifically the commission's regulations stated:

Certification ^for employment/, shall be without regard to color or sex unless the color or sex of those whose names are to be classified is fixed by law, ordinance, rule, or regulations, or the request for certification specifies the color or sex of those whose names are to be

^^The Gazette, September 30, 1939, 1. 514.

certified with reasons therefore. The com­ mission may in its discretion certify only those 'pf the color or sex specified, provided the reasons for certifying only persons of such cd\lor sex are found^hy the commission to he good and sufficient.

The State of ^hio also attempted to relieve the human problems created by the Great Depression. Early in 1931 the legislature funded a program through which boards of education provided clothing, shoes, medical care and other necessities for children whose families could not afford such things. Later the legislature provided for the distribution of poor relief funds under a state relief commission. The Ohio General Assembly passed measures which aided local governments in financing poor relief. Furthermore, the State of Ohio cooperated with federal agencies in their attempts to alleviate the problems of the poor. Victims of the depression regard­ less of race were benefited by these activities.. On the other hand it was found necessary to take some steps

^^Gharter Provisions and Rules and Regulations of the Municipal Civil Service Commission, City of Cfolumbus, 1 93 6, Rule 7» Section 2; City Civil Service Commission, in Edward Jerome Stockton, "Negro Employment in Metro­ politan Columbus, Ohio," Doctoral Dissertation, 1956 (Here cited as Stockton, "Negro Employment in Columbus"), 4-7 . ^^Roseboom and Veisenburger, A History of Ohio, $61-562, 564-571. 315 to prevent racial discrimination in state government employment and employment programs during the nineteen- thirties. The Ohio Civil Service Commission required applicants for state civil service positions to indicate their race on application forms and to submit photographs of themselves. This requirement was established by a ruling of the Civil Service Commission. The State Civil

Service lav/ did not require the commission to secure such photographs and racial identity. In 1933 and 1934 State

Representative Chester K. Gillespie of Cuyahoga County received hundreds of letters protesting the Commissions photograph requirement. Early in 1934 he introduced a resolution in the State House of Representatives requesting the Attorney General of Chio to submit an official opinion

"as to the legal right of the state civil service commission to require all persons taking a civil service examination to disclose their racial connection and also submit a photo­ graph of themselves.The House resolution was adopted and in response to it Attorney General John W. Bricker gave the opinion that no person could be denied the right to take

^^Letter of Chester K. Gillespie to Harry C. Smith, March 21, 1934, The Gazette, March 24, 1934, 2.

^‘^Ibid., February 10, 1934, 2. 316

a state civil service examination because tie tiad failed

to indicate tiis race on ttie civil service application or 20 to submit a photograph of himself. Subsequently the

Secretary of the Civil Service Commission stated: "all

reference to an applicant's race and the requirement that

a photograph be attached as a part of the application will

in the future not be included as a part of the applica­

tion blank, which candidates for positions are required 21 ; to furnish." Similarly, complaints were made that

skilled Negro workmen were discriminated against on relief 22 projects. In 1935 the Ohio General Assembly passed a

bill which had been sponsored by state Representative

R. P. McClain of Hamilton County, prohibiting racial

discrimination in employment under-state public works

contracts.Little attempt, however, v;as made to enforce

the law. Relatively few unemployed Negro workmen found

jobs through the Ohio State Employment Service during the

20 ^^Ibid., April 7, 1934, 1. 21 Letter of Frank V, Forsythe to Chester K. Gillespie, April 12, 1934, ibid., April 21, 1934, 1. See The Crisis, XLI (June, 1934), 169. 22 See such a complaint from Massillon in ibid., XLI (November, 1934), 342-343. 23 See discussion of state legislation during the nineteen- thirties in Chapter XII below. 317 decade. In 1959 only 17,721 Negroes were placed by the Oil Ohio State Employment Service. During the decade com­ plaints had been made that the State Employment Service 25 discriminated against Negroes in making placements.

Negroes had not been represented on the staff of the

Employment Service through most of the decade. In 1938,

Rufus Thompson, a graduate of Akron University, had been hired by the Service to promote employment of Negroes.

In 1939 State Representative Gillespie persuaded the

Governor to recommend the hiring of several Negroes as employment personnel in Cleveland, Akron, Cincinnati,

Columbus, Dayton, Youngstown and Toledo. They were to contact businessmen and industrialists and to urge them to employ Negroes.Subsequently, a Race Relations Unit po was established in the Ohio State Employment Service.

People of all races in Ohio were aided by the federal programs of the New Deal. Such agencies as the Federal

24 Ohio Bureau of Unemployment Compensation, The Ohio State Employment Service and The Negro in Defense, 1940, 3. 25 -^Councilman Leroy Bundy of Cleveland made such com­ plaints, for example. The Gazette, June 16, 1934-, 1.

ZGlbid., April 30, 1938, 1.

2?lbid., May 20, 1939, 3. pQ Ohio Bureau of Unemployment Compensation, The Chip---- State Employment Service and The Negro in Defensb", 1940, foreward...... 318

Emergency Relief Administration, the Civil Works Pro­

gress Administration, the National Youth Administration

and the Civilian Conservation Corps operated in the state.

Among other things the hungry obtained food and the job­

less secured employment because of these agencies. Yet,

the benefits of the New Deal programs were often accom­ panied by racial segregation and discrimination.

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration distri­

buted funds to both Negro and white clients. Negroes

also obtained employment on F.E.R.A. work projects. On

the other hand racial discrimination was found in the

agency. The Columbus Urban League reported: "Several

investigations have been made of discrimination against

Negroes in the F.E.R.A. . . . . W e found that the white-

collared group of Negroes are not getting their share of

employment under the F.E.R.A.Similarly, in 1956,

Minor stated:

Of the 125 social workers in the F.E.R.A. /_a.t Columbus/ only six were Negroes though approximateTy a third of the clients were Negroes. One F.E.R.A. official said that wherever there was a mixed neighborhood the worker was always white. He felt that both workers and clients would be embarrassed if the former were colored and the latter white.^

29;Seventeenth Annual Report, January, 1935, Ohio Histori­ cal Society Library.

^^"Negro in Columbus," 73» 319

Young Negro men in Ohio obtained employment with the Civilian Conservation Corps, In 1933 there were two all-Negro C.C.C. camps in Ohio, including Camp

Shawnee Number Two near Portsmouth. Some Negro corpsmen were transferred to Camp Shawnee Number Two from an inte­ grated camp. They subsequently complained that the all-

Negro camp was not equal to the integrated one.^^

Theodore H. Berry of the Cincinnati Branch of the National

Association of the Advancement of Colored People visited

Camp Shawnee Number Two and talked with C.C.C. officers there. Berry reported that the camp was created as one of the last C.C.C. units sent from Port Knox. He also stated:

In the beginning both white and colored boys were assigned to the same camp units from Port Knox, especially composed of Northern colored and white boys. However, on the basis of the 'army experience that large units of colored and white men do not function without some friction', together with the large group of Southern white boys to be demobilized in camp units the two colored units were estab­ lished. Gamp Shawnee #2 when first established was undermanned and on July 8th, thirty colored youths were transferred to Camp Shawnee #2 from Camp Stony Greek — a mixed camp.^

^^Letter of Theodore M. Berry to Walter White, July 29, 1933, NAACP Records. ^%eport on Civilian Conservation Corps - Camp Shawnee #2, Portsmouth, Chio, August 15, 1933, Ibid. 320

Berry was satisfied that Camp Shawnee Numher Two was

approximately equal to other C.C.C. Camps although

racially segregated.There were also C.C.C. Camps in

Ohio which employed young men of all races; yet they too were not free of color lines. A Negro corpsman at

Camp Pine Gap, near Peebles, complained of racial segre-

gation and discrimination there.^ A nearby N.A.A.C.P.

"branch looked into the matter "but did not press the zc issue.A Negro army officer. Lieutenant Barry P.

Powell of Columbus, was given active duty with the C.C.C.

company at Peebles in 1939»^^ In 193^» Vilberforce had been selected as an encampment site for transient young

Negro men from large Ohio cities.

Negroes in Ohio obtained employment and training in

professional, semi-professional, technical and other

areas, although sometimes in racially segregated circum-

33lbid.. ^^Letter of Ernest S. Luff to Jane E. Hunter, October 25, 1933 (copy), ibid. ^^Letter of A.A. Andrews to Walter White, March $1, 1936, Ibid.

^■^The Gazette, June 24-, 1939 > 2.

^^They were to receive room, board and a small compensation for working four hours a day. Ibid. , June 9, 1934-, 1. 321

stances, through the Works Progress Administration. For

example, in Columbus Negro young people took instruction

in art, carving and cartooning in V.P.A. classes in the

building of the Negro Spring Street Young Men's Christian

Association.^® Negro teachers and other trained people were employed to staff V.P.A. financed Negro nursery

schools and playgrounds in Columbus. The Works Progress

Administration established playgrounds in Urbancrest,

American Addition and on the Hilltop, Negro communities

in the Columbus area. Sewing groups of Negro women

financed with W.P.A. funds were housed in Negro churches

in Columbus.In 1938, Charles E. Dickinson, former

President of the Ohio Conference of N.A.A.C.P. Branches,

was appointed as a field representative of the employment ZlQ division of the Works Progress Administration in Ohio.

The Negro Division of the National Youth Administra­

tion served many young people in Ohio. For example in

1937 about one hundred Negroes were employed on N.Y.A. projects in Columbus.A focal point of N.Y.A. work

5®Ibid., April 10, 1937, 1.

^^Columbus Urban League "Twenty Years of Service." an The Gazette, October 1, 1938, 1.

^^Columbus Urban League, "Twenty Years of Service." 322 among Negroes in Ohio was located in Wilberforce. One of the National Youth Administration's three Work

Experience Centers in Ohio was established on the campus of Wilberforce University. Needy youth ages eighteen to twenty-five were eligible for enrollment at the center.

Their activity included seventy hours of work a month and fifteen hours a week in class room study and vocational guidance. Among their work projects was the construction of a field house for Wilberforce University, completed in

1959. In 1959 sixty-nine youths were enrolled at the Wilberforce Center. A Negro, A. D. Gaiter, was the N.Y.A.'s director of the center. In the summer of 1939 Gaither was appointed as state supervisor of Negro activities of the

N.Y.A. in Ohio, He had graduated frbm Ohio State Univer- AP sity with a Master of Arts Degree in 1958.

Other federal programs aided Negro Ohioans during the depression while incidentally accepting racial segregation.

Negro laborers were employed in the federally financed construction of public housing and public schools in Negro a? communities of Ohio cities. There was little protest against the racial segregation and discrimination which

AP The Gazette, June 10, 1959, 1, June 2A, 1959, 5, August 5 ,-T^3'97'T, "September 16, 1939, 1. A5 See discussion of housing and education during the decade in Chapter X below. 323 were associated with the direly needed federal welfare programs of the decade. In supporting President Pranklin

D. Roosevelt at the polls in 1936 the majority of the Negro voters in Ohio indicated they regarded the color-line

New Deal programs as more desirable than the government l^lL inaction which had preceded them.

44 See discussion of politics in the nineteen-thirties in Chapter XII below. CHAPTER IX

PUBLIC AHD PRIVATE HOUSING

Public housing projects were perhaps the most visible of the results of governmental attempts to assist the Negro poor during the Great Depression. Many Negro families of

Ohio found better living conditions in the low cost housing projects that were built with the aid of the federal govern­ ment through the Public Works Administration's housing division, the Vagner-Steagall Act (1937) sold the United

States Housing Authority.

The Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority, formed

in 1 9 3 3 » was the first such authority in the country to be created in order to receive a federal subsidy to construct

housing for low income families. The Cleveland Metropolitan

Housing Authority began slum clearance for public housing projects in the city's Cedar-Central area in 193^ and

another in the Qnthwaite area in 1 9 3 3 , both in predomi­

nantly Negro sections. The public housing projects, how­

ever, were not opened to occupancy until 1 9 3 7 *

As elsewhere the public housing program of Cleveland

had mixed results. Those who lived in the housing projects,

benefited while those who were displaced by them suffered.

324 325

Consequently, public housing in Cleveland did not go uncriticized. The principal complaints were that the rentals of the housing projects would be beyond the means of the very poor and that the slum clearance as­ pect of the housing program caused suffering among those who were displaced from housing project areas. When the

Cleveland slum clearance program was initiated in 1934

Editor Smith observed: "The dispossessed poor black and white men, women and children of the Cedar-Central housing area are being driven into the gutter. . . . Those who have some money are finding new quarters difficult to obtain, thanks to discrimination and exorbitant rents.

Later in the year the Cleveland Branch of the National

Association for the Advancement of Colored People adopted a resolution which described the Cedar-Central area housing project as "slum transference and not slum clear­ ance. Local NAACP President L. Pearl Mitchell main­ tained that the proposed rentals for project apartments would be prohibitive "for the group they allegedly are being constructed for."^ In the spring of 1936 Councilman

^The Gazette, September 15» 1934, 2.

^Ibid., December 15, 1934, 1. ^Ibid. 326

Clarence L. Young called attention to the fact that the destruction of houses in the project areas was causing undesirable "doubling up of families. Councilman

Young blamed the overcrowding in the Quthwaite area, which had been caused by slum clearance, for a rooming house fire in which a mother and her fourteen year old son had been burned to death.^ Similarly, early in 1937»

Negro Councilman Septimus E. Craig introduced in City

Council a resolution which requested that a public housing project be created for Cleveland's lowest income group, i.e., those who would not be able to afford to live in the housing projects then under construction. In intro­ ducing the resolution Councilman Craig stated: "Unless a similar project is planned for them, a new slum district will be created by them in their search for low cost housing.Editor Smith later added that this had already happened.^ The criticism was continued into the next year when the Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority prepared

^Ibid. , April A, 1936, 2. ^Ibid.

^Ibid., February 6, 1937» 2. ?Ibid. 327 to launch a new eighteen million dollar public housing program. The City Council met early in 1938 to vote on an ordinance providing for a slum clearance program in preparation for the new housing projects, but objection to the slum clearance campaign was made before City

Council by Councilmen Lawrence 0. Payne and Herman H.

Pinkie and a large group of spokesmen from the Negro community. The objections were withdrawn when the author of the ordinance, Ernest J, Bohn, and members of the

Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority agreed to an amendment “providing that persons forced out of sub­ standard dwellings be given first preference in the new O houses, provided they meet other qualifications." In

1 9 3 9 } one of the several new housing projects, financed under the Wagner-Steagal Act, was a substantial addition to the Quthwaite project. The apartments in the new

Quthwaite Annex were to have lower rentals in order to satisfy the needs of families in the lowest income group.^

The Cleveland public housing projects were also criticized for fostering racial segregation in housing.

^Ibid., May 7, 1958, 1. See also ibid.. June 11, 1938, 2.

*^Ibid., November 15, 1959} 1. 528

Early in 1955 the Cleveland newspapers carried a state­ ment by federal officials that the Quthwaite area project was being constructed for Negroes and the Cedar-Central

area project for whites. In response the local branch

of the NAACP contemplated injunction proceedings against

the projects. Similarly, a resolution protesting racial

segregation in public housing was introduced in City

Council by Negro Councilmen Leroy Bundy, Lawrence 0.

Payne and John E. Hubbard and by Councilman Herman H.

Pinkie.Protest was also made by local daily news­

papers. One editor stated:

The Press is glad to add its voice to that of City Council and many individuals in pro­ test against the designation by the Federal Government of one housing project as "colored" and another as "white." It was geography and economics, we had supposed, and not race, religion or any other consideration which would decide who is to live-in each of the two projects now under way.

Councilman Ernest J. Bohn travelled to the nation's

capital to present the City Council's formal protest

against the reported racial segregation policy in

Cleveland public housing to Harold L. Ickes, Secretary of

the Interior and head of the Public Works Administration,

l°Ibid., January 26, 1955, 2.

^^The Cleveland Daily Press in ibid., January 26, 1955, 5« 329 and to Horatio B. Hackett, head of the housing division of the W.P.A. Ickes denied that the W.P.A. had a policy of racial segregation. Hackett indicated that local officials would determine who would l;ive in the public housing projects because the local housing authorities 12 were in charge of the apartment rentals. Nevertheless, reports of racial segregation in Cleveland public housing were still heard and protests against it continued to be made. In the Spring of 1955 Negro Councilmen Bundy,

Hubbard and Payne and Councilman Pinkie demanded assurances from the federal government that there would be no color line in Cleveland public housing. In order to support their demand the councilmen attempted unsuccessfully to fili­ buster a City Council ordinance providing for slum clear­ ance.^^ Newspaper reports from Washington about public housing then under construction in Cleveland continued to refer to the Cedar-Central project as being for whites and the Quthwaite project for Negroes.Similarly, during the

1956 election campaign the Negro publicity department of the Democratic National Committee listed Cleveland among

^^Ibid.,-Pebruary 2, 1955, 1.

^^Ibid., April 13, 1955, 1. l^Pbid., July 18, 1956, 1. 550 the cities in the country which were receiving federal housing money for Negroes.The fact that a Negro,

Gordon H. Simpson of Cleveland, was placed in charge

of the management of the Quthwaite project gave plausi­

bility to the belief that it was for Negroes, The appoint­ ment of another Negro, Miss Essie Hague, as senior manage­ ment assistant at the Quthwaite project had a similar effect,

Miss Hague, a graduate of the Western Reserve University

School of Applied Sciences, had aided in the tenant selec­

tion for the first federally subsidized public housing project for Negroes, i.e., the University Homes Project

in Atlanta, Georgia.Reports that Negroes were being

restricted to Quthwaite Homes persisted into the autumn

of 1957* III response to this Negro Councilman Payne

obtained the unanimous adoption of a City Council resolution providing for the appointment of a special

committee with power to subpoena to investigate charges

of racial discrimination at the Cedar-Central project.

Accordingly the City Council housing committee, under

the chairmanship of Councilman Bohn, was authorized to

^^Ibid. , September 25, 1936, 2.

^^Ibid., Pebruary 2?, 1957, 5, May 29, 1957, 1. $31 make the investigation in question,The special housing committee held a hearing on the issue in October. Councilmen Payne, Craig and Pinkie and William P. Conners, Executive Secretary of the Negro Welfare Association, charged that racial discrimination was being practiced in Cleveland public housing. Councilman Payne pointed out that the manager and assistants at C^thwaite were all Negroes while those at Cedar-Central were all whites. Executive Secretary Conners held that the Negro manager at Cuthwaite "had been sent out to sell that pro­ ject to Negroes while no one had tried to sell Cedar- 1 Pi Central to them." Councilman Craig charged that project officials "were suggesting" that Negroes apply for apart­ ments at Cuthwaite rather than at Cedar-Central.^*^ Warren C. Campbell, the Public Works Administration’s local public housing manager, stated that the Cedar- Central and Cuthwaite projects were racially integrated; however, he admitted that the former was predominantly white and the latter predominantly Negro. 2.0 Campbell

^'^Ibid., September 2$, 1937» 2.

IBlbid.

^^Ibid. PO Nine Negro families had been accepted at Cedar-Central and twelve white families had been accepted at Cuthwaite. Ibid. 332 added that many Negro families were discouraged from entering the Cedar-Central project by the fact that they PI could not afford its higher rental.

In 1938 the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Author­ ity began a public housing program for Negroes under the authority of the V/agner-Steagall Act of 1937*

Goodman stated: "The Columbus Metropolitan Housing Author­ ity undertook construction of the Poindexter Village Pro­

ject for the purpose of improving the housing conditions of Negroes in Columbus as part of its program for the 22 improvement of housing conditions in general." The

officials of the Columbus Housing Authority made no

attempt to conceal the fact that the project was for

Negroes. The project, located in the heart of the city's

Negro district, was named Poindexter Village in honor of

the Reverend James Poindexter, the prominent Columbus

Negro leader of the late nineteenth century.The Poin­ dexter Village project offered greatly improved housing

facilities for those who eventually occupied it; however,

Z^Ibid. 22 Eduard S. Goodman, "The Effect of Relocation on the Former Occupants of the Site of the Poindexter Village Housing Project in Columbus, Ohio," Masters Thesis, 1940 (Hereafter cited as Goodman, "Poindexter Village Housing Project"), 6.

Z^lbid.,25. 333 the displacement of those who had originally occupied the project site caused problems. The Columbus Metro­ politan Housing Authority attempted to minimize the problems of relocation. The Housing Authority estab­ lished a relocation office which was headed by a Negro relocation supervisor. The authority also cooperated with community agencies to provide transportation and loans for project site occupants who did not have the funds to finance the move from the site to a new location and or pay the first month's rent in the new residence.

The relocation office maintained a list of rental vacancies for the benefit of those who were to be displaced. The

Housing Board of Consultants. was established as an ad­ visory body which could suggest procedures for minimizing the difficulties of relocation. The members of the Board 2jx represented Negro and white organizations of Columbus.

Despite the efforts of the Columbus Public Housing officials relocation caused hardships and difficulties.

The housing project site was evacuated in a short period of time. Virtually all of the original..occupants of the site were removed between December 1, 1938, and July 1,

^^Ibid., 6, 8, 11, 12. 334

1939. Goodman stated: "When the relocation office was notified of the purchase of a particular parcel /pî land/ the relocation supervisor assigned one of his investiga­ tors to notify the occupants of the transfer of owner­ ship, and to serve them with a notice to vacate within thirty days." 25 The order to vacate posed a problem because, as Goodman noted: "The principal obstacle in the path of relocation was a housing shortage for Negroes." Some of the occupants of the housing site did not leave without protest. Early in 1939 a group of the occupants staged a "stay in" strike on the property which had been acquired by the local Housing Authority for Poindexter Village. The Housing Authority filed eviction suits against all of them. Subsequently the strike was broken as the striking occupants were evicted by force. In relation to the residences in which the former occupants of the public housing site had been relocated, Cfoodinan found "some increased over crowding," "a general

Z^ibid.. 7-8. ^Gfbid., 10. 27lbid., 8. 335

increase in persons'per room" and some "doubling-up," i.e., two families occupying one dwelling unit. 28 The physical aspects of the houses of the relocated were somewhat improved but the relocated were required to pay higher rentals than those previously paid for living quarters on the housing site. Goodman concluded, in this regard, that relocation "gave the people concerned better housing at a price which they may not have been able to pay. The Poindexter Village project and the relocation of its original occupants virtually did not alter the racial housing pattern in Columbus. The public housing project was located in the heart of the Negro area, and Goodman found that "three fourths of all the households traced to /new/ locations were still within one mile of the center of the project site, and approximately nine tenths within one and a half miles of it.In relation to the effect of the geographical movement of the relo­ cated, Goodman observed; "The scatter to the north had the effect of bring households into industrial surround­ ings, principally railroad yards and shops. The scatter

28lbid., 33-41.

29ibid. , 41.

50lbid., 28. 336

to the west took a aimher of households into the vicinity of the downtown area, hut most of the cases where households moved into dwellings adjacent to commercial enterprises were on Long Street or Mt. Vernon Avenue. In Cincinnati the federally supported Laurel Homes Buhlic Housing project was initiated in 1936 and completed

in 1938. Negro tenants of Laurel Homes were segregated in the northern section of the project while white tenants lived in the southern section. By 19^3 sixty per cent of the tenants were Negroes.^32 Laurel Homes offered much better living conditions than the slum dwellings which they had replaced. For example, the project had a play­ ground with "a swimming pool for boys, another for girls, miscellaneous playground equipment, and recreation leaders for supervised play.There were also "six small play areas for the colored section, and eight in the white section, for children desiring free play. Slum clear­ ance and public housing projects in Cincinnati's Vest End compelled many Negro families to relocate in suburbs

^^Ibid., 30. ^^Ohio Writers' Program, Cincinnati, 228-229. ^^Ibid., 229. ^^Ibid. 357 which became predominantly Hegro in population. Other Ohio cities constructed public housing which was open to Negroes during the decade. For example, in

1939 the Dayton Metropolitan Housing Authority completed the Germantown Street and DeSoto Bass Courts projects for Negroes; a Negro was appointed manager of the latter. Private housing racial discrimination was still a constant factor in the experience of Negroes in Ohio during the nineteen-thirties. Racially restrictive housing covenants continued to be used in the state. White prejudice against Negroes in regard to private housing was sometimes exploited by real estate dealers. For example, in Cincinnati some real estate men purchased property in white neighborhoods and then induced the former white owners to repurchase the property by threatening to rent the property to Negroes. When city officials became aware of this procedure, the Cincinnati chief of police warned the public against this "racket" and advised white property owners to avoid the scheme by refusing to sell

35ibid., 292. ^^Ihe Gazette, May 20, 1939, 1, October 21, 1939, 1; The Crisis, XLI (May. 1934), I38. 57'For an example of such a covenant in Columbus see letter of C.E. Dickinson to William T. Andrews, April I3 , 1931, NAACP Records. 538 property to real estate dealers who might sell to Negroes. Similarly the local real estate hoard endorsed the use of racially exclusive real estate contracts as a means of combating the "racket.In response the president of the Cincinnati Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People protested against "any publically endorsed program for racial discrimination in real estate contracts. The growing population pressure in the Negro ghettos of Ohio motivated some Negro families to purchase homes in all-white neighborhoods in city suburbs; this was especially true in the Cleveland area. Attempts by Negro families to move into white neighborhoods continued to be met by active resistance and violence. Per example, when Miss Blanche Johnson, who had been teaching in the Cleveland public schools for more than ten years, moved into University Heights attempts were made to remove her from her home. About one hundred white residents of University Heights, meeting in the village hall, raised a fund which was to be used to induce Miss Johnson to sell her property and leave the suburb. Also, vandals

^^The Cincinnati Enquirer, May 22, 1932 (clipping), ibid. ^^Letter of Theodore M. Berry to Robert A. Cline, Cin­ cinnati real estate board president. May 25, 1932 (copy), ibid. 339 threw stones .through the windows of the Johnson home. Suhseq.uently, at the request of Cleveland attorney Harry E. Davis, the Cuyahoga County Commissioners advised the village mayor to provide police protection for the Johnson home; thereafter the requested police protection was provided, A few days after the Henry Lewis family moved into a house on Anderson Avenue in Hewburgh Heights the front of their home was burned by a fire which local fire department officials said was set by an arsonist. Prior to the fire racist handbills had been circulated in the neighborhood. The handbills read "Polks, the newly arrived n ______on Anderson Ave. will be taken care of. There are others who sells and rents to n______s, do your share. Let's keep it up. After residing in East Cleveland for fourteen years the family of Doctor Luther 0. Baumgardner moved into a home in an all white neighborhood of Cleveland Heights. A few days after they had entered the home a dynamite bomb exploded on their front lawn, shattered windows in the house and caused other property damage. 4-2 Similarly, a house being

^^The Gazette, .May 17, 1930, 2.

Ibid.. July 19, 1930, 1. ^^Ibid., September 3, 1938, 1. $40 constructed in Cleveland Heights for Edgar Dixon, an employee of a prominent Cleveland law firm for tv/enty two years, was bombed.

Racial segregation in private housing also con­ tinued to exist in the smaller towns of the state.

Ohio towns had small Negro sections. Occasionally

Negro families in such towns lived on otherwise all- white streets. However, in such instances, the residences in which the families lived became known as “colored houses," i.e., thereafter they were never rented or sold 44 to whites.

^^Ibid., July 8, 1939, 2. 44 Alva Beatrice Maxey, "The Life of the Negro Group in Oberlin, A Study in Social Attitudes," Masters Thesis, Oberlin College, 1955, 52. CHAPTER X

THE RACE ISSUE IN EDUCATION

De facto racial segregation in the public schools of Ohio increased during the nineteen-thirties. By

1936 Columbus had three all-Negro elementary schools, i.e., Champion, Mt. Vernon and Garfield schools.^ The majority of Columbus Negro high school students attended two. East and Central, of the city's five high schools.

Approximately thirty-six per cent of East and about

eight per cent of Central High School's enrollments 2 were composed of Negro students in 1936. However, all

Columbus public schools had at least two Negro students in 1936.3

The completely Negro or predominantly Negro Columbus

schools were in part the consequence of the gerrymander­

ing of school districts and of a policy of permitting

students to transfer from one school to another. In

1930 the Columbus Board of Education redistricted the

^Columbus Board of Education statistics. Minor, "The Negro in Columbus," 156,

%larcus L, Anderson, "The Educational and Vocational Opportunities For Negroes in Columbus, Ohio," Masters Thesis, 1936, 40.

^Minor, "The Negro in Columbus," 16$.

341 34-2

Mt. Veraoa School district in such a fashion that it in­ cluded only Uegro families. However, members of the Negro community under the leadership of the Reverend J. S.

Jackson and the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People protested vigorously and under this pressure the Board announced that the re- districting had been a mistake and the previous district 4- lines were kept. Yet, the following year the Board officially gerrymandered the Mt. Vernon district. The

Columbus Branch of the NAACP had been aware of the Board * s plan to redistrict. The local NAACP branch president explained;

. . . our Branch obtained the informa­ tion that a secret meeting of whites, only, with certain members of the School Board would be held at East High School. So several members of our group, who could not be dis­ tinguished from white, were quietly secured to attend this meeting. Thus we were aware of some things which the Board was being requested to do by certain whites afflicted with negrophobia. Our group remained inactive in spite of warnings of impending storm...... Not until Colored children presented themselves for registration and were told that they must go to other districts did Colored parents become aware that the cowardly Board of Edu­ cation had surrendered to the demands of the unscrupulous whites in east Columbus many of

^Columbus correspondent. The Gazette, October 4-, 1930, 1; letter of C. E. Dickinson to Walter White, September 15, 1931, NAACP Records. 343

whom had sent their children to private schools in order to avoid being in a class with Colored children. The financial de­ pression had made it impossible for these prejudiced whites to continue to send their children to private schools, hence, the School Board felt it incumbent upon them to eliminate the undesirable element and save the whites the unnecessary expense.^

Subsequently, the Columbus M A C P branch made a survey of schools affected by the redistricting. The completed data indicated that Eastwood School in a white district had an enrollment below the city average. Conversely,

Mt. Vernon and Champion Schools in Negro districts were overcrowded. For example, fifty-nine kindergarten and first grade pupils were placed in one room at Mt. Vernon

School. Similarly basement rooms in Champion School had to be used to accommodate the children. Thereafter a committee of thé Columbus NAACP branch sought an ex­ planation of the redistricting from the superintendent of schools. The spokesman for the committee stated that he had presumed that theiredistricting had been an economy measure and an attempt to relieve overcrowding. The school superintendent reportedly replied;

Don't you know why it was done? It was not for economy but to get rid of so many Colored children in the schools. We are tired of complaints and it is an injustice to white

^Ibid. 544

people to have to go to the expense of sending their children to private schools because of Colored children being in the public schools. We had a case of complaint because of Italians in one school and we adjusted it.

The superintendent ignored a question about how the complaint had been adjusted and stated that he was acting within the law and according to the wishes of the Board of Education. He also advised the committee to meet with the Board of Education to verify his statements. The local

NAACP branch planned to meet with the Board and cooperated with white civic organizations to raise funds to take the

issue to the courts; however, these efforts proved to be fruitless.7 In 1932 a Negro, Charles Blackburn, was ap­ pointed principal of Garfield School, which then became

the third Columbus school whose faculty and student body O were entirely Negro. Also in 1932 the Columbus Board of

Education altered school district lines so that many white

students were changed from Pilgrim Junior High School to

Franklin Junior High School; hence, the former was

?Ibid.

^The Gazette. July 25, 1932, 1; The Education Committee, the Vanguard League, Which September, Columbus, Ohio, 1944, 9» Thomas Baker Jones, ^'An Analysis of the Inter­ racial Policies and Practices of the Group Work Agencies in Columbus Ohio," Doctoral Dissertation, 1947 (Hereafter cited as Jones, "Group Work Agencies in Columbus"), 17- 18; Minor, "The Negro in Columbus," 153. 34-5 predominantly Negro while the latter was predominantly white. White students who resided in the Pilgrim School district after the redistricting were permitted to "trans­ fer" to Franklin School. Representatives of the Negro community spoke against the change to no avail before the Board of Education.^ In 1959 Pilgrim School became the fourth Columbus School which had all Negro teachers as well as students.

In the nineteen-thirties Minor noted: "Cincinnati provides a complete division on the basis of race in the elementary schools. In High Schools, however, the students of both races mingle." Minor also found complete racial separation in the Dayton schools from the elementary 12 through the high school levels. In 1953 a new high school, Dayton Dunbar, was constructed in the heart of the Dayton Negro community. And, by the middle of the decade Dayton's Garfield and Willard Schools were all-

Negro in enrollment.

^Letters of G. A. Stewart to Dr. W.E.B. DuBois, September 3» 1952, and Harry E. Davis to Walter White, September 20, 1952, NAACP_Records. 10 Jones, "Group Work Agencies in Columbus," I7. lliijhe Negro in Columbus," 158.

~^Ihe ' Gazette. October 21, 1955» 2, June 19, 1957» 1; Frederick A. McGinnis, The Education of the Negro in Ohio, 346

Even in Cleveland complaints of racial segregation and discrimination in the public schools mounted during the nineteen-thirties. Charles V. White of the Cleveland branch of the NAACP reported:

Migration has caused some of the inter­ racial problem. In Cleveland some of the seventeen year old migrants were housed with the five year olds. Considering it inadvisable to throw children with such a wide difference in age together two special schools £Hayes and Outhwaite/ were set up. Of course, about 95% of these schools' population is colored, but actually no fault could be found with such a system. Interested Clevelanders found out what was being taught and where the students went from the schools. They found no apparent irregularities. The children were admitted to public schools. . . . there was a tendency on the part of teachers to discourage.Negro children /from pursuing/ higher education.

In 1936 a Negro, Miss Hazel M. Walker, was appointed prin­ cipal of Rutherford B. Hayes Elementary School.In 1957 the Reverend Joseph Gomez of St. James African Methodist

Episcopal Church complained:

There is a definite drift toward segrega­ tion that only a new /school/ districting plan that makes impossible a situation /de facto segregation/ as now exists at Central High and other schools, can stem the tide; . . . it is not enough to say the geographical lines make necessary the present plan, for the Board of Education has power to make any changes necessary 14 Proceedings, Second Annual Conference of Ohio N.A.A.C.P. Branches, September 25-27» 1931» Columbus, Ohio, NAACP Records.

^^The Gazette % September 5» 1936» 5* 34-7

to prevent de facto segregation/.^^

Also in 1937 the Cleveland NAACP branch objected to the predominantly Negro "special activity" Longwood and

Outhwaite Schools on the grounds that no other such schools existed in Cleveland, but there was not complete agreement on this issue in the Negro community. Mrs.

Mary B. Martin, still the only Negro member of the Cleve­ land Board of Education, voted against an NAACP resolu­ tion, before the Board, to restore a regular curriculum 17 at these schools. ^

In the nineteen-thirties Negro students did not benefit proportionately from Cleveland's trade schools.

East Technical, West Technical, Collinwood High and

Cleveland Trade Schools. Charles W. Chesnutt charged

that trade school officials discouraged the enrollment

of Negro students in trade schools because they experienced no difficulty in finding job placements for them. Direct­

ing Supervisor of Vocational and Practical Arts Education

Howard L. Briggs pointed out that over a hundred Negro

l^lbid.. February 20, 1937, 1.

^^Ibid.. June 12, 1937, 1, July 10, 1937, 2. 18.«The Negro in Cleveland," The Clevelander. V (November, 1930), Number 7, 3-4. 348 students were enrolled at East Technical High School and denied that racial discrimination existed in the City's trade schools. Briggs, however, admitted:

The statement that 'officials discourage the education of Negro students' is partially true, to this extent only. Any body attending the schools is entitled to intelligent vocation­ al guidance. Mr. Chesnutt states himself that 'practical training in many trades can only be acquired in factories which discourage or limit the number of apprentices.' Any body, white or colored, applying for admission for a course terminating in placement in one specific voca­ tion only should be given accurate and honest information about his chances of getting a job. Until Cleveland industries and employers in all lines of work are willing to employ colored workers educational officials, when questioned, will tell the truth relative to the situation, and no boy will be refused admission, but he enters with the full knowledge of what his chances are for success in any given vocation in so far as school officials are able to inform him. Colored boys who have completed trade school courses have found difficulty in securing placement as indicated by Mr. Chesnutt. In fact the schools have exerted every effort to secure jobs for them with the co-operation of the Negro Welfare Association. ^

Quality education for Negro students became an important issue in Cleveland during the nineteen-thirties.

The quality of old Central High School was the heart of the issue. Central High had been a much respected institution, many prominent members of both the Negro and white com­ munities had graduated from it. By the nineteen-thirties

^^The Gazette, December 6, 1930, 1, 34-9

Central High was predominantly Negro in enrollment and members of the Negro community complained that its status

as an educational institution had declined seriously.

In September, 1932, a committee of the Cleveland branch of the NAACP brought the Central High issue before the

educational committee of the Board of Education. Miss

Pearl Mitchell, chairman of the NAACP committee, said that

Central High officials were "out of touch with the com- PO munity." She also stated "that she had been told by

one of the teachers that the curriculum of the school

had to be different because the children were so low ?1 mentally." A report had indicated that Central was the

only Cleveland High School which fell below the state-wide intelligence average. Miss Mitchell added : "If they are not intelligent enough to do the work of high school pupils,

then maybe they shouldn't be in high school...... But 22 if they can't do the work, how did they get there?"

Similarly, Charles V. White, attorney of the NAACP, said:

"It seems to be taken for granted that at Central you're

ZOlbid.,28.

^^Ibid., September 10, 1932, 1.

^%bid. 350 working with 'know little people'" and held that Central should offer a curriculum equal to that of other high schools.The NAACP committee gave the Board of Edu­ cation a list of recommendations which suggested, among other things, that efforts he made to integrate racially the Central High faculty, that a parent teacher associa­ tion be formed and that a qualified Negro assistant prin­ cipal be appointed for the school. The Board's educational committee decided that a citizens committee, composed of teachers, parents and members of the local NAACP branch, should be formed to investigate Central High School con­ ditions and to make recommendations for improving the 24 school. Subsequently, a parent teacher association was formed. In 1932 and in 1934 citizens committees did study conditions at Central High School.In 1934, a citizens committee, under Miss Jane E. Hunter and Norman McGhee reported:

The building housing Central High School was erected in 1878. . . . the Building is equipped to accommodate approximately 2,000 pupils, the present enrollment is 2,174 and for the past four years the enrollment has

Z^Ibid.

Z^Tbid.

^^Letter of Jane E. Hunter to Harry G, Smith, February 24, 1936, ibid.. February 29, 1936, 1. 551

exceeded the class room capacity. In comparison with other high schools in the city, it has a dismal, uninviting, cheerless appearance, void of the atmosphere that makes for the education of youth. The location of this school was formerly in the heart of an aristocratic neighborhood, with beautiful lawns, fine shade trees, and imposing dwellings. It is now the center for third rate rooming houses, small manufacturers, and small businesses. East 55th Street has be­ come one of the main arteries of automobile traffic in the city. The neighborhood is in­ fested with houses of questionable repute, auto junk yards, prostitutes and gangsters. These conditions make its location one of moral and physical hazards wholly unsuited for and de­ moralizing to students. The location in such surroundings increases the problems of dis­ cipline and effective instruction. No other high school in the^city is so unfavorably located for its purposes.

Central High conditions remained a controversial issue. In 1936 Miss Hunter rhetorically asked:

. . . did not the Board of Education use Central High School as a dumping ground to accommodate both senior and junior high pupils? Did the authorities not change the school boundar­ ies in order to exclude as many white and to in­ clude as many Negro children whom they could possibly force to attend Central? Have not these changes, together with environment and poverty of the Negro, forced down the standards and caused their complete decomposition in the community over a period of years? '

Z^The Crisis, XLI (July, 1934), 215.

^^Detter of Jane E. Hunter to Harry C. Smith, February 24, 1936, The Gazette, February 29» 1936, 1. 352

Soon thereafter Central High School Principal P. M.

Watson, a Negro, defended his school hy holding that its

faculty and students were doing remarkably well under

trying circumstances. Yet, Central High had. Principal

Watson admitted, "an inadequate building with poor

equipment and insufficient playground, surrounded by

unsightly and injurious neighborhood influences, a total

educational situation which compares very unfavorably with po other high schools in Cleveland."

Interested citizens sought the construction of a

new building for Central High School. The Central High

Citizen’s Committee had supported municipal bond levies

for school construction. The Committee was distressed

by the fact that the Board of Education had nevertheless

failed to take significant action toward providing a new

Central High School building. In September, 1937» the Committee again called the attention of the Board to the

undesirable conditions existing at the school and pointed

out that the recently opened public housing projects in

the vicinity of Central High had contributed to even

greater enrollment congestion at the school. The Committee

^^Ibid.. March 7, 1936, 1. 355 warned that it might not support future bond levies if a new building for Central High were not constructed soon, Cleveland Superintendent of Schools Charles H.

Lake stated that, although he favored it, the Board of

Education did not have the funds to finance the con- PQ struction of a new building. ^ Nevertheless, by the following summer the Board of Education undertook plans for the construction of a new building with financial support from the Public Works Administration, The corner stone of the new Central High School building was laid in

September, 1939. The old building was transformed into a junior high school.^

Unlike the school boards in the larger cities of the state those in some of the smaller towns of the southern part of Ohio maintained separate schools for Negro students as a matter of policy, For example, Wayne School in Lock- land, a suburb of Cincinnati, was operated for Negroes ex­ clusively. Although many white students resided in the vicinity of Wayne School no white pupils had ever been enrolled in it. In protest against the segregated school

^^The Committee of 1937 was interracial in composition. Its leading members included Editor Smith, Jane E, Hunter and Clayborne George, Ibid,, October 2, 1937, i. 30lbid.. August 20, 1938, 2, September 23, 1939, 1. 354

the Lockland Negro Citizens Club attempted to promote a

school strike, met with school board officials and

supported a Negro candidate for election to the Board of

Education. None of these efforts was successful. The

Negro school board candidate, Herman Roberts, carried

the town's Negro ward but was not elected.About the

school board campaign a local observer wrote:

Many false and garbled reports had been circulated concerning the objectives and de­ sires of our local population in the matter of public education. It was made to appear that they were 'out to run the town.' The question went inevitably into politics although it was not primarily a political matter, rather, of human rights. . . But, in consequence of the school fight, all political differences among the whites were composed around their common desire to beat Roberts and 'save the white race'. The surest way to do this was to vote straight Republican and that is what the town did, with the exception of Ward 4 ^egro/.

Similarly, a separate educational system, from elementary

through high schools, for Negroes was maintained in

Xenia.

During the nineteen-thirties Negro teachers were

employed in Ohio public schools, but still only exception­

ally on integrated faculties and in integrated schools.

^^Ibid., October 16, 1937» 1» November 13, 1937, 2.

^^Lockland correspondent, ibid., November 13, 1937, 2. ^^Minor, "The Negro in Columbus," 158. 355

In 1931 Charles V, White reported: "In Cleveland there are over 100 colored teachers, half of whom are in schools where there are white and some where there are no white, and some where there are no colored.Ordinarily teachers in Cleveland, regardless of race, were placed in schools closest to their homes.In Cincinnati, Colmnbns and other Ohio cities Negro teachers were only employed in schools with all-Negro enrollments. Usually the all-Negro

schools were headed by Negro principals. There were no

Negro high school teachers in Cincinnati, Columbus and most 56 other cities in the state.^ Some city school systems

employed no Negro teachers, e.g., Youngstown. By 1958,

the Youngstown Branch of the NAACP had induced the local

superintendent of schools to issue a statement favoring

the employment of Negro teachers in the public schools of

the city.^*^

During the nineteen-thirties Negro students were

enrolled in and graduated from Akron University, Denison

5A- Proceedings, Second Annual Conference of Ohio N.A.A.C.P. Branches, September 25-27, 1931» Columbus, Ohio, NAACP Records.

^^Minor "The Negro in Columbus," 158.

3Gibid..363 158, 164.

3 7 rThe Gazette. September 24, 1938, 1, October 8, 1938, 1. 356

University, Hiram College, Kent State University, Oberlin

College, Ohio State University, Ohio University, Ohio

Wesleyan University, University of Cincinnati, University of Toledo, Western Reserve University, College of Wooster and probably other colleges and universities in the state.

Oberlin College, Ohio State University, University of

Cincinnati and Western Reserve University were evidently the institutions of higher education with the largest Negro enrollments during the decade.Enrollment of Negroes in

TABLE 3

NUMBER OF NEGRO STUDENTS ENROLLED IN OHIO COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

Institution 1930 1932 1932- 1935- 1936- 1937- 1938- 1933 193.6 1937 1938 1959 University of 125 75 **** * Cincinnati

Oberlin College 54- 4-4 51 4-7 50 * 41 Ohio State 327 260 250 268 422 431 309 University

Western Reserve 131 56 * 54 28 ** University

*Not Reported.

^ These statistics, including those in table 3 were com­ piled by the author from information in he August education­ al issues of The Crisis for the nineteen-thirties. 357 the colleges and universities ranged from as low as one, e.g., at Denison University in 1937-1938, to as many as four hundred thirty-one at Ohio State University in 1937-

1938. In the academic year 1935-1937» and during some other school years of the decade, Ohio State University had the largest enrollment of Negroes of all the racially integrated colleges and universities in the United States which reported their enrollment statistics to The Crisis.

In comparison to previous decades a relatively high per­ centage of Negroes who graduated from universities in the state received graduate or professional degrees. For example, of the Ohio State University Negro graduates in

1937 twelve obtained the B.A. or B.S. degree, seven the

M.A., four the M.S., two the M.D., one the LL.B., one the AO M.B.A. and one the Ph.D.

Race relations at Ohio State University in 1930 were described in an article in the Bulletin of the Inter-

Racial Council at the University. The Bulletin reported;

In athletics both football and track have had outstanding members from the Negro group. Some of the colored students have felt that representation on the basketball and baseball teams is more difficult. We are unable to obtain facts to prove or dis­ prove this assertion.

^^The Crisis, XLV (August, 1938), 258-261, XLIV (August, 19377, É^O, 233. ^°Ibid. 558

Little prejudice is manifested on the part of the instructors toward the Negroes. Some feel that exceptions to this are found in both the Engineering and Medical schools. The Negro students have made no effort to enter into the social life of the white students. Theoretically, they are welcome at all student parties — Open House, etc., at Pomerene Hall. But it just isn't being done. Some of the clubs are open to Negroes and some are not. Departmental groups are open to all races, as are all religious organizations, which differentiate, if at all, according to sect. Since there is no restriction as to race it is hard to obtain accurate figures as to the number of different races included in these groups. Some honoraries, such as Pi Lambda Theta, are closed to Negroes, while Phi Beta Kappa admits them. The same is true of the official student organizations. The Scarlet Mask, we are told, is closed to both Negroes and Jews. Negroes do not have representation in the Interfraternity Council because they fail to qualify. They would become members of the Student Senate as soon as they are made president of any of the student organizations. No Negroes are presidents. They have no membership in the Women's Student Govern­ ment Association because they decline to be govern­ ed by restrictions under which the white students, live. There are only two Negroes active in Y.M. C.A. and seven Negro girls active in Y.M.C.A. The Women's Glee Club has a Negro in it. At least one Negro man who made Choral Society did not get a place with Men's Glee Club. However, membership in the Society does not guarantee Glee Club membership. Nearly all of the colored students live several miles from the University and have to travel by street car. Since they cannot go to their rooms between classes, they flock in large numbers to Pomerene Hall, the Library and Ohio Union. Some white students have complained of this but the reason is obvious. No dormitories are open to the girls on the campus nor to the men in the community. Both of the campus cafeterias are open to all, but the restaurants in the community off campus are closed to Negroes--, State Theater does not admit Negroes to its shows.

41 Ibid.. XXXVII (August, 1950), 264. 359

Racial discrimination at Ohio State University re­ ceived a considerable amount of attention from the Negro community of the state and the nation during the early years of the decade. In the fall of 1930 William Bell, a starting tackle on the football team, was not permitted to travel with the team to Baltimore to play in the foot­ ball game with the United States Naval Academy, Members of the Negro community charged the University ^ith bow­ ing to the racial prejudices of southerners in refusing to allow Bell to play in the game. In not taking Bell to

Baltimore, the Ohio State University President held, "The university is endeavoring to protect him from /the/ un­ pleasant experience of probable race discrimination mani- /Ip fested in a southern city ^Baltimore/."

The Negro community was also concerned about the treatment of Dr. Herbert A. Miller by Ohio State Univer­ sity officials. Dr. Miller was a veteran member of the

Department of Sociology. His prime academic interest included races, nationalities and social classes. Dr.

Miller also took an active interest in local, national and world affairs. On the issue of race Dr. Miller 42 Telegram of George W. Rightmire to Walter White, November 5» 1930, NAACP Records. . 360 maintained that scientific research in anthropology, biology and other scientific fields proved that there was little or no fundamental difference between people of different colors. He held that objections to racial intermarriage were based upon irrational prejudice rather than upon scientific facts, but he did not advocate interracial marriage. He maintained that white racism was a problem of international scope because only about one-third of the world's population was white. He also held that a result of the study and teaching of social science should be the improvement in relations between people regardless of color. Dr. Miller lived accord­ ing to his beliefs. He attempted to improve race re­ lations inside and outside of the classroom. For example he served as chairman of the Race Relations Committee of the Columbus Urban League. In the spring of 1951 Dr.

Miller took members of his sociology class on Negroes on a chaperoned field trip to Wilberforce University, the Negro school in the southwestern section of the state.

The trip had been suggested by members of the class and was entirely optional, i.e., was not a course requirement.

^^See Races. Nations and Glasses, the Psychology of Domination and ÜPreedom. [Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, v m r . ------551

During the visit of the class at a fraternity house some of the white girls in the class danced with some of the local fraternity men. The girls had not done this with the approval of Dr. Miller, hut he had not interfered on the grounds that they were graduate or senior students of approximately twenty-one years of h !\ age. Subsequently, Dr. Miller was dismissed by the

University. The grounds for dismissal given by the

University were that Dr. Miller had allegedly supported the cause of Indian independence during a recent trip to the Orient and that the parents of students had allegedly A. 5 objected to his views on race relations. ^ Disapproval of the University's dismissal of Dr. Miller was expressed by members of the Uegro community in the state and the nation, as they believed the University officials' action had been based primarily upon Dr. Miller's views on race. Furthermore, the dismissal of Dr. Miller re­ sulted in what was probably the most divisive contro­ versy on the issue of academic freedom in the history of the university. Scores of faculty members signed a 4 4 Letter of C. E. Dickinson to Walter White, June 3» 1931» NAACP Records. ^^The Columbus Evening Dispatch, May 27» 1931» 1» 2. 362 petition protesting against Dr. Miller's dismissal and five deans issued a statement in his defense. Subse­ quently, the American Association of University Pro­ fessors entered the case and censured Ohio State Uni­ versity for dismissing Dr. Miller.

Racial discrimination in Ohio State University's

Home Management House was the most controversial racial issue at the University during the decade. The issue arose in December, 1931, after Miss Wilhelmina J.

Styles had applied for residence in the House. In describing her experience. Miss Styles wrote;

All students except those who are training for institutional management are required to live in the Home Management House (Grace Graham Walker House) at the end of four years college training in home economics. That is, all stu­ dents enrolled in the College of Agriculture. They live in the house for a period of six weeks. . . . there are two residences, so 24 girls are taken care of in a quarter. I made application for residence in this house in May 1931, one year prior to taking up residence in the home. December of 1931 I was informed by Miss ; Lindquist, head of the Home Management Depart­ ment, that I could not live in the house 'for the reason of color and tradition,' so I was to have to take my work in a home off campus. Miss Lindquist made the statement, 'that as long as she stayed at Ohio State University there shall never be a colored girl live in the Home Management House.'

American Association of University Professors, Bulletin. XVII (October, 1931), 443-473; James E. Pollard, History ' of the Ohio State University, the Story of Its First ïïêv^y^Hvenriâr s7 " g 9 ' 9 . T O I 3 0 ?. ------363

Miss Lanman, Director of the School of Home Economics, early in the controversy gave the excuse that the house was crowded for the quarter, although about April 1st (1932) two vacancies occurred in the last six weeks en­ rollment. Since this time was so close to the time to move into the house, which was April 7th, it was a little difficult to find girls; because that meant extra money and leaving a room which arrangement had already been made for by the girls. Girls to fill vacancies were finally found before the seventh, but one girl. Miss Sara DeVeiss, was given the opportunity to live in the house for practice before taking the theory course that is required to be taken before or concurrently with the practice work. ' The President of the Ohio Conference of NAACP Branches took an interest in Miss Styles' case. He had an inter­ view with the Misses Lindquist and Lanman of the Univer­ sity and informed the NAACP headquarters in New York of

Miss Styles' situation.^® The Cleveland NAACP branch sent a telegram to Ohio State University President Ü.Q Rightmire protesting Miss Styles' treatment. ^ These efforts on the coed's behalf did not succeed. She

^^Letter to Chester K, Gillespie, September 8, 1932, The Gazette. December $1, 1932, 2. yiR Letter of 0. E. Dickinson to Walter White, April 14, 1932, excerpts of a conversation with Misses Lindquist and Lanman, May ?th /193^» transcript by G. J. Preeland, NAACP Records.

^^The Gazette. May 14, 1932, 2. 364 graduated in June without the "benefit of the practical work in the Home Management House. Su"bsequently, Miss

Styles found difficulty in securing a teaching position in her field in other states perhaps in part because she lacked practical training; however, she was eventually 50 employed as a teacher at Wilberforce University.^

Miss Doris Weaver of Cleveland was involved in a similar incident. Miss Weaver was a senior student in the Ohio State University College of Agriculture. During the Winter Quarter of 1932, after having met all the prerequisites, she applied for registration in the la"boratory course in the Home Management House. Miss

Weaver received a letter of acceptance on September 26,

1932. However, on October 4, 1932, the office of the

Department of Home Economics asked her to return the confirmation of acceptance.Subsequently, Cuyahoga

County State Representative Chester K. Gillespie inter­ ceded on behalf of Miss Weaver. After some difficulty

State Representative Gillespie arranged a conference with

University President Rightmire for Miss Weaver and himself, but the conference, in early January, 1933, proved to be

50lbid.. August 5, 1933, 2. ^^Statement of the Inter-racial Council, The Ohio State University, January 16, 1933» ibid., January 21, 1933, 1. 365 inconclusive,^^ The Interracial Council at the University protested against Miss Weaver's treatment hy University officials.In the middle of January the Cleveland branch of the NAACP held a meeting on the Weaver incident, decided to institute court action on it and collected funds for the legal proceedings.^ In the meantime, President Right­ mire testified before the judiciary committee of the State

House of Representatives following charges by State Repre­

sentative Gillespie that the University was practicing racial discrimination against Miss Weaver.Speaking be­ fore the judiciary committee hearing, which was attended by a sizable contingent of Negro leaders. President Right­ mire styled himself a friend of Negroes and denied know­

ledge of any racial discrimination whatsoever at the Uni­ versity. In addition, he stated in effect that the Uni­ versity was willing to and had offered Miss Weaver admittance

to the Home Management House if she were willing to accept racial segregation on the basis of separate but equal

^^Ibid.. December 31, 1932, 2, January 7» 1933, 1.

^^Ibid., January 21, 1933, 1. I- ^^Ibid.. January 21, 1933, 1, January 28, 1933, 1. 55'Ibid. 366 accommodations. Furthermore, in describing his position and in giving his personal view, President Rightmire stated;

This house /)Iome Management is so managed that the six girls do tEe buying, cooking, dining, socializing, together — a common enterprise. If I remember there are about three rooms in which the six girls live together during their period in the house. When the matter came up as to whether they would live together in that intimate way, if provision is made for such, the colored people have a good deal of race pride and perhaps colored people will object to living intimately in that way. Knowing the feeling in Ohio, can an administrator take the burden of establishing this relation­ ship — colored and white girls living in this more or less family way? In theory, both the colored and white will object and among all my acquaintances I know of none who would advocate that kind of close relationship among the races. Always one group or the other will criticize the actions. Therefore there is some matter of procedure involved here by the University and there is no doubt it is very ready to do this: you may take one side of the house, we will use the other side of the house. It isn't discriminating against you. There is the same treatment. I don't see where discrimination comes in. If there is identical facilities and equipment. We are equal, yes, but when it comes to the matter of living together I think you people have the right to object to that and I rather think you would. We are willing to operate on those conditions which to my mind is not discrimina­ tion.^®

^ Statement, January 24-, 1953» to the Ohio House of Repre­ sentatives' Judiciary Committee Relative to the Doris Weaver Segregation Case, ibid., February 4-, 1933» 1. A copy of the above statement was sent to Editor Smith by State Representative Gillespie in a letter dated January 27, 1933» ibid., 5. 367

With the aid of the Cleveland NAACP branch, Miss Weaver filed with the Ohio Supreme Court a mandamus suit asking \ the Court to issue a writ compelling' University officials

to admit her to "the home management house as the same

is usually conducted, and to make all advantages, facili­ ties and privileges thereof available to her without dis­

crimination against her in any respect on account of her race and color.Before the Court, University officials described the social relationships among the girls living

in the house. They added:

. . . it has never been the policy of the Ohio State University to require students of different races or nationalities to reside together as part of a single family; that the plaintiff ^ i s s Weave^/ is the only girl of her race now matriculated and qualified to take Course No. 627, and by reason thereof, the defendants /University officials/ have provided quarters for plaintiff equal in kind, furnished equally and similarly as to quality and quantity, and having the same facilities, as are furnished to other races or national­ ities in attendance at the university and en­ rolled for such course of study. Further answering these defendants state that they have offered to the plaintiff the right to substitute other courses in lieu of such course No. 627 by which she may acquire her degree.2

5^Ibid.. February 4, 1933, 1.

^®The State, ex rel. Weaver, v. Board of Trustees of Ohio State University et al., Ohio State Reports, CXXVI, 293. 368

On March 15, 1933» the Supreme Court agreed with the

University officials that their conduct had been proper and had not constituted racial discrimination; conse­ quently, it denied Miss Weaver the writ in question.

She was graduated from Ohio State University at the end of the Winter Quarter of 1933 without practical training in home economics and consequently lost job opportunities in Texas. Subsequently, she completed her laboratory training at Wilberforce University and secured a teaching position there through the efforts of State

Representative Gillespie.

Meanwhile the Weaver case remained a heated issue for many months. Editor Smith condemned the state Supreme

Court's decision in the Weaver case as a bad "precedent" and held that it should be appealed to the United States

Supreme Court.The Cleveland branch of the NAACP held a meeting to protest the Court's decision. At the protest meeting further court action was considered and legal defense funds were collected. In April, 1933» the Ohio

59lbid.. 290-298.

^ T h e Gazette. April 1, 1933, 1» July 29» 1933» 2.

G^Ibid.. March 15, 1933» 2.

G^ibid.. April 1, 1933» 1» 2. 369

Supreme Court rejected an application for a rehearing

of the Weaver case. The national headquarters of the

NAACP considered an appeal to the United States Supreme

Court but it was decided not to appeal since Miss Weaver had graduated.In May, 1933» in response to the actions

of Ohio State University officials and the State Supreme

Court, State Representative Gillespie introduced in the

State House of Representatives a bill designed to prevent

the University board of trustees from adopting any rules which would discriminate between students on the basis of race, color or creed. The measure. House Bill Number 583, 64- was referred to the codes committee. Claybourne George

and Charles W. White, members of the Cleveland NAACP

branch and Doris Weaver's legal counsel, spoke in favor

of the Gillespie-University bill before the House codes

committee.The national headquarters of the NAACP took

an active interest in the passage of the bill. Letters

urging its passage were sent from the New York office to

G^Ibid., April 8, 1933, 2, April 29, 1933, 1.

^Ohio House Journal. CXV (1933), 870, 886; H.B. No. 683- Mr. Gillespie ^1^3^/, NAACP Records. ^^Press Release, Columbus, Ohio, June 9 /[193^/, ibid. )70 all members of the House.The national headquarters furthermore requested all of the Ohio NAACP branches to write to their state legislators and otherwise actively back the Gillespie bill.^^ It also issued press releases

on the progress of the bill. Consequently, the House codes committee approved an amended form of the bill and recommended it for consideration by the House "in its regular order.However, the House adjourned sine die before the bill came up for consideration and it was thereby "killed.In July, 1933» the Cleveland Negro branch of the National Association of College Women sent

a letter to the Ohio State University Board of Trustees protesting against Miss Weaver's treatment and requesting

the Board of Trustees to end racial discrimination at the University.70 The controversy over Miss Weaver's case

66 Letter of Walter White to All members of House of Repre­ sentatives, State of Ohio, June 2, 1933 (copy), ibid.

^^Letter of Roy Wilkins to C. E. Dickinson, June 1, 1933 (copy), ibid. 68(- GBphio House Journal. C2V (1933), 949-950.

^^Ibid., 1448-144-9 ; letter of Chester Gillespie to Roy Wilkins, June 16, 1933» NAACP Records.

7^The Gazette. July 15, 1933, 1. 571 carried over into 195^. In February, the legal defense committee of the Cleveland NAACP branch decided to promote a state-wide campaign to acquaint Negroes and liberal white voters "with the dangers inherent in the decision" of the state Supreme Court in the Weaver case. The com­ mittee sought the cooperation of the organization's national office in the campaign. Subsequently, the state­ ment of David Pierce, a member of the NAACP in Cleveland, on the Weaver case appeared in a symposium on racial segre­ gation published in The Crisis.T h e legal defense com­ mittee of NAACP's Cleveland branch also sent a telegram to United States Senator Robert J. Bulkley expressing its opposition to the appointment of Ohio Supreme Court Judge

Florence Allen to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals at

Cincinnati. Judge Allen had concurred in the state

Supreme Court's decision in the Weaver case.^^ Similarly, the Board of Directors of the NAACP in New York sent a telegram to the United States Senate Judiciary Committee condemning Judge Allen's participation in the Weaver decision.Judge Allen nevertheless received the judicial

^^Ybid., February 17» 1954, 2; The Crisis, XL (March, 195ÂT7 80. "^^The Gazette, February 17, 1954, 2. f^ibid., March 17, 1954, 1. 572 appointment.*^^

As at Ohio State University, Negro students at other schools of higher education in Ohio experienced discrimination. Although the number of Negro college students in the state increased they continued to be excluded from or discouraged from entering dormitories and functions of a social or extra-curricular nature.

College dormitories were generally not open to Negroes, and this discrimination was seldom challenged. Kent

State College provided a separate dormitory for Negro women. Emmett Meade, whose daughter was a student at the College, protested against the practice to members of the Kent State administration and faculty. Subsequently, in August, 1932, the Kent branch of the NAACP induced the

College's Board of Trustees to discontinue the separate dormitories; however, Negro women continued to be excluded from the regular dormitories.'^ Again, in 1938, in response

to an inquiry about segregation at his school Kent State

University President K. C. Leebrick wrote: "The only segre­ gation of any nature existing here is that the girls of the

colored race live together in two houses. This year, we

f^lbid.. March 10, 1934, 2.

75lbid., August 1 3 , 1 9 3 2 , 1. 373 are providing exactly the same meals and the same type of service as in the dormitories."'^^ In 1938, Jesse G.

Clark, an Ohio University student, stated that the Ohio

University administration "openly admits that Negroes are definitely 'jim-crowed' and discouraged from parti­ cipation in practically all extra-curricular activities."^7

Negro students rarely challenged their exclusion from social and extra-curricular functions. When such challenges were made they generally failed or at least met resistance. For example, in May, 1931, all thirty

Negro students who registered to attend a University of

Toledo social function were refused tickets to the affair.

In the spring of 193^ six Negro student couples purchased tickets for the junior prom at the University of Cincinnati.

Subsequently, several members of the prom committee con­ tacted them and suggested that their attendance at the function might be inadvisable. Hence, two of the couples decided not to attend the dance, but the other four couples became the first Negro students in the history of the Uni­ versity of Cincinnati to attend the junior prom.^9

*^^Letter to Chester K. Gillespie, November 29, 1938, ibid., December 10, 1938, 2.

?7lbid..77 October 15, 1938, 2. 78 Ibid.. May 9, 1931, 1. '^%b i d .. March 31, 1934, 2. 374

During the nineteen-thirties there was a somewhat larger number of Negro students enrolled in the pro­ fessional schools in the universities of the state. But the professional schools were not free of racial dis­ crimination. Some of these schools excluded Negroes as a matter of policy while others maintained a Negro quota policy or at least never admitted more than a couple of Negroes per class. The experience of Negroes with medical schools was fairly typical. In 1930 the

University of Cincinnati College of Medicine was closed to Negroes; school officials based the exclusion policy on the grounds that Cincinnati's General Hospital would not admit Negro internes from the University's medical 80 school. It was reported that the College of Medicine at the University of Cincinnati admitted one Negro student in 1932.®^ In 1939» Margret Jones Clark stated that there Qp were no Negro medical students at the University. By

1939 Western Reserve University had not admitted more than O Z two Negro students per class in its medical school.

^^The Crisis. XXÏVII (August, 1930), 255.

Gllbid.. XXIX (January, 1932), 466.

®^"The Negro Pharmacist and Physician in Columbus, Ohio," Masters Thesis, 1939, 2. G^Ibid. 375

However, in 1938, Dr. Charles Garvin had been appointed as a clinical instructor in genito-urinary surgery in the medical school and thus had become the first Negro faculty QA member at Western Reserve University. The Ohio State

University College of Medicine, Clark stated, "While supposedly giving equal opportunities. . . allows only two Negroes of seventy-five to enter yearly.Further­ more, the Ohio State medical students were not permitted to practice internship at the university hospital. In

1936 the pastors conference of the Ohio Council of Churches, meeting in Columbus, condemned this discrimination. The pastors stated: "Since the state will not permit a gradu­ ate of a medical school to practice in Ohio who has not

served one year as an interne in a hospital. . . , we urge the Ohio State University and church hospitals to right this wrong.In a letter to Cleveland NAACP President

Chester K. Gillespie, Dean J. H. Upham of the Ohio State

University medical school denied knowledge of any racial discrimination in the College of Medicine and placed the

^^The Gazette, July 2, 1938, 3»

85"The Negro Pharmacist and Physician in Columbus, Ohio," Masters Thesis, 1939, 1.

^^The Gazette, February 15, 1935, 1. 576 responsibility for the exclusion of Negro internes at the university hospital on the interne committee of that institution.^^

G^Ibia.. February 22, 1936, 2. CttAPTER XI

PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS

Racial discrimination in Ohio's public accommoda­ tions was evidently as thorough during the nineteen- thirties as it had been during the previous decade.

Some members of the Negro community continued to attempt to break the color line in public places, but their efforts remained exceptional. Negro Ohioans contested racial discrimination in restaurants and other eating places most vigorously. Racial segregation in theaters was also often resisted. Attempts to surmount the color barrier in clothing stores and swimming pools became more common during the decade. Negro citizens of Ohio's smaller cities and towns began to oppose* racial dis­ crimination in public accommodations to a greater extent than in the past. The court suit under the state public accommodations law continued to be the principal means of contesting such racial discrimination.

Negro Clevelanders still resisted racial discrimi­ nation in public places more than Negro citizens in other

Ohio cities. The Gazette continued to urge its readers to

377 378 fight against color lines in public accommodations by utilizing the state law prohibiting them, and some Cleve­ land Negro attorneys had a reputation for successfully contesting such discrimination for their clients. Twenty- two court suits relating to racial discrimination by restaurants and other eating places were filed in

Cleveland from 1930 through 1939» At least ten of the cases were won by the plaintiffs.^ At least one was o % lost. Two, at least, were settled out of court.^ Most of the other cases involving restaurants were probably Ll settled out of court. Most of the plaintiffs filed suits because they had been refused service on the basis of their race or color. Others brought suits because they had been discriminated against by restaurants in other ways. The proprietor of The Liberty Restaurant

^The Gazette, October 11, 1950, 3, January 17, 1931, 3, Mi[y"9T 3, April 22, 1933, 3, March 16, 1935, 2, July 26, 1935, 2, July 20, 1935, 2, December 5, 1936, 2,. June 24-, 1939 , 2, November 18, 1939, 3« ^Ibid., January 3, 1931, 2.

^Ibid., March 1, 1930, 3. 4 For other cases, see ibid., January 18, 1930, 3, August 23, 1930, 3, December ÈÙ,' 1930, 3, June 6, 1951, 3, August 15, 1931, 3, September 25, 1931, 1, May 18, 1935, 1, November 19, 1938, 2, July 8, 1939, 1. 379 in Cleveland told Luther W. Weaver that his employees

"could not serve colored people in the dining room but would serve him Reaver/ in the kitchen. The court awarded Weaver fifty dollars in damages.^ An employee of the Broadway Tavern refused to serve Edward Perry unless he went "to the rear of the place.The de­ fendant in the subsequent court case was found guilty Q but his sentence was suspended by Judge E. J. Lausche,

The G & R Lunchroom served Mrs. Nellie Washington coffee and a ham sandwich, which was "heavily doused with salt." She took the food to the City Chemist for analysis. The court subsequently gave her a judgment of three hundred dollars in damages.^ Most of the plaintiffs who won cases involving Cleveland restaurants were awarded the minimal fifty dollars in damages. However, others occasionally received more. Grace Caver obtained two hundred fifty dollars in damages after suing a J. G. Crory

^Ibid.. May 9, 1931, 3- ^Ibid.

7lbid.. June 1, 1935, 1.

^Ibid.. July 26, 1935, 2.

^Ibid.. June 24, 1939, 2. 380

5 and 100 Store for refusing to serve her food.^^ Former

State Representative Perry B. Jackson was swarded three

hundred fifty dollars for having been refused service

at the Crystal Dining Room of the Rollenden Hotel.

Attorney Jackson had attempted to attend a meeting of

Cuyahoga County Bar Association's Committee on State

Bar Organizations, of which he was a member, at the

dining room. He had been "told by an employee of the

hotel that he could not be served at that table /with

the white committee member^/ or any other table in the 12 dining room because of his color." Furthermore, at

the request of Attorney Jackson, the Board of Trustees

of the Cuyahoga County Bar Association decided to

transfer its meetings to another hotel.The loss of

a public accommodations case by a restaurant did not

always induce it to drop its color barrier. The Mills

Restaurant near the Public Square in Cleveland was

lOlbid., April 22, 1953, 3.

^^Ibid., July 20, 1935, 2.

^^Ibid., June 29, 1935, 2.

^^rbid., August 10, 1935, 3« 381 apparently a case in point. In 1930 Eugene P. Cheeks sued the Mills Restaurant Company for having allegedly discriminated against him on the basis of race or color.

The jury gave a verdict in favor of the defendant al­ though, according to the counsel for the plaintiff, both the defendant and witnesses admitted the discrimi­ na. nation. Also early in the decade, the Mills Restau­ rant was required to pay fifty dollars in damages by the

Municipal Court for having refused to serve Cordelia A.

White in its regular dining rooms. The restaurant lost an appeal to a higher court on the decision. At about the same time, Talbot White received a fifty-dollar settlement from the restaurant after the former had filed a suit alleging racial discrimination.^^ In April, 193^, the

Mills Restaurant reportedly refused to serve Mrs. Ada

Wright, the mother of two of the boys in the celebrated case of the Scottsboro Boys. Subsequently, Attorney Leo

Gallagher of the Communist International Labor Defense, which had contended with the National Association for the

Advancement of Colored People for control of the legal

^^Ibid.. January 3, 1931, 2.

^^Ibid., January 17, 1931, 3. 382 defense of the Scottshoroo Boys, led a demonstration in front of the Mills Restaurant. The manager of the restau­ rant was alleged to have assaulted and injured Attorney

Gallagher. Hence, the local International Labor Defense began a campaign to force the dismissal of the manager

In the meantime, the Mills Restaurant served Mrs. Wright and members of the International Labor Defense, of both races, after having been given reason to believe that it would be sued under the state public accommodations law.^^

A Cleveland Negro weekly newspaper, in reference to restaurant and hotel accommodations in Cleveland, stated;

"We have more freedom here in this respect than almost any other American city. This, however, is due to the enforcement of the Ohio Civil Rights Law. . . . Negroes did find it necessary to sue Cleveland hotels for racial discrimination during the decade. In 1930 George K.

Lilly started a suit against the Hotel Statler on the grounds that he had not been permitted to use the hotel elevator en route to a meeting of the Federated Churches of Cleveland in the building. The elevator man reportedly

^^Ibid.. April 21, 1934, 2.

^?The Cleveland Call-Post, in ibid.. April 21, 1934, 2. $85 told Lilly that the hotel manager had given instructions 18 “to permit no colored persons to enter said elevators.”

In 1933 Editor Smith complained, . that hotel ^The

Statle^/ has always drawn a color-line whenever it could.

In 1938 Elmer 7. Masee of St. Louis, through Attorney

Chester K. Gillespie, sued the Hollenden Hotel for refusing him accommodations. The Municipal Court awarded Masee two hundred dollars in damages and a Court of Appeals 20 later upheld the judgment. By the nineteen-thirties, racial discrimination by Cleveland theaters in the ad­ mission and seating of patrons had evidently been broken 21 by a number of law suits.

Suits were occasionally filed against racial dis­ crimination practiced at Cleveland's commercial parks.

In 1932 Mrs. Walter S. Biggs, a public school teacher, received a substantial cash settlement from the D. S.

Humphrey Company of Euclid Beach Park. Mrs. Biggs had attended a picnic at the park with members of her Empire

Junior High School graduating class. She had been denied admission to the skating rink because she was a Negro.

^®Ibid., February 15» 1930, 5. l^Ibid.. October 21, 1933, 2.

ZOfbid.. May 21, 1938, 1, April 29» 1939» 3. Z^Ibid.. September 20, 1930, 2. 384

Mrs. Biggs had been assisted in her suit by the Cleveland

National Association for the Advancement of Colored 22 People. This legal action did not end color barriers at Euclid Beach Park. In June, 1934, Elmer Brannan and

Val King, public school students, obtained tickets en­ titling them, among other things, to patronize the dance hall at Euclid Beach Park. When they tried to enter the dance hall, it was reported; "The gatekeeper curtly told them that th iy could not enter because it was the policy of the park 'not to permit colored children to dance' and that this had been the policy for many years.Attor­ neys Chester K. Gillespie and Clayborne George took legal action against park officials on behalf of the students.

The case was settled out of court for a substantial sum 24 of cash. Nevertheless, racial discrimination at Euclid 25 Beach Park continued to be an issue.

The public swimming pools in Cleveland parks were officially open to all regardless of race, but Negroes

^^Ibid., November 12, 1932, 1.

^^Ibid., December 22, 1934, 2. Z^ibid.

Z^ibid.. June 15, 1933, 1. 385

were not made to feel welcome to use them. Those who

attempted to use them met intimidation and violence. In­

creasing pressure was brought to bear on city officials

to protect Negro patrons of the swimming facilities of

the parks. In 1931 Editor Smith complained: ". . . .

our people are being miserably treated at Gordon Park Beach,

Woodland Hills swimming pool and other beaches and pools

of the city.Three years later he observed, "The pools

at Central Avenue Bathhouse, Portland-Outhwaite Center

/in predominantly Negro area^/ are the only ones, of

eight or ten other public pools in the city that are open

to our people.Also in the summer of 1934, Negro

swimmers were forced to leave the pool at Woodland Hills

Park. Councilman John E, Hubbard reported the incident pQ to the Mayor who promised to investigate it. In July,

1935 the Legal Defense Committee of the Cleveland branch

of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored

People requested the Director of Police to station a Negro

Patrolman as a guard at the Woodland Hills Park Pool. The

2G%bid.. July 18, 1931, 2.

Z^Ibid., July 14, 1934, 1. ZGlbid. 586

NAACP also recommended that a Negro life guard he em­ ployed at the pool. One of the policemen assigned as 29 pool guards was a Negro. ^ Nevertheless, two Negro youths, had reportedly, "been ejected from the pool and warned not to return on pain of bodily harm, in the presence of city guards.The youngsters filed an

injunction suit against the City of Cleveland and the

City Parks Director which requested that the pool be closed until a court hearing on the matter should be held.^^ Early in July, 1956, members of the local NAACP met in Antioch Baptist Church to discuss the safety of

Negro swimmers at Woodland Hills Park Pool. On July 10

the local NAACP president told the press that at the meeting it had been decided to ask Mayor Harold Burton

to provide Police protection at the pool. The NAACP

president also reported that no Negroes were among the

four thousand persons who had patronized the swimming

facility on the previous day. Subsequently Mayor Burton

told an NAACP committee that Negro swimmers at the pool

29lbid.. July 29, 1955, 3.

^^Ibid., August 51, 1935, 1«

31Ibid. 387 would be given "adequate police protection.Neverthe­ less, in early August 1938, it was reported:

Raymond Hightower. . . ., his son and nephew were swimming in the Woodland Hills pool. . . . when six boys (all of foreign extraction) be­ tween the ages of 17 and 20 told him not to go into the pool. They threw water on him and the boys while in the pool and struck him several times. The policemen on duty failed to protect them, and one of the policemen was drenched with water by this gang. Meanwhile a riot call was put into Central police station. One of the cops on duty asked Mr. Hightower where he was born. He replied in Cleveland, and that he had lived there all his life. The officer told Hightower they wouldn't close the pool for one man and that his boys were not acceptable to the other group who use the pool. Patrolman John Jones /Negro/ accompanied the riot squad to the pool and he told Hightower to go ahead and use the pool. At the same time he informed the gang that he would not tolerate their actions toward Hightower. The following morning, High­ tower went to a police prosecutor's office to get a warrant for the arrest of the gang, but they attempted to influence him to drop the charges because 'it would create racial animosity in the future, ' they said. Immediately, Mr. Hightower with a friend, Curtis Garvin, con­ tacted Attorneys Yetta Land, Chester Gillespie and Clayborne George who had a conference with Police Prosecutor Pilliod, who claimed that Mayor Burton wanted the matter settled with as little publicity as possible. When Attorney Land protested the prosecutor's attitude in the matter he informed the delegation that the Police Prosecutor's Office was his office! Clayborne

^^The Cleveland Plain Dealer. July 20, 1935, 10; The Gazette. July 11, 1935, 388

George at this point informed the prosecutor that he was a public servant and that every citizen should be given his just rights in bringing action of this type in the criminal section of the Municipal Court. A warrant was thereupon issued charging five of the boys with disorderly conduct and one with assault and battery on Hightower.

The individual charged with assault and battery against

Hightower was found not guilty in a jury trial early in

September. Editor Smith complained that a jury composed of people with ethnic backgrounds similar to that of the accused had given a verdict contrary to the evidence.

A mass meeting on the Hightower case was held in St.

John's African Methodist Episcopal Church on October 2.

The meeting was attended by Mayor Burton» Councilman

Gassaway, Editor Smith, Hightower, representatives of the

NAACP, National Negro Congress, International Labor De­ fense, American League for Peace and Democracy, Future

Outlook League and others. Hightower described his experience at the pool and subsequent related events.

Other speakers excoriated city officials for not pro­ tecting Negro swimmers. In response. Mayor Burton stated:

"There is no basis for discrimination against any minority group at the pool. We are all interested in the principle

^^Ibid., August 20, 1938, 2.

^^Ibid.. September 17, 1958, 2. 389 which applies to all pools, that a spirit of coopera­ tion in mutual rights and obligations be developed.

The Mayor also promised that the city administration would do everything possible to prevent lawlessness at the pools during the following swimming season.^ Four days later the five individuals charged with disorderly conduct in the pool incident were found guilty. They had waived the right to a jury trial, which they had previously requested, and had been tried by a Municipal

Court Judge. The accused, who had pleaded guilty, were fined twenty-five dollars each and placed on probation for three months. The Judge suspended the cash part of the sentences.In July, 1939, Bobert Fitzmeir (whitej) and Vernon Hopkins, friends, were severely beaten by a white mob as they tried to enter the pool at Forest

Hills Park. A policeman at the pool had reportedly,

"warned them not to enter it because 'there might be trouble,' and then walked away from his post of duty.

3^Ibid., October 8 . 1938. 1.

^Gpbid.

^^Ibid.. October 15, 1938, 2.

5Glbid.. July 22, 1939, 1. 390

Cleveland organizations subsequently demanded that Mayor

Burton and Safety Director Eliot Ness suspend and remove the policeman accused of leaving his post at the pool and obtain the arrest of the white assailants.However, 4 0 only one arrest had been made in the case in mid-October.

Negro Clevelanders also experienced racial discrimi­ nation in stores outside Negro neighborhoods. Such dis­ crimination was challenged a couple of times under the

Ohio Public Accommodations Law. In 1955 the Harvey Company, a women's apparel shop in the Terminal Tower Building, re­ fused to sell to Ellen Sissle because she was a Negro.

Miss Sissle sued the Harvey Company and was awarded one hundred dollars in damages by the Municipal Court. There­ after the Harvey Company carried the case to a Court of

Appeals arguing that as a "private" business it was not obligated to sell to Negroes under state law. The Court of Appeals decided in favor of the Harvey Company. Miss

Sissle, with the support of the NAACP appealed this decision to the Ohio Supreme Court, which refused to review the case.^^ A committee of lawyers of the Ohio NAACP

59ibid.. July 15, 1939, 2.

4^Ibid.. October 21, 1939, 3. ^^Ibid., June 1, 1935, 2, December 5, 1936, 1. 391

■branches subsequently proposed an amendment to the Ohio

General Code relating to racial discrimination in public accommodations which was designed to prohibit racial dis­ crimination in stores and on air lines. The NAACP bill was introduced in the Ohio General Assembly on January

26, 1937» by State Senator Keith Lawrence of Cuyahoga 42 County. It passed both houses of the state legislature and became effective on July 31, 1937»^^ The bill had amended Section 1294-0 of the Ohio General Code. As amended the section stated:

Whoever, being the proprietor or his employee, keeper or manager of an inn, restaurant, eating house, barber shop, public conveyance or air, land or water, theater, store or other place for sale of merchandise, or any other place of public accommodation or amusement, owned or operated publicly or privately, denies to a citizen except for reasons applicable alike to all citizens and regardless of color or race, the full enjoyment of the accommodations, ad­ vantages, facilities or privileges thereof, or being a person who aids or incites the denial thereof, shall be fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned not less than thirty days nor more than ninety days, or both.

The Crisis, XLIV (April, 1937)» 120; Ohio Senate Journal, CXVII (1937), 52. No Negroes served in the state legis­ lature in 1937.

43lbid., 56, 174-, 218, 54-9, 218, 540, 1067. /[ Words inserted by amendment are underlined. The Gazette, April 24, 1937, 2; The Crisis, XLIV (May, 1937)TT35T'3%i'ô Senate Journal, CXVII (1937)» 1066. 392

In the meantime the Cleveland Municipal Court had given

Mrs. Constance H. Wiggins a judgment of fifty dollars in a suit against Davis, Incorporated, a dress shop, for its having refused her service on the grounds of race or color.

In regard to racial discrimination in public places in Columbus during the nineteen-thirties, a contemporary researcher observed:

The /color/ line runs through the public contacts of the races. All downtown movie theatres are closed to Negroes. They are admitted to the gallery in the Hartman. . . . There is normally no segregation at Memorial Hall. At Olentangy Park they are not admitted to the theatre or the dance hall. They are not admitted to the hotels. Recently, however, Negro entertainers, and promi­ nent Negro visitors were given accommodations at the Deshler. 1 have not found a restaurant on High Street — where they could eat. The only one downtown is at the Union Station. Some restaurants right in the heart of the East Long District won't serve them. Many drug stores refuse them service at their soda counter. A pharmacy on Woodland Avenue is at present being sued by a prominent colored man for not allowing him to drink his refreshment inside. Barbers won't wait on Negroes. Among the downtown department stores, one shows no discrimination, - though colored people do not attempt to eat in its dining room. This store will furnish colored guides for Negro women shoppers. Another one, however, refuses their trade outright. Some cater to them half­ heartedly. One store showed the race feeling by advertising 'mulattoes only' for elevator

4-3The Gazette, April 25, 1936, 5. 395

girls. In another, the management wanted to have separate washroom accommodations for their white and colored employees. Where­ upon the colored girls walked out. . . . There is segregation at Green Lawn Cemetery, Negroes have one of their own now, Evergçeen Cemetery. The American Mausoleum, an incinerator, won't allow Negroes even to look around, it is said. The following advertisement can be found in the Columbus Telephone Directory at present:

'Quint, John F. Private Ambulance Funeral Service Funeral at Your Class and Price Packard Limousine for Hire We Cater to White People Only 699 Delaware Avenue. Ad. 1484.'

The same scholar noted that Beaty and Maryland Parks, in

Negro neighborhoods, were understood to be for Negroes.

A swimming pool was constructed at Maryland Park with private funds and given over to the city for maintenance.

The Maryland Park Pool was the only swimming facility maintained by the city.^^ Editor Smith stated: "/Negro citizens of Columbus/ have been most backward in fighting for their rights and privileges in the courts, or any­ where else. They are responsible for a condition of

^^Barta, "East Long Street Negro District," 98-99*

^^Ibid,, 86. For other details on public accommodations in Columbus during the decade see Minor, "The Negro in Columbus," 211-213. Jonathan Queer, "Your Best People Come Here," The Crisis, XXXVII (October, 1930), 339-340, 557-358. 394 affairs in that city ^polnmbns/ that is a disgrace to all our people of the State of Ohio."^® The Editor's indictment of the Columbus Negro community was rather harsh. Occasionally racial discrimination in Columbus public accommodations was confronted, but the challengers were rarely successful. Police officer Lynn Coleman and

Ohio State University students Hilliard Brown and Howard

Wright contemplated legal action after being refused service at a White Front Restaurant in 1956.^*^ In May,

1938, Dr. Alberta Turner and Mrs, Inez Holmes sued the

EEC Palace Theater on the grounds that they had been refused tickets because they were Negroes.A municipal court jury gave a verdict in favor of the theater manage­ ment, which the judge reportedly described as "contrary to the weight of evidence and a flagrant abuse of justice.Similarly, in June, 1938, Alva Caliman and

Harvey Woods attempted to purchase tickets at the Palace

Theater. After failing to secure the tickets, according

^^The Gazette, July 50, 1938, 2.

^^Ibid., April 18, 1935, 3.

50lbid., May 21, 1938, 2.

^^Ibid., June 18, 1938, 2. 395 to Barbee V. Durham of the Columbus NAACP branch, they were arrested on "trumped up charges of assault and 52 battery.A municipal court judge in sentencing

Caliman and Woods was reported to have said: "I am going to put you on probation and the terms of the probation are that you stay away from that theater for two years.

The color line in the public places of other 1 surge cities in the state was occasionally challenged. In

1932, a court in Akron awarded Mrs. Lucille Mitchell one hundred dollars in damages for having been refused service 54 at the refreshment counter of the Eckard Drug Store.^

Miss Willetta Brown sued the Greyhound Bus Lines in

1935» charging that one of its restaurants in Cincinnati 55 had refused her service on the basis of race.^ In 1937

Mrs. Louise Stallworth filed a civil rights suit against the Capital Theater of Cincinnati alleging that it had refused to admit her because of her color.In 1938,

James M. Webster, Secretary of the Cincinnati Negro Youth

52ibid., August 20, 1938, 2.

55lbid.. July 50, 1938, 2.

^^ibid.. July 30, 1932, 1.

^^Lbid., January 26, 1935, 2.

^^Lbid., December 4, 1937, 2. 396

Civic Association entered a suit against the Dow Drug

Store charging that it had refused to serve him.^^

Negroes were not welcome at Cincinnati swimming facilities.

In response to this, almost five hundred Negroes petitioned

Cincinnati City Council to establish a swimming pool in the city's predominantly Negro Vest End. Anti-segregationists in the Cincinnati Negro community labeled this a "^im Crow" scheme.In 1934, the proprietor of a Toledo cafeteria placed a screen around three Negro patrons. The patrons sued him for racial discrimination and were awarded fifty dollars in damages.In 1938, George Harris, with the help of the local NAACP, filed a suit against a Toledo

Theater for having discriminated against him on account of his race. The owner and manager of the theater released a public apology and gave Harris a cash settlement as the case was settled out of court.Negro citizens of

Youngstown won civil rights suits against taverns for

5?Ibid.. May 21, 1938, 1.

^^Cincinnati correspondent. Ibid., September 3» 1938, 1.

59ibid.. April 14, 1934, 1.

G°Ibid.. June 4, 1938, 1, June 18, 1938, 1. 397 refusal of service in 1935 and 1939.^^ In January,

1938, the junior NAACP of Youngstown campaigned to have the swimming pools in Youngstown opened to

Negroes.Nevertheless, in July, 1938, a Youngstown observer reported;

Members of the NAACP Youth Council had trouble at the southside pool /in Youngstown/. Protests were sent to city officials. Floyd Haynes, President of the Council, went early /to the pool/ en route to his employment at Christ Mission. As he entered the locker room of the pool he was struck by youths (white) who tried to prevent his entering. The park policeman seems afraid to do his duty and protect persons of color. One of the boys (white) struck at the officer when he cautioned him. Each year, there is trouble when our youths attempt to use local pools.

Racial discrimination in the public accommodations of

the smaller cities and towns of Ohio was evidently challenged more during the nineteen-thirties than in the past. In

such places legal action was aimed mainly at color lines

in restaurants, theaters and swimming pools. In 1931

Esther Mingo and Nellie Benning sued Dick's Theater in

Yellow Springs for refusing them admission on the basis

G^Ibid., July 6, 1935, 1, May 6, 1939, 1. G^ibid., January 15, 1938, 1.

G^ibid., July 30, 1938, 1. 398

64 of race. The case was settled out of court for cash.

In Oberlin, the former bastion of abolitionists, color lines existed in various public accommodations including barbershops and restaurants.^^ In the spring of 1934 three Negro residents of Oberlin were ordered out of a local bowling alley. A short time later William Herbert

King, the pastor of a Detroit church who was then a stu­ dent in the Graduate School of Theology at Oberlin

College, was asked to leave the same bowling alley. He subsequently filed a civil rights suit against the estab­ lishment. The defendant was found not guilty on the grounds that the bowling alley was a private club, although six white witnesses testified that they had been admitted to the alley despite the fact that they were not members.

Following the Ohio Supreme Court's^, ”s e-par ate, but equal” ruling in the case of Ohio State University student Doris

Weaver, an attempt was made to provide separate swimming facilities for Negroes in Massillon.In late June,

^Xenia correspondent, ibid., May 23» 1931» 5. ^^Caroline Wasson Thomason, "Will Prejudice Capture Oberlin?”, The Crisis, XLI (December, 1934), 360-361.

^^Ibid., 361; Letter of Mrs. Portia Shaw, Secretary of the Oberlin NAACP Branch, to Walter White, April 23» 1934» NAACP Records.

^^The Gazette, August 19» 1933» 1. 399

1933» Massillon's Mayor Jacob S, Coxey stated that he had been informed by a representative of the State

Attorney-General's Office that Negro swimmers could be excluded from the west bank of the Massillon reservoir if equal swimming facilities were provided for them elsewhere.Armed with this opinion, Mayor Coxey ordered that a "floating platform" be constructed on the east bank of the reservoir for Negro swimmers. Negro State Representative Chester K. Gillespie informed Mayor Coxey that legal action would be initiated if Negro swimmers were segregated at Massillon reservoir.Mayor Coxey and the City Solicitor were defeated in the August primary following the controversy over segregation of swimmers. The Fourth Ward of Massillon in which most of the Negro voters resided, voted heavily against the two office holders. The vote of the Fourth Ward was apparently decisive in the case of the city solicitor. 70 A Massillon resident observed:

^^The Evening Independent (Massillon), June 29» 1933» ibido, August 19» 1933» 1. ^^The Evening Independent (Massillon) August 7» 1933» ibid., 1.

7^1etter of Hazel E. Tindall to Walter White, Secretary NAACP, in ibid., August 19» 1933» 1. 400

This was the first time the colored people were united in their vote, and it came through the untiring efforts of Dr. Ballinger, a young colored man, who is president of their political club and Mr. Simmons, the secretary. The white people can't realize yet how it happened. I'm sure it will be the means of the Negro getting more recognition.'

In 1934, a Massillon Theater was successfully sued for racial discrimination.Negro citizens of Madisonville, near Cincinnati, began a campaign against racial dis­ crimination in the local swimming pool in 1935» lo. response some white residents of the town retaliated by boycotting Negro business enterprises in Madison- 7:5 ville.In 1937 Arthur Allen initiated legal proceed­ ings against the Garden Theater in Portsmouth on the grounds that it had refused his admission on account of r a c e . In 1937» Oakley Byrd of Lancaster circulated petitions favoring the removal of "For Caucasians Alone" 75 signs from all restaurants and hotels in Lancaster.'^

In 1957» a municipal court jury gave Louise Algee a

^^Ibid.

, May 12, 1934, 2.

"^^Cincinnati correspondent, ibid., August 17» 1933» 1.

7^Ibid.. January 16, 1937» 1<

^^Lancaster correspondent, ibid.. September 2, 1937» 1. 401 favorable verdict in ber suit against a Xenia confection­ ary, which had substantially overcharged her because she was a Negro.In 1938, Toledo NAACP Branch President

Clarence G. Smith sued an Isaly Store for refusing to serve him. The Isaly Store manager pleaded guilty to the charge of racial discrimination. He was given a minimal thirty-day jail sentence, which was suspended by the judge.

7^Xenia correspondent, ibid., November 27, 1957» 1.

77fDoledo correspondent, ibid., July 9, 1938, 1, July 25, 1938, 1. CHAPTER XII

POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE

The most significant expression of political inde­ pendence of the Negro Ohioans was made in 1930. Republi­

can Senator Roscoe C. McCulloch of Ohio became, as Walter

White stated, "a symbol of the growing disregard by the

Republican Party of the Negro's interests,"^ Senator

McCulloch became such a symbol when he voted for the con­

firmation of Judge John J. Parker of North Carolina as an

Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. As

a North Carolina gubernatorial candidate in 1920 Judge

Parker had expressed opposition to Negro suffrage.

Senator McCulloch had been under political pressure from

two sides. He had received "an avalanche of pleas from

his Negro and white constituents," asking that he vote 2 against Judge Parker's confirmation." On the other

^"The Test in Ohio," The Crisis, XXXVl (November, 1930), (Hereafter cited as White, "Test in Ohio"), 374. 2 Ibid., 373; see telegram of Charles W. White to Senator Roscoe McCulloch (copy) enclosed in letter of Charles V. Vnite to Walter White, April 3, 1930, NAACP Records.

402 405 hand the Senator had been pressured hy the leaders of his party, including the President of the United States and the Governor of Ohio, to vote for confirmation, which he did.^ Senator McCulloch had been named to fill the

Senate seat of Senator Theodore E. Burton. In November,

1930, the voters of Ohio were to be given an opportunity to decide who would complete the late Senator Burton's unexpired term.

Subsequently, leaders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Ohio and others began an effort to prevent Senator McCulloch from con­ tinuing to serve in the Senate. For example, the Pre­ sident of the Cleveland NAACP Branch wrote: ". . . .

I am utilizing every opportunity here to have Negro organizations go on record as being opposed to the candidacy of Senator McCulloch, both for nomination and election,Among the Cleveland organizations which came out early against Senator McCulloch were the East

End Political Club, St. James Forum, and the Harlan Club.5

^Ibid., 373; The Gazette, November 1, 1930, 1.

^Letter of Charles W. White to Walter White, May 28, 1930, NAACP Records.

^Ibid. 404

Those who were dissatisfied with Senator McCulloch had no opportunity to express their discontent in the

Republican Senatorial primary because he had no opposi­ tion. Robert J. Bulkley of Cleveland, a former Congress­ man, won the Democratic nomination for the United States

Senate in 1930. The attitude of a number of politically conscious Negro Ohioans was expressed when the Reverend

D. 0. Walker of St. James' African Methodist Episcopal

Church in Cleveland urged an audience to vote for Bulkley and to defeat Senator McCulloch. Walker also stated:

"It is singular that although colored people throughout

Ohio urged the rejection of the appointment /of Judge

Parker/, both Ohio Senators voted for it. Either the

Republican Party feels we will give it our support no matter what it does, or it thinks our memories are so short that we can be slapped in the face and forget before the election.

The Conference of the Ohio branches of the National

Association for the Advancement of Colored People took the lead in the anti-McCulloch fight. Delegates of the

Ohio Branches of the NAACP met in Columbus on October

^The Gazette. September 20, 1950, 1. 405

The delegates voted unanimously to oppose the election of Senator McCulloch. The delegates decided to carry out an anti-McCulloch rather than a pro-Bulkley campaign, although there was some strong sentiment for the Demo­ crat at the meeting.^ The delegates stated:

In taking this action the NAACP is not affiliating or cooperating with any politi­ cal party. Its action is wholly an inde­ pendent one, planned, financed and carried to consummation by the organization itself. The issue is clearly drawn. Senator McCulloch chose to override the protests of his Afro-American consti­ tuents and of liberal Americans throughout the country who were against placing on the Supreme Court a man who had urged, through motives of political selfishness, that parts# of the Constitution and rights of Afro- Americans be disregarded.

The anti-McCulloch campaign was headed by C. E. Dickinson, president of the conference of Ohio NAACP branches.^

The state NAACP Conference made over nineteen thousand

^Minutes of the second conference of the Ohio Branches of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Columbus, Ohio, October 5» 1930, NAACP Records.

^The Gazette, October 11, 1930, 5.

^The Crisis, XXXVII (December, 1930), 418. 406 communications with Ohio Negro voters on the McCulloch issue. The McCulloch literature mailed by the state organization between October 5 and November 5 included small printed cards, window cards, postal cards, letters, sample ballots with McCulloch's name crossed out, press notices and copies of the Democratic Party platform.The national organization of the NAACP was substantially interested in the McCulloch issue. The progress of the efforts against McCulloch were reported in the Crisis.

National leaders of the association visited Ohio to speak against the Senator. Walter White, Acting Secretary of the NAACP, spoke in the state on October 5 and November

2. W. E. B. DuBois, editor of the Crisis, addressed

Ohio audiences on October 26.^^

The anti-McCulloch campaign of the NAACP aroused widespread interest in the Ohio Negro community. In " citing examples of"The Negro Political revolt in Ohio,"

White wrote:

In Cincinnati a Negro of influence who has been a life-long Republican served notice that he could not support Senator McCulloch

Letter of Geraldyne R. Freeland, Secretary to the President of the State Conference to Walter White, November 4, 1930, NAACP Records. l^Ibid. 407 but that he was willing to work for the Repub­ lican candidate for Governor. So thoroughly had the Negro voters been stirred, however, that when a white Republican leader incautiously expressed the conviction that the majority of Negro voters would not be intelligent enough to split their ticket, word was sent back that they would vote the straight Democratic ticket in order to register their opposition to the Republican Senatorial nominee. The Republican postmaster of Cincinnati who is actively sup­ porting McCulloch asked for an invitation for himself and the senatorial nominee to appear before a Negro audience in Cincinnati. Senator McCulloch did not appear, however, after the invitation had been extended him 'because of a previous engagement,' leaving the postmaster the difficult task of explaining McCulloch's vote for Parker. The postmaster, who is popular among Negroes because of his fairness towards Negro postal employees, was listened to with intense silence and courteous indication that the audience was not in sympathy with his attempt to defend McCulloch's vote. This courtesy was strained when the postmaster quoted McCulloch as saying that he would always support the President unless there was a powerful reason not to do so. There were marked signs of dis­ agreement with the speaker. One of the leading ministers of Cleveland declared that he would utilize all the influence that he possessed to insure McCulloch's defeat and that though he had never done so before he would work in behalf of the Democratic candidate to insure maximum effectiveness of the protest vote against Senator McCulloch's action. One of the leading women social workers of the state vigorously declared that 'Every red- blooded Negro ought to express his disapproval of the attitude of Senator McCulloch on Judge Parker's nomination. . . . There is a whispering campaign going on among our group /women social workers/ that even though they are staunch 408

Republicans they will not support the Senator.' A prominent Negro lawyer of Ohio and the dean of Negro novelists who is openly support­ ing the Democratic candidate registered his opinion hy asserting, 'I don't see what the colored people owe the Hoover administration anyway. It has made no effort, so far as I have discovered, to please the colored voters except in the one instance of the Haytian situation, if that was the motive. . . . I telegraphed Senator McCulloch that his vote for Parker would hurt him with the colored voters of Ohio, and any individual vote and such other votes as I can influence in a quiet way shall he cast against him.' The revolt is especially to be seen among the younger and more progressive Negroes of Ohio. One of these, a lawyer, who is working actively against the Republican nominee, has declared that 'the minds of Ohio Negroes are set against McCulloch. Approximate solidarity of Negro voters against him may spell the difference between victory and defeat.'

Similarly, in Columbus "meeting after meeting, rally

after rally" were held in opposition to the election of

Senator McCulloch and the Columbus NAACP membership

increased to over one thousand during the anti-McCulloch

campaign. ^

On the other hand there were a number of Ohio Negro

Republicans who were reluctant to support a Democratic

candidate for the Senate. Some paid Negro political

^^"Test in Ohio," 574.

^%inor, "The Negro in Columbus," 188. 409 workers campaigned for Senator McCulloch.Ironically,

Editor Harry G. Smith of the Gazette, who had so often in the past led campaigns of political independence for

Negroes, supported Senator McCulloch. Editor Smith stated that Judge Parker's behavior toward Negroes had changed and had become satisfactory. Admitting that in 1920

Judge Parker had expressed opposition to voting by Negroes, the editor cited recent decisions by the Judge which did justice to Negroes. Furthermore, Smith pointed out that

Senator McCulloch had been under great political pressure from the President, the Governor of Ohio and others to vote for the confirmation of Judge Parker. Senator

McCulloch, he added, could not have voted against confirma­ tion "if he desired election to the U. S. Senate, November

4, 1930."^^ Editor Smith also held that McCulloch had made#

a good record in relation to Negroes as a United States

Congressman. Finally, the editor concluded that Negro

Ohioans should not vote for Robert J. Bulkley because if

elected he would be forced to cooperate with anti-Negro

Southern Democrats in the Senate,Senator McCulloch

^^White, "Test in Ohio," 373.

^^The Gazette, November 1, 1930, 1.

^^Ibid. 410 made an apparent attempt to appeal to Negro voters by securing the appointment of a Negro, John E. Roundtree of Cleveland, as special United States Attorney, Depart­ ment of Justice, narcotic division for the northern district of Ohio. Attorney Roundtree held a Bachelor of

Laws Degree from Howard University and a Master of Law

Degree from John Marshall School of Law.^^ Walter White had been told by "well informed persons" that no more than twenty per cent of the Ohio Negro voters would 18 support McCulloch at the polls.

The Democratic supporters of Senate candidate Bulkley apparently made no substantial effort to exploit the dis­ satisfaction of Negroes with Senator McCulloch on the

Parker issue. The Democratic Party took no special notice of the Judge Parker issue until late in the campaign. A member of the Cleveland NAACP branch observed: "The battle against Senator McCulloch seems to be won and the

Democrats are finally playing up the Judge Parker incident.

Hitherto they have avoided it, seeming to hold it as a

^*^Ibid., November 1, 1930, 1. lG"Test in Ohio," 373. 411 reserve gun. The Ohio Democratic organization, in spite of its liberal faction, is showing no particular love for

Negroes...... The NAACP was wise in failing to endorse

Bulkley.

The results of the election were gratifying to the

Ohio NAACP organizations and others who had engaged in the massive anti-McCulloch campaign. Robert J. Bulkley was elected to the United States Senate. McCulloch’s

Negro opponents claimed that their ballots had given

Bulkley the balance of votes that he needed in order to be elected. One scholar reported: "The colored districts of Cleveland, Toledo, Akron, Columbus, and Canton went to

McCulloch's Democratic opponent by margins of from 50 to 86 per cent, while many voters in these districts re- ^ PO frained from voting for United States Senator."

During the nineteen-thirties the solid allegiance of Ohio Negro voters to the Republican Party was broken.

Several developments in previous years had paved the way for this change. The political leaders of the Negro com­ munity had become much more independent during the previous decade as was illustrated by the candidacies of Editor

Harry C. Smith for the Republican nominations for Secretary

^^Letter of David H. Pierce to Herbert J. Seligmann, October 25» 1950, NAACP Records. ^^John G. Van Deusen, "The Negro in Politics," The Journal of Negro History. XXI (July, 1956), 271. 4-12 of State and Governor of Ohio. The massive campaign against the Republican Senator McCulloch in 1930 probably brought many Negro voters, particularly the younger ones, to a realization that the identification of Negroes with the Republican Party was not sacred. As previously noted, many of the principal Negro Republican leaders of Ohio had passed from the political scene by the nineteen- thirties. The adverse economic conditions of the decade led many young Negro, as well as white, voters into the

Democratic Party.

There were numerous instances in which lifelong

Negro Republican leaders switched party labels during the decade. Some were attracted to the Democratic Party by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal

Program, alienated by the record of the Republican

Party, or both. The Reverend D. 0. Walker, previously a Republican, had supported Democratic Senate candidate

Bulkley in the anti-McCulloch fight of 1930. He sub­ sequently became a Democrat. In advocating the nomina­ tion of an independent Democratic candidate for Mayor of

Cleveland in 1932, Walker stated, "If there ever was a party that hurt a race, this Republican Party has hurt 415

PI my race." Attorney Alexander H. Martin, "A Republican all his life although he /had/ supported Roosevelt for the Presidency" in 1932, in 1934 predicted "a new poli­ tical alignment" of Negro voters in the United States if

Negroes were permitted to benefit fully from the New PP Deal. In reference to the coming election in 1934,

Attorney Martin stated, "I believe we are heading into a new contest in which it will be necessary to summon the fullest support possible for the successful vindication of the position and leadership of our great president.

In achieving that objective Attorney Martin held that the

Roosevelt Administration had to "First - interpret to my group, the colored American, the real significance of

Roosevelt's New Deal. Second - to assure to us the full benefits of same without that adverse discrimination which heretofore has too largely marred its administration 24 to our serious disadvantage." As examples of such dis­

criminations he cited the color line wage differentials

^^The Gazette, January 9» 1932, 2.

Z^lbid., July 21, 1934, 1.

Z^Ibid. Z^Ibid. 414. maintained by southern industrialists, the absence of

Negroes from boards regulating industrial conditions and the continued restriction of Negroes to particular 25 jobs by industrialists, attorney Martin concluded;

President Roosevelt unquestionably is the peerless leader of this people for this time. I strongly desire to have an increasing part in the building of a strong and invincible army of black American voters, whose support will render possible the realization of the highestity.ZG and best American ideals as an actual-

In 1933 a public school teacher Hazel M. Walker, who had been a Republican and then an independent during the previous two or three years, announced her support for

Congressman Martin T. Sweeney for the Democratic nomina­ tion for Mayor of Cleveland.Dr. 0. A. Childress, "A life long Republican" and party organization leader in

Cleveland's Ward Seventeen turned to the Democratic ticket in 1936 when he became "Disgusted with the mis­ treatment of ^ep ubl i c a ^ Mayor Harold H. Burton and PR Committee Chairman Dan Morgan." Other notable staunch

Z^ibid. ZGjbid.

^^Ibid., September 9» 1933, 3-

28lbid., October 17, 1936, 1. 4-15

Republicans who became Democrats in the nineteen- thirties were the Reverend Reverdy C. Ransom and Dr.

R. R. Wright. The Reverend Ransom was bishop of the third episcopal district of the African Methodist

Episcopal Church.. In the mid-nineteen-thirties Dr.

Wright was President of Wilberforce University.

During the decade, the Democratic Party at both the local and state level made greater efforts to appeal to Negro voters. In 1930 the members of Cleveland's

Eighteenth Ward Democratic Club were told that Negro voters should "break the spell of Republican mesmerism,"

The speaker was W. Burr Gongwer, the leader of the

Cuyahoga County Democratic organization, who also stated:

"It is time that Afro-American voters should do something other than deliver votes to the Republican Party en masse.

They should think for themselves and vote for the candi­ date they think fits regardless of party.Negro Demo­ crats were in contact with the highest Democratic leaders at the local, state and national levels and were consulted about patronage. In 1934- there were thirteen Negro members

Z^Ibid.. August 29, 1956, 2. ^Olbid.. October 11, 1930, 1. 416 of the Lucas County (Toledo) Democratic central committee.

Also, Dr. Eugene Clark, Edward Washington, and Lafayette

Harding were members of the Democratic executive committee of Lucas County. There was only one Negro member of the

Lucas County Republican Executive Committee.In April,

1936, in preparation for the coming election campaign.

Democratic Governor Martin L. Davey met in the Governor's office with delegations of Negro Democrats from various

Ohio cities.During the 1956 campaign, Editor Smith

Reported: ". . . . Governor Martin L. Davey and the Demo­ cratic state executive committee is very active, spending much time, effort and money, among them ^Negro voters/.

The editor wanned that if the Republican Party should not vigorously counteract the Democratic appeal to Negro voters "Thousands of our votes will be lost to the Repub- 34 lican national, state and local tickets in November."

Following the 1936 electionCleveland Negro Democratic leaders, including George V. Burden, Thomas J. Davis,

^^Toledo correspondent, ibid., September 22, 1934, 1.

32%bid., April 25, 1936, 3.

^^Ibid., September 5» 1936, 2.

^^Ibid. 417 s, C. McAllister, and Charles V. Carr, went to Washington to see Democratic National Committee Chairman Jim Parley

"relative to the Democratic patronage program for Ohio

Negroes,

The growing popularity of the Democratic Party among

Ohio Negro voters during the decade was reflected in the multiplication of Negro Democratic organizations in the state and in the increased participation of Negroes in

Democratic election campaigns. In April, 1930, a Cleveland

Negro weekly reported;

Thirteen enthusiastic young men met at the office of Dr. P. H. Hendricks, two weeks ago and talked over plans for the formation of a young men's Democratic club. On last Priday, these men met again at the same place and organized, calling themselves the Pioneer Democratic Club. Two or three years ago Cleveland had never heard of a local Demo­ cratic club among our people. It was more of a disgrace to be a Democrat. Since, certain drives have been launched on behalf of the Democratic organization, colored Demo­ crats have become popular and even prominent Republicans are talking of joining the ranks.^

Dr. Joseph L. Johnson of Columbus, former Minister to

Liberia and veteran Democrat, was a member of the executive

^^Ibid., September 4, 1937» 3<

^ The Cleveland Call and Post, April 12, 1930, in ibid., April 26, 1930, 4. Contrary to the Call and Post there had been an obscure Negro Democratic Club in Cleveland, although Negro Democrats in Cleveland had been unpopular. 418 body of the National Colored Citizens for Roosevelt

Committee in 1932. Other executive members of the

Committee were Robert L. Vann, editor of the Pittsburg

Courier, Dr. William J. Tompkins of Kansas City and Julian

D. Rainey, assistant corporation counsel of Boston.

Johnson was also the director of the Colored Division of the Democratic National Committee in 1932. Miss

Thelma Lucas of Columbus was secretary of the Colored

Division.Following the election of 1932, Johnson,

Vann, Tompkins, and Rainey consulted with James A.

Farley, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee and United States Postmaster General. Farley reportedly gave them "sort of a blanket commission which will carry with it authority to investigate the status of deserving

Negro Democrats, and to make recommendations for both federal and state positions.The Negro Democratic groups in the Cleveland area were organized in the

Cuyahoga County Negro Democratic League.The Cincinnati

Negro Democrats organized a Roosevelt-Davey Club in 1935

to support their Democratic President and Governor.

^^The Crisis, XXXIX (November, 1932), 350.

^^The Gazette, May 20, 1933, 2.

59ibid., March 2, 1935, 3.

^^Ibid., August 24, 1935, 1. 4-19

By 1938 the Hamilton County Democratic Council of Cluhs, under President Gus Jamerson, had been formed to head the various Negro Democratic organizations in the Cin­ cinnati area.^^ In 1934 about sixty Negro Democratic delegates from various parts of Ohio had met in Columbus.

They had formed a statewide organization of Negro Demo­ crats. The delegates had also heard addresses by many 4-2 Democratic candidates for office. Thomas Davis of

Cleveland became President of the organization. Sam

McAllister became the state organizer for the state Negro LlA Democratic body.

The breakup of the solid Negro vote for the Republican

Party during the nineteen-thirties was most graphically

shown in the election returns. The presidential election

statistics of selected predominantly Negro wards in Cin­

cinnati, Cleveland and Columbus illustrate the fact that

during the decade most Ohio Negro voters favored the

Democratic ticket at the national level. The same statis­

tics show that a very substantial minority of the Negro

voters still preferred the Republican presidential

4^lbid.. October 15, 1938, 1.

4^Ibid., October 20, 1954, 1.

^^Ibid.. June 10, 1939, 1. 420

TABLE 4

VOTE IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OP 19$6 IN PREDOMINANTLY NEGRO WARDS

Demo- Repub­ Demo­ Repub­ Total Majo] War d cratic lican cratic lican ity Party Vote Vote % % Votes

Cincinnati Ward 16 6,957 3,727 65.1 34.9 10,684

Cleveland Ward 17 5,746 2,552 69.2 30.8 8,298

Columbus 4,060 Ward 7 2,212 45.5 54.5

candidatThe block vote of the Ohio Negro voters was

broken during the nineteen-thirties. Thus, the Democratic

Party did not enjoy the solid backing of Negro voters

during the decade, as the Republican Party had in the past.

Instead, the Ohio Negro electorate achieved something like

the kind of political independence that many Negro politi­

cal activists had sought during the nineteen-twenties.

This fact was demonstrated in (gubernatorial elections.

^ T h e statistics in Table 4 were compiled by the author from Ohio Election Statistics, 1936. 421

Republican gubernatorial candidates carried or did very well in predominantly Negro wards during the decade.

TABLE 5

VOTE IN GUBERNATORIAL ELECTIONS IN PREDOMINANTLY NEGRO WARDS IN 1932, 1936 AND 1938

Demo­ Repub­ Demo­ Repub­ Total Major cratic lican cratic lican ity Party Vote Vote % % Vote

Cincinnati Ward 16

1932 2,286 3,918 27.9 72.1 8,204 1936 6,493 3,943 62.2 37.8 10,438 1938 4,224 4,633 47.6 52.4 8,877

Cleveland Ward 17

1932 1,647 4,943 23.0 73.0 6,390 1936 4,907 2,987 62.2 37.8 7,894 1938 3,450 3,398 32.8 49.8 6,828

Columbus Ward 7

193? 769 2,836 21.3 78.7 3,603 1936 1,621 2,303 39.3 60.7 . 4,126 1938 1,416 2,360 37.3 62.3 ' 3,776

A substantial number of Negro leaders of Ohio re- mained in the Republican Party during the nineteen-

thirties. Examples of prominent political figures who

^^Statistics in Table 5 were compiled by the author from ibid. for the years 1932, 1936 and 1938. 422 stood by the party of Lincoln during the decade in­ clude Harry E. Davis, Chester K. Gillespie, Clayborne

George and Leroy Bundy of Cleveland and R, P. McClain,

David D. Turpean and William B. Bush of Cincinnati.

Similarly, Alfred M. Landon, the Republican presidential candidate in 1936, won the active support of Jesse Owens, who had become world famous through his achievements in the 1936 Olympic games. Owens had previously been well known in Ohio as a Cleveland high school and Ohio State 46 University track star.

The Negro press did not abandon the Republicans but tended to be critical of the party and often took inde­ pendent positions. The Negro Republican editors went so far as to endorse certain Democratic candidates and print items favorable to Democrats. Consequently, the editors sometimes accused each other of having gone over to the

Democratic Party. Editor Smith of the Gazette concluded that the Cleveland Call and Post had become a Democratic organ after it published a story of the rising popularity of the Democratic Party among Negro Clevelanders.^^

^^The Gazette, September 12, 1936, 1.

^^Ibid., April 26, 1930, 4. 423

Editor Smith, speaking for himself added; . . .we have done all in our power for more than forty years to encourage independency of thought and political action; hut can never advocate joining the Democratic

Party, which is controlled by the South. We can under­ stand the support at times of friendly northern Demo­ crats, in state, county, city and village elections.

But only in extreme cases - where the provocation is so great and of such vital racial interest - could we think of supporting Democrats for federal elective /I O positions - electors and members of Congress." Editor

Smith often demonstrated his independent political posi­ tion by giving aid to Democratic and independent Repub­ lican as well as regular Republican candidates for local and state offices, although he practically always endorsed regular Republicans for federal offices. The Editor of the Gazette broke his own rule in regard to backing candi­ dates for federal office in 1938 by printing items favor­ able to Senator Robert J. Bulkley, Democrat, and unfavor­ able to Robert A. Taft, Republican, while they were con- 40 testing for a seat in the United States Senate. The

^^Ibid.

^% b i d .. November 1938, 2. 4-24

Cleveland Guide evidently took an independent position.

Early in the decade the editor of the Guide noted;

"Republicans and Democrats are beginning to realize the power of the Negro vote. They could realize it more, and it could be brought into an important role if Negroes would unite at the right time, for the right candidate and wield a balance of power that would show great results. The Negro vote is an important factor.

It could be made to produce wonders.Editor Wendell

P. Dabney of the Union in Cincinnati remained an inde­ pendent Republican, Editor John H. Rives of the Dayton

Forum continued to be a regular Republican. Editor Rives served as the director of the Republican Party's campaign

among Negro voters in the state general election o f .

1934.^^ On the other hand the Cleveland Herald was re-

garded as a Democratic organ. 52

The Republican Party in Ohio continued to make appeals

to Negro voters. The state convention of the Republican

Party in 1930 adopted platform resolutions which opposed

lynching and favored greater enforcement of the civil

^^The Crisis. XXXIX (August, 1932), 265.

^^The Gazette, September 29, 1934, 1,

^^rbid., September 2, 1939, 2. 425 rights law. Maurice Maschke of Cleveland, who served as a national committeeman at the 1952 Republican Nation­ al Convention in Chicago, expressed his interest in the votes of the Negroes. He told his fellow committeemen at the convention that the Republican Party needed the support of the thousands of Negro voters in Cleveland and in other northern cities in the coming general election.

Cleveland Councilman Leroy Bundy was chosen as a delegate to the Republican National Convention at Cleveland in

1936. He had been recommended for the position by 55 Maschke.The party also chose some Negro Republicans to sit on its various committees. However, the Repub­ lican Party was often accused of being less concerned about

Negro voters than it had been in the past. Editor Smith complained: "Ohio Afro-Americans used to have from a half-dozen to a dozen delegates in every ^Republican/ state convention. . . . There were only two in attendance

/at the 1950 convention / at Columbus. . . . The decrease in the number of our delegates is a pretty good indication of the decrease in the interest our people have had in the

^^rbid., September 20, 1950, 2.

^^Oleveland Guide. in The Crisis, XXXIZ (August, 1952), 265.

^^The Gazette, May 2, 1956, 2, June 15, 1956, 1. 426

Republican success at the polls in the last ten or fifteen years.In view of the facts that there was considerable dissatisfaction with leading Republican candidates among

Negro voters and that 1930 appeared to be a lean year for

Ohio Republicans in other respects, the editor urged party officials to show a much more vigorous interest in winning 57 the votes of Negroes.^' Similarly a Toledoan stated that

"Republican leaders insist upon denying proper recognition" after reporting that more Negroes served on Democratic committees than on corresponding Republican committees in

Lucas County.During the 1936 general election campaign

Editor Smith observed that "the Ohio Republican executive committee is practically inactive, as far as our voters of this state are concerned.

Negro Ohioans, regardless of party, participated more and had greater success in municipal politics and govern­ ment during the nineteen-thirties than in earlier decades.

^^Ibid., September 20, 1930, 2.

57%bid. ^^Ibid.. September 22, 1934, 1. ^%bid.. September 5» 1936, 2. 427

This was particularly true of Cleveland. The growing

Negro electorate of Cleveland continued to make itself

felt, especially in the election of city councilman. A

significantly greater number of Negro Democratic Council

candidates was a new characteristic of Cleveland politics

during the decade. Negro Republican Councilman Leroy

Bundy, Clayborne George and Lawrence 0. Payne were re­

elected in 1931. A number of Negro Democratic candi­

dates for Council including Mrs. Arneita Rogers, the

Reverend John W. Ribbins, Walter Brown and G. C. Lacy

were defeated in 1931.^ Councilman George resigned his

seat on the council in August, 1933» in order to seek a

municipal court judgeship in the coming election. Former

State Representative Perry B. Jackson was elected to fill

the vacant seat by the partisan vote of his fellow Repub­

licans on City Council. The Democratic Councilman voted

for Negro Democrat, Dr. James A. Owen.^^ In the municipal

election of 1933 Republican Councilmen Bundy and Payne

were reelected and John E. Hubbard, also a Negro Repub­

lican, won a Council seat. Owen and Ribbins, Democratic

^ Ibid.. November 7, 1931» 1» November 28, 1931» 2.

G^Ibid.. August 26, 1933» 1. 428

Council candidates, lost. Councilmen Bundy, Hubbard and Payne were reelected in 1934. Councilman Hubbard died in September, 1936. The vacancy caused by his death gave the Democrats on the Council a majority of one. The Democrats majority in the Council subsequently elected Negro Democrat Septimus E. Craig to fill the seat 64 left vacant by Councilman Hubbard's death. In 1937

Councilmen Bundy and Payne were reelected and Negro

Republican Harold T. Gassaway was elected to the Council.

Negro Democrat John 0. Holly failed to win a council seat.^^ Republican Councilman Payne resigned in May,

19391 in order to take a position in state government.

The Council's Democratic majority elected Thomas Davis, president of the state organization of Negro Democrats, to take his place.Councilman Gassaway was reelected in 1939. Negro Republican William Walker, who had

G2%bid.. November 11, 1933, 2.

^^Ibid.. November 10, 1934, 2.

^Ibid., September 12, 1936, 1, November 21, 1936, 1.

^^Ibid., November 6, 1937, 2.

GGlbid.. May 27, 1939, 1. 429 defeated Councilman Bundy in the primary election, won a seat on the Council, as did Gus Ehrker, also a Negro

Republican. Negro Democratic Council candidates Charles

Carr, former Councilman Craig, and Councilman Davis were defeated.There were also a number of Negro candidates for municipal court judge and the Board of Education in

Cleveland during the decade. None of the court candi­ dates was successful. Attorney Alexander H. Martin was a candidate for municipal court judge in 1931 and 1934,

Councilman George in 1933 and Assistant County Prosecutor

Norman S. Minor in 1939-^^ Mrs. Mary B. Martin was elected to the Board of Education for a second time in 1934. She was not a candidate for reelection in 1937 when former

State Representative Harry E. Davis was defeated for a place on the Board. Mrs. Martin was again elected to the

Cleveland school board in 1939»^^ Nineteen thirty-one was a significant year for Negroes in Cincinnati politics and government. Frank A. B. Hall, who had secured a substantial number of votes previously

^^Ibid., October 7> 1939, 2, November 11, 1939, 3-

GGlbid.. October 24, 1931, 1, November 11, 1933, 2, November 10, 1934, 2, September 2, 1939, 2.

^^Ibid., November 11, 1933, 2, November 5, 1937, 2, November 11, 1939, 1. 430 as an unsuccessful independent Republican Councilmanic candidate, won a seat on Cincinnati's City Council.

Hall had been the first Negro council candidate endorsed by the Republican Party in the city. The party had evidently been impressed by his voter support as an in­ dependent candidate. Hall was also the first Negro elected to the City Council in Cincinnati.Editor

Dabney of the Union had been critical of Hall for allegedly being an advocate of separate Negro insti­ tutions. Hall's campaign organ had in turn "villified"

Dabney.Yet, Hall had had the almost complete support of Negro voters.Councilman Hall failed in an attempt to win reelection in 1933. He had again had the endorse­ ment of the Republican organization, bit prior to the election Republican leaders of the city had expressed the opinion that Hall had been somewhat ineffective as a councilman.'-^ Also, the Union had again been critics of him.^^ After the election Hall complained that the

7^The Cincinnati Post, November 11, 1931, 1.

'^^The Gazette, November 14, 1931, 2.

'^^The Cincinnati Post, November 9, 1931, 1.

^^The Cincinnati Times Star, November 1, 1933, 6.

^^The Gazette, November 25, 1933, 2. 431

75 Republican organization had failed to support him.'

In 1955 the Republican organization endorsed R. P.

McClain, a Negro dentist, for City Council and he was elected.McClain was reelected in 1957 with the backing of the Republican organization and was sub­ sequently named President-Pro tempore of the

Council.The Reverend David D. Turpeau obtained a

Republican endorsement for City Council in 1959, but was defeated.The Democratic Party in Cincinnati did not support Negro candidates for Council, e.g., in 1959, Negro Democrats sought in vain for the en­ dorsement of Dr. Payne Anderson as a Democratic Council candidate.79 Cincinnati's Charter Party backed unsuc­ cessful Negro candidates for Council. R. E. Beamon and

W. L. Anderson were Charter Party Councilmanic candidates in 1957 and 1959 respectively.®^

7^The Cincinnati Times Star, November 15, 1955, 25.

78lbid., August, 1955, 1; The Cincinnati Enquirer, November 7, 1955, 1. 77collins, "Political Behavior of the Negroes in Cin­ cinnati and Louisville," 154; The Gazette, January 8, 1958, 1.

78lbid., August 19, 1959, 1, November 18, 1959, 2. 79ibia., September 2, 1959, 1.

®^Ibid., Collins, "Political Behavior of the Negroes in Cincinnati and Louisville," 154-155» 4-32

The city-wide, rather than ward, election of muni­

cipal officers in Columbus continued to militate against

the political success of Negro candidates. Political

factionalism within the Negro community also handicapped

Negro candidates in Columbus. Consequently, no Negro

candidates, of which there were several, were elected to

office in Columbus during the decade. A Democrat, 1. P.

Henderson, was defeated for Franklin County Judge in

1932. In 1955 a Negro Republican suggested that Charles

E. Warfield be given a Republican endorsement for Columbus

City Council. The party failed to back him. Warfield

nevertheless sought a Republican nomination in the primary

election of 1935• He was supported by a number of Negro

social and professional organizations, including the

associations of clergymen in the city. On the other hand,

the three Negro Republican committeemen did not back

Warfield. They could not afford to back the Republican

organization,-if they expected to continue to receive

patronage from the party. In this situation Warfield 81 was defeated in the primary election. Mrs. Cora Jordan

White was an unsuccessful candidate for the Columbus Board

®^Minor, "The Negro in Columbus," 180-182; The Columbus Evening Dispatch, September 18, 1935, 1. 433

op of Education in 1935» Attorney Joseph E. Bowman, a

Democrat, made a remarkable showing as a candidate for an Ohio Supreme Court judgeship in the primary election of

1938, receiving nearly twenty-six thousand votes in a losing effort.Jack Haines, a grocery store proprietor, 84 made an effort to win a Council seat in 1939»

As in the past Negroes were generally not represented in the elective offices of municipal government in other cities and towns of Ohio. There continued to be a number of unsuccessful Negro candidates in such cities, and, the number of Democratic candidates increased. W. D. Jackson was elected in the City Council of Alliance from the

Second Ward early in the decade. He thus became the first

Negro Councilman in Alliance history.Mrs. Myrtle M.

Burns and James H. Lee were candidates for the Board of

Education in Springfield in 1931-^^ Four Negroes were elected to public office in Campbell, in the Youngstown

, November 5, 1935, 1. ^^The Gazette. August 13, 1938, 1, September 3, 1938, 2.

^ I b i d .. June 24, 1939, 1.

G^The Crisis. XXXIX (March, 1932), 98.

^^The Gazette. October 24, 1951, 1. 434 area, in 1935. HSthaniel Patton was elected councilman-

at-large; H. L. Patton was reelected to the City Council from the Fifth Ward; Dr. E. P. Young won a place on the

Board of Education; Eugene T. Rollins was chosen as a

Cortsville Township Trustee.Carroll Burke won a

Democratic nomination for Massillon City Council from

Ward Four in 1959.®® As previously noted, Democrats, as well as Repub­

licans tried to win the votes of Negroes during the decade. Editor Smith observed: Afro-Americans in Cleveland who take their politics seriously probably listen to more nonsense and buncombe during election cam­ paigns then anyother element in the commun­ ity. . . . Because our people hold a bal­ ance of power in Cleveland elections, the section in which most of them live is literally infested with office-seekers from primary time until election. These politicians will pro­ mise anything to get votes, say anything, and then do absolutely nothing to ^prove the status of the race in this community. ^

Other observers also viewed the intense bid for the votes

of Negroes with skepticism. A resident of Springfield

once noted, "The opening of the fall campaign is marked

^'^The Crisis, XLI (January, 1934), 15.

^^The Gazette, September 2, 1939» 1.

G^Ibid., August 18, 1934, 2. 4-35 as usual by activity in rounding up the colored brother."^QO Nevertheless, the recognition that Negro voters represented a potential political balance of power led more politicians to attempt to identify with them and influenced Democrats as well as Republicans to offer political appointments to Negroes. Similarly

Negroes obtained appointive governmental positions of more influence and power in the state than in previous years. Attorney Clayborne George was appointed to the

Cleveland Civil Service Commission in 1935 to fill a post left vacant by the resignation of Commissioner

Harry E. Davis. In 1938 Commissioner George was elected qi Vice-President of the Civil Service Commission.^

Attorney Charles W. White, a graduate of Harvard Uni­ versity Law School, became Assistant Law Director in

Cleveland in 1934-.^^ In 1938 Dr. Charles H. Garvin, who had been a member of the staff of Lakeside Hospital for eighteen years, was chosen to be a member of the

Cleveland Public Library Board.The Reverend Elbert

90lbid., October 24-, 1931, 1.

^^rbid., January 6, 1934-, 1, January 15, 1938, 1.

^^The Crisis, XLI (January, 1934-), 16.

9^lbid., November 26, 1938, 1. 435

W, Moore was appointed to the Columhus Metropolitan QZl Park Commission in 1931. Attorney Ray E. Hughes was appointed to the Columbus Civil Service Commission in 1937.^^ In 1930 Samuel V. Perry of Cleveland and Emmett L. Phillips were employed by the Division of

Probation and Paroles of the State Department of Welfare as field officers "to have charge of Negro prisoners in

Northeastern Ohio."^^ In 1938, Democratic Governor

Martin L. Davey appointed A. J, Fournier of Cleveland to the State Board of Barber Examiners.Also, in

1938 Governor Davey named the Reverend Reverdy C,

Ransom to the State Parole Board. Ransom, a bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, had been an active

Democrat. Editor Smith stated that his appointment

"eclipses anything ever given our people by any governor.

Republican or Democrat, in the history of the state of

Ohio."^® In 1939, Cleveland Councilman Lawrence 0.

Payne, a former assistant police prosecutor in Cleveland, was appointed by Republican Governor John W. Bricker to

^^Ibid., May 16, 1931, 1.

95ibid., April 24, 1937, 1.

^^Ibid., October 11, 1930, 2, October 18, 1930, 1.

97lbid., May 14, 1938, 2.

^^ibid., August 13, 1938, 1. 437 the three-man Ohio Pardon and Parole Commission»

The Ohio General Assembly continued to be an im­ portant forum for the state's Negro community. As in the past only Negro Republicans were elected to the state legislature. In 1930 State Representative Perry B.

Jackson of Cleveland, who had a Republican nomination, failed to gain reelection. William Bush, a Hamilton

County Republican nominee, was also defeated as a can­ didate for the state House of Representatives in 193C.

Thus no Negroes sat in the state legislature during the I93I-I932 term.^^^ In 1952 former State Representa­ tive A. Lee Beaty of Hamilton County and Attorney Chester

K. Gillespie of Cuyahoga County received Republican nominations for the House. Cnly Attorney Gillespie was elected in the general election of 1932.^^^ Gillespie and Dr. R. P. McClain of Hamilton County obtained

Republican endorsements as House Candidates in 1934.

In the general election State Representative Gillespie 1 o? was defeated but Dr. McCain was elected. In 1936

*^^The State Parole Board had been recently abolished and replaced by the Commission. Ibid., May 13, 1939, 1. l^Olbid., August 16, 1930, 2, November 22, 1930, 1. lO^Ibid.. May 28, 1932, 2, November 12, 1932, 2.

^^% b i d .. November 1C, 1934, 2, November I7 , 1934, 1. 438

Attorney Ray E. Hughes of Columhus and the Reverend

David S. Turpeau of Cincinnati were nominated by the

Republican Party as candidates for the House, but both were defeated in the Democratic landslide election of

1935; hence no Negroes served in the state legislature during the 1937-1938 term.^^^ Gillespie and Turpeau were both elected to the House in 1938.^^^ Attorney

Harry E, Davis of Cleveland had won a Republican nomi­ nation for the state Senate in 1938, but he was defeated in the general election.

The three Negro state Representatives who served in the Ohio General Assembly during the nineteen-thirties, like their predecessors, guarded against the passage of legislation which would discriminate against Negroes and sought the passage of laws which would prevent racial discrimination. Unlike in the past, there was also an attempt to obtain the passage of legislation which would raise the second-class status of the Negro community as a whole through positive action by the state government.

^^^Minor, "The Negro in Columbus," 185; The Cincinnati Times Star, November 4, 1935, 37-

104The Gazette. November 12, 1938, 2, November 19, 1938, 1 ; Collins" "Political Behavior of the Negroes in Cincinnati and Louisville," 141.

^^^The Gazette. November 12, 1938, 2. 439

Gillespie was the most active of the three Negro members of the House during the decade. He introduced

several House Resolutions, e.g., in 1934, a resolution, passed by the House, urging the United States Congress

to enact the Costigan Mob Violence Bill.^^^ He also

sponsored many House bills, some of which were not of

special interest to the Negro Community.For

example, in 1939, the state legislature passed Gillespie's

House Bill No. 14, which enlarged the membership of the n Q O state Civil Service Commission. In 1933 he succeeded

in having the word "white" eliminated from a Senate Bill

relating to the power of Boards of County Commissioners

over lands held in trust by them.^^^* In 1933 he also

sponsored a bill restricting the power of the Ohio State

University Board of Trustees. The bill sought to prevent

the Board from practicing racial discrimination.In

January, 1939, Gillespie and George J. Harter, Summit

lOGphio House Journal. CXV (1933-1934), 108.

lO^Ibid.. CXV (1933), 1550; ibid.. CXVIII (1939), 1635.

^Q^Ibid..108] 69, 172, 582, 674, 676, 1308.

109,^Amended Senate Bill No. 213, ibid., CXV (1933), 810, 815, The Gazette. April 8, 1933, 2, May 27, 1933, 1. ^^^See discussion of education in Chapter X above. 4 4 0

County Democrat, introduced House Bill No. 13» which was designed to redistrict the Congressional Districts of the State.An observer reported; "Representative

Gillespie says that his bill is not a gerrymander but one to redistrict the northeastern section of this state, creating four districts in this /Cuyahoga/ county, making it possible to elect an Afro-American congressman from Cleveland. His proposed 23rd Con­ gress district would include Wards 11, 12, 15, 17, 18,

19, 20 and 22 of this city /Cleveland/, the first six 112 being 'colored wards.'" House Bill No. 13 was re­ ferred to the House federal relations committee where it died.^^^ In February, 1939» Gillespie and Harry J.

Dworkin, Democrat of Cuyahoga County, introduced House

Bill No. 377 "to provide for a commission to examine, report upon and recommend measures to improve the economic, cultural, health and living conditions of the urban colored population of the state and to make appropriation there­ fore. The bill was subsequently referred to the House

^llphio House Journal, CXVIII (1959)» 69. IIP The Gazette, January 14-, 1959» 2. The plan would have given Cuyahoga County one of the two Congressmen then elected at-large.

ll^Ohio House Journal. CXVIII (1959)» 114» 182» 1362-1363.

^^^Ibid., 235. 441 committee on public welfare.A number of people,

some representing organizations such as the National

Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Urban League spoke in favor of the bill before a hearing of the committee. In addition to Gillespie and Dworkin, they included Ohio State University Pro­ fessor Cecil C. North, Mrs. Edgar Dale, L. M. Shaw,

Barbee W. Durham, W. S. Lyman, J. S. Himes, Jr., and

Nina Roberts of Columbus; George W. Thompson of Akron

and State Representative David D. Turpeau of Cin­

cinnati. The House Public Welfare Committee reported

favorably upon the bill, but it died in the Finance

Committee to which it had been sent in order to have

had the proper appropriation f i x e d . state Repre­

sentative R. P. McClain of Hamilton County introduced ITS no resolutions but did sponsor two bills. His House

Bill No. 91, introduced in January, 1933, was of special

^^^Ibid.. 484.

Gazette, April 29, 1939, 1.

ll^Ohio House Journal. CXVIII (1939), 830, 1458-1459.

^^^Ibid., CXVI (1935), 1535. 442 interest to the Negro Community. House Bill No. 91» prohibited and fixed penalties for "discrimination and intimidation on account of race, creed or color in employment under contracts for public buildings or public works in the State of Ohio."^^^ The bill was 120 endorsed by numerous civic and religious organizations.

The bill was unanimously approved by the House, passed by the Senate, and approved by Governor Martin L. Davey. 1 pi The McClain Law became effective on July 24, 1935-

The Reverend David D. Turpeau of Hamilton County spon­ sored no bills but did introduce several resolutions while a member of the State House of Representatives in

1939» His resolutions, among other things favored state sponsorship of delegations of Ohio Negroes at the New

York World's Fair and at the Negro Progress Exposition in Detroit in 1939» recognized the achievements of Negro explorer Matthew Hensen, and urged the state to purchase and maintain the Harriet Beecher Stowe house in Cin-

- 1 ?? cinnati.

^^% b i d .. 73.

^^°The Gazette, May 11, 1935» 3-

IZlQbio House Journal, CXVI (1935)» 82, 396, 491, 492, 6637"T335:T33l. ^^^Ibid., CXVIII (1939)» 301, 402, 586, 577» 615» 1656. CHAPTER XIII

NEGRO ORGANIZATIONS REACT TO THE DEPRESSION

The Great Depression affected the activities of organizations in the Negro Community of Ohio. Negro churches attempted to serve as private relief agencies early in the Depression, despite a shortage of financial resources. The Tried Stone Baptist Church of Cleveland established a "bread-line" in February, 1951» The

Church congregation was able to contribute about twenty- four dollars a week for this purpose by taking a weekly special collection, but such funds were not enough to cover the cost of feeding the hundreds of people who visited the church every week for food. The Tried Stone

Baptist Church served 8,53^ meals between January and

July of 1931. By July, the pastor of the church found it necessary to appeal to the public to lend financial support to the breadline service.^ The Messiah Baptist

Church of Cleveland distributed food, clothing and 2 shoes to needy people in 1931. Similarly, Negro

^The Gazette, July 4, 1931, 2.

^Ibid., December 19, 1931.

443 444 churches in Columbus operated soup kitchens, shelter houses and employment services. Yet, they were handi­ capped in providing such services because, as an ob­ server noted, "most of them literally were crushed under the burden of the poverty of their members."^

The Depression made employment problems a prime concern of Ohio organizations that had been especially interested in the welfare of Negroes, Such organiza­ tions placed emphasis upon vocational training for un­ employed Negroes and upon placing them in jobs open to

Negroes, They also cooperated with the new federal government agencies in providing employment and welfare service to needy members of the Negro community. The

Columbus Urban League cooperated with the Federal Emer­ gency Relief Administration, the Civil Works Administra­ tion, the Works Progress Administration and the National

Youth Administration in providing relief services for the Negro community of Columbus, Employment placement was of basic importance in the League's program during the Depression; it obtained jobs for 309 persons in

1957- The Urban League of Columbus meanwhile continued its traditional work through its various departments.

^Barta, "East Long Street Negro District," 76, 445 including Research; Inter-Race Relations; Intra-Race

Relations; Industry; Neighborhood, Recreation and Edu­ cation; and Health and Housing. The League expanded its traditional services during the decade. For example, in 1956 the Monroe Avenue Social Center was established by means of the contribution of a local philanthropist. The League conducted social service programs in America Addition, Sellsville, Burnside

Addition, Southgate, Urbancrest and Hanford, i.e.,

Negro communities in the Columbus vicinity. Similar­ ly, in addition to its usual activities, the Negro

Welfare Association of Cleveland emphasized its employ­ ment services during the decade. For example, in -^ril,

1931» the Association, in cooperation with other organi­ zations launched a "Vocational Opportunity Campaign."

The basic purpose of the campaign was "to emphasize the need for vocational training and to disseminate informa­ tion concerning the opportunities for employment of

^Negro/ workers, to expose the fallacies respecting

/the ability of Negroes/ to do only heavy work, and in general to propagandize for a larger place in the pro­ ductive and professional pursuits of the country."^

^Columbus Urban League, "Twenty Years of Service."

^The Gazette. April 18, 1931» 1. 446

Later in 1931 the Negro Welfare Association sponsored a round table discussion of industrial and employment problems of Negroes which was attended by leaders of

Cleveland's civic, social, industrial and religious organizations.^ Among other aspects of its employment program, the Association offered vocational guidance, by providing classes for persons desiring to take 7 civil service examinations.'

The branches of the National Association for the

Advancement of Colored People in Ohio were also in­ fluenced by the Great Depression. The adverse economic

conditions of the nineteen-thirties led the NAACP to broaden its objectives. The Association placed more

emphasis on the promotion of social change through

government action than it had in the past. The NAACP

also became more involved in politics, in a non-partisan

fashion. Meanwhile, during the decade, the NAACP sought

to achieve its traditional objectives, especially the prevention of racial discrimination and segregation by private persons and governmental bodies. On the other

hand, the NAACP continued, in practically all instances

^Ibid., December 12, 1931, 2. ?Ibia., February IJ, 1932, 3, April 17, 1937, 1, May 14, l 9 3 ^ 3. 447 to use its traditional means of achieving its goals, the use of conferences, correspondence, legal action and the influencing of legislation.

The nature of NAACP programs during the nineteen- thirties is illustrated hy examples of the activities of the branches across the state. The Cleveland branch secured representation on the Cleveland Committee for

Unemployment Insurance and investigated charges of racial discrimination and segregation in the state's penal institutions. It established a tenants' pro­ tective association designed to prevent white land­ lords from exploiting Negro tenants. It planned to notify Cleveland Real Estate Board and Better Business

Bureau when Negro tenants were taken advantage of by Q landlords. The Cleveland NAACP investigated the pro­ vision of relief for indigent Negro families and the treatment of Negroes in Cleveland hospitals.^ Racial discrimination and segregation in Cleveland public housing projects and at Woodland Hills Park swimming pool were actively opposed by the Cleveland NAACP.

% b i d .. July 16, 1952, 1.

^Ibid., September 23, 1935, 5-

^-°Ibid.. May 25, 1955, 5. 448

It took action against color lines in Cleveland stores and commercial parks.The Cleveland Branch took an interest in the celebrated case of the Scottsboro Boys who had been falsely accused of raping white girls in

Alabama. In 1955? in cooperation with the Cleveland division of the International Labor Defense it planned 12 a mass meeting in support of the Scottsboro Boys.

The NAACP in Cleveland also maintained a Scottsboro

Defense Committee which collected funds for the legal defense of the young men.^^ It, furthermore, supported

Congressional legislation designed to prevent the lynch­ ing of Negroes in the South. Thus, it sponsored mass meetings in support of the Costigan-Wagner and Gavagan-

Wagner Anti-lynching bills in 1935 and 1937 respective-

Other NAACP branches in Ohio carried out similar programs although on a smaller scale. The Cincinnati

^^The Crisis, XLIV (February, 1937), 53»

^^The Gazette, February 9, 1935, 2.

^^Ibid.. January 29, 1938, 3-

^^Ibid.. February 16, 1935, 3, May 15, 1937, 3. 44-9 branch reported: "With the establishment of the Federal and state Public Works projects, the branch sent resolu­ tions to all proper officials urging that positive steps be taken to prevent discrimination in employment for any reasons of race, creed, or color.The Cincinnati

NAACP secured representation on the local Advisory Com­ mittee of the National Recovery Administration, The branch president stated; "We are fully aware that cer­ tain employers are discriminating against and displacing

Negro workers under NRA and it is our intention to combat such practices, , , , The Cincinnati branch contested racial segregation in playgrounds and Post Office rest 17 rooms, * The branch of the Queen City opposed racial discrimination in the public schools, investigated racial segregation at the University of Cincinnati and the

McKinley Park swimming pool, induced a local newspaper to stop using the word "Negress" and fought racial dis- IQ crimination in Cincinnati hospitals. In 1954 the

^^Annual Report of the President, Cincinnati Branch NAACP, November 22, 1933» NAACP Records,

^^Ibid, l?Ibid, l^The Crisis, XXXIV (February, 1932), 53, ibid,, XLI, (December, 1934), 370, 450

Cincinnati NAACP sent questionnaires to all candidates for county, state and congressional candidates. The answers to the questions which concerned issues of special interest to Negroes, were published and circu­ lated.^^ The Columbus branch, which hosted the Twenty-

Ninth Annual Conference of the NAACP,interested itself in such issues as racial discrimination in theaters and PO public schools. During the nineteen-thirties, as before, some NAACP branches in the state were virtually defunct. Thus, the Springfield NAACP was quite inactive 21 during the early years of the decade.

In 1930 the national headquarters of the NAACP promoted the organization of state conferences of local branches "for the purpose of securing greater coopera­ tion among the Branches in the state, providing a medium between the Branches and the National Office, helping 22 the handling of problems, and in organizing new branches."

^% b i d . PO Annual Report of the Columbus Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Cr ■ored People, 1938, NAACP Records; The Crisis, XLV (March, 1938), 85, XLV (October, 1938)7335$ 336. PI Letter of Sully Jaymes to William Pickens, September 12, 1932, NAACP Records. Z^The Crisis, XXXVII (December, 1930), 418. 451

State conferences were established in Ohio, Indiana,

Michigan and New Jersey in 1950.^^ The Ohio Confer­

ence of NAACP Branches was organized at Columbus in ?4 July. An additional motive for having the Ohio

branches organized had been political. Thus, Secre­

tary Robert W. Bagnall had observed: "One special

feature of the Ohio State Conference is that it is to

serve as an attempt to organize the state to seek defeat

of Senator /Roscoe/ McCulloch in the primary, in rebuke

for his vote for confirmation of Judge /John/ Parker

/for the Supreme Courjb/. The National headquarters

of the NAACP had opposed Judge Parker's confirmation.

The Ohio Conference subsequently campaigned vigorously

against Senator McCulloch.The second annual meeting

of the Chio Conference concerned itself principally

with the issues of racial discrimination and segregation

24 Minutes of the First Annual Convention of the Chio Branches of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, NAACP Records. 25 Memorandum to the Board of Directors, July 14, 193C (copy). Ibid.

^^See discussion of politics in the nineteen-thirties in Chapter Xll above. 452 in the public schools and penal institutions of the 27 state. ' As the Depression grew worse the state organi­ zation became more interested in the promotion of social change by government. At a meeting of the executive committee of the state conference in February, 1932, the Cleveland branch president planned to promote the calling of a special session of the state legislature for the passage of relief measures, urged the adoption of a resolution favoring the maintenance of social ser­ vice and educational work at the highest level of efficiency while the depression lasted, and advocated that a special unemployment census "be made for Ohio as pQ the basis for relief appropriations." Later in 1932 the third annual conference of Ohio NAAOP branches re­ commended "drastic changes in the economic and social system. . . in order to bring relief to the needy and unemployed"; among the changes proposed by the confer­ ence were the enactment of unemployment insurance legis­ lation and the passage of laws to improve housing condi- PQ tions and to provide old age pensions. ^

2?The Orisis. XXXIX (January, 1932), 457-

^^The Gazette. February 20, 1932, 3.

29Ibid., October 15, 1932, 1. 455

During the early nineteen-thirties officials of the

Ohio Conference of NAACP Branches "travelled miles organ­ izing new branches and stimulating existing ones" in

Chio.^^ State Conference President Charles E. Dickin­1 son was involved in several racial segregation cases. 31

Among other activities the Chio Conference appealed to the Governor of Alabama to grant executive clemency to the Scottsboro Boys.

The Chio Conference of NAACP Branches did not prove to be as effective as was hoped. Cne reason for this was dissension between the state conference and the branches. As early as December of 1932 the president of the Cleveland branch referred to "permanently strained relations" between the President of the State Conference and the Cleveland organization. There was a feeling among the branches that the State Conference was too much dominated by its executive and that it accomplished little.

^^The Crisis. 2XXIX (February, 1932), 53. ^Ifbid.

^^Letter of C. E. Dickinson to Governor Miller, March 25, 1932 (copy), NAACP Records.

^^Letter of David H. Pierce to Robert V. Bagnall, December 25, 1932, ibid. 454

In reference to the state NAACP organization Editor

Smith stated:

Since it has been in existence it had done nothing. No victories have been accomplished. No intelligent program has ever been forth­ coming. Yet the national office permits this imitation organization to remain in existence, disgracing every conscientious member of the NAACP anxious to do something to improve the status of the members of the race in Ohio. A real state organization will require funds, and the New York office cannot afford division of a declining income. The manly act, there­ fore, is to urge the state branch to adjourn sine die.^

This criticism was overly harsh but it reflected the views of many. The editor suggested that “a skeleton /state

NAACP/ conference /should b_e/ called into session two or three times a year in order to transfer the state organization from a one-man imitation-state-society into something vital.The activity of the Ohio Conference of Branches and interest in it did decline over the decade. Less than a half dozen branches were represented

^^The Gazette, October 5, 1934, 2.

^^Ibid., October 20, 1934, 2. 455 at the Annual Conference of the state organization in

1938.^^ Thus the Ohio Conference was less effective as a means of promoting cooperation among Ohio branches and as a channel of communication between the national office and the branches in the state than was intended.

During the nineteen-thirties, as before, the well- established civil rights and Negro welfare organizations tended to be aristocratic. They were largely composed of Negro professional people, including lawyers, doctors, clergymen, and white people. On the other hand, leader­ ship of such organizations was very little influenced by the average person in the Negro community. For example, in this regard the Publicity Director of the Cleveland

NAACP Branch lamented:

If the Cleveland branch is typical of other branches, then the NAACP is in bad shape. We hold practically no mass meetings through­ out the year. Consciously or otherwise, the Negro leaders take a high brow attitude toward the Negro masses and no effort is made to interest them in the affairs of the organiza­ tion, certainly no serious effort.

^ Ibid,, October 8, 1938, 2, See Proceedings, Fourth Aumiai Conference, Ohio Branches of the National Asso­ ciation for the Advancement of Colored People, Zanesville, Ohio, September 22-24, 1933; Proceedings, Fifth Annual Conference of the National Association for the Advance­ ment of Colored People, Canton, Ohio, October 6-7, 1934; Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Ohio State Conference of Branches of the National Association for the Advance­ ment of Colored People, Toledo, Ohio, September 25-26, 1937» NAACP Records, 456

.... We fail to make or hold any con­ tact with the Negro masses. What saves us is that the white people in town do not know how ineffective we really are or how poorly we are qualified to speak for the Negro of Cleveland. 37

Similarly, Editor Smith held that the NAACP of Ohio had

"always suffered from an excess of professional men" and that "a substantial number from the ranks who do not represent any of the professions" was needed in the leadership of the organization.^ Proudly, the Columbus

Urban League stated:

Prom the very beginning of the work ofib the League, the necessity of having members of the Board of Directors representative of the social and civic forces of the city was recognized. The Urban League has been fortunate in having had on its roster as board members men and women of high caliber. They have always repre­ sented a cross-section of men and women of both races who have been interested in the welfare of the community in particular and great human problems in general. The list would include ministers, bankers, university professors, teachers, housewives, businessmen, real estate brokers, attorneys, physicians, dentists, social workers and others interested in the develop­ ment of the human personality.^^

37Letter of David H. Pierce to Herbert J. Seligmann, October 25, 1930, ibid.

^^The Gazette, October 20, 1934, 2.

^^"Twenty Years of Service." 457

The Negro welfare organizations of the state tended to attempt to aid the needy of the Negro community within the existing social-economic order. The Phillis Wheatley

Association of Cleveland, which among other things, gave domestic training to Negro women, provides an extreme example of this tendency. Jane E. Hunter, the executive secretary of the Association stated:

In the field of home economics and per­ sonal service the Negro has served the American home for more than 300 years. . . . For many years to come, the great mass of Negro girls must carve out of the domestic field a livelihood for themselves and families. This can he accomplished, as we learn to dignify common labor and appreciate the jobs at hand as a means to an end...... I n referring to those of my race, who are privileged to serve in the homes of others, there is a great need today for the qualities they contribute to American home building. They speak and understand the American language. They sympathize with the ups and downs of the American white man. They are loyal to him. I predict that the American family heads of today shall soon again turn to Negro help in their homes as a necessity for the rebuilding of a better and finer home life. I am sure they will conclude that the Negro ser­ vant, who by similarity of nativity and environ­ ment, will remain the potent factor in^keeping the American home happy and contented.

Unlike the established organizations, new Negro units, which

used unorthodox methods to achieve untraditional objectives,

^^From the text of a July 10, 1958 radio address. The Gazette, July 23, 1938, 1. 458 made their appearance during the decade. That is, they used direct action to effect social-economic change.

Unlike the older associations, the new organizations were closer to the Negro "masses."

The Future Outlook League of Cleveland typified the new organization. Its founder was John 0. Holly, a high school graduate who had been born in Alabama in 1905. He had worked as a coal miner in Virginia, as an automobile worker in Detroit and as a porter in

Halle Brothers department store in Cleveland, among other jobs. During the nineteen-thirties he was a shipping clerk in a chemical manufacturing concern in

Cleveland.Holly was impressed by the idea that an organized Negro community could effectively use its purchasing power to alter social-economic conditions.

The Negro leaders of Cleveland whom Holly first approached with the suggestion of organizing the economic power of 42 the Negroes of the city were unsympathetic. On

February 11, 1935» Holly outlined his organizational plans to several neighbors in his home, an ordinary

Charles H. Loeb, The Future Outlook League Is Yours, The History of the Future Outlook League 1936-1946 /Sereafter cited as Loeb, Future Outlook League/7~15- 15. ^^Ibid., 17. 459 slim building in the Central Area. The group decided to name their association the Future Outlook League.

Attendance fell off at the second meeting of this neighborhood group. Thereafter a fund-raising party brought only five dollars and a quarter. ^ Nevertheless,

Holly persisted in his efforts. At a third meeting the group designed a program:

1. To establish, build, and preserve all legitimate community businesses; to create employment for Negroes; to use every legiti­ mate weapon at its command in persuading merchants, and the proprietors of such other firms whose business, wholly or partially, is supported by Negroes, to employ Negro workers in proportion to the size of the business, 2. To create and instill in the minds of our youth the will to appreciate, protect and build on the achievements of progress now being made. 5. To advocate a closer union as a race, regardless of religion, politics or economic status in life. 4. To help make possible better living conditions in the future; to cooperate whole­ heartedly with every other organization work­ ing for the improvement of the community, city, state, and nation.

The organization adopted a formal constitution on April 5,

1955. The Future Outlook League then concentrated upon

4^Ibid., 22.

^Ibid.. 25. 460 obtaining employment for Negroes in stores largely patronized by Negroes. The organization first tried to persuade proprietors to hire Negroes; when this failed, it employed pickets and boycotts. The original members of the P.0.1. were not qualified to fill the first jobs opened to Negroes by the organization. Thus qualified persons had to be secured for the positions from the employmer: departments of established welfare 45 organizations. 'd'.e Negro leadership of Cleveland re­ mained unsympathetic, with few exceptions, to the P.0.1. during the early years of the organization's existence.

Yet, William 0. Walker, owner of the Cleveland Call and

Post, used his newspaper to support P.0.1. campaigns, and the Call and Post news editor, Charles loeb, volunteered to help promote publicity for the league. As the P.0.1. opened more and more jobs to Negroes its membership grew.^^ In order to raise funds for operating expenses the league established an Employee's Union composed of persons who had been placed in jobs by the organization.

The members of the Employee's Union paid dues of twenty-

4^Ibid. , 29.

^^Ibid., 35-34. 461 five cents a week.^^ In 1937 the Future Outlook League claimed ten thousand members of whom three to four hundred regularly attended League meetings. By this time the organization had established several committees or departments including a Speakers Bureau, a Legal De­ fense Committee, a Publicity Committee, a Training De­ partment for juveniles, a medical committee and an Em- /IQ ployment Department. By its fourth anniversary in

1939» the Future Outlook League claimed to have made about twelve hundred job placements. In addition to employment campaigns, the F.O.L. engaged in other mili­ tant direct action, and especially in the area of housing,

In 1938 the League established a Housing Committee in re- 50 sponse to appeals from Negro tenants for help.^ The goals of the Housing Committee were to “secure the re­ duction of exhorbitant rents" and to “force landlords to provide essential facilities" to Negro tenants.The

^^Ibid.,35. 4^Ibid., 45.

^^The Gazette, April 8, 1939, 3-

^^Loeb, Future Outlook League, 59-60.

^^Ibid., 60. 462

League was represented in the eviction court of Cleveland by an attorney in order to further the achievement of these goals. In 1939 the F.O.L. escalated the militancy

of its housing program. Landlords had been purchasing condemned buildings and renting them to Negroes in the face of a growing housing shortage for Negroes. The

Housing Committee made several attempts to persuade the

landlords to make needed reforms. After these efforts had

been rebuffed by the landlords the League decided to carry

out a rent strike. The Housing Committee had already

registered thousands of Negro tenants of rental slum

housing; it then secured pledges from a large percentage

of them that they would support a rent strike. Numerous

city and county public officials were informed by the

League that the strike was to be carried out. Slum

tenants were instructed not to pay rentals and to oppose

all attempts to evict them. League members picketed some

of the most substandard of the rental buildings in order

to inhibit evictions and to pressure landlords to make

repairs.Shortly before the F.O.L. rent strike was to

be officially initiated, Mayor Harold Burton called a

meeting of F.O.L. leaders and the landlords involved.

52ibid., 61-62. 463

The point of view of each side in the dispute was pre­ sented at the conference. The Mayor asked F.O.L. offi­ cials to postpone the strike until a committee, comprised of officials of the City Welfare Department, could in- 35 vestigate the issue.While the investigation pro­ ceeded the Call and Post and then the Cleveland Press published articles exposing the substandard conditions of rental housing for Negroes in the city. In the atmosphere created by this publicity and the continuing threat of a rent strike, many rental houses were repaired, some rentals were reduced, and slum landlords found it 54 more difficult to obtain court eviction orders.^

The success of the Future Outlook League in Cleveland led to the establishment of F.O.L. organizations in other

Ohio cities. Future Outlook Leagues were founded in

Akron, Canton, Toledo, Springfield, Warren and Youngs- 55 town in the late nineteen-thirties.^^

There were other Negro groups in Ohio during the decade which did not fit the pattern of a mass-oriented

55lbid., 62; The Gazette. July 8, 1939, 1, July 22, 1939, X *

^^Loeb, Future Outlook League, 63.

^^Ibid., The Gazette, April 8, 1959, 1. 464 direct action organization as well as did the Future

Outlook League. The Garveyites still existed, Garvey's

Universal Negro Improvement Association had originally been a mass movement. But, in the nineteen-thirties its existence was precarious. Part of the difficulty arose from the fact that the U.N.I.A. had broken into factions.

The U.N.I.A. Division in Cleveland was reported to be in financial difficulty early in the decade.Other

U.N.I.A. groups in the state, such as the one in Columbus, were practically dormant during the decade."Herculean efforts" were made in 1939 to revive the U.N.I.A. Division in Cincinnati.^® The Garveyite organization had continued to support Black Nationalism. In 1959 Ohio U.N.I.A.

Director James A. Stewart favored the passage of the "Back to Africa" bill of United States Senator Bilbo of Miss­ issippi.^^ The Frontiers Club of Columbus, organized in

1936, was designed to be more militant in raising the status of Negroes than other organizations concerned about

5®Ibid., May 2, 1931, 2. ^"^Barta, "East Long Street Negro District," 83»

^®The Gazette, September 2, 1939, 1.

^%bid., August 19, 1939, 3. 465 the interests of Negroes in the city had been. However, rather than being a mass oriented organization, the frontiers Club was composed of professional and business leaders.

The International Labor Defense also employed direct action on behalf of Negroes. The I.L.D. was a "Communist- controlled organization" which had been "established by the Communist International to exploit court cases f,pr revolutionary propaganda.The organization was primarily interested in cases involving race.^^ The I.L.D. was organized in several Ohio cities. Its most celebrated case in Ohio involved C. Louis Alexander, one of its members in.Barberton. Alexander, a thirty-two year old

Negro migrant from Alabama, had become a Communist "when out of a job and hungry. He participated in a Communist unemployment demonstration in Barberton early in the decade.

Later several witnesses testified that early in February,

1931» a white mob, including some uniformed Barberton policemen, had removed Alexander from his home, beaten

^^Himes, "Negro Life in Columbus," 133»

^^Vilson Record, Race and Radicalism, The NAACP and the Communist Party in Conflict, 4-1.

G^Ibid., 41-42.

^^The Gazette, June 6, 1931, 2. 466 him, taken him to the city limits and ordered him to leave town. Alexander subsequently did leave Barberton,

He returned several months later. In the meantime those concerned about him had feared that he had been murdered 64 by his enemies. Court hearings were held for the policemen who had allegedly been involved in the incident.

Attorneys of the Cleveland I.L.D. and the Akron NAACP

Branch assisted the prosecution in the case. The accused police officers were eventually acquitted of the charges against them. The Communists had meanwhile held several meetings and demonstrations in protest against the alleged

treatment of Alexander. The Barberton police had broken up these gatherings with force, once injuring a local newspaper man covering the incident. The police action

against the Communist protest demonstrations had led the

editor of one Cleveland daily newspaper to write:

Again the question was asked at a public mass meeting in Barberton: What happened to the colored Communist agitator, C. Louis Alexander, who disappeared mysteriously after falling into the hands of police? Again, on June 2 7 , the question was answered by savage brutality on the part of police, with black­ jacks, billy-clubs, and tear-gas bombs, and

^Ibid. 467

a mob of citizens led by 'special deputies.' Besides a score of Communist sympathizers who were injured, other citizens suffered. Houses of people near the square, people who had no interest in the dispute, were filled with gas and rendered unlivable for the night. Barberton officialdom and its tear gas are becoming a stench in the nostrils of the whole state. They do not help make Ohio a pleasant place to live for people who believe in orderly government. The violence with which the Bar­ berton police react to every public inquiry into the fate of the missing Negro Communist does not tend to lessen public curiosity as to what actually did happen to him.

The Summit County Grand Jury, following Alexander's return to Barberton, investigated the violence that had occurred when the police had broken up the Alexander meeting in late June. The Grand Jury brought indictments against one man involved in the incident.Also in 19^1, The

International Labor Defense came to the aid of an East

Liverpool bricklayer who had been jailed on a charge of criminal syndicatism after having led a demonstration of unemployed workers demanding unemployment insurance. Sub­ sequently, demonstrators, including both white and Negro

^^The Cleveland Plain Dealer, in ibid., July 25, 1951, 2.

^^Ibid., August 29, 1931, 1. For further details on the Alexander case, see Proceedings, Second Annual Conference of Ohio NAACP Branches, September 25-27, 1951, Columbus, Ohio, NAACP Records; clippings from The Akron Beacon- Journal, May 20, 23, 27-29, 1951, and Akron Times-Press, hav È2 . 27-28, 1951, in ibid.; and The Gazette, June é, 20, 1951, July 4, 18, 2 5 7 ^ 5 1 , August 8, 29, 1951. 468 workers, picketed the local court house on behalf of the jailed bricklayer, whose bail was thereafter raised by the Communists in Cleveland were involved in a variety of incidents. In 1951 Communists demonstrated against the eviction of Negro tenants. Policemen who were on the scene during the eviction were attacked. Gunshots were exchanged. Two Negro men were killed and a white police officer was wounded by the gun fire.^® In 1954

Communists joined other groups in demanding that the Mayor and City Council of Cleveland investigate racial segrega­ tion in Cleveland. In 1955 Communists demonstrated for an investigation of the shooting of a Negro youth by a white storekeeper and the jailing of several others for allegedly having committed vandalism.Also in 1955, about twenty Cleveland Communists, "mostly colored," engaged in an anti-war parade in front of the Italian

Consulate on the Public Square. Their picket signs 71 protested the Italian invasion of Ethiopia.' Some

G^Ibid.. March 28, 1951, 2.

G^ibid.. October 10, 1951, 1, 2, October 1?, 1951, 2.

69nIbid.. November 5, 1954, 5.

7°Ibid.. June 22, 1955, 1.

?^Ibid.. July 29, 1955, 5. 469

Negroes attended meetings in a hall rented by the Com­ munist Party in Columbus during 19^4 and 1955* The attendance at the meetings never exceeded thirty persons; usually about half of them were Negroes. The discussions at these meetings ordinarily concerned racial discrimi­ nation in the distribution of relief funds. On one occasion a demonstration was made, before the Federal

Transient Bureau in Downtown Columbus. The demonstrators protested that the Bureau was segregating some of its 72 Negro employees.' Some Negroes who engaged in Communist activities during the decade were not impressed by Com­ munist ideology, but were interested in the Communists' methods of direct action to raise the status of Negroes.

Similarly, at least some Negroes who participated in

Communist activity were not members of the Communist

Party. For example, the Negro secretary of the Inter­ national Labor Defense in Columbus stated; "I have been begged to become a Communist. But I am not quite sure of its being the best policy for the Negro. Negroes have been the catspaw to draw the chestnut from the fire. I do feel, however, that we need to be tied up with some

*^^Minor, "The Negro in Columbus," 199-200. 470 strong legal defense to insure our getting our rights.

The most symbolic of the direct action movements in Ohio during the nineteen-thirties was the campaign to force stores which depended upon Negro patronage to 74 employ Negroes,' Most stores in the Negro communities of the state were owned by whites, who usually did not live in the neighborhood of the store. Similarly, the personnel of such stores was generally all white. A wide variety of Negro organizations in Ohio were involved in the campaign to change this situation. Although a few groups relied almost solely upon persuasion, most of the organizations used pickets and boycotts to achieve their objectives.

Throughout most of the nineteen-thirties different organizations attempted to open jobs in stores in the

Negro community to Negroes. In fact some interest in such an effort had been expressed by Clevelanders during the previous decade. In December, 1926, Editor Smith had advised: "Our Federation of Women's Clubs and Women's

Council ought to do something to place our young men and women in many of the stores of the 11th and 12th wards

'^^Ibid.. 200-201.

*^^Such movements appeared in various parts of the United States during the decade, e.g., in New York City and Detroit. Franklin, From Slavery to Freedom. 559-540. 4-71 that haven't a single one in their employ in spite of the fact that from ninety to one hundred per cent of 75 the.'r patronage is furnished by our people." Several years later, in the summer of 1929» Attorney Andrew 3.

Cunningham, in a letter to Editor Smith, had written;

I have been wondering why it is that you don't start a campaign, through your paper, toward securing positions in places of business in the Woodland, Central and Scovill Avenue district where our people are the principal customers. There are many places of business in this dis­ trict that could not be run if it were not for the patronage of our people. There are many young people of our group finishing school, every year, who are looking for employment and cannot find anything to do while we are making the merchants of this district wealthy. It seems that every one waits for you to start every progressive movement. So why not start this campaign. It could be done by educating our people to stay away from places of businessy^ the district that do not employ our people.' In Cleveland during the early nineteen-thirties the jobs

campaign was led by the Economic Race Development Society.

The Society was organized early in 1931 under the leader­

ship of the Reverend Boston J. Prince, pastor of the

Messiah Baptist Church. This organization concentrated

on opening jobs to Negroes in the stores of the Third

"^^The Gazette, December 25» 1926, 1.

f^ibid., August 5, 1929» 1. 472

Councilmanic District. The Society used the slogan;

"Do not spend your money where you cannot work." When persuasion failed, the E.R.D.S. employed the picketline and store boycott in order to induce the management to hire Negroes. Under pressure from the Economic Race

Development Society, grocery store chains, including the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, the Fisher

Brothers Company and the Kroger Company, hired Negroes

as clerks and in a couple of instances as store managers.

By December, 1931» the Society claimed that it had placed three hundred fifty Negroes.^7 Other Cleveland Negro organizations, including the South Side Civic Republican

Club, the East End Political Club and the Universal Negro

Improvement Association, had also been involved in the

jobs campaign. Although there had been attempts to achieve

cooperation, friction among these organizations had oc- 78 curred in their efforts to secure employment for Negroes.'

In 1932 the Housewives League interested itself in break­

ing color barriers to employment in Negro neighborhood

stores.79 Early in 1935 the Negro Welfare Association of

77lbid.. April 25, 1931» 3» August 1, 1931» 2» November 14', 1931» 1» November 21, 1931» 2» December 19, 1931» 1.

7®Lbid., June 27, 1931» 1» July 25» 1931» 3» August 1, 1931» 2» November 14, 1931» 1» November 21» 1931? 2. 79rbid., January 28» 1933» 3* 473

Cleveland, using persuasion, obtained employment for

Negroes as lunch-counter attendants in a Voolworth Store. Beginning in 1955» the jobs campaign in Cleveland was dominated by the Future Outlook League. From 1955 through 1959 many Negroes obtained employment with a J. J. Newberry Store, the Horcowitz Department Store, the Bender Shoe Company, the Telling Belle Vernon Milk Company, motion picture theaters in the Negro community, OQ and other firms through F.O.L. campaigns. The League typically resorted to direct action only after attempts to persuade firms to hire Negroes had failed. Occasionally disturbances occurred when attempts were made to cross

League picket lines. Such incidents sometimes led to oi injunction proceedings against the Future Outlook League.

The F.O.L. effort to obtain employment for Negroes in the

F. W. Woolworth Store at East 55"bh Street and Woodland

Avenue in 1958 was illustrative of organizations job campaigns. The local Woolworth management was unrespon­ sive to League demands that Negroes be employed at the store. Hence, F.O.L. pickets were placed before the store's entrances. Periodically picket leaders urged the

®^Loeb, Future Outlook League, 25-50.

Gllbid. 474

pickets to continue the effort and asked people on the

street not to violate the picket line. Tempers flared

when the line was crossed. Several violent incidents

occurred. The Woolworth Company subsequently obtained

a court order requiring the League to discontinue the picketing of the store. After the League implied that

it would not obey the injunction, the Woolworth manage­ ment sought a negotiated settlement of the dispute. The

result of the negotiations was an agreement that Negro

clerks would be hired throughout the store as soon as feasible.82

There were "Don't buy where you can't work" cam­

paigns in other Ohio cities during the decade. The Toledo

branch of the National Association for the Advancement

of Colored People was involved in one in 1932. This was

exceptional. The NAACP branches of Ohio did not typically

engage in such direct action. Nevertheless, the Toledo

branch promoted a boycott of Kroger stores in Toledo. The

stores concerned had refused to hire Negro clerks although

their patronage was primarily Negro. The NAACP pickets Op The F.O.L. had simultaneously carried out a successful campaign against a market adjacent to the Woolworth Store at East 55th and Woodland Avenue. Ibid., 55-58; The Gazette. May 7, 1938, 1, May 14, 1938717 475 carried signs reading, "This store is unfair to colored people. Why trade here? NAACP." The boycott lasted six weeks. At the end of this time the Kroger management agreed to employ several Negro clerks and one Negro manager in stores which depended principally on Negro customers.In Columbus, the Housewives' League carried the burden of the jobs campaign. In 193^ pickets of the

Housewives' League demanded that stores in the predominantly

Negro Mt. Vernon Avenue employ Negroes. Most of the stores in the district made some sort of favorable response under the pressure of the League pickets. The stores of the

Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company in the area hired

Negro clerks. A furniture store employed as a salesman a

Negro who had recently earned a Master of Business Admin­ istration degree at the Ohio State University. The House­ wives' League experienced the most difficulty with a

Kroger Store near a border of the Negro district. The store was picketed during the entire summer of 1934-. The store's business was ruined as the boycott was effective.

However, the store management reportedly held that the store would be closed if it could not be operated with­ out hiring Negroes. Eventually a compromise was reached,

^^The Crisis, XL (January, 1933), 17; The Gazette, October 15, 1932, 1. 475

The Kroger management of Columbus agreed to hire some

Negroes in its stores located deeper in the Negro dis­ trict if the League would discontinue picketing the store in dispute. An observer, writing in 193^» stated:

They /The Housewives League of Columbus/ have transformed Mount Vernon Avenue. Five years ago I used to trade on Mount Vernon Avenue. The stores were quite near to the place I lived. I remembered the indifference of the white merchants to the employment of Negroes, and I remembered the indifference of the white clerks towards Negro patrons. Today the whole Mount Vernon neighborhood is 'colored.' And the housewives are forcing the employment of colored help in these stores. ^

In 1938 the Civil Liberties League of Columbus actively sought to open employment to Negroes, and was able to induce a Mt. Vernon Avenue grocery chain store to hire a Negro as a cashier.In Youngstown the local Future

Outlook League picketed several grocery markets in the summer and autumn of 1939 in order to get them to hire

Negroes. The Youngstown F.O.L. had some success in these efforts despite the fact that some of the

®^Minor, "The Negro in Columbus," 61-62.

®^George Streator, "Detroit, Columbus and Cleveland," The Crisis, XLI (June, 1934), 1?2.

^^The Gazette. March 12, 1938, 2. 477 merchants involved obtained court injunctions against the picketing. During the period 1914-1959 Negroes, in relation to other Ohioans, had a peculiar experience. They were discriminated against and segregated on the basis of their race by the white majority. Consequently the Negro group had a second class standing in relation to the white population. In employment generally only the most unattractive jobs were open to them. The labor shortage created by the First World War and the curtail­ ment of immigration during the nineteen-twenties_did open unskilled industrial jobs to them. Yet, even this ad­ vance was reversed by the Great Depression during which, as in the past, Negroes were the first to be layed-off and the last to be employed. The residential concentra­ tion and isolation of Negroes .increased because of a combination of racial discrimination and the growth of the Negro population through in-migration. The result­ ing population pressure led to the enlargement of Negro residential areas. Such expansion was resisted by whites, e.g., through restrictive housing covenants

^'^Ibid.. August 12, 1939» 1, October 7, 1939» 1» October 14-, 1939» 1» November 11, 1939» 1. 4-78 and harassment and even the use of violence against new Negro residents of predominantly white neighbor­ hoods. Likewise, de facto/segregation in the public schools increased. Three factors contributed to this.

First, the implementation of the "neighborhood school" policy in combination with the growing concentration of Negro households naturally led to greater school segregation. Second, some public school officials gerrymandered school attendance areas so as to create all-Negro institutions. Third, some school officials used the educational retardation of some migrant children as ah excuse to segregate all Negro pupils. Racial dis­ crimination in public accommodations was perhaps most noticeable; it was thorough and blatant. Few Negroes were elected to public office during the period 1914—1959j although there were a number of Negro candidates in each election. The great majority of Negro voters supported the Republican candidates through the nineteen-twenties. In recognition of this support the Republican Party of Ohio endorsed Negro candidates for public office and backed the appointment of Negroes .to. positions and jobs in government. By the World War I period political appointments had 479 become an important source of employment for qualified

Negro professional people. During the nineteen-twenties the number such appointments and endorsements by the

Republican Party declined. Negro Republican leaders reacted to this by attempting to promote independent voting by Negroes. Yet, the rank and file Negro voters remained largely Republican prior to the Depression.

Independent voting by the Negro electorate did occur during the nineteen-thirties. Then, Negro voters, particularly younger ones, were repelled by the failure

of the Republican Party to meet the problems of the De­ pression and attracted to the Democratic Party largely

through the New Deal. During the Depression decade a majority of Ohio Negro voters supported the Democratic national ticket but a substantial minority of them backed ■

the Republican national candidates. Furthermore, a majority of Negro votes sometimes went to Republican

candidates for state office during the nineteen-thirties. The development of Negro welfare and civil rights organizations in Ohio was a notable factor during the period 1914-1959* Negro welfare organizations, which had been exceptional before the war, increased in number during World War I. Many of these groups were established , 480 to aid the wartime migrants to Ohio who were confronted by a variety of welfare problems. As they became estab­ lished, the welfare groups received public support, e.g., through the Community Chest. During the nineteen-twenties they extended their programs and services and during the Depression cooperated with government agencies in handling welfare problems. Yet, the Negro welfare organizations, even with some public aid, did not have the financial resources that were necessary to meet the needs of the most economically depressed Negro Ohioans. Likewise, Ohio branches of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People multiplied during the First World War. The NAACP branches had a pre­ carious existence through the nineteen-twenties. Some of them were virtually defunct for years at a time. General interest in the NAACP was apparently dependent upon the vigor of its activities. NAACP branch member­ ship and thus financial support tended to rise when it was fighting a cause or engaging in a membership drive. During the nineteen-thirties the NAACP organization became more sophisticated. In 1930 a state NAACP organization was established in Ohio. 481

The most significant factor in the experience of Negro Ohioans from 1914 through 1959 was the substantial in-migration of Negroes during World War I and the nine­ teen-twenties. The resulting increase in Negro popu­ lation affected all areas of life in the Ohio Negro com­ munity. The growth of the Negro population, at the same time, sharpened the race consciousness of whites and raised fears of "Negro domination." The result was in­ creased racial discrimination and segregation. This effect of the in-migration was recognized by articulate Negro Ohioans, largely business and professional people who were natives of the state. Although there were gradations in each, such people took one of two posi­ tions in regard to the problem. Some made an accommo­ dation to white racism while others attempted to eliminate its manifestations. The accommodationists promoted the establishment of public supported Negro organizations and institutions such as schools and hospitals. They reasoned that racial integration and the immediate elimination of racial dis­ crimination in public institutions were not realistic goals in view of white attitudes toward Negroes. Negro professional people would not be hired by white insti­ tutions and organizations. Therefore, the creation of 4-82

such units for Negroes would at least give Negro professional people needed employment. The ultimate hope was that racial discrimination would he reduced when Negroes proved their capabilities through the success of all-

Negro institutions and organizations.

Others, who might be designated anti-segregation­

ists, rejected accommodation. They regarded accommo­ dation as cowardly surrender to those who would deny

Negroes their rights as citizens. The anti-segregation­

ist opposed all forms of racial discrimination which were illegal under state and federal laws. Their basic

technique involved moral suasion. They made appeals

for justice to white governmental and civic leaders.

Individuals and delegations appealed to such white per­

sons through correspondence and conferences. White

governmental officials were sometimes informed that

Negro voters would be alienated if they practiced or

tolerated racial discrimination. During World War I,

as before, this method was generally used by individuals

who represented themselves as spokesmen for the Negro

community. Subsequently, this technique was more

typically employed by Negro organizations. This approach

was best illustrated by the attempts to prevent the 483 exhibition of racist films during World War I. Other methods of opposing racial discrimination involved litigation and legislation. Litigation was used to fight public school and public accommodations color lines which were illegal under state law. Negro legis­ lators and others attempted to prevent the enactment of racist laws, e.g., the opposition to the Ku Klux

Xian anti-racial intermarriage bill. Such Negro

citizens also promoted the passage of civil rights bills, e.g., the Beaty bill amending the Ohio Public •€9 Accommodations Law. In exceptional instances direct

action techniques were used. Boycotts and picket

lines were employed, for example, in the Springfield

Fulton School controversy in the early nineteen-

twenties and in the "Do not buy where you cannot'

work" campaigns of the nineteen-thirties.

It is clear that the Ohio Negro population lacked

cohesiveness in handling the problem of white racism.

It was not united behind a leader and its leaders

were not in agreement about how to deal with racial

discrimination and segregation. Their problem was

complicated by the fact that Jim Grow in Ohio was more 4-84 sophisticated than that in states in the South. White governmental and civic leaders generally tried to avoid the appearance of racial discrimination. They were willing to make statements and enact laws sympathetic to civil rights, but did not insist that such rights be upheld. The Ohio color line was perforated. Thus a small percentage of Negro Ohioans had something approach­ ing equal opportunity and made corresponding achieve­ ments. Yet, the apologists for the status quo were able to point to them to “prove" that there was freedom for

Negroes in Ohio. Thus, in 1939 most Negro Ohioans were subject to racial discrimination and segregation. BIBLIOGRAPHY

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SPECIAL MONOGRAPHS:

Adams, Charity Edna, "Guidance Needs as Shown by a Survey of Work Experiences of Negro Veterans in Columbus, Ohio," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 194-6.

Anderson, Marcus Lovell, "The Educational and Vocational Opportunities for Negroes in Columbus, Ohio," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1936.

Banks, Helen Bowles, "An Educational Survey of the South­ gate Community,"Masters Thesis, The Ohio State Uni­ versity, 1 9 3 6 . 491

Banks, William Samuel, "The Rank Order of Sensitivity to Discriminations of Negroes in Columbus, Ohio,” Doctoral Dissertation, The Ohio State University, 1949. Barta, Andrew, "A Sociological Survey of the East Long Street Negro District in Columbus, Ohio,” Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1933.

Bivins, Bessie Ruth, "Community Leisure Resources Available to Negro Youth in Columbus,” Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1940.

Bruce, Wilbur Thornley, "A Study of Negro Juvenile Delinquents, Placed on Probation, Franklin County, Ohio Court of Domestic Relations,” Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1936.

Chavous, Arthur Melton, "Industrial Education for Negroes in Ohio,” Doctoral Dissertation, The Ohio State University, 1945.

Cheng, Hew-Yi, "A Housing Study of the Negro of the City of Columbus, Ohio,” Masters Thesis, The Ohio State .University, 1925.

Clark, Margaret Jones, "The Negro Pharmacist and Physi­ cian in Columbus, Ohio,” Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1929.

Clemmons, Clifford Robert, "The Response of Negro Juvenile Court Boys to Officials,” Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1950.

Collins, Ernest M . , "The Political Behavior of the Negroes in Cincinnati, Ohio and Louisville, Kentucky,” Doctoral Dissertation, University of Kentucky, 1950.

Davis, Frank Greene, "The Negro and Organized Labor in the Building Trades in Columbus, Ohio,” Masters thesis. The Ohio State University, 1935. 4-92

Dowdy, George Theodore, "An Economic Analysis of Consumer Food Buying Habits of Negro Households, in Columbus, Ohio," Doctoral Dissertation, The Ohio State University, 1952.

Erickson, Leonard Ernest, "The Color Line in Ohio Public Schools, 1829-1890," Doctoral Dissertation, The Ohio State University, 1959»

Evans, Mary Ethel, "A Study of the Two Day Nurseries for Negro Children in Columbus, Ohio," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1940.

Freeman, Jr., Andrew Griffin, "A Study of the Socio- Economic Status and Vocational Choices of Negro Counselees of the Columbus Counseling Bureau," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1940.

Gibbs, George Edwin, "A Survey of the Leisure Time and Recreational Life of the Negro Boy in Columbus, Ohio," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1954. Goodman, Eduard Samuel, "The Effect of Relocation on the Former Occupants of the Site of the Poindexter Village Housing Projects in Columbus, Ohio, 19 3 9- 4 0 , " Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1940.

Grace, Alonzo Gaskell, "The Effect of Negro Migration on the Cleveland Public School System," Doctoral Dissertation, Western Reserve University, 1932.

Harris, Irene Mae, "The Cost of a Negro Baby in Columbus, Ohio, 1928," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State Uni­ versity, 1928. Harrison, Herman Henry, "The Negro Farmer in Franklin County," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1932.

Harshman, Ralph Garling, "Race Contact in Columbus, Ohio," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1921. 493

Hauser, Prather James, "Treatment hy Columbus Daily Newspapers of News Regarding the Negro," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1925-

Heddesheimer, Walter Jon, "The Negro in Cleveland 1855-1875» Emphasizing the Attitudes of the Two Major Newspapers," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1965.

Hewitt, James Howard, "Methods of Appealing to the Negro Consumer Market of Cleveland as Revealed by a Study of the Sales Promotion Methods Used by Representative Manufacturers," Masters Thesis, Western Reserve University, 1950.

Hopkins, Raymond Frederick, "The Politics of Negroes in Columbus: 1952," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1965.

Howson, Embrey Bernard, "The Ku Klux Elan in Ohio After World War I," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State Uni­ versity, 1951.

Johnson, Marjorie Augusta, "The Leisure Activities of a Group of Negro Junior High School Girls in Columbus, Ohio," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1954.

Jones, Thomas Baker, "An Analysis of the Interracial Policies and Practices of the Group Work Agencies in Columbus, Ohio," Doctoral Dissertation, The Ohio State University, 194?.

Keith, Gwendolyn Edwards, "The Status of Negro Church Youth Choirs in the State of Ohio," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1950.

Kerckhoff, Richard Karl, "Negro News in Columbus, Ohio, Newspapers 1958-1948," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1949.

Kettig, Thomas Hoskins, "Attitudes of Ohio Public School Teachers Toward Racial Integration," Doctoral Dis­ sertation, The Ohio State University, 1957. 494

LaFollette, Ernest Raymond, “The Mobility of Negroes and Certain Background Conditions That Cause An Excess of Delinquency Among Negro Boys in Ohio," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1936.

Lewis, David Trevor, “Income and Occupation of Negroes and Whites in the Second Ward of Hamilton, Ohio," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 19^7»

Lovett, Otto Arnold, “Black Laws of Ohio," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1929.

Lumbard, Lewis, “Negro Recreation; A Sample Study of the Second Ward of Hamilton, Ohio," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1948.

Madison, Dorothy Howard, “East-End, Leisure Time Study, A Sample Study of Five Hundred Fourteen House­ holds," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State Univer­ sity, 1941.

Maxey, Alva Beatrice, "The Life of the Negro Group in Oberlin, A Study in Social Attitudes," Masters Thesis, Oberlin College, 1933.

Milholland, John, "The Negro in Oxford, Ohio," Masters Thesis, Miami University, 194?. i

Minor, Richard Clyde, "The Negro in Columbus, Ohio," Doctoral Dissertation, The Ohio State University, 1936.

______, "Negro Recreation in Columbus, Ohio," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1926.

Moore, William Frank, "Status of the Negro in Cleve­ land," Doctoral Dissertation, The Ohio State Uni­ versity, 1953.

Rains, David D., "Influence of Physical Education Upon Delinquency Among Negroes in Columbus, Ohio," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1940. 495

Rider, Sarah Grace, "The Negro in Ohio with Especial Reference to the Influence of the Civil War," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1931.

Ridley, Lendell Charles, "A Study of Housing Conditions Among Colored People of Columbus, Ohio," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1920.

Russell, Joseph Dell Moore, "Factors Influencing the Health of the Negro in Columbus, Ohio," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1959-

Shunk, Edward Wesley, "The Negro Colonization Movement in Ohio Prior to the Civil War," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 19^1.

Smith, William Lee, "A Comparison of the Attitudes of Negro Respondents in Columbus, Ohio and Baton Rouge, Louisiana Toward Negro-Appeal Radio Programs Being Broadcast in Those Areas," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1957.

Stephenson, Chester Mark, "A Study of the Attitudes Toward Negroes of White Prospective School Teachers," Doctoral Dissertation, The Ohio State University, 1950.

Stockton, Edward Jerome, "Negro Employment in Metropolitan Columbus," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1956.

Walker, Melvin Eugene, "Socio-Economic Problems in the Vocational Guidance and Education of Negro Youth in Columbus, Ohio," Masters Thesis, The Ohio State University, 1940.

ARTICLES IN PERIODICALS AND PUBLICATIONS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES :

Allen, Nimrod B., "East Long Street," The Crisis, XXV (November, 1922), 12-15. 4-96

American Association of University Professors, "Aca­ demic Freedom and Tenure at the Ohio State Uni­ versity, Report on the Dismissal of Professor Herbert A. Miller," Bulletin, XVII (October, 1931), 44-3-4 7 3 .

"Cleveland's Call and Post," The Crisis, XLV (December, 1958), 3^4-04: ------

Clift, Virgil A., "Democracy and Integration in Public Education," The Crisis, LIX (August-September, 1952), 414-428, 472..

Collins, Ernest M,, "Cincinnati Negroes and Presidential Politics," The Journal of Negro History, XLI (April, 1956), 1 5 1 - 1 3 7 .

Gutman, Herbert G , , "The Negro and the United Mine Workers of America, The Career and Letters of Richard L. Davis and Something of Their Mean­ ing: I89O-I9OO." The Negro and the American Labor Movement, ed. by Julius Jacobson, 6'arden City, N’ew York: Anchor Books Doubleday and Company, Inc. , 1968.

Haynes, George E., "The Opportunity of Negro Labor," The Crisis, XVIII (September, 1919), 236-238.

Himes, Jr., J. S., "Forty Years of Negro Life in Columbus, Ohio," The Journal of Negro History, XXVII (April, 194-"^ 133-154-.

Jackson, Mary E., "The Colored Women in Industry," The Crisis, XVII (November, I9I8 ) , 12-13.

Jackson, Reid E., "The 'New' Wilberforce," The Crisis, LV (March, 194-8), 74-77 , 92-93.

McClain, William A., "Cincinnati's Theater Doors are Opened," The Crisis, XLVIII (December, 1941), 382- 583, 589.

McGroarty, William B., "Exploration in Mass Emancipation," William and Mary Quarter^, 2nd Series, XXI, No. 3 (July, i W ) , 208-226. 4-97

Motley, Constance, "Wanted, A Compulsory Federal FEPC," The Crisis, LIX (November, 1952), 569-571.

Pierce, David H., "White Children and Their Colored Schoolmates," The Crisis, XXVI (June, 1923), 53-64.

Queer, Jonathan, "Your Best People Come Here," The Crisis, XXXVII (October, 1930), 339-340, 357-358.

Robison, Joseph B., "The New Fair Employment Law," Ohio State Law Journal, XX (Autumn, 1959), 570- 582.

Rodabaugh, James H., "The Negro in Ohio," The Journal of Negro History, XXXI (1946), 9-29.

Scarborough, William S., "Race Riots and Their Remedy," The Independent, XCIX (1919), 223-224.

Shagaloff, June, "Public School Desegregation - North and West," The Crisis, LXX (February, 1963), 92-95, 103.

Sherwood, Henry N . , "The Settlement of the John Randolph Slaves in Ohio," Mississippi Valley Historical Association, Proceedings, V, 39-59.

Streator, George, "Detroit Columbus and Cleveland," The Crisis, XLI (June, 1934), 172-173.

"The Negro in the Middle West," Negro History Bulletin, V, No. 8 (May, 1942), 171-172, 188-l90.

Thomason, Caroline Wasson, "Will Prejudice Capture Ober­ lin?", The Crisis, XLI (December, 1934), 360-361.

"Transplanting the Free Negro to Ohio from 1815-1858," The Journal of Negro History, I (19I6), 302-317.

Van Deusen, John G., "The Negro in Politics," The Journal of Negro History, XXI (July, 1936), 255-274.

Weisenburger, Francis P., "William Sanders Scarborough, Early Life and Years at Wilberforce," Ohio History, LXXI (October, 1952), 203-225. 4-98

< ''William Sanders Scarborough, Scholarship, the Negro, Religion, and Politics,” Ohio History, LKXII (January, 1953), 25-50, 85-88.

White, Luella G,, et al., "Distinguished Negroes in Ohio,” Negro History Bulletin, V, No. 8 (May, 194-2), 174-176/ 184-186.

White, Walter, "The Test in Ohio," The Crisis, XXXVII (November, 1930), 373-374.

Woodson, Garter G., "The Negro of Cincinnati Prior to the Civil War," The Journal of Negro History, I (19I6), 1-22.

GENERAL HISTORIES;

Beaver, Daniel R., Newton D. Baker and the American War Effort, 1917-1*^19. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, I966.

Davie, Maurice R., Negroes in American Society. New York: McGraw Hill Book Cbmpany7”lnc., 1949.

DuBois, William Edward Burghardt, Dusk of Dawn, An Essay Toward An Autobiography of alRace Concept, iüew York: Harcourt, Brace and"7Jompany, 1940.

Franklin, John Hope, From Slavery to Freedom, A History of American Negroes. New Yor^ Knopf, 1 ^ 5 ^

Kellogg, Charles Flint, NAACP, A History of The National Association for the Advancement of C'^ore'A People/" Baltimore: Johns Hopkins P'ress,"T967.

Logan, Rayford V., The Negro in the United States, A Brief History. New York: D. Van Norstrand Company, Inc., 1937»

Murray,’’, Pauli, States' Laws on Race and Color. Woman's Division of Christian Service, 1950*

Pollard, James E., History of the Ohio State University, the Story of Its First Seventy-Five Years, 18 7 3 - 1948. Columbus: The Ohio State University Press, 1932. 499

Record, Wilson, Race and Radicalism, The NAACP and the Communist Party in Conflict. Ithaca: Cornell University tress, 1954,

Rosehoom, Eugene H., A History of Presidential Elections. New York: The îfâcmillan Company, l959«

Rosehoom, Eugene H, and Weisenburger, Francis P., A History of Ohio. Columbus: The Ohio State . Archaeological and Historical Society, 1961.

Scott, Emmett Jay, Negro Migration During the War (Number 15 in Prelimin^y ^Economic Studies of the War, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Division of Economics and History, ed. by David Kinley). New York: Oxford University Press, 1920.

______, Scott's Official History of the Segro in the World War. Chicago : homewood Press, 1919.

Williams, Charles Ralston, Sidelights on Negro Soldiers. Boston: B. J. Brimmer Company, l'^3«

Woodson, Carter Godwin, The Negro in Our History. Washington, D. C.: The Associated Publishers, Inc., 1947.