The legislative roles of the negro congressman
Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic)
Authors Renwick, Edward Francis, 1938-
Publisher The University of Arizona.
Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.
Download date 27/09/2021 23:53:36
Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/347449 THE LEGISLATIVE ROLES OF THE NEGRO CONGRESSMAN
■ by '■
Edward Renwick
A Thesis Submitted to the Facuity of the
DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
In the Graduate College
• THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA '
19 6 2 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR
This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of re quirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in The University Library to be made available to bor rowers under rules of the Library.
Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in their judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author.
SIGNE D: Loo cvuj ^ 4 , ^ cc K
APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR
This thesis has been approved on the date shown below:
CONRAD JOYNER/ Date Associate ProfessoY' of Government PREFACE
The purpose of this thesis is to discover and analyze the primary interests of the four Negroes who .are currently members of the United
States House of Representatives--William L. Dawson, Adam Clayton . -
Powell, Jr. * Charles C. Diggs, Jr. , and Robert N. C. Nix. In addition,
I have attempted to determine how these Negro Congressmen perform their duties with regard to those interests. In determining the Congress men's duties and interests it is necessary to examine the social and economic conditions of the districts they represent. It is also useful : to discuss the deficiencies and assets of Northern Negro leadership in
'detaiL , . : ' . : : The four Cohgressmen:haye;been'Aeglected in br)fh scholarly • and popular writing. Two of them ■|Rohert NuG. Nfx and Charles. C.
Diggs, Jr.) receive virtually no coverage by the mass media.. ‘ Little is - known of the.goals, methods, and power they possess. The latter applies with equal validity to Powell and Dawson, who frequently receive attention by the mass media. Because of. this scholarly and popular neglect, I have . analyzed the roles of the four. Negro Congressmen, through an examination of their public utterahces and their Congressional activities . •
The problem of the thesis is: What are the roles of the Negro
Congressmen? What methods and procedures do the Congressmen, pursue to see that their high priority interests bocome public policy ?; ' Their voting records have been analyzed to ascertain the fields in which they vote as a bloc. The floor debate they engage in, and the bills, they introduce have been reviewed to determine if they follow a course favorable to Negro interests.
; The lives and actions of the Congressmen previous to their election are chronicled.to the extent that it is possible in order to gain insights into their political careers .
The author Would like to express his appreciation to his accomplices before thp literary fact. As is often the case, he cannot here adequately acknowledge his indebtedness to others. The contributions of those who played some role in the protracted process that has culminated in this thesis are too numerous to enumerate. For example, he cannot properly acknowledge his debt to the accommodating librarians at the'
University of Arizona, or to the acquaintances who have pointed out various avenues of research for the author to -pursue. ■ •
But there are several contributions without which this paper could not have been written. The author is deeply indebted to
Professor Conrad Joyner, the director of the thesis, whose critical evaluation on a page-by-page basis has been invaluable; to Professors
Neal Houghton and Paul Kelso, the remaining members of the author's committee > whose assistance is appreciated; to Professor Frank J. Sorauf, who suggested this project; to the many other professors who have served' " on the- author's committee; to Mrs. Carmichael, the typist, who has - ' always met the author "s . deadlines'; and most of all to my parents without whose indulgence and financial assistance, this endeavor would not'have been possible. - - ' - ' : i; ' v ■ : - t t -- :
As for the following - paper itself the author can only say along with Chaucer's Squire', /'.
.Hold me excused, if I say ought amiss, . • ■ : . ■ . My aim is good, arid 10, my tale is this.: : . ; : ' CONTENTS
■ . ■ ■ '■ . ' '' ' \ ' .. ' Page
^^E.EE-^\^SE o o'. O O O " O 0.0 O O "O' O O 0.0 o O'. O O O O O O O O o 0 0.0 o o o o ■‘1X1
LIST OF TABLES » o '-'i .o o o o o o o 0 o o o . o) o : o- o' :o « >. » o. o. = o o o o viii
Chapter ' ' : I . THE ECOLOGY OF THE NORTHERN NEGRO ...... 1
General Introduction L . ; ' New York , '' - ■ . ' v ' ' - Chicago. ^ :: : , ' ' Detroit ^V^7 "’v" ' - ' '' : Philadelphia
II. NEGRO LEADERSHIP ...... 27
. : Introduction ; ' . .. ’• , : Consequences of Segregation on Negro Leadership :
Development of Negro Organizations • , The Political Involvement of the Negro Political Styles of the Negro Leadership Development of a Changing Negro Viewpoint
daw son . ■. v:.. \ /...... -.. 37
Negro Participation in Chicago Politics The Success of the Organization . ' Background of Dawson . ■ . • Dawson as a Political Leader ■ : Dawson's Legislative Record Analysis of Dawson's Speeches .. Evaluation . CONTENTS
Chapter . ; • v ■ ' ' ' : . Page ' W. CLAYTON POWELL>JR0 ...... • - V - • • • • • • • 71
Biography of Powell . . ' ' : . ' . , . ; Political Career of Powell . Powell and the Democratic Party .
• : Powell's Legislative Record . Public Speeche s ; ^ . ■ : Evaluation v. • . V - - : , . . ■
: V. CHARLES C„ DIGGS^ JR„ AND ROBERT E„ C„ NIX ...... , . 102
: • y;': , Charles C. Diggs, Jr. ; ; r : VI. CONCLUSIONS ...... , 12,4 BIBLIOGRAPHY V ...... : . d . D ...... 130 ■' ' ' : : LIST OF TABLES Table •• . . Page Chapter I r' \ ' ; -:y ■ : . ' : ; ' New York; . ' ; ' ' 1. Population . . . , v . .<•.”••• •. • • ...... 3 2. Occupancy...... < .... . b ...... ' . 3 3. Housing: "Sound" . . . . . t .. . . ^ ...... » . . 4 4. Housing: "Deteriorated" and '"Dilapidated"...... i . ... . 4 5 . Education: 5 to: 24 Years Inclusive . . ,v. . i .. . v ...... 9 ; 6 . Education: Over 25 Years ...... 9 7. . Occupatmhai;Categories V- . 'vt.: ^ ^ .;'...... ’ 10 8. Unemployment Comparison of Chicago, New York, Detroit, and \ v Philadelphia ...... « • . . ■ . . i 2 9. Income ...... t . . 12 Chicago / o.:/'. v ; ' .; t; :" . \ ' :: 10. iIP^3ulation ...... *. . .■,...... 14 11 .■ Occupancy...... ■.. « . . . . ■ . . ., . . . « « . » « «... .' ®. • ® .15 • •■12, Housing: "Sound" . . . . .- . . . . . , ...... > •.• . . 15 13. Housing: "Deteriorated" and "Dilapidated"...... 15 14. Education: 5 to 24 Years Inclusive V ...... 16 15. Education: Over 25 Years . . t ...... , . , 16 viil LIST OF TABLES . Table . ' ' , ■ ■ . . . ' . Page 16.. Occupational Categories . . . <.» ...... 17 .17, Income . .. . 1,.. . . . * . . ® . ., . ... . * ...... * . * . . . . 18 Detroit • ' : ■ ■.f . .■■■' ’ ' . ■. . 18. Population. . ., * ...... «. .. * . ,...... • ® « « . . ^ * - 1-8 19. Occupancy ...... , . V ...... 19 20; Housing: "Sound" ...... 19 . ■ 21:. Housing: "Deteriorated" and "Dilapidated" ...... , . . . . 19 22. Education: 5 to 24 Years Inclusive. . ; ...... > . . . , 20 23. Education: Over 25 Years ...... 20 24. Occupational Categories ...... •. 22 25. Income . .. . ® . ... * * * *. « . ‘ * .. * * .. * * . *. . . .. ■. ® ® * 22 Philadelphia ...... ' ■ • 26. PO P Ula t lO n ;. -a.. . » , * e ,. . 1 .." e . .1 * * e " ., .. .» e . * . . * .23 27. Occupancy ...... 23 .;.... 28.i Housing: "Sound" . i i :. . . v. . i;: . i . ; . :y .. " 24 29., Housing: "Deteriorated" and "Dilapidated" ...... 24 . 30. Education: 5 to 24 Years inclusive, il.. .1...... 24 :31. Education: Over 25 Years ...... 25. LIST OF TABLES Table Page 32, Occupational Categories 26 33. Income 26 L. Dawson 57 2. - Roll Calls of William L.> Dawson 58 ■ 3. Votes Against the Voting Democratic Majority by . : . William L. Dawson ...... 60 Chapter IV . • V - L : - . . ' 1. Breakdown of Legislation Introduced by Adam ClaytonPowell . 86 - 2. Roll Calls -of Adam Clayton Powell ...... 87 3. Votes Against the Voting Democratic Majority by . Adam Clayton Powell ...... W . -...... 88 Chapter V ■ ■ • % VI . ^ - ■, - 1. Breakdown of Legislation Introduced by Charles C . Diggs ... . .105 2. Roll Calls of Charles C. Diggs...... y;. V 107 3. Votes Against the Voting Democratic Majority by ' : Charles C. Diggs ...... ' .:...... 108 4. Breakdown of Legislation Introduced-by Robert Nix . . . . . 116 5 . Roll Calls .of Robert Nix ...... ; . . . . 117 6. Votes. Against the Voting Majority by Robert Nix . , .119 LIST OF TABLES table ' ' , ; . • ' Page Chapter VI \ ' v 1. Comparison of Legislation Introduced . . . . . , . . . . . 123 '■ ■ / ' : CHAPTER I : : ; , ' - ' The Ecology of the Northern Negro ' : _ ; The problem of racial ju s tic e th e "American dilemma" to use Gunner Myrdal's phrase, has been a continuing one in American politics.. At the presnet time>. the northern Negro is not confronted with fiery hatred/ but from a psychological viewpoint he is confronted with something much worse: "a soft and protean awareness of white superiority, everywhere, ■ in everything, the more infuriating because it is as polite as it is unpala- . table ,v11^ This feeling might be expressed by the white as "nobody ever thought such a thing, my dear. " If you happen to be a black minstrel strolling in Brorizeville it might be put. If you're white, well all right, If you're brown, stick around. If you 're black, step back. . ^ . .. • Step back,- step,back,/step.back, : /' Before looking at the individual Congressmen involved in this study an examination of their respective Congressional districts is neces sary, The reasons for examining the districts are twofold: (l) the ecology of the districts provides clues to the type of issues that are important to the Congressmen's constituents, (2) the environment promotes . iNelson Aloren, Chicago: City on the Make (2nd ed.; Sausalito, California: Contact Editions, 1961), p. 82. certain types of leadership. ■ : . Because of the greater amount of material that has been published; about the ghettos of New York and Chicago than about those of Detroit and . Philadelphia the material presented in this study will deal primarily with the former. , ■ ' :.k ■ -y •:k; . Around 1900, New York was overbuilt with large apartment houses. One reason for this was that public transportation did not keep pace with ' the construction, especially on the east side of Harlem. Consequently, , this section of Harlem contained the greatest concentration of new, empty apartments. Philip A. Payton, a Negro real estate agent, approached ,■ several of the white landlords with the proposition that he would fill their ■ • • ' 3 ' . . . ’ empty rooms with "reliable colored folk. " The suggestion was accepted, " and a few houses on 131st Street, east of Lennox Avenue, were taken over by Negroes. The white people did not object to the movement until it began to spread west of Lennox Avenue, where public transportation was readily accessible. Panic began to develop among the whites. House after house, and block .after block were deserted almost overnight. Property values tumbled downward. Today the area has grown, so that it is now bound on the west still by Lennox Avenue, the Harlem River on the east, • 135th Street on the north, arid 130th Street on the south. The houses of■ 1900 that were involved in the original controversy are still existent today. , • 3Gunnar Mvrdal. An American Dilemma (3rd e d .; New York: . : - ■ ■ ; Harper and Brothers, 1944), p. 1125. ' .. \ ; : V •Harlemf which is Gohgressman Pqwell 's .district^ has a population of 301,5 74 people , packed into a three square mile area, with the resulting population density-rate per square mile of 100,524 (see- Chart l). Of these people, 34,559 are white, -and 265 ,401 are Negro, giving Harlem a Negro percentage of 88.5%. - . 1/ :; ^ : - -.t • • :: - , t : : - '/y:': 1 • ■■ v ' - .cl ■ ; ; v. Population h-''' / District ' . No . of square , Population No. of whites Non-white • % of non- ' Population miles in district density in district Population white popu lation . 00 00 301,574 i f' 190,524:' 34,569 - 265,401 LO The district has 109264 hou s e ho Id s : iyith -,a median of 2. 2 persons to, each household. Various occupancy statistics relating to the housing situation in-Harlem are given in Chart 2. ■; ; ' , ; '' T ^ : ’Chart ;.2**- . ' Occupancy Households Median Median : Housing : No. of Unoccupied % of Unoccupied Persons Rooms . U nits; Units ' i Units ': ■ 109,264 2.2 3.5 112,582 ' 3,318 2.99 No. for % for No. of Owner- % of Owner- -. No. of Renter- % of Renter- . . Sale Sale occupied units . occupied units occupied units. occupied units , 31 .02 ; . 2,448 v - 2.1% ' 106,816 '. ' 97.9% ' 7 *Source: U. S. Census , 19 60 , Government Printing Office, W ashing-, ton, D.C. All population figures are from the 1960 census. . . t **8purce: H. 8.. Census , 1950, Government Printing Office, Washing ton, D.C. All housing and occupation figures are from the 1950 Census, due • to the non-availability of the 1960 figures. ' - These households have a median of 3. 5 rooms. .The condition of these housing nnits is illustrated by Charts 3: and, 4 .: ' ; ■ • : Chart 3 ' : ' Housing in "Sound"* Conditioh No. of Units lacking hot No. of Sound . % of Sound or running, No. in Sound % in Sound Units with Com Units with water* pri % of such Condition Condition plete Plumbing Plumbing vate toilet Units 61*099 . • 54% . 47*367 77% 13*732 23% . Chart 4 ■ ' . : Housing in "Deteriorated11 or "Dilapidated "** Condition No.., Deteriorating % Deteriorating No, with com % with com plete plumbing plete plumbing 39,306 ' 34% 27,435 ■ 69% No , of Units lacking hot or running . water, pri-' % of such vate toilet Units No. Dilapidated % Dilapidated 11,781 . 31% : ; , 12*177 , 12% The problem of discussing the social-economic aspects of the Negro is expressed by James P„ Conant,. "It is difficult if not impossible "Sound" housing is defined as that which has no defects t or . ■ only slight defects, such as laqk of paint. • A "deteriorating" housing unit is defined as one that needs no repair other than would be provided in the course of regular maintenance. An example would be broken plaster. A "dilapidated" housing unit is de fined as one that does not providS safe and adequate shelter. . . - : ■ : ; 5 to get statistics about school enrolment and employment in terms of the categories white and Negro. I understand the reason for the erection of this road blockr but I suggest that in the interests of the Negro themselves 4 ' ' ' -'.V : ^ , it is time to remove it. 11 James Baldwin, :born and raised in'Harlem, recently authored ah V article on the section as it is today. He has found that a minority of the inhabitants are fanatical church-goers t belonging to the more extreme "Holy Roller" sects . A greater number of the inhabitants * heavily con centrated in the younger set, are "Moslems " by "affiliation or sympathy that they are united by nothing more --and nothing less—than a hatred ■ /; . , ■ ■ - " ■ : - 5 • ■ - of the white world and all its works. 11 They are present at every "Buy Black" street corner meeting-meetings at which the Negro is told to shun the non-black owned Harlem businesses. "Neither the speaker nor his hearers can do this. ^Of course, since Negroes do not own General Motors ' or RCA or the A & P, nor, indeed, do they own more than a wholly insufficient fraction of anything else in Harlem (those that do own anything are more ■ ■ ' ' : 6 interested in their profits than in their fellows.)." At least; the people who fight the white ownership are alive with spirit, which is to be commended, since many of the younger generation . 4James B. Cohant, Slums and Suburbs (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company Inc. , 1961) , p . 38 . , , . 5Tames Baldwin, Nobody Knows My Name (2nd ed .; Ne'w: York; . ; : The Dial Press196l), p. 50. ^ ;f : '' ' ' 6Ibid. . p. 58. " ; ■ have given up.. "They: stay home:.and- watch the TV screeny.living on the earnings of their parents # cousins z brothers or uncles r and only leave ; ' ' ...... : : 7 the house to go to the movies or to the nearest bar. " Some retreat even farther than the TV or the bar. "There are those who are simply sitting on the stoops, 'stoned h animated for a moment only, and hideously, by the . " approach of someone to lend them money for a 'fix' or by the approach of someone from whom they can purchase it. One of the shrewd ones, on the ■ ' ' ■ ■ . ' ' '■ ■ - 8 ; : . way to prison, or just.coming out. " The reasons that most Negroes do hot own businesses a:re. interwoven with prejudices directed against them. It appears to be true that Negroes find it difficult to develop saving practices# failing to hold on to a surplus that can be used as capital, failing to transmit to children a nest egg that will permit them to start life above the.bare subsistence level. This inability to save is • caused in part by the peculiar patterns of consumer expenditure within the group. They have wasteful spending habits. The Negroes ih Harlem, who have little money#. spend what they do have on such gimmick's as are made . available to them. These include "wider" TV screens, more "faithful" hi-fi sets, "more powerful" cars, all of which are worn out by the time the finance company is satisfied. Anyone who has ever "struggled with . poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor, and if one is a , member of a captive population# economically speaking, one's feet have been placed on the treadmill forever „ " The recollection of long periods of "doing without " encourage'S wild spending when money is acquired „ However, behind this "lies a more general sense of insecurity and un certainty about the future that weakens an incentive for saving.. Without having defined obtainable 'objects and- without,hope, ■ at. times, of -Improve ment, it appears futile to economize and smart to seek the immediate 10 . . ■ ..■ ■ ■:; ■ ' pleasure of consumption. 11 The Negro slums appear to vary with regard to their social mores. In some places constant gang warfare is the favorite pastime of the group. This vicious practice is not confined to the boys. . Outside-the schools, the girls become embroiled in cruel disputes. . One Junior High school principal in a Negro slum had his eighth grade girls fill out a questionnaire citing their biggest problem. The majority replied that it "was getting from the street into their apartments , ’ •1, -IT without being molested in the'hallway of the tenement. " The principal continued, in a classic understatement, that an unusual set of social mores was evident there. The women work and earn fairly good wages but the male Negro often earns less than the woman and would rather not work at all than be seen in that situation. As a consequence, "the streets are full of 9Ibid~~p. 62. ■ •^Oscar Handlin, Race and Nationality in American Life (Garden City, New York: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1957} , p . 73. -^Conant, op. cit. , p. 19. ■ ' ' , . : ■ . ' ; ;■ ■■■ ' ■ 8 : unemployed men who hang around and prey on the girls . The women are the centers of the family and, as a rule, they are extremely loyal to the children. The men are the floaters, .and many children have no idea who their father is. • The 1960 census reveals that unemployment among Negroes in New York City is considerably greater than white unemployment. The Negro has an 11.8% unemployment rate as compared to a 7% white rate. During the preparation for a conference on unemployed youth in' urban areas in the spring of 1961, several studies were made of large American Negro slums. The study for one city found the total of 59% of the male youth.between the ages of 16 and 21 to be'out of school and unemployed. Of the boys who graduated frgm high school 48% were unemployed, in contrast to 63% un employment of the boys who had dropped out of school. In another city even a worse state of affairs exists. ' There the survey shows that 70% of the boys and girls between 16 and 21 are both out of school and unemployed. The common argument for staying in school—better guarantee of future economic security—cannot be used with the Negroes. There is only 15% less unemployment among those who finished their schooling than among those who did not do so. . ' In analyzing the problem of unemployment in a slum the entire environment of the people must be taken into consideration, "for the 12xbid. ' ■ . ' 1 3 Ibid. , p. 33-34. . . community and family .background play a large role in determining . • scholastic, achievement . " One survey found that "one-third of the pupils iu the school came from homes which had ho father? step-father ; or male guardian. Only 10% of the parents had graduated from, high school* and only 33% had completed the elementary school. " . The educational condition of the Negroes in New York is illustrated by Charts 5 and 6. .. Chart 5 - . : y Education (Ages 5 to 24 inclusive) Educational No. with % w ith' No., with % with Total No. Median of. Total No Edu No Edu 8th grade 8th grade Non-white Non-white Median cation cation only . only ' . 223f270 . • 7.7 •- . 8.3 • 24,365 \ 10% 19,580 8% No. of High School % of High School No. bf College % of College Graduates Graduates 1 . Graduates ■ Graduates : 28,065 f.y ' 12% 1,850 .7% Chart 6 \ h Education (Over Age 25) Educational No. with % with No. with % with ' Total No. Median of Total No Edu No Edu 8th grade 8th grade Non-white Non-white ■ •Median cation cation only only . 475,595 ' 8.6 9.1 '14,345 ' 3% ,77,710 ' ' 16% : No. of High School % of High School No. of College % of College Graduates Graduates ■ Graduates.• Graduate s ' ■.79;6'45.:'.^v-. 16% 14,320 . 3% . It would be wise to examine the type of labor performed by the v Negro. A study undertaken for Esquire Magazine a few years ago revealed ' ' ■ l 4 Ibid. 'f- - ' that the occupation which Americans- regarded as having the highest status was that of architect. The Negro has not made his influence felt in this profession^ for there are only 36 colored architects in New York City. The Negro does not fare better in other prestige or middle class occupations Negroes contribute only 52 to the field of social science. Ironically, the Negro's plight is the principal: topic of research and study among social scientists and yet he is not even present to benefit from the grants of the foundation, let alone to contribute insight into the problems that confront his race (see Chart 7)» The survey of occupations in New York City in which the Negro is conspicuous by his absence would include plant managers , teachers., lawyers, apprehtice: craftsmen, boiler-makers, electricians, railroad brakemen and firemen. There are some occupations, : . . v ' . Chart 7 .-. -V' Occupational Categories ' No. of White s No i of Negroes % of Negroes Architects 2,997 36 1.2 Lawyers 25,507 221 8.6 Social sciences 3,565 52 . 1.4 -' Teachers . 17,352 402 ' 2. 3 Farmers & Farm Managers v 5,051 104 ,2. 0 Male Bookkeepers 14,233 218 ' 1.4 . Boilermakers 1*029 48 4,6 Airplane Mechanics \ ,:6,I68 . 102 1.6 ■Electricians • 7 20,154: 550 2.7 Apprentice Craftsmen ., ; v 5,408 7 , 139 ; 1.5 Railroad Brakemen , ' - - , 11,035 ' :z ' ,:125.: l a Laundry Workers 19,410 7,345 - 37.0 Taxicab Drivers ■ ; ' 38,412 - 4,383 , 11.4 Truck Drivers V . ’ : 82,580 7,811 9.5 - 7 Auto Mechanics -.'30,715 ■ 3,956. 12.8 Female Household Help • 99,043 ■ 56,631 57.1 Janitors . 49,780 ' '33,643 67.5 ' however i which compare in number with the. whitesBy doing this, he does not help himself t but instead:accomplishes the opposite"W hy, obviously ■ the Negro is inferior, look at the jobs he performs. " Looking at those jobs one finds the Negro is entrenched in the laundries f in the taxicab driving occupation, truck driving, auto mechanics, female household help and janitors. ; . ■:' . ' - / . ' "Wy';: ' The income that the Negro garners frpm the positions he occupies is appallingly low. The economic problem for the Negro has always been . great. In 1939^ 49% of all Negro males between 25 and 64 earned less than $5.00 a year in comparison to a 17% figure for whites. As recently as 1954 the median income of non-white families was a low $2,410, : ' while that of the white families was $4,339. Even Negro college graduates are at a relative disadvantage. In 1947 , only one out of every 20 had an annual income of mOre than $5,000', while one out of every 3 white college graduates earned this income. During the 1958 recession, one out of . every seven Negro, workers was,unemployed,: as compared to unemployment ' ■ . ... v ' . 16 , : : ' : : V ■ ■ of one out of every 15 w hites. .. (See Chart 8 for comparison of Negro unemployment figures). The 1950 census for New York City revealed that out of 560,000 Negroes reGeiving.incomey.126,106,had incomes of less than: $1,000 a year, (See Charts 8 and 9), u . : . ' ^Seymour M, Lip set ^ ^Trends; in American Society, " . : An Outline of Man's Knowledge of the Modern World^ ed. by . ' Lyman Bryson Nelson (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Inc., ' . - ■ ■I960), p. 399. ' 12 Chart 8 Negro-White Unemployment Compari son Percent of Negro Unemployed Percent of White Unemployed New York 11.8 7.0 Chicago 11.39 . ■ ■ 5.0. Detroit y: cv, n.9 - . v ... . 7.8 . Philadelphia : . 13.5 : ' 7.3 Chart 9 Income Number Percent Less than $1 *000 a year 126*106 23.0 $5*000 to $6*000 a year 2*160 . .3 $6*000 to $7*000 a year 695 . 12 $7*000 to $10*000 a year 860 .10 Over $10 ,000 a year 740 - : .is The Negro in New York and elsewhere is caught in a vicious circle—he cannot become well-educated without a conducive environment r he cannot achieve a good environment without additional income e and he cannot earn more income without a good education. : ' " ‘ ' CHICAGO Prior to 1915, Negroes lived in practically every portion of the City. However* as in'New York,, segregation increased as the years of the 20th Century continued., The history of the expansion of the south side black belt or "bronze belt" has run the full gamut of Negro housing headaches. The continual influx of southern Negroes into the increasingly segregated , . section has caused a doubling up of families. The taking in of lodgers* the conversion of palatial homes and apartments into tiny flats* the . - \ ': ' ; ^ ■ ;'y :-,; ; 13 crowding of an entire family into a single room and the spiraling upward of rents to correspond with the progressively downward trend in quality received for money spent, the careless and callous attitude of the health ' .. arid sanitary authorities toward the Negro's plight is especially serious, considering the fact that in many cases the Negro is ignorant of the intricacies of life in an industrial complex. ■ ' Light industry, wholesale commercial establishments # gambling. . and vice resorts have been pushing the Negro further and further south from the original major downtown area. The holding of land for speculation, the . high cost of building, and the lack of capital have left "huge gaps of vacant land in the midst of the most overcrowded Negro areas in the northern half of the black belt. The whites strenuously resist any Negro expan- . ' sion, yet they refuse to fill the'vacant spaces'with buildings. This results in an-impossible housirig:situation. : - . White fesistance to Negroes is causing Chicago to pay a /'bitter price for the way the South has pushed around the Negro and for our own (Chicago} failure to fully accept him. Most of the 263,000 persons on ' : relief in Chicago (monthly cost, $13,800,000} are Negroes, " "We are paying the price of our forebears, " states Phillip A. Houserhead-of the . Sociology Department of the University of Chicago. When the Negro was ^Myrdal, opi. cif. ,:p . 1127. ; ; ' t 18Ibid. . ri ■' -: :■ ; ■ > , , ' . . . . v ■ - Chicago Daily News f Dec. 6 , 1961, p. 3 . ■ : ' ; - . ; , V :■ . ■ ^ brought to;; America a s ' a slave, "African forms of family life were wiped out „ Slavery made organized family life unavailable, to the Negro. Husbands , . wives and children were separated. The Negro was never given the chance to acquire what we consider to be moral sexual behavior or family life . " , Indeed, “he was bred for the profit of the owner like a domesticated animal. : - As in New York, because of the whites 1 failure to break the vicious circle which binds him > thd Negro remains on the bottom rung of America's, social ladder. This predicament can be illustrated by an examination of .Chicago's “Bronze Belt. “ Congressman'Dawson's district contained 323,000 Negroes in 1950, but by 1960 the population had decreased 27. 3%, or to .235, 000 people® These people are crowded into ' \ 13 square miles, with the resulting population density per square mile of 26 ,133• people (see Chart 10). ' • Chart 10 W Population . . ■ - ■' . - % of Non- I District No. of square tPopulation ' No. of Whites Non-white white popu Population miles in district density in district Population lation 235,000 • 26,T33 18,600 214,000 92.19 Households in the district number 75,300 (see Charts 11, 12 and 13J-. The following charts illustrate the housing situation of the Negro in Chicago. v ^ ^ I b i d . :v' ; ; , ■. : . \ . is Chart 11 Occupancy V.": Median Median Housing No. of unoccupied , % of unoccupied Households Persons Rooms Units < ■ units - units 7 5 1300 2.4 3.4 78,653 2,171 ; ; ' 2.7 ^ : No. for % for No. of Owner- % of Owner- No. of Renter- % of Renter- Sale Sale occupied Units occupied Units occupied occupied 38 .04 : 6,485 ' 8.6 68,835 91.4% - Chart 12 . ' . Housing in "Sound " Condition No. of Units lacking hot No. of Sound % of Sound or running No., in Sound % in Sound Units with com Units with com water, pri % of such Condition Condition. plete Plumbing plete Plumbing , vate toilet ' Units 49,665 61% 37,195 : . 74% •• y 12,470 26% ■ -’ ' ; ' ; Chart 13 .y,',, ' ; :i ; Housing in "Deteriorated" or "Dilapidated" Condition No. with com % with com No. Deteriorating % Deteriorating plete plumbing plete plumbing 22,630 k 27% 10,630 47% No. of Units lacking hot or running, . water, pri % of such No. pila p Ida ted % Dilapidated vate toilet Units 12,000 53% 6,358 . ; 9% . The major problem of education for the Negro is no less serious in Chicago than in New York (see Charts 14 and 15). 16 Chart 14 , Education (Ages 5 to 24 inclusive) Educational No. with % with : No. with % with Total No, median of Total No Edu No Edu 8th grade 8th grade Non-white Non-white Median cation ; cation only only ■ 148,750 7.3 8.1 ' W i /lt 4 0 . 11% 12,195 • 8%. No. of High School % of High School No. of College °/o of College . Graduates Graduates Graduates Graduates 16,230 10% 980 . 7% Chart 15 Education (over Age 25) Educational N'ti. with %• with No „••• with % with Total No. median of Total No Edu No Edu 8th grade 8th grade Non-white Non-white Median cation cation " only only 306,555 8.6 9.6 6,280 2% 52,655 ' 17% ' ; ■No. of High School % of High School: No. of College % of College Graduates Graduates Graduates Graduates . 45,970 ; 15% ; 8,910 3% The occupational pattern found in Chicago is also similar to that found in New York (see Chart 16). The Negro predominates in the menial occupations and is poorly represented in the prestige categories. In the craftsman groupf Negroes are again very much in the minority. In the operative category the number of Negroes is increasing. The service category also includes large numbers of Negroes . 17 Chart 16 Occupational Categories No. of Whites No. of Negroes'f % of Neqroes Architects 1,296 8 ■ V; .03 Lawyers 4,449 218 3.2 Social sciences 1,351 26 1.9 Teachers ■' 6,451 •: 401 . • 5.3 Farmers & Farm. Managers 10,478 ... . 23 ■ : 2.1 .V : Ma|e Bookkeepers , v 6,212 . ■ " ' 69 1.0 Boilermakers 2,234 \ ' 64 • 2.7 Airplane Mechanics 821 , ' 7 , ' v . .8 Electricians 15,058 265 - 1.7 Apprentice Craftsmen ; 7,714 119 1.5 Railroad Brakemen 8,625 187 2.1 Laundry Workers 3,275 3,312 50.4 Taxicab Drivers 10,634 1,386 11.5 Truck Drivers 83,980 4,173 . 7.1 Auto Mechanics 15,745 2,372 13.0 Female Household Help 17,064 15,421 ; : 47.4 Janitors 1 . 23,303 14,183 62.1 On the basis of these figures it is not surprising to learn that incomes are below average (see Chart 17). Out of a total of 268,490 persons receiving income, over one- quarter of them are earning less than $1,000 per year. Their median income is $1,902 a year. It should be . emphasized that the above figures reflect individuals, not family income, and thus indicate a slightly darker picture than exists in reality, for many families have.more than one breadwinner. As an example, one recent study made in 1956 indicated that there were an estimated 5897 Negro families in Chicago earning more than $10,000 per year. 21 National Housing Inventory of 1956 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, Nat . Housing Inventory: Chicago Supplement, : ■ Bulletin No . 4) . 18 Chart 17 Income Number ' Percent Less than $ 1, 0.09 a year 60,100 - I 22 . 0% - $5 , 000 to $6 , 000 a year 1,405 ' 1/2% $6,000 to $7,000.a year 1,100 . 4% $7,000 to $10,000 a year 520 ; . 2% • Over $10 ,000 a year 375 : ■ . 15% DETROIT .The 13th Congressional district of Michigan, represented by . Charles Diggs, encompasses. 17 square miles, including 268 , 040 people within, its limits , in 1960„ as comparted with 345,341 in 1950 (see Chart 18). • Chart 18 Population % of Non District No. of square Population No., of Whites Non-white white popu Population miles in district Density . in district Population lation 268,040 17 15,761 133,135 133,205 50.3% This reduction constitutes a loss of 22.4%. The district is almost evenly divided between the whites and Negroes with the latter (5 0. 3%) having a slight edge, ' ’ , ■ ■ ' . . - Households number 96,154 and contain 257,415 people, resultingj in an average of 2. 68 •persons per household (see Chart T9). The district has 10.9 ,045 housing units , pf which 25 . 4% are owner ^-occupied., over three times the figures for New York or Chicago. Seventy-nine percent , -.:j : -v..; y 19 of the-units are classified as.- "sound" (see Chart 20). - Eighteen percent are classified as being- in:: "deteriorated^cdnditidh (see Chart 21) . ' . / ■ -; ' : VChart.;i9, ■ • . • : ■ : t 1 ' . Occupancy - 1 v; ' . ‘ " M edian M edian Housing No. of Unoccupied % of Unoccupied Households Persons Rooms Units' Units Units ' 96,154 2.1 3. 8 - 109,045 12,891 11% 7 ; N o. • for % for No . of Owner- ■6/o of Owner-?' No. of Renter- % of Renter- Sale Sale occupied Units occupied Units occupied Units occupied Units 254 . .2 24,437 . 25.4% 71,717 ' 74.6% _ !' Chart 20 Housing in "Sound" Condition No. of Units lacking hot No. of Sound % of Sound or running No. in Sound % in Sound Units with com Units with water, pri % of such Condition Condition plete plumbing Plumbing vate toilet Units :87,143 79% ' 76,767 7 89% 10,155 11% . Chart 21 ; ' Hdusing in "Deteriorated " or "Dilapidated " Condition No . Deteriorating % Deteriorating No. with com %. with- com plete plumbing plete plumbing 18,188 . 18% - 7 7' 4,614 . 38% ' ' -.. “■ --\> No. of Units' " ' " ' - ’ ' ■ lacking hot or runni ng : water, pri % of such vate toilet Units . No. Dilapidated % Dilapidated 13,574 62% 3,714 77 ' 3% . • .. , ■ . : ; ':v;. ■ ■' 20 The census bureau affixed the classification .."dilapidated11 to 3% of the units. The median number of rooms per unit, was found to be 3. 8 and the median number of persons was' 2 .1, ^ ■ The following figures are not broken down into Congressional , ' districts . The census reveals that there are 87,97 0 people between the ages of five and 24 inclusive in Detroit as a whole (see Chart 22). Slightly over 12% of them have had no education, with only one-half of one percent of them having, completed college. The educational median was found to be 7.5 years. For those over, age 25 the educational median is slightly higher, ,8.6 years (see Chart 23). • - Chart 22 Education (Ages 5 to 24 inclusive) Educational N o. with % with N o. with % with Total N o;. M edian of Total No edu No Edu 8th grade 8th grade Non-white Non-white Median cation . cation only only 87,970 7.5 : 8.0 10,620. 12% 7,510 8.4% No. of High School % of High School No . of College % of College G raduates Graduates Graduates Graduates 8,860 ; . 10.7% 480 .5% : Chart 23 . \ 'V;; ' Education (over Age 25) Educational N o. w ith % with N o. w ith % with Total N o. Median of ' T o ta li No Edu No Edu- 8th grade 8th grade Non-white Non-white . Median cation catioh onlv only 180,645 ' 8.6 . 9.9 .3 ,470 2% 27,585 15% 21 Chart 23 (cont.) Education (over Age 25) No> of High School" % of High School No. of College % of College : Graduates Graduates Graduates Graduates . : 25,595 ":. 13% ■ \ 5,735 : : :3% . ", .. - ' ' . Professional and technical job categories (see Chart 24) in Detroit reveal few Negroes, there being only. 4 architects, 71 lawyers and 144 teachers. This situation in the clerical category is no better for.there are only 24 Negro bookkeepers.. At the craftsman and foreman, level, the number continues to be small, and the equally small number of apprentices indicates this situation will not soon be alleviated. The service category is the only one in which the Negro predominated. The Negro comprises over 55% of the household workers and large percentages of waiters, and janitors. . : ' ‘ ' v . Twenty-two percent of the total income-receiving Negroes earn less than $1,000 per year (see Chart 25). In contrast with this is the fact that less than one fifth of a percent earn more than $10, 000 per year. The median income in Detroit is $2/290 y of $700 less than the $3,000 income figure for whites. The Negro 's place, as evidenced by these figures, can be summed up in one sentence. "The Negroes, more truly than any other group in our population, represent a true proletariat. " . % % Peter Odeaard and E. Helms , American Politics (2nd ed.; NewIfork:. Harper>nd.-BhDthbrsy 19:47)., .p.i 352. ' ■ y . . C - 22 /.v Chart 24 Occupational Categories ' " No. of Whites No. of Negroes % of Negroes Architects 598 3 .50 Lawyers 3,254 71 2.1 Social sciences , ; 475 . ' 6 1.2 Teachers 4,191 144 3.2 Farmers & Farm Managers 4,702 50 1.0 Male Bookeepers 2,137 20 .9 Boilermakers ; ■ ' • 370 25 . 6.3 Airplane Mechanics ‘ 307 ' . ’ 6: . 1.9 Electricians . : : v 7,591 . 158 ; 2.0 Apprentice Craftsmen . 3,441 - 74 1.9 Railroad Brakemen . . t, ■' 1,709 16 .9 Laundry Workers t—< cn ■; 1,431 47.7 Taxicab Drivers : .4,654 109 2.3 Truck Drivers / v 29,478 1,711 5.4 Auto M echanics '16,285 1,391 . 7.8 Female Household Help 8,468 , ' 1,027 11.9 Janitors r 8.933 6.490 45.0 i. Chart 25 Income Number Percent Less than $ 1,000 a year 36,000 22.0 $5,000 to $6,000 a year 1,285 .7 $6,000 to $7,000 a year 435 1/4% $7,000 to $10,000 a year 385 1/5% Over $10 ,000 a year 285 1/5% PHILADELPHIA Twelve square miles containing 314,909 peopie (see Chart 26) comprises the 4th Congressional District of Robert Nix. In his district, as in the other three, population had declined since 1950. The population loss totals 7.4%. Ninety-three thousand households contain over 300,000 people, with resulting population per household of 3.28 persons (see Chart 27). Chart 26 ' ' . . - - Population ' % of Non- D istrict No. of square Population No. of Whites Non-white white popu Population miles in district density in district Population lation 314,909 12- ' y' 26,242 83,225 : 231,684 73.8% Chart 27 Occupancy Median Median Housing No. of Unoccupied % of Unoccupied Households Persons Rooms Units Units Units 93,692 2.7 . 4.7 100,871 7,179 7.1% N o. for % for No. of Owner- % of Owner-, No. of Renter- % of Renter- Sale Sale occupied Units occupied Units occupied Units occupied , Units - 664 . 66% : 40y595 ; 43. 1% 53,097 ' : 56.9% Seventy-six percent of the units are classed as "sound, " the second highest found in the study (see Chart 28). Almost 95% of these units are listed as having complete plumbing facilities / another example of the better living conditions found in this district. The remaining 5% lack either hot water, running water or a private toilet. Twenty-one percent of the units bear the tag "deteriorated" condition (see Chart 29). Three percent are listed as "dilapidated. " ' 24 Chart 28 Housing in "Sound" Condition f V ' - . ; No. of Units lacking hot No. of Sound % of Sound or running No. in Sound % in Sound Units with com Units, with water, pri % of such Condition Condition plete - plumbing plumbing vate toilet Units 76,092 76% : 72,144 ’ 95% 3,848 5% Chart 29 . Housing in "Deteriorated" or "Dilapidated" Condition No. with com- % with complete No. Deteriorating % Deteriorating plete plumbing plumbing 21,040 21% . . 18,362 86% No. of Units lacking hot or running water, pri % of such vate toilet Units No. Dilapidated % Dilapidated 2,678 14% 3,739 • 3% According to the 1950 census, there were 117,155 Negroes between the ages of fwe and 25 in the district. ,Of them, 8% had only an 8th grade education. The overall educational median was 7.4 years. (See Chart 30). The over 25 age group contained 220,445 persons. The education median for this groupv was somewhat higher, 8.2 years, (see Chart 30). ' Chart 30 ' ;■ . Education (Ages 5 to 24 inclusive) Educational No . w ith % with No . w ith' % with Total No . Median of • Total No Edu No Edu 8th grade 8th grade Non-white Non-white M edian cation cation only only 117,155 7.4 8.3 13,280 12% 9,455 8% ...... ____ . 25 Chart 30 (cont.) - Education (Ages. 5 to- 24 inclusive) No. of High School % of High School No. of College % of College Graduates Graduates . Graduates G raduates 11,135 ■ 9% - - 535 - .4% Chart 31 Education (Over age 25). Educational N o. with % with N o. with % w ith Total N o. Median of • Total No Edu No- Edu 8th grade 8th grade Non-white Non-white Median cation cation only only 220,445 8.2 9.1 6,045 3% 31,650 . 14% No. of High School % of High School No# of College% of College v Graduates G raduates G raduates G raduates \ . ; ■ - - ; ■ . ' ; 24,795 11% 4,180 ' - 1.4% The occupational pattern is no better in Philadelphia than in the other cities (see Chart 32) „ Moreover, the -financial situation- (see Chart 33) is much the same as is found in the previous cities-. The median annual income is $1,556. Twenty-five percent of the Negro population receives, less than $1,000 per year, while only one-tenth of one percent receives ' , . more than $10,000 a year. - • One can conclude from these statistics that the Negro is a "have-not" in a society where usually the "haves " receive recognition. 26 Chart 32 Occupational Categories No. of Whites' No. of Negroes % of Negroes Architects . ■ . 782 6 .7.. Lawyers • ' • 3,899 44 1.1 Social scien ces '• 631 : 15 , 2.3 Teachers . , . 6,339 C 305 : 4.6 . ' Farmers & Farm Managers 11,414 7, 197 y 1.7 Male Bookkeepers' ; 3,349. - .■ 44 ' " • , 1.0 Boilermakers ;: ; i: : 1,245 46. \ • v‘ 3.5 . ■ Airplane Mechanics ' . 966 26 ' 2.6 E lectricians ' 9,631 233 2.4 .'; Apprentice Craftsmen " 3,797 ' 114 2.9 Railroad Brakemen 2,478 52 2.0 Laundry Workers 2,094 1,864 48.2 Taxicab. Drivers • 5,684 936 - 14.2 Truck Drivers 32,394 ! ' 6,161 16.0 Auto M echanics 11,907 1,798 13.1 Female Household Help . . 10,295 27,360 72.9. Tanitors . r .v ': • 6.903 7,298 51,4 . Chart 33 Income '■ : , ; ; ; - . .. ■ - ■. T ■ Number Percent less than $1,000 a year: . 48,650 25.0% $5,006 to $6,000 a year :. 585 . .3% $6,00,0 to $7, 000 a year : : v- ' 240 .1% $7, 000 tb ' $1B>000 -a :year>4 240 " , 1% Over $10 ,000 a vear 1 , 220 : .1% In the following chapters the leadership that has come from the districts that are characterized by limit ed educational systems, over- crowded living conditions, large unemployment'rates, menial and under paid jobs and the ever-present knowledge of being a "nigger" in a white. , man's World will be analyzed, • ' ' ' ' CHAPTER II • Negro'Leadership : ' • :' ; ihiM important segment of the contemporary Negro leadership is ' ! ' furnished by the four subjects of .this study-.-the four men who are members of their face in Congress. The adequacy of this leadership in meeting its obligation to the Negro will be examined in this chapter and future '' chapters of this thesis.. The Negro Congressmen from New York and : Chicago'^ Powell and Dawson, are leaders of the Negro population in i their respective cities. They are two of the. most widely recognized Negro leaders in the nation. The Detroit and Philadelphia Congressmen, al- - ; though the principal Negro leaders in their respective cities, do not have ,/ ' as much power as Powell or Dawson, either in their districts or on a ' ■: : ■ nationwide basis'. . '■h.'. ?: v.//v-. ■. • Before discussing the particular type of leadership that has developed among Negroes > it is important to establish a functional defi- :f v:: nition of .leadership. The ingredients of leadership are widely debated y1.1 : ' among social scientists, but it is generally agreed that a leader's ' 1 Y behavior stimulates patterning of the behavior in some group. By his . actions,. the leader guides a.group towards a goal, whether hisyactipns are verbal or written. This is not to say that; the leader "integrates" group behavior/ More realistically, he integrates part of the group, for, not 1 . . . infrequently, a leader's stimulus may evoke opposition from some in the . group. . Leadership is, in substance, a role which an individual occupies at a given time in a given group. A leader is not a total personality, but a person who, in certain situations, emits legitimate group patterning action, ; . " , c. . ^ y , < : - -r . Consequences of Segregation on Negro Leadership The Negro leader has certain problems which differentiate his . from the "normal" leader's. Chicago, New York, Detroit, and Philadelphia are faced with a segregation pattern which has important implications for both the development'.and application of significant Negro leadership.' ' The first arid most obvious consequence of segregation is that it limits •; 'the process of geographic distribution. Rich and poor, young and old,. , educated and illiterate are all crowded together in a relatively small area. This "ghetto " like existence leads to three distinct problems for a pros pective leader.. ■ (a) The obstacles to success are great, and actions on behalf of the less fortunate Negroes increase the potential leader's identification with the squalor of the Negroes' situation in non-Negro people's eyes . The middle or upper class Negro does not desire to be associated with this situation. : . 1 Alvin W. Gouldner, Studies In Leadership (New York: Harper '& Bros „, Publishers, 1950), p. 17. v- : - :■ -V. . "::'/: ' - ' V/V - y . . 29 : (b) . The ghetto life is so lacking in material comforts that to - , ■ ‘ . many inhabitants "it is absurd to seek the intangible, and seemingly non existent rewards -of leadership'. . (e)- "When lower-income and upper-income groups are forced to • live together, advantages for one group must often he had at the immediate expense of the other group. It becomes hard to act objectively towards community goals when the costs of these goals are so evident and personal. A second general consequence, of segregation is. that it reduces the number of, and alters the charcter of, contacts between Negroes and whites in the city. Givic leadership requires, a certain level of' sophisti-. cation, which is often the product of repeated contact with, or involvement in, the Civic enterprises of.the city. ■ „ ; ■ ' A third consequence.of segregation is that life over a long.period of time in a rigid ghetto situation tends to produce vested interests in the ghetto. Businesses and organizations develop which benefit from the ■ segregation. . '■ > ■ . ’ ' . .: ' Development of Negro Leadership ' - Faced with such geographic, socio-economic, and cultural.problems as have been indicated, the growth of Negro leadership has been slow and difficult. Gradually over the past century,, the fire of leadership, all but eTameS Q. W ilson, Negro P o litic s, the search for leadership (Glencoe: The Free Press,- I960), p.- 105 . - - ' ■ ; . ' ■ ■ . ' . . . so extinguished at the beginning of this period, began to be kindled and has slowly gained initiative until today it is a power. Negro leaders are not as powerful as many whites proclaim, nor as weak as many Negroes think them to be . Commensurate with the’general Negro awakening, he moved North in search of social equality.: Chicago, New. York, Detroit, and Philadelphia have become the centers of the country's greatest migration since the covered wagons moved across the frontier. The Negro population is now 18% in Chicago, 14% in New York, 26% in Detroit, and 29% in Philadelphia. These cities are the principal population;centers of states that account for 132 electoral votes. This is almost half the number needed to elect a President, The Negro today has^ and uses, the ballot in these Northern industrial complexes.' ' ' ' Development of Negro- O rganizations .The growth of Negro leadership and the development of Negro organizations have occurred simultaneously. The Negro is a "joiner. " . A study conducted in 1937/ when Chicago had 275 ,000 Negroes, revealed more than four thousand Negro associations. Today, when the Negro ' , population is much larger, "There seems to be little doubt that the number , of organizations is comparably greater. " In comparison with white communities of equivalent size, there is some evidence that Negroes are ■ : -- ■■■■ '■ 7 ■ ' -r ■ : . : .. organized to an even greater extent than whites., The Negro community, - .: ^Ibid. , p. 4. ' '' ■ 5ibid. '■ ' ' . whatever else its problems, "is not characterized by an inability to create and sustain some kinds of organization. • . Even though activity is evident, "little seems to occur as a • . - - 1 .7 - . ■ ;• . ■ ■ ■ - ' result of this activity. " The. Joint Negro Appeal in Chicago experienced great problems in raising $25,000 from a community of 750,000 people. The Chicago branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has,® within the past two years, been able to. sustain only a moderate staff of workers. The Urban League/-which has been aiding the Negro for forty years, could not raise $10,000 a year as its contri- , 7 bution to a $90,000 budget. Although several hundred Negro leaders ' reside in Chicago, the NAACP can rarely find more than three or four who will assist in the work of providing legal defense for Negroes who are .. victimized by racial persecution. In the drive toward racial equality, by white standards, Negroes contribute less, work less, and provide less concerted, co-ordinated, , and available sources of time, effort and money. "You name it, they haven‘t got it, " said one white leader at the end of a compaign in which he had tried to obtain Negro help for ends which he thought Negroes desired 7 Ibid. , p. 5. 8 ' Ib id . , p . 332. 9 Ibid.,. p. 158. ■ - • y- ■ . , ; 1 . ' ■ • 32 Whites usually enumerate a standard set of'hypotheses to explhin the alleged weaknesses of Negro leadership. Not surprisingly, most . thoughtful Negroes tend to agree with-them. Both groups point to the slavery tradition, the lack of a "tradition of giving, " the nouveau riche tendency of the Negro middle class, and the parochialism of a purely • 10 racial point of view. - . - • The Political Involvement of the Negro The political involvement of the Negro, as it exists, is primarily the outcome of interest in the Negro questionT his concern of the Negro with the color of his skin deeply influences his viewpoint on government policy. A Negro ordinarily weighs a matter of government policy not as an American citizen, but as a Negro American. His first queries will always be: "How will it affect Negroes ? Will it be so administered as to embrace Negroes fairly? " This skepticism has arisen because ‘‘the Negro learned ■: from bitter experience that he must constantly be on the alert to hold his own in the society. Thus there is a constant conflict between the Negroes ' desire to be a full-fledged American citizen. ..and the necessity forced , ■ ' IT Upon him by tradition- and sentiment to think Negro first. " Two distinct ends are sought by the Negro. Professor James Q. Wilson entitles them "welfare" and "status" ends. "Welfare ends are ■ 10Ibid. , p. 159. Ralph Bunche, "Programs, Ideologies, and Achievements of Negro Betterment and Interracial Organization"(Unpubl. manuscript. Vol. 1, 1940) , p. 14. Cited in Myrdal's An American Dilemma, p. 785 . 33 those "which look to the tangible improvement of the community or: some : : individuals in it* through the provision of better services, living conditions or positions. " "Status " ends are those which "seek the integration of the Negro into all phases of community life on the principle, of equality. " Political Styles of the Negro Leadership . . , Two political styles, related to the two types of goals, emerge ; from a study of Negro leadership ^ These styles are-3 the "militant" and the "moderate. 11 The "militant" sees the'issues facing his race in simplifieci form. He sees simplicities where the moderate sees complexities. This ; type of leader speaks in terms of ultimate, rattier than contemporary needs. Everything must.be finalized. He sees his position in highly moral terms. His philosophy is utopian. The Negro "militant" tends to seek "status" ends as opposed to "welfare" ends. Integration is his primary object. ■ .The "militant" believes in passing a law to solve a problem; but he has no confidence in politicians who must pass and enforce the law. A leader is not seen by the "militant" as one who has been successful in ■ any area of life, but as one ''who is outspokenly militant, who assumes a posture of protest and agitation, regardless of whether any tangible results accrue from such activity. "-*4 : h > hi'- y ; The. "moderate sees the Negro 's problems as having no easy ; solutions* if indeed there are solutions. Rarely does he assert his race; . • . , . :: 12wilson, op. cit. , p. 183. . ^ - . - : ih':'':'-' ''h: 13Tbid. , p ..2 1 4 i - i - V ; . \ ! 14ibid.. , p. ;22'9; V/ ? ' V - ' ' ■■ - ' . . ' ■■ . -;'v ' 34 ; it is a background issue. The "moderate " tends to view .the world "as it is. " He accepts the existing constraints oh action without pressing for far-reaching or unprecedented changes . "Welfare " rather than "status " ends are his objective. . The "moderate" has less confidence in the power of legislative solutions.than does the "militant." However# he has more confidence in the Negro politician than does the "militant . " Instead of passing laws, - the "moderate" favors the more extensive use of education and persuasion to overcome the resistance of the white world. ' The "militant" relies on negative inducements such as compulsion or the threat of sanctions. The "moderate ,. “ unconvinced dr unaware of • any real malevolence on the part of white influehtials, typically Speaks more frequently in terms of positive inducements, rewards, or more ■ attractive alternatives. . ■ , ' : . The problem of powerlessness, the inability to influence others towards a specific goal, is the constant companion of the Negro leader. Professor Banfield recently wrote in his study of influence in Chicago that it is possible to describe in detail the working of influence in the civic • controversies of present-day Chicago with the mentioning of Negroes in - \ • : ■ ' ' ' - 25 . . '■ , only one case. The absence of power often produces frustration, and a sense of futility among Negro leaders. ; • \ . 1 ^Edward C. Banfield. Political Influence (Glencoe: The ' Free Press^ 1961) , p. 10. . k Development of ,Chancfinq Negro Viewpoint In past decades, Negro political leadership sought to release their frustration by constructing a politically segregated machine. During this period,, segregation could be defended as a means to material gain. The goals sought then were mostly ■things / "often things intended for the v y;;- . : t: 16 - very men who; were waging the struggle. " The Negro politicians were a vigorous and militant group. They were caught up in the struggle to ; build a Negro political organization so as to receive recognition and re wards from the white •political leaders. Today, however / the political machine, where it exists, "has won the major battles it set out to fight" and,, as a comfortably suited organization, has no desire to upset the status quo. Consequently tpday the "moderate" machine of William L. . • j g ' ■ ■ ; - Dawson is "something of an anachronism. " In most other areas the machines have disappeared or undergone substantial transformations. Dawson is "quite indifferent to issues and. principles, including those of special interest to the race; " . v Dawson seldom speaks in Congress, and when he does he never raises the race issue when he can avoid it. The contemporary "militant" Negro desiring. "status " ends will not be satisfied with a "moderate, " "welfare " ended organization such as Dawson heads. ■. . ' / . " d' ; " 16W ilson, op. c i t . / p. 297. ; ^^Ibid. , p. 302. 18ibld., P. 49, : : , . ' ■ ■■■'■&" ' : ; W/ . Banfleld. op. cit. . p. 260. .. , ; ... : ^ ^ ' ' ■;. :.v : 36 Adam Clayton. Powell also becomes unnecessary to the Negro movement, with the advent of the awakened Negro. Powellf possibly realizing this f has already announced that he will resign his House seat prior to the 1964 elections; Powell's politics are not radical enough today to satisfy the "militant" purists, nor are they as articulate or "sincere " •; as the dedicated Negro educated youth of today desire. , The Harlem representative who is an "eloquent speaker* a vivid- personality, and an ; ■ V ' ’ ' ... " ’ - • 20 ' : : ■ . uncompromising rabble rouser" must relinquish his seat to one who, while being an effective speaker can, in addition, convey a sense of purpose to cause the Negro to seek needed and rationally attainable goals. With the awakening of the Negro , politics becomes a possible avenue for raising and disposing of race issues. zoibid. ■ 7 / . v., ; ■ „ CENTER III . V • ;v : ' \ V , WILLIAM L. DAWSON , ''' Negro Participation in Chicago Politics \ ' ; Negro participation in Northern politics has -not been uniform i . in,all cities.'. Negroes;held political office in Chicago long before theyv'' - ,' did in New York.,In 1915, a Negro first gained a seat in the City Council, ' and five years' later a Negro was elected a ward committeeman. During this period the established White machine was in the hands of the i ,.. : - Republicans,, and the first Negro political leaders were Republicans.. 1 ; Their inclusion reflected the city organization's need to realize its ■ \y. ■ potential in the Negro distript, ?^ More important,,; it yzae/partly .a product ' \ • ,■ ‘ ' of the N egroesbitter struggle to gain recognition in politi cs against the . : opposition of established non-Negro leaders. • The machine system in the , Negro area became effective when the area, in 1928, sent a Negro, ■ • ' ; . ; . . Oscar de Priestf to Congress on the Republican ticket. The first Negro . ' - Democratic Congressman was elected from this area in 1934. . . , , , : The relatively early date at which Negroes gained elective office y . v in Chicago, as compared to other Northern cities, can be explained by: ; ' •, • (a) the concentration of Negroes in a few all-Negro areas was , from the ’ I Tame s O. Wilson, Negro Politics the search for leader- : . ' ' • : . ■ ' . ■ ■ 38 first,' higher in Chicago; and (b) the Chicago political system,- was based on a large number of small wards ■usually drawn to conform to the racial, national, or religious character of the neighborhood. The importance of bringing the Negroes into .the city's political organization w as first recognized by the Republican Mayor "Big Bill " Thompson. During his .tenure of office, Negroes were provided with patronage jobs, appeals were made for Negro electoral support, and promising Negro politicians were brought into the party. If Thompson "allowed the community to be corrupted and had put into power Negroes , connected with the underworld, he had nevertheless given recognition ■ - • 3 to the entire position and offered it a hope for the future. " Although Thompson may have been a "buffoon" and a "corrupt politician, " he had made it possible for the Negroes to organize, "into ward machines, which - . ■ : ' : • ■ - , - , 4 could and did demand concessions in return for support. " In 1933, Thompson was defeated for re-election by a Democrat, Edward Kelly. The Negro was an important factor to be considered, by an aspirant to power in the city such as Kelly, but the Negroes' firm Repub- : licanism made their conversion to the Democratic party difficult. ■ St. Clair Drake and Horace R. Clayton, Black Metropolis (New York: Harper & Brothers,.1945), p. 351. / ■ . %bid. ; ' . The Development of the Dawson Machine /. ' ' In 1934 and 1935, Mayor KelTy was 'in search of a man who could >-su<5cessfully:brganize the;Negroes,for. the-DemocFatia;party .; Dawson was > serving as an independent .Republican in the City Council and was searching . . for political power. Kelly realized that the white committeeman had ceased to be a power in Dawson's ward.. The choice had to be made as to* a successor. "Kelly became convinced that Dawson was.the man for the. , job. " In the February, 1939 elections for Alderman, Dawson came in t 5 third out .of fonr Candidates. After, this ^ Dawson announced that he was v ' ^ sw itching parties-h^^^^^^ ' 'C'' t* : : r : :v ' ■. : . ■ Dawson, the power-seeking politician, and Kelly, the power- V ' ■ seeking Democratic mayor of Chicago f conveniently joined forces at this juncture in Dawson's ca^er^,..However,, Dawson does* not give this reason ■ ■ * for his change to.the.D.e:mpcratic party. Instead, Dawson states: "1 saw : ,,• ;;. the rising up of a great American' in this country, F'. D. R. • I saw that he .; cared for the people, all the people, hot just some of the' people like the *. * Republicans. This country was in terrible shape r and here was a man who cared and would do something about it. ". . - v, ' ; y ' . ., • . Mayor Kelly allowed Dawson to take over the Second Ward organi- • zation. Kelly gave Dawson the power to clear patronage appointments for v; the ward. This was the beginning of the E>awson organization. Dawson, C ; •'> SWilSQhV QP.CClt. p. 78. . y v ■ ■ ■ : : ■ . ' ' ' : . . Gjb id . ■ ; 'V' .i:.,; k . ■ > : '■ V ■as the ward committeeman, -gained control of all the political matters of , : ■ 7 V' ' ; : . . -- ... ' ' , ' ■ ; the ward. To.quote Dawson , "Power does not come through paying jobs but through the ward organization and committeemen . Having your man elected is the .Key. " With this power, Dawson began the task of winning over his rivals. He assured the old-time Democrats that their positions in the party would not be jeopardized by the influx of Dawson and his ex- " *.. . ■. . ' ' . 9 Republican fdllowers. He kept his word. .. ' - The Chicago Negro organization is the product of twenty years . of work . DaWson , by virtue Of his considerable, political skill, by the patronage placed at his disposal, and by a favorable public opinion, ' secured his position as committeeman. , In addition, he.set up a chain of obligations and loyalties which eventually would bring him control of five or six Negro wards . He is "strong, ■ sometimes ruthless; he. brooks no rivals; he crushes opposition and the ambition of men who would challenge him; and he insists bn orgarnzatlonaT loyalty,, " - The problems inherent in building a Negro organization from outside the established order, with the intent of suing for power within • 7' • t 7ibido; c;:. : : . - ■, ^Interview with William L. Dawson in Washington, D. C ., on July 19, 1961. • . ^Wilson, op. cit. " 5 -• lames Q.: Wilson, "Two Negro Politicians: . An Inter- , , . bfetation. " Midwest Tournal of Political Science (Nov. , I960), iv, 3 5 8 . 7 . - ' ;: - . -v ' ■ '■■■' " ; ■" ''' - 'v ;':;. ; . ■ v . - r r;,-- 41. the establishment, has'been.pointed out,many.times.' This obstacle;: makes Dawson's rise to power in the 1930's remarkable. The aid of . Mayor Kelly, valuable as it may have been, was no guarantee of success "if only because of .the large -number of Negro rivals to Dawson whose factional fights could have paralyzed all attempts at coherent organ!- zation. " His organizational success was accelerated in 1943 when . one of his followers was installed as committeeman of the third ward. In 1951 another was made .Committeeman of the twentieth ward, and in 1956 another came to power in the sixth ward. These four wards, plus / Dawson's, comprise the largest part of the South Side Negro community. ; Through an efficent group of precinct workers, this, community is as well organized as any group in the city. ■ - ; , - .y ; /: . vp : • Success of the Organization . , The organization flourishes in the Negro wards largely because of the needs of the Negro. The ward organizations make themselves help- . ful to the voters in. their' precincts in the traditional manner. Political intervention with the police, bondsmen, lawyers, relief workers, and other city officials on behalf of voters is still common, although the ability of the machine-to, fender important services in these areas has steadily . '■ - . ' t ' • • . . - 13 ; ' . ^ : :v' : - i ' . ' . . • ; ^Wilson. Negro'Politics, .op. cit.., p. 25 ; ; . ; ' ^Ibid,, 51. / ' .p:, ; ;V: ;; organization influence, there are also certain attitudes prevalent in the Negro .community that are; favorable to the political organization and that . / ' . ' • 14 ■ ' . ' . ■ ' " preserve it from serious attack. ' First, there is the attitude of general conservatism among Negro leaders. "The Democratic party in Chicago represents the status quo; it is the entrenched power and the target of reformers. 11 Few Negro leaders feel that there is anything important enough to warrant an attack on the status quo and the political party which controls and supports the existing arrangements. "Few (Negro leaders) operate enterprises of ; , sufficient, size to raise for them real estate and taxation problems of a magnitude which would elicit efforts to achieve" 'economy' in government ■ ' ' . ■ ■ .: ■ • . . " . ' V; 15 ■■■ :.'. ■ ■ " , and produce attacks bn the city administration . " A second reason that the organization continues to be active is the fact that the Negro has a general allegiance to the Democratic party. This allegiance is conditioned by loyalties between the Negro voter and the Democratic precinct captains and by the influence of the Democratic precinct captains on the city's law enforcement officers . . . A third reason for the continuance of the. organization is that there is a "distinct and evident aversion to politics among Negroes of the middle 14Ibid. , p. 57. 15Ibid. r y r 'i / ’ Y"' !6W - . ■ : " ^New York Times , Sept ,v 28 f 19-56 z p , 17., " : ■ ; • . : 43 and upper classes . Politics is distasteful to them. The wealthy Negro strives to associate only with causes that are politically "safe. •• The fourth reason for the continuation of the organization is that people tend to impute power to the organization. Constant references appedr in almost all interviews to 'Dawson 's power' or to 'Dawson's machine'. No doubt Dawson has influence, but it is often credited to him in over-generous proportions. ' ~ A fi nal factor which aids in the cohtinuance of the -organization is that many Negro ciyic leaders admire him . He has achieved something: "Dawson represents something for the Negro people; achievement e sta tu s, the power of the ballot . / • ’ 0“ v ' ' . ' ■ Besides these reasons there is the network of personal relation ships and obligations which strengthens both the Negro leaders and the \ various Negro civic associations. ■ ' ■ The Negro press has not been critical of the machine. The ' publisher of the Chicago Defender, the, leading Negro newspaper in Chicago has had a close personal relationship with Dawson for a number of years. The Negro press is the beneficiary of heavy political advertisingr; although few votes are changed by this expenditure of funds. The newspapers would lose more than the politicians if the revenue were withdrawn. The Defender . l^Wilson, Negro Politics, op. cit. ,, p. 57. 19. - - : . ■ . v Ib id ., p. 60. : V , : . . .■■■ ■ ' . ■ 44 like Dawson's machine, is well-organized„ It is a respected and .profitable means of communication „ Both Dawson and the Defender benefit from remaining- on good terms and preserving the status quo. Open warfare between the two would not produce advantages commensurate with the cost . of change that conflict would entail. The Dawson organization's purpose is the election of men to office, which is perpetuated primarily through the allocation of material incentives to its members. To a greater extent than any other,Negro institution, it is "issue free. " It holds the loyalties of the voters by virtue of their general commitment to the/Democfatic party, and by the personal relation- - ship of loyalty and mutual.favors which exist between the voters and pre cinct captains. ^ f - ■ . . , ; ' One consequence of this is that tangible rewards tend to be divisible in a sense in which intangible ones are not. The distribution - ' 'of material rewards can be kept separate from other aspects of the leader's • position. The leader's role as a local politician can become a fairly specific one, permitting him to play other roles without creating conflicts. Political Background of Dawson ' .. . ... The man who has developed and controls this powerful political organization was born in Albany, Georgia', on April 261, 1886. His mother and grandmother worked hard to pay the tuition to send him to a missionary \ ' 20Ibid. , p. 53.. - : - ' ■ :■ : 45 school. From there he worked his way;through Fisk University. Upon graduation from Fisk, he moved North into the Black Belt of Chicago's , " South Side. ■ ’ . . ■ ■ Although above draft age,. Dawson volunteered in the First World War and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Infantry. Dawson fought with the 365th Infantry in the famous Meuse-rArgonne offensive and was wounded and gassed. He returned to the States in 1918. After his return to Chicago, he entered Northwestern University Law School, which he attended until 1920, when he was admitted to the bar. As he began to practice law Dawson became interested in politics. His first political venture was as a precinct helper of Crip Woodsy a ' Negro leader of one Republican faction in the old 14th Ward. Later, Dawson moved to the 2nd Ward where he still lives in a two-story, two-flat bull-; ding at 3725 Lake Park. In a few years, he bacame a familiar figure among • residents of the South.Side slums. In 1928 he ran for Congress on the Republican ticket against Representative Martin Madden. Dawson used a race appeal: "Mr. Madden does not even live in the district. He is a white man. Therefore for two reasons, if no others, he can hardly voice the hope, ideals > and sentiments 21 " . of the majority of his district. " In Dawson's early campaigns he was an "expert and frequent user of many of the same kinds of appeals that now 21 Harold F . Gosnell. Negro Politicians (Chicago: ■■ ■'-" , University of Chicago Press ,"1935), p. 57 . ' charadterize Powell .. " : For the 1928 campaign the race Issue, was not enough. Dawson was defeated. , . ■ Despite this defeatf he-was elected a Republican state central committeeman in 1930. His.first,successful bid for public office was in 1933 when he was elected,.aldermab; on a non-partisan ticket. The following year he ran for Republican ward committeeman and lost. . This cycle was repeated again. In 1935 he was .ie-elected alderman, but in 1936 he was defeated in his bid for Republican.ward committeeman. Dawson made a . second bid. for Congress, in 1938. He won the Republican nomination, but lost the election. In the 1939 race for aldermah> Dawson ran. as a Repub- • lican arid was defeated, , Dawson later said of this election: ."I didn't try to win. . However, I almost won anyway, " ,. After this defeat, Dawson . changed his registration to Democrat. . Dawson was nominated on the Democratic ticket for Congress in 1942. He was elected by a slim 3, 000 vote majority. He has been re elected to the House since that date. • ■ ■ Dawson as a Political Leader - ' Despite his conservative presence', "Dawson has more political power," according to one observer, "than any other member of his race in , the TJnited States. " He is an organizer, not flamboyant, but quiet and 2 % Wilson, "Two Negro Politicians , " op. cit. , p. 355.. ' ^^Interview with the author on July 19 , 1961. / ^^New York Times .' November 12, 1956, p. 3. reserved. One prominent Illinois Congressman, Representative Sidney Yates (Democrat-Illinois) / described him as a very capable fellow "who has certain ideas and a definite set of ways to implement them. " “Dawson has both the confidence and respect of many influential Congress men. Jn his efficient manner "he devotes himself completely to politics, rarely travels, and leads a home life even more carefully screened by • • 27 privacy and silence than his public ope. " . Dawson's dislike for publicity is a fetish. lie believes that : , publicity ultimately injures him or those with whom he deals politically. He simply says: "I don't like publicity. . .They can't hurt, you for what you don't say—-I don 't believe in running off at the mouth . Why tell your / enemies what your thoughts are, and what you are doing about them. When I have accomplished what I wanted then I turn to the next problem. There's O O no need to talk. It doesn't accomplish anything. " .He;seldom reads the white Chicago newspapers, because '.'they never have anything good to say about Dawson no matter what he does. " In a magazine interview, he 25interview with Congressman Sidney Yates (Dem-Ill) on July 19 , 1961. 26Wilson, "Two Nearo Politicians . " op. cit. , p. 367. ■ ■ 27 - ' ■ .V ^ : : 'v Ibid. , p. 347. ; ^^Interview on July 19 , 1961. \ .. ' 29Fletcher Martin and John Madigan, "The Boss of Bronzeville, " Chicago Magazine, I (July, 1955), 22. . , ■ ; : , • • 48 stated that "I don't care .what they say about me. It isn't true. In a discussion with me, Dawson raised the subject and declared, "Newspapers . have been very unfair to me.. My people know it isn't true. So it doesn't bother me . You don 't get mad; you: get smart . " ^ Dawson performs "thousands of political favors for his people ■ ' : ' 32 , . ■; and never takes a nickel for.one of them, 11 ■ he maintains. He listed ' three reasons, why he never has accepted such contributions: "In the first place, it would be wrong. In the second, I wouldn't prey on my people. And:;, .third: A favor creates an obligation. If you took money as a gift • in return for a favor, you would be getting .paid back. When you don't you ; , 3 3 have something coming. For a politician that something is votes . " v ■ However, the relationship between the Dawson1 organisation and crime is a much discussed subject in Chicago. There is "no doubt that at one time gambling flourished on the South Side, with evident police and political protection. . . . According to one observer, there are "at least fifteen policy 'wheels ' on the South Side and probably two or three times' ■ . ■■ - ,. : L .■ . - ,, • ' 35 that number in.fact. Narcotics and prostitution are widespread. " 30pietcher Martin, "The Durable Mr. Dawson of Cook County, 111. , Reporter, XVIII (August, 1956), p. .9 . ■ = . ■ , • .' Interview on July 19 , 1961. .- . ■ 0^Martin, op.- cit. , p. 10. -33ibid. : . ' , . . ' 3^Wilson, Negro Politics.,' op. cit. , p. 65. 35Ibid. ■. ' ' : : ' ' : , •" : ; ' v; v; " ' ' : ; ' ' .... . • '■ - ' On the subject of gambling, Dawson has contended: "Of course, , the laws against gambling should be obeyed. . But enforcement on.one and . not the other isn't liberty, it's lidense©. If anybody is. to profit cut of the • gambling in the Negro community, it should be the Negro * It is primarily an economic position. I want the money my people earn to stay in the Negro community."®° - i . . ' 'v ' Dawson continued, "The charge that I took political contributions • for gambling carries the connotation that I was in the position to give . them protection. I have never been in a position to give gamblers pro tection. That is the province of the mayor and the police commissioner. " ' Several years ago a Chicago newspaper declared that Dawson ;d "arrogantly declared to investigators for the Chicago Crime Commission that he’did not hesitate to take money from,gambling joints in his ward . for political purposes. .. .. ", ; Dawson denied he ever made the statement. v. Dawson has also been accused of ruling over "festering crime : '. : :; V o>9 ■ centers of violence. . .and graft."0 . To the barrage of such criticism Dawson replies-with a racial, appeal:. "They're trying to make me the . whipping boy for political purposes. : They've forced us to live here and • Martin, op . cit. t, p . 12. q7 Ibid, ^ Chicago Tribune , Feb. 9 , 1955 , 39Ibid . . ' , ' , :■ i they take advantage of it , , . " Although race was used as a campaign ■ technique in the early years of the Dawson organization, it is no longer considered necessary. In fact, it would operate to the detriment of his desired-view of himself as a statesman. Consequently, the civic issues which Negro improvement associations list as important—fair employment . , practices, open,occupancy, medical integration—are not common topics in Dawson's contacts with the-voters. Dawson consciously separates his Chicago support from his . ■ ■ ' . \ .. action in Washington. There is "little contact between the Washington ■ and Chicago offices, The staffs are separately recruited and separately organized. Communications between the two are relatively small. The Chicago office renders most of.the services Dawson's constituents desire; relatively few demands reach Washington. Dawson, is to a "greater extent than other Congressmen freed from constituent pressures, and he deliberate- ' ' • , , - ' .V-;, ' ; , . • ' ' ’• ,'; • 4 O ■ ; C:':'" ,. ',y.' ' ' ■ • ' : ' '' r " ' ly cultivates this situation. " ' A y' The Chicago office is located in a modest building in the very , heart of the most depressed Negro area. It is "drab on the outside and plain ' ' " ' - ' 43 " ■ ' : - ’ • ' - in the inside, and deliberately so. " It is accessible to the .least- 40Alfred de Grazia, "The Limits of External Leadership Over a Minority Electorate, " Public Opinion Quarterly, XX (Spring, ; 1956},p.:w \ : ' ^^Wilson. "Two Negro Politicians , " op. cit. , p. 357. ' . ' . ,■ - . ; . . . ; 51 advantaged person, and nothing about the .office "is allowed to make the person feel he is out of his element 'or in unfamiliar surroundings. " * This is quite in contrast to his Washington office. Upon reaching ' Dawson's fourth floor suite in the new House Office Building a visitor encounters an entrance hall which precedes his secretary's office. Both the entrance, hall and the secretary's office are formal in appearance. Dawson's office is large, with his desk placed in such a manner that a guest never has to sit with the sun in his eyes. The desk is piled high with orderly stacks of reports. Next to his desk on one wall are bookcases extending the length of the room and up three-quarters of the height of the wall. To his right, as custom prescribes , on the wall behind him hangs a medium-sized autographed photograph of President Kennedy. Whereas the setting of the Chicago office serves to bring people in, the Capitol office is designed to keep people out. A complete divorce between the roles of "statesman" and politician is maintained. In his Washington role, "Dawson is a leader interested in good government and liberal measures.' " 45 For some years his most important task has been that of chairing the powerful Government Operations Commit tee. Concerning this committee Dawson has said: . "I would like to call \ to the attention of the House the fact that our committee does possess exceptional powers under the laws creating it. We are one of the three . ; 45Ibid. , p . '358. : , ' . ; . : - \ ^ 52 committees of the House which is authorized to meet whether the Congress is in session or not. : When the Democrats took control of the 81st Congress in 1948 Dawson was by seniority in line to become chairman of the committee. A j ealous colleague tried to: enlist the backing of Southerners on the committee in a move to by-pass Dawson. The Southerners rejected the suggestion. They felt hot only that Dawson was entitled to it but that he was also better qualified than his opponent. Under Dawson's command, the Committee has increased its influenceIn Washington, one method of determining who is successful is to vvatch the growth of the person's project's budget. The Committee's .budget for the 81st Congress was $300,000. For the 85th Congress, it was $1,175,000, and for the 86th Congress, $1,040,000. "The Committee ■ - ' V , ' 48 staff is competent, and largely free of purelypatranagoappointments. " The proceedings of the Government Operations Committee reflect an attention to business and a unique aversion to simple publicity. "Dawson . has not used his committee staff as .a source of race patronage; only two : . : ' ■ ■ : ' 49 - out of fifty staff members are Negroes. " It is explained that this reflects the shortage of qualified Negro personnel. The.Committee has ^U . S..Congressional Record, 82nd Cong. , 2nd Sess.-, . 1952, XCVIII, Part 4, 4525. 47 • . ■ ' ■ : ; .: . ■ ■ New York Times March 12, 1956 , p . 3. .r ^Wilson, "Two Negro Politicians . " op. cit. , p. 358. 49Ibid., p. 359. • 1 : . wide jurisdiction but "rarely is its investigatory powers turned towards explicitly racial issues. Some members of the staff regret this. " Many ;. staf£ •rriembers-Were unhappy about Dawson‘s -Opposition to,.the ;195 6. DDWell Amendment, regarding allocation of money to segregated schools. ' 1 y;-- D - Dawson presides oyer the Government Operations Committee with . authority„• He encourages junior, colleagues to take on new responsibilities and to rise in committee Work. : "He does nOt feel that he has rivals' or . ... -opponents, and is friendly with everyone. " . The first response of one of his colleagues to a general question about him in a private interview was: . , "He 's a very friendly fellow. Dawson in an interview once declared.,;y "I like all people. I don't hate no man. I offer my friendship and if he ; doesh't take it'-'then he has missed a darn, gopd friend . "54 other phrases frequently used to describe. Dawson are , "cooperative, " "not a rabble rouser., ■ and a "man you can do business'with.. ■ . In promoting Negro interests, Dawson feels that his political. , power can best be used in ways other than .as a soap box for the raising • of racial, issues, or in. pressing for legislative, correction of racial abuses. ■■ 5°ibid'; ■ • ' ' " . ■ ' 52Ibid. . p. 358, ■ ■ ‘ '•■>:■ V,';-y ^Interview with Representative Sidney Yates (Dem-Ill.) on ^Julyvl.9,: ' ■v'':';-;'v,y.:'■.;i:'"'v ^interview on July 19,' 1961 V ■ . : ■ ' ■■ ^ ; V. 54 ' Dawson succinctly states his position: "We. have to change men's‘minds; laws can't do everything. Prejudice is taught, not inherited„ He sees himself promoting Negro;.'interests. by intervening on their behalf with the authorites in placing more Negroes in government and by demonstrating the achievements possible for a Negro leader. Dawson has not been f effective in race matters in Congress, nor "even really Very interested in race matters as subjects for legislation. " ■ Dawson has never sponsored any serious civil rights bills , b;.. V . Dawson's supporters claim that he does aid and intervene for the Negro but in an unpublicized way. He has conferred "with southern political leaders about Negro registration and segregation in party meetings and functions in the South. He interfered in the Emmett Till lynch case, and he moved to cut off the southern-led investigation of school integration in Washington, D.C . (He is a member of the House District of Columbia 5 7 . : Committee). All of these statements are difficult to document, because of the secrecy which surrounded them. The case is "that Dawson has had more effect than his critics alleged and less than his most ardent supporters ■ 58 . ■' 'h ‘ .. b '' ' claim■ Some critics charge him with "doing nothing" for the Negro, ’ 55Ibid. ' . . . ' . . ■ . . ^^Letter from James Q. Wilson, Cambridge, M ass., . Sept. 22, 1961. , / '• ' . > Wilson, "Two Negro Politicians, " op. cit. , p. 361. 58ibid. . ' ' ■ : ■ b : ■■ ' . : . . \ ' : ' „• :■ 55- as contrasted with the actions of Powell. On the contrary, Powell has no greater a list of accomplishments, and, when pressed, many Negroes will concede this. Powell himself attacked Dawson in- 19'52. Ironically, the attack involved, according.to Powell, Dawson's refusal to push for a com pulsory Fair Employment Practices Committee 's plank in the 1952 Democratic platform. Dawson's first bill in Congress was for a F.E.P.O. , and he spoke more often for it than for any other piece .of legislation during his years in the House prior to 1952. Powell maintained that Dawson urged "compromise" and "blocked" the minority report of the Democratic con vention . "If the Democratic National .Committee , " declared Powell, "desires to bring William Dawson into this town (New York City) at'anr time during the campaign they .might as well forget try ing to carry Harlem 59 . ■ • ■ ; . and New York S tate. He continued, "Cne thing we Harlem Negroes decided a long time ago is that we don't want any 'Uncle Toms' north of 110th Street. " Powell ended his statement by stating that: "I am not saying any money had to pass to Dawson for there have always been men who for • a slap on the back are willing to sell their people down the river. Dawson, maintaining his rule against publicity, refused to reply to Powell's charges.. Powell indirectly noted Dawson's power by maintaining that Dawson could markedly influence the program of the Democratic party. All that Powell himself could do was to criticize Dawson, not having the power to influence his party/significantly. ; 59New York Times . August 4, 1952, p. 9 . ' ; 60Ibid. ' , , ' ' : : .. . ; r: ; '■ ■ ■ 56 Dawson's Legislative Record . . . . Dawson's success or lack of success can be .seen by examining the legislation he has initiated. Dawson has introduced a total of 161 pieces of legislation (see Chart 1). Of this total, 23.6%, or 38; were acted upon; 11,8%, or 19, of the bills were passed. Those relating to his, committee (Government Operations) make .up 65.8% (113) of the bills he has introduced.. Thirty-one percent (36 bills) were acted upon, and 14% (16 bills) were passed. Of the Civil Rights bills numbering 31 proposals, or 19.2% of the total, no bill was passed or acted upon. In the other categories, a scattering of bills was introduced and/or acted upon. An examination of Chart 1, which is broken down by individual sessions, will reveal the picture more minutely. Ironically, two areas of vital interest to the Negro—housing and social security-—were never the subject of a Dawson bill. In his years’in the House he has never spoken on these issues. . Unfortunately, the . reasons for this unusual reaction to such vital issues cannot be explained by an examination of the available material. • . An examination of Dawson's voting record provides another insight into his career. During the years from 1945 to 1960, the House voted on 1423 roll calls (see Chart 2). Chart 2 breaks the number of roll calls down into a session-by-session base. This chart also analyzes Dawson's voting record, by both number and percentage of roll calls throughout his ’ career. His overall voting percentage on roll calls is 63-. 3 % with a Chart 1 - ■ Dawson Breakdown ef legislation Introduced 1943 194411945 |Il946? 1947'] 1948 :1949' 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 ll 9 59 fl 9 6 0 •Totals , :'7 Total number of bills introduced each year 0 2 2 0 5 ... 0 1 12 ... 11 32 8 6 0 16 ' 8 30 ' 9 13 : 1 6 1; Total number of bills acted on each year 0 0 0 . 0; 0 ;oj • 7 5 3 1 0 0 5 : ' 5 : 7 ' 2 2 ' 1 38 Total'number of bills passed each year O' 0 0 0; 0 : 0 I .'.5! 2 , 0 ; ■ o ' 0 o: ■ .3 1 4 2 1 1 ■ 19 Percentage of total acted on 0 0 0 0 0 ■ Voj58.3 45.4 9,3 12.5 . 0 0 31.2 62.5 |23.3 22.2 15.3 14.2 23.6% Percentage of total passed 0 ■ 0 0 ,0 o- :0l41.7,1 18.1 0 . 0 : 0 0 18.7 12.5 13.3 22.2 7.6 14.2 11.8% Intro due ed: Civil Rights ' • ■ ; , 0 2 : 2 0 5 0 4. 0 : ' 0 : o 5 0 0 0 10 1 , 2 0 V 31 . Defense 0 0 0 0 0 . 0 1| - 0 0 0 O'. 0 . 0 0 . 0 0 0 0 1 Education & Labor v - ' 0 0 0 0 0 0 0-1 0 . .0 0 ' 0 0 ; 0 : 0 'fi' 1 0 0 ' . 2 Foreign Policy ■ 0 0 0 0 0 1 , 0 0 0 0 0 ' 0 0 1 ■ V o ; 0 0 0 2 Housekeeping ' 0 0 0 0 ' O' b ■ 7.j 7 29 V 8 0 0 15 5 18 ,..,v 6 : 11 , ' ' 7 • 113 ' \ Veterans ' ' ' v . 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 . 1 ' 0 0 ' .0 0 0 V ' o 0 0 :: 0 1 Virgin Islands & Panama . V 0 ' 0 0 0 0 0 0: 1 0 0 "• 0 ■ 0 0 0 ' 0 V;i' • 0 0 ' 0 ' . 1 : Other 0 0 0 • 0 0 0 V ol 4 3 : • o 1 V o . 1 3 . . 2 V: 2 0 ' 0 12 Percentage, of total introduced: ■ V , Civil Rights 0 100 100 0 100 .0 33 -.0 0 ; o 13.3 0 0 0 40.1 11.1. 15.3 0 '' 19. 2% Defense 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 .0 ■ ' 0 r . o 0 0 V 0 i 0 0 0 .5% Education & Labor 0 ■ . 0 0 0 0 0 O' 0 0- 0 0 ■ 0 . 0 0 3 ; i i 0 , 0 ' 1% Foreign Policy 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 ' 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 0 ■ ' 0 0 0 1% Housekeeping 0 0 0 0 0 0 58.3 63.6 90.7 100 ■ 0 : 093.8 62.5 33,3 66.6 84.7 100 65.8% Veterans 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ' 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 ; . 0 0 . ' 0 .5% . ■ Virgin Islands & Panama 0 0 0 0 ' 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 - 0 : ' 0 0 0 0 0 0 ' .5% Other " 0 0 0 0 0 0 8.7 36.4 9.3 0 16.7 0 6.2 37. 5 6.6 22.3 0 •• ' 0 ' ' ' 77c Percentage of legislation acted on: Housekeeping 0 0 0 0 0 0 100 57.1 10.3 12.5 0 3.3 100 33.3 33.3 18.1 14.2 • 31.9% Other . 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 25 ■ 0 0 0 0 0 0 33.3 0" 0 0 - 12.59% Percentage passed: Housekeeping 0 0 0 0 0 0 42.8 28.5 . 0 O' 0 0 30.8 20.0 16.6 33.3 90 14.2 ' 14.0% Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 : 0 0 0 0 - " 0 0 0 33.3 0 0 0 6.2% Number acted on: Housekeeping 0 0 0 0 0 0 ' 7 4 3 1 0 .0 5 ■ 5 ■ 6 ' 2 2 ' 1 36 Other 0 0 0 0 0 , ' 0 0 1 ' ■ 0 0 0 0 O' 1 0 .0 O' 0 2 Number passed: Housekeeping 0 0 0 0 0- 0 3 2 ol 0 ' 0 0 3 1 3 2 1 1 16 I ' Other ! ■ 0 0; Vo) or o ol o 1; 0 0.1 0 . olv • Oi i’ 0 ; 1 0 i 0 ,. ■ Ol» . '■ 0 V:;:v 1 1 ^Congressman Dawson introduced no legislation in the following, categories: Agriculture, Finance, Housing, and Social Security. .58 Chart 2 Roll Calls of William L. Dawson 1945 1946 1947. 1948 194911950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958' 1959 I960' Totals Roll calls 99 130 83 79 121 154 109 72 71 76 76 73 160 93 87 93 1423 Voted 43 43: 29 42 98 85 71 41 45 45 49 57 - 44: 77 78 : 73 920* V Absent 52 22 14 20 23 69 38 32 26 31 27 16 56 16 9 20 503 Percent voted 23.0 33.0 35.9 53.1 44.1 65.1 63.6 63. 59 64 ■ 78 44' 83 - 90 78 63.3%. ; Percent absent 52.5 16.9 15. 7 25.3 19,0 45.9 3:4.9 .44.4 ' 37 41 36 22 56 17 10 22 36.7% Votes differing w . Dem. maioritv 8 6 17 11 9 8 ' 6 14 5 1 2 ; 4 7 • 6 - 7 ' 118 : % differing w . Dem. maioritv 8.0 4.6 20.4 14.0 6 .0 5. 0 7.3 8.3 22.5 6.5 2.6 2.7 - 4 6.4 • 6.9 7.5 9 .0% ' ; Votes against House maioritv : 13 22 / 36 28 . 24 4 , 34 29 31 20 7 ' 10 18 15 , 7 10 332** % against House maioritv 13. L 16.9 44.5 35.4 19. 0 11.7 31.1 40.1 43.6 26.3 9.2 13 .7 18 17.2 19.5 10.7 22.5%*** Legislation the group voted on 29 ■ 38 31 35 72 62 : as 25 31 30 45 39 35 54 72 46 597**** Percent of total 27.2 29.2 37.2 44.3 59.5 40.2 48.6 34.7 43.6 39.4 59.2 53.4 35 58.0. 82.7 49 . 4 48.9% No. of uniform group votes 27 34 30 31 51 47 48 21 28 27 39 35 28 42 52 34 574***** % of uniform group votes 93.11 89.4 96.7 88.5- 70.8 75.9 90.5 84.0 90.3 90.0 86.6 90 80 77.7. 82 73.9. 82 . 3% *57 . 5 per year **20 .6 per year ***Democrat-controlled sessions: 17. 5% Republican-controlled: 37.4% ****43 . 5 per year ' *****35 .8 ner vear . ■ ' ' ' ' . - ■ • 59 consequent absentee record on 36. 7% of them „ His average percentage on roll calls of voting in opposition to his fellow Democrats is 9%. His opposition to the simple House majority is 22.5%, based on the roll calls over the past sixteen years. ■ This index varies considerably, depending •' upon which party organized the House. In Republican sessions the" average percentage was 37.4% while the percentage in Democratically controlled 1 . sessio n s was only 17. 5%. As was noted earlier, Dawson voted against the voting majority of his party 9% of the time over the years. Various classes of bills will now be examined, in an attempt to develop a pattern or patterns of Dawson's legislative behavior (see Chart 3). Only four times did.he vote against his party on agricultural. y .issues—once" each in 194.7, 1948, 1953, and 1957.: Two of the bills were related, to city inhabitants. The first bill which he. favored was a motion to discharge the repeal of the oleo tax from committee. The second was a bill to allow livestock dealers to levy a charge upon wholesalers to earn money to promote meat consumption in the United States. Dawson opposed the measure. In 1947 be. voted to increase the Department's1 budget. He. voted in 1953 to reduce the money budgeted to soil conversion. = On issues dealing With civil rights, he disagreed with his party considerably more. Thirteen of these votes were cast against the House . ' Un-American Activities Committee funds, against contempt citations, and against internal security measures. , The rest dealt either with F.E.P.O. or 60 Chart 3 - Dawson Votes Against Majority of Democrats 1945Il9461947 1948 19491950 1951 19521953 19541955 19561957 195811959 I960 Totals Total . 8 L. 6 17 11 8 9 .8 6 14 ■ 5 ' I 2 ■ 4 7 : 6 7 118 ' Agriculture 0 0 1 r 1 0 0- 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 ■ 0 ' 0 ■ 4 Civil Rights 1 3 4 3 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 2 0 21 Defense 2 0 1 0 ' 1 O' 0 0 0 0 . O' 0 ' 0 ' 1 1 0 6 Foreign Policy 0 ' 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 O' 0 0 . 0 0 : 2 - 4 Education & Labor 1 2 7. "l ' O' 0 . 2 1 2 1 0 0 2 ' 0 2 2 23. Finance . ' 1 0 1 0: 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 : V. 0 0 1 , 0 ■ 2 9 Housing ■ . 0 0 O- 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 . 4 Veterans - . ■/ ' 0 0 0 0 1 3 2 0 0 0 ■ 0 0 0 0 ' , 0 . 0 6 Government Operations 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 O' 0 ,0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Natural Gas & Tidelands Oil 0 0 1. 1 ■1 ■ 0 2 1 2 0 1 0 .0 0 0 0 9 Social Security 0 0 . 0 . 3 0 0 0 0 0 . 0 0 .0 0 0 0 0 3 Public Works :v o 0 0 ■ o • "l o. 0 0 0 1 0 ■ 0 ■o 1 : 0 0 . 3 ; Immigration 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 3 0 : 0 0 0 0 : o : o 5 : Price Controls 0 0 • 0 0 ; - 0 0 1 1 . 0 ' 0 0 1 0 0 : 0 : o " 3 : Miscellaneous 3 : ' 1 Iv 0 1 1 \ 0 | 2 2 2 ! 0 '■ 1 0 I 2 ' 1 1 i 15 ; .: . . ' ' ^ or anti-poll tax legislation, -which he obviously favored, or with legis lation intended' to void the Mallory rule, which Dawson opposed. The ' Mallory rule limits to approximately three hours the time a person can be held without arraignment on a Federal charge. • . On foreign policy issues, he seldom voted against his party. In 1953 he voted not to recommit the Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act to com mittee, and in 1960 he voted for the Ford (Rep-Mich) amendment to add $65,000,000 to mutual security defense support. The most votes cast in opposition to his party dealt with education and labor. He has consistently voted against any bills which organized labor would find repulsive. For example, he voted against limiting employer liability under the Wages and Hours Act; against all the steps to secure passage of the Taft-Hartley Act; against all the steps to secure passage of the Landrum-Griffith Labor Management Act; and he voted on several occasions to cripple or kill the bills permitting the entrance of Mexican agricultural workers into the United States. The nine votes in opposition to financial matters generally involved issues that would benefit "the little man. " He supported such bills as would cut excise taxes and continue excess profit taxes# . Dawson followed the liberal line in voting on housing legislation. He voted to continue tight rent controls and to limit interest on housing loan insurance to 6%. 'yv, ■ v; 'v v-: ‘ " , ■ The six opposition votes to veterans ' legislation were all geared to limit veterans1 benefits. However, he has mentioned with regularity ' • that he J s a veteran, a wounded end crippled one (although the princi pal cause of his crippled state is a severe automobile accident) . Be voted in 1949 against the Veterans' Pension. Bill, in 1950 to kill out-patient medical care for Spanishnteierican War veteran's, and to kill disability pension increases for veterans whose inj uries were sustained outside the armed forces. In 1947 he voted against increasing the investigatory power of 1 his committee. This was one of the few occasions on which he voted against legislation that came under his .committee 's juris.dietion. This vote was consistent with his vote in the middle '40 "s against giving investigatory powers to the Education and tabor Committee:.: . . : Most of his. votes on natural gas and tidelands legislation Were 5 ' to recommit—kill—the bills. All of his opposition votes in this area ' ' ' ref lected a strohg:desire not to release natural gas producers from Federal . control and not to give the states, namely southern ones, the disputed tidelands. ' . > - v V' V ' ■ . /' ' .His three votes against social security, legislation all came in 1948. He voted against raising the amount of money to be given to public assistance, •but also for increasing social security coverage. His public works'votes were against increasing flood control funds in 1949 and against the appropriation for the Glen Canyon Project in .; Arizona. k'k Dawson1 s five anti-majority votes on immigration all have had the aim of increasing the flow of immigration into this country. v • > ■ : v ;:v ;; y ■: 63 Within the miscellaneous category, he generally took what is described as the liberal position'. He voted against (a) investigating tax-exempt foundations;, (b) giving the Civil Service Commission dis cretionary powers in dealing with violations; (c) the sale of government-. • owned rubber plants to private interests; (d) giving up the government's ' right to patents obtained by companies discovering the information for the patent under a government research grant; and (e) the Smith’ (Dem-Va) Bill to nullify the Nelson case decision dealing' with the pre-emptive powers of the national government. • :: y : ' ' ■■ Dawson consistently advocates more governmental control over the economic.and social aspect of man's life, but advocates.less control over the government's attempt to. pry into a person's life. The index "key votes " (these votes are those described as "key votes " by the Congres sional Quarterly Almanac) in 1945 through 1960 has been analyzed in an . .. attempt to determine any recognizable trends in Dawson's legislative .. behavior. ' ' : , : • v • . - ; , His thinking appears to have changed over the years in one respect. In 1949 he voted against rigid:high price supportsbut in 1953, 1954, 1955, and 1960 he voted for them and opposed the flexible plan advocated by President Eisenhower. : . ■ • ' . f .. . . On the. key civil rights bills he supported anti-poll tax legislation, F .E.P.C ..>'and;federal ref erees for voter registration. He voted against any bills that, would delve more deeply into an individual's belief, such ■ - - ■■;/V;; ’ ; ' ■ ' ;' M: ... ; as the Mundt-Nixon Anti-Communist Bill. In 1956, however, in an unex pected and unexplained .move, he voted against the Powell amendment to.' . ; ':;:;the School .Md Bill,. . : Defense, promoters have a solid backer in Dawson, He is not ' partisan in his service choice., voting to add more money than the Presi- .' ’ dent requested to both the Army and the Air Force over the years. He is an advocate of universal military training, Once, in an appeal for an end to segregation in the National Guard, he stated, "I have always been in favor of T,." ■ He also has constantly supported strong selective service legislation. He did not, a § Powell did, upon being defeated in ■. - attempts to end segregation in the armed forces in past years, vote against ■the entire draft program;. • , , ' . ' /., -; . r ./ Dawson .has consistently supported legislation favorable to organized labor. Both the Taft-Hartley and Landrum-Griffith. bills were opposed by him. Unemployment measures which would extend the length of availability and raise the provided amount have won his continual y appfoVali, \ A . • ■ .r t ' .. ' '' ' .-h. . ' / :'i School aid, school construction and federal aid to education in . general have always received a "yea" vote from the Chicago Congressman. , Public housing bills have also been regularly supported by Dawson. He , has voted favorably for continuation of rigid rent controls. " , . 61u. Sv Congressional Record, 84th Cong. , 1st . Session, 1955,.vol. lOly Part 6, p, 6653, . ■ . . : ' . . . ' ■ . ■ / . 65 ; 'Britis.h-. loari^ ',/^Qrd0fc^tufk:i^tt;;aid>^$^ope^ni’recovery plans : (Marshall Plan), mutual defense asslstance.acts . Point Four assistance, economic assistance , Korean aid and the Mid-East Doctrine are all foreign policy.declarations which Dawson has supported. The Reciprocal Trade .Agreement's extension has never failed to win his affirmative vote. In the area of finance, Dawson opposes cuts in government - '■ y spending. He has voted in favor of income tax reductions by allowing higher personal exemptions in 1947,; 1954, and 1955, but he has voted against other types of income tax reduction measures such as ending the , excess profits tax. He voted against increasing interest on government bonds and against raising the.gasoline tax to finance the highway program. His general pattern of not voting to cut government expenditures V was suppressed when he voted to kill the 1949 Veteran's Pension Bill (HR2681), which would.have given all.veterans of 65 years of age, a pension of $90 a month. He also voted against raising disabled veterans' non-service connected disability pension to $120 a month. The further development of the TVA, the creation of the Colorado ■ River Project, and the vote of approval.for the St. Lawrence- seaway show his approval of government development of water and power sites. Through out the long struggle by the natural gas producers to gain exemption from . Federal control and by the oil interests to have Congress give the tidelands to the states, Dawson consistently voted over and over to thwart both objectives. ' ■ v . v , ■ Either the "key" votes or the anti-Democratic majority votes point out Dawson's pattern of advocating that the government take a more constructive interest in the socio-economic spheres of an individual'$ life, and less of an interest in the individual's political beliefs. • ' Public Speeches • . Another important aspect of a Congressman's behavior is public , speeches. Due to Dawson's belief that- speeches can and do have more of an adverse than a beneficial effect, the material available for such an examination is severely limited. On matters other than those relating to civil',rights, either directly or indirectly, or on those matters of concern to his Committee, Dawson has remained completely silent, not explaining his stand or vote on any other of the major areas of legislation. The sig nificant speeches, quite few in number, will be examined in the next few .pages, n . . d : ^ Dawson \s first, speech to the House of Representatives, 'several. months after he entered that body, concerned a colored man. It was the . first and only time in his Congressional career when he rose to defend one of his own race. "I am not, " Dawson said, "one who is insensitive to color. I am not one who is ashamed of what God made me.... "®2 After, ■ this introduction which included the notion of race, Dawson launched into the defense of a Negro who was accused of being a Communist, ending ;S, Congressional Record, 78th Cong., 1st ,' Session, 1943, vol. 89j. Part 1, p. 702. his appeal with the., hope' that "the fundamental idea of fair play that we ■ : ^ know rests deep down in the bosom of the majority of the American public" would be exhibited. : : His. second speech was concerned with the theme, "I am a Negro. I am an American. . .1 can stand here before you. . . and tell you I do not believe there are those who have a deeper love and appreciation for the r,, • ■ A,. , : : "" 64 ■ ' ■' ■; country of their birth than dbeS the American Negro. " In the next /■ . session of Congress Dawson delivered another emotional appeal. Not surprisingly,, it ran: "I, too, ,am an American, and in.making my claim to that I apologize to no man. By every rule that you may measure men, apply ■ it to me, and see if I measure up to that test. . . " ; This speech received no attention, but in 1951 a similar appeal emerged as his most famous \ .speech. " ■ ' -' . This time, as one Gdngressman phrased it, "Dawson became one of the fewG'ongressmen who ever changed a bill with a speech. " The New York Times called it a "stirring plea " against segregation in the armed ■ forces. He implored hiS colleagues' to reject the segregation provision, in 63Ibid. ; : . y/Y,; ®^Ibid. , Part 4, p.; 4852. . . 65-y: v Congressional Record, 78th Congw 2nd Session, vol. 90, Part 4, p. 5058. : ^^Interview with Congressman Sidney Yates (Dem-Ill.) on July 19, 1961. ' h ''' ' ^ y: 68 a pending draft bill. The House later rejected it 178 to 126. Besides approximating what was ,quoted from his' abdye speechDawson.declared: : Give me the test that you would apply to make anyone a full-fledged American, and if, by the living Godr it , means death itself, I will pay it. . .1 would give up this life of mine to preserve this country and every American in it, white, or black. Deny to me today, if you will, all that American citizenship stands for, I will still fight to preserve our nation, knowing that some .day, under the Constitution of the Hnited States , all of these restrictions . will be removed, and that we' will move forward before the world as one people . ^ . In 1946 in one of the rare public speeches of his life Dawson discussed the responsibility of the Negro to a college .commencement of ' Negro students .■ Dawson 's .philosophy is probably best summed up in this speech. ; ' V ' . We .ourselves must assume responsibility for ourselves and abide by the results of our own achievements. The situation is here, the circumstances are set, the battle . lines are drawn. - Our enemies and obstacles axe known. The place we attain in the final analysis must necessarily depend on how well we appraised the situation, how intelligently we mastered the circumstances, and how skillfully we planned and executed our battle strategy. Were it my desire I could relate to you from my personal knowledge incidents which would boil the blood within you, whip, your temper ipto a frenzy, and fan the . fires of your wrath into devastating flame, on which . reason and judgm.eiit would be quickly consumed, and give place to bitter vengeance... but were I to do this ■ and leave you so, were I to do this in some selfish desire to pose as a fighter for my people. ..and present no plan of action to overcome the situation, were I to do this and leave you embittered and angry and without S. Congressional Record, 82nd Cong., 2nd Sessionk;;I951, vol. 97, Part 3, p.- 3765. • . ■' . . 69 hope to master the circumstances, I would prove myself a worse enemy to you than any person of any race could v ever be... - . Courtesy, politeness , consideration for other people still constitute the march of culture and refinement and will open more doors -and make more friends for us than all the switch blade knives, pistols, and blackjacks made when placed in the; hands of unreasoning and irresponsible persons. : ■ • " Evaluation An intriguing aspect of the Chicago.Negro‘s Congressional career has been his ability to keep his' constituents in the dark with regard to his position on a major portion of the vital issues of his decades in Congress. The fact that he is an urban Negro would automatically make the issues of civil rights, public housing, medical care, "progressive taxes, " better schools, educational opportunity, and the concept of welfare legislation generallyi of prime iiripoftance both to him, his constituents, arid his race. An analysis of his career reveals that he has never championed any of these causes to a noticeable extent. With the exception of the Introduction of some, civil rights bills that were never acted upon arid.several short orations on pending civil rights legislation his name and voice are absent from the promotion of any of • these -causes Dawson has taken no active position regarding the areas of defense and' foreign policy except for vocally supporting a bill for an integrated armed forces. Despite his lack of position-taking, Dawson . S. Congressional Record, 79th Cong. , 2nd Session, 1946, vol. 92, Part 9, p. A3034. - - 70 has managed to.win re-hlection consistently with pluralities between 55% and 75%' of the vote. . " : V Dawson's feudal kingdom in the heart of the country gives him more freedom than even the most solid southern districts give their con gressmen. The southern representatives cannot deviate on the issue of segregation, even if they have complete license to perform in the other areas of the political arena. However, Dawson even usurped that barrier with his vote against the Powell amendment to bar segregation in the schools. No politician in the country, with the possible exception of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., has the freedom and mobility at the national . level that.William L. Dawson has gained. James Q. Wilson wrote of this phenomenon, \ ■ He can. survive almost any position he takes on a single issue, his freedom of choice is wide, he can be deliberate in his choice of ends and means, he can devote himself almost entirely to the pursuit of other 'nbn-racial goals without being penalized.' His range of discretion regarding means to any important political end is broad. This is done in part because he can afford the luxury of little or no publicity, and in part because tie need'not consider the extent to wMch the , means he uses are endowed with value significance. .• „ '1 ^W ilson, "Two Negro Politicians., " op. cit. , p. 361. ; > V : V/'X.'' V .CHAPTER IV : : , V::;. ; ^ AD ^ C L m O N POWELL^ JR. .. Biography of Powell ; - v The Reverend Adam Giayton Powell, Sr. was born in a one-room log cabin in Franklin County , "Virginia „ He taught him s elf how to read one winter by studying the Gospel of St. John by firelight. The family lived in an obscure rural area / and Powell, one of 19 children, did not, even know what town he lived near. He saw a clock for the first time when he was ten; he saw a train at age 11. He showed great ambition and energy by working as a waiter to pay his way through Yale University. Powell, Jr . 's' grandfather was a branded slave. He relishes . telling the story of how, when he was ten years old, he climbed on a chair and traced the letter "P" nine inches high,, which was burned into / his grandfather's back. Powell's maternal grandmother was white, ac~ -V ■" - V k .:, ■■ ■ ■■; ' . y ; ' ■ 2 counting for the extreme lightness of the Congressman 's complexion. Powell uses his background to political advantage. "My folks were field Negroes for countless generations. That's why I belong to the O • - - ' .. , masses. " Actually, Powell comes one generation removed from this 1 Washington Post and Times Herald, Feb. 7, 1960, p. 38. ; . 2Ib id . . . . ; '■■■ ' ; / / ' 3I b id .. . , V ‘ ' " ■ ■ f . / '■■■:. 71 . , : ■ ■■■ ■;' ■ . " ' :: 72 tradition. The fact is that "he was pampered as a child and has never known want. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, November 29 f 1908, he was six months old when his father moved to New York to take over the Abyssinian Baptist Church. His light complexion made both Negroes and whites suspicious of himPowell likes to tell the story of his first violent encounter with ' prejudice on the streets of New York. When I was about 12 we moved into 136th Street and we were one of the first Negro families there. Well, there were always fights between the Negroes and the . ■ Irish--we called them the 'Micks. I remember one night my mother sent me out to the bakery and I was stopped by ■ • a bunch of Negro kids, and they beat me up because they thought I was white. The next night I went out and a gang of Irish kids beat me up because I was a Negro. Later that week another group of Negroes stopped-me and they said, "What are you? 1 I sa id , ''M ix e d .1 W ell, they thought I saidy. 'Mick.' So they beat me up. ^ In 1930, Powell received a B. A. from Colgate University. Powell passed as a white student there until his father arrived on campus to deliver a lecture. Apparently, he led a playboy life while in college. Powell is alleged to have said that his mother gave him a total of $100,000 while he was at Colgate.® . .. ■ Powell earned his M aster's degree at Columbia and a Doctor of Divinity at Shaw University, a small Baptist-affiliated school in Raleigh, ~ 4ibid. : : : .f •' "Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. „ The Angry Voice of Harlem, " Esquire, LIV (Nov. , 1959) , 42. - A ' . ; 6Ibid. . p. 44. . . ', : ; ^ :, -/:■ , - 7 3 -. North Carolina. According to his Congressional biography, he also studied "in Europe, North- Africa, and the Middle East „ . Powell entered ' the ministry on the night of Good Friday, 1929. He bacame an assistant ' pastor of the' Abyssinian .Church in 1.931 and pastor in 193 7. ■ Commensurate with, becoming'a ■minister in Harlem,. Powell took ' an.active■ ihterest in Harleip-civic problemsIn 1930, a group of Negro ::v doctors, who were banished from '.a hospital because of their race, came , to the 22-year-old Powell for help. He organized meetings, picketing, delegations to medical and city officials, .arid a march of 6,000- Negroes ■, on City Hall. "The Board of Estimates was in session, and Powell> as : chairman of the throng outside, got a hearing and voiced his demands. The eventual results were not only the granting of practice in Harlem - : ■■ . ' , ■ ' ■ ■ - 8 ■■ - hospitals for Negroes but the establishment of an interracial staff „ " "All my life, " Powell was. later to write of this day at City Hall, "I had prepared myself for that’opportunity. That day, when I saw 6,000 Negroes •streaming to City Hall by car or bus’, subway and elevated lines I knew we had, within our hands, a powerful weapon that would shake the ’ earth--a weapon which, disciplined and mastered, could cut;: throhgh the . false, sympathetic veneer of America into the. rotting cancer of racial prejudice... ‘ ' /'Congressional Office of Adam Clayton Powell-, "BiographicaT Sketch of Adam. Clayton PoWell, " p. 1. . : ’ . : . , ■ , ®Esguire, o p . c it . ' ’ ’ . ’.-■ /■/. ■ .’- . ■ ■ ’ " . ■■■ ■■ :w : :C - . Exactly how great Powell's part was in this episode has since become a matter of controversy between .his supporters and his enemies. His critics charge that the "real" work was done by the many other groups and individuals on the scene at the time Of Harlem's first political awaken- . ing. It was a time when Harlem was surging with protests, pickets and ; action, and Powell himself admits, "there, were others before me and others'. . at the same time—I was not. the first one or. the only one. " But Powell : j was the one who organized a neighborhood• "Coordinating Committee" - i called the Harlem Grusadey Which was-y^^so/' in''the midst QPhll the ' vf :: controversial happenings i ; . ; . ' . - .■ , Harlem had been.hard.hit by the depression: the Negro was "the last hired, first fired.." The Crusade members1 picketing of stores on ' Haflem ',s 125th Street and elsewhere' secured for the Negro the right to / work, as well as the right to buy in his own neighborhood; the employment of Negro pharmacists; the first token employment in the city light and tele- • phone companies; and the hiring of salesmen for the beverage industries. The Crusade members sponsored the first, mass strikes and the first mass protest meetings . N®A0AoC„Pa Executive Secretary Roy W.:t^iTkins has ■'' written of Powell's early activites that: ; . . ^ . . . it is not to be denied that Powell, played a leading ; role in mobilizing inarticulate sections of the Harlem ■ ... population during the dark and seemingly Hopeless days ' v'/. “ “ iQibid. ' . c: • ; • ^^Ibld. , p. 44. . - v ' . , • 75 of the great depression. He taught them how to ask and . work for what they needed, and what, it, may be added, was due them. Now patiently, and now with frenzied, near-demagogic speeches, he taught them and he led ■ •, them . If he ,asked them, in return, to send him to the City Council and then to Gdngress, they still, in all honesty, had the best of the deal. The new power he • . has,taught them to use is,cheap at the price. 12 ■ Political Career Capitalizing on his position as minister-civic leader of, a large section of Harlem's Negroes, Powell, in 1941, was elected to the New York City Council as a "nominal Democratn on the American Party City Fusion Ticket, and he took his seat as an Independent. Powell listed' his goals during this campaign were "to work for the improvement of the . social and economic conditions of the Negro in Manhattan, particularly in. Harlem, and for the inclusion of Negroes in the economic and community -f •• - ■ "I Q ' ' 1 ' * life of the city in general. " In his first election to the City Council he . "put forth special effort to capture the Puerto Rican vote* and has con tinued this effort throughout his political career. On the Council, "where he operated as a lone wolf, Powell loudly raised his voice on issues of discrimination. " One commentator wrote • 12Ibid. ' ’ : ' ; ' ' ' ; ' : . ^ ' ■ Current Biography (New York: H. W. Wilson Co. , 1942), p. 675. ' , ' ' -1"5David Hapgood, The Purge That Failed; Tammany v. Powell (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.,. 1959), p. 3. ■ that Powell offered "few tangible accomplishments as a legislator 4 ® Powell also spoke through The People's Voice, a Harlem weekly newspaper : of which he was co-editor. His column was called "The Soapbox/"; .. Powell said of; the - paper: : 1flt Ts j u s t me ^ ;-lt, '.S'j us t a reflection of me. T hat's the way I am. I'm interested in the theater and in books and in sports and in religion and ih the great questions of today. This paper reflects ’v,. ' In the 1943 redistricting of New York State, Harlem was made .the Sixteenth Congressional District. Powell, the sole Negro on the City . ' Co.uncil, was a natural candidate from the district. He set out to get all three nominations-—Democratic, Republican, and American Labor Party— and succeeded. He was elected without opposition in 1944, obtaining 78% / of the yote> arici.toQk Ms seat as a Democrat'. / . f //;/, ; At his first press conference in the Congressional campaign, Powell pledged,' "I will represent the Negro first, and all other Americans next. His platform also included, , : . '■ v . .the desire to extend the life of the National Resources' /■• ; Planning Board, and the granting of full power to it for . a study of econdmic Wastage;: a decentralization of community / : credit control on transportation of raw materials . and furnished goods and public utilities; the.closing of the ■ economic industrial gap- between North and South by removing . w ''/ / / ; IGibid/ '' a y / :-.yy w y . . . / . : / y ; ■ : ■ "The People's Voice, " New Masses (Nov. 3y'1942)> . ■ XIAZ, i 6 . ;': ; : ^/ ' ; . vy;y:;v ', z : - ;';:y\y ■ . :: : 18New York T im es. March 30, 1944, p. 10. / i ' / \ ...... -; ■ . 77 all discriminatory differentials , and moving industry ' . . close to; th©! sourtie"of raw: materialsand extension ' of government responsibility into the fields of • ' ' health, .educatiohand.housing-.^ . ■ ■ Poweir has been re-elected every two years since 1944. On two occasions he has threatened to resign his seat in the House. In the spring of 1956, Powell said he would make his'decision after seeing the outcome of the Prayer Campaign he had organi zed for % March 28th to end racial friction in Montgomery,- Alabama. After March 28th, V- • 20' ' he said, "I will re-evaluate the s itu a tio n ." He never mentioned this episode again. , . Again, in -July, 1960, he announced that he planned to give up his seat in Congress . "not later than 1964. " He also stated that he would retire as pastor of the church at the same time. Powell declared that he was going to relinquish these positions to encourage and train younger persons for leadership in the community. He warned, however, that "if _ _ . ' . v.,: ^ ■ ,; - . ,; - ' . 21 somebody makes me mad I might not go at all . " . Powell and the Democratic Party ' In 1958, when he was under great pressure from the Democratic organization in New-York to resign, he did not publicly offer to do So. • This trouble began in 1954 when Powell's finances' came under official , l^Ibid. , October 2, 1944, p. 41. . 20Ibid. . March 4, 1956, p. 55. , . ; . - , ’ : 21 Ibid. , July 21, 1960, p. 60. ■' ; , : ',: / ' : - -;:..\ • : v ; y ■ 78 : investigation.. The builder of an interracial cooperative housing project in Queens told a Senate sub-committee that he had loaned Powell $3,000 at ' 1% interest to buy a Healy sports car, the money to be returned when the . Representative "felt flush. " Other testimony revealed that two of Powell,s employees had been made project managers of this particular housing development at $8,000 a year. In 1956 a.Federal Grand Jury increased the intensity of the investigation of Powell. Shortly thereafter, the jury ■...... ' ‘ 1 ,.... ' • o,O -- ;' \ ■. • ''' ■, .■ recessed without making any indictments,.- - . In early 1958, the members of the Grand Jury sent a series of letters to the U. S. Attorney for New York threatening to reconvene and "become a runaway jury. " The jury was called back on April 17, 1958. On May 8, 1958, Powell was indicted on three counts of tax evasion. After the indictmeht, newsmen asked PowelTif the charges were true.. Powell replied, "I don't know-until ; ■ . I talk, to my lawyer tomorrdw."' - /->■ ’ . ■ . . Ilis. lawyer .apparently infdrmed'him •that he was not guilty, for that is what he pleaded. Upon leaving the courhduse, he told reporters, "I am' being, purged because I am a Negro and a Negro should stay oh the • . plantation. ■ , • •' , • .' ' . Due to a series of delays and illnesses (appendix, hernia, heart : , attack, and a non-cancerous' tumor), Powell's tax trial did not begin until : -^F lap g o o d , op v b it. / p.^ 5 . ■ • - \ ^^New York T im es, May 14, 1958, p. 24. ■ . • ;■ ■,'• ' d r .' : : • . Ibid. , May 15, 1958, p. 23. d . ; \ d ' , . ■ ' . ' ■' " . . 79 the spring of 1960 . The government claimed that Powell had listed his wife's taxable income in 1952 as $700, when her income was actually $90,000, earned from her career as a jazz singer. According to commen tators, however, the government's case was weak./and the judge dismissed the first two indictments. On the third indictment, the jury found him o c - ■ innocent . After the trial,, the Abyssinian Baptist Church awarded its V Annual Achievement Award to Edward Bennett Williams , Powell's attorney in the tax case. : ■'./ ■; ■ : 7 Besides the investigation of his finances and indictment in 1958, / there were repercussions from his support of President Eisenhower in 1956. Hiw switch to Eisenhower was motivated by his respect for the President's prestige abroad, his stand on civil rights (Eisenhower has staged "a quiet ' ■ '.'■■■' ■. 26 ' ' ' ; ■ ■ revolution for civil rights "), : and the series of snubs that Powell himself ■ had received from the Stevenson camp, • A group of Harlem Democrats charged that the government's investigation of Powell and his office staff was the cause of his switching parties. Powell replied that this was "a complete lie. I didn't have any convictions to change , , I had no, convictions about Adlai Stevenson to change. " Powell called the officials making/the charges "rubber stamps " ' and "political stooges for the Democratic bosses downtown. " Later in' • 25Ibid. , May 10, 1959, p. IV ' ! - 26Ibid. / O ct. 21, .1.956, p. 1. '.7 - . 27 7 ' " ■ ' ' . - ■ . : Ibid . Oct . 15 , 1956, p . 78 .7 the campaign Powell again vigorously denied any wrongdoing. "I made . absolutely no deals. Not one penny is coming to me, I would not accept 1 ' ‘ 28 '' - any, I am doing this of my own free will. " Tammany Hall leaders were highly displeased with Powell's actions in 1956, With the income tax indictments coming at the.same time as the primary elections t the political leaders thought this was their . chance to purgre the consistently inconsistent Powell.. After the indictments Carmen DeSapio announced that "the leaders could not in good conscience / ' ; /'. y . v ■ ^ ■ - - ' i ■ 22 support Adam Clayton Powell because he is not a Democrat. " Powell replied that “DeSapio is a liar.. .and a M ississippi boss. . „ the Negroes left Mississippi to get away from white bosses, but they found them in Harlem . "30 ; ' - Tammauy's leaders looked for another Negro to oppose Powell in the Democratic primary in 1958. They finally chose Harvard-educated Earl Brown, the' City Councilman who had led a fight to' end "Jim Crowism " in New York housing. • During the campaign, at a rally in Harlem honoring the fourth anniversary of the Supreme Court decision on school integration, Powell verbally attacked everybody in sight. Hulan Jack, Negro Manhattan burrough president and member of the Tammany organization, was booed ^8Ibid. > Oct. 29, 1956, p. 23. ' ' ' ^&bid. , May 16, 1^58, p. 16. N' . . . ' . . 30Ibid. ;; for ten minutes by 3,00 0 spectators . Powell .called Jack "Uncle Tom ' "v ■ ’ Jack was unable to speak until Powell urged the crowd to allow him. ■. . The Sunday following the rally, from his church pulpit, Powell . wamed,DeSapio and Jack to "avoid' walking up and down the streets of - . . ■. Harlem... we will not subject them to the degradation of attack similar to those' Nixon got in Latin America,' but we will make it very uncomfortable. " ' Jack replied that "Powell will hot chase' me out of HarlepnL " . . ■. - / Following Powell's "sermon, " the NS,A.A.C.P. issued a statement v dlsassoc.iatihg'itself completely from Powell's threats against any person's ' rights to go freely about the city.of New York and about the nation. The . / Uy statement said, in part, "We Senior,e and disassociate ourselves from the : ■ banner of extreme racialism used by Mr. Powell. . .if;Negro citizens are to * ; win permanent victory in the long fun , we must be consistent. We cannot . condemn racism in others while using it ourselves . " , L : ;; ' , V;.. ■ Brown, in his campaign against Powell, lashed back. "In all A his years in Congress Powell has accomplished nothing. He has been. v v • absent half the time. When the Civil Rights Bill was passed last year ; . ".: ,(195-7) Powell didn't fight for it or vote for it. Although.Powell did not vote for the conference version, he did voteNor the House version. He : was in Europe when the conference bill came up for a vote. , ' \ . . . ■ 1, ■■ . ; ■ ' . ■ Hapgood, op., cit. , ,p,. 7. ,.; V ■ V :7: : ^'"W ashington P o st, o p . c it .- ; V - v . ; ' -V : The outcome of- the.Dem'ocratfd primary election was an over whelming victory for Powell. The vote was 14,387 to 4,935 . Earl Brown later, said of his-battle to unseat Powell, "T was an orphan in the whole . ' ' 34 ' : ' ; • ■' ■■■ '■ ■ : - . . . . ' ■ damn th in g " By October, Powell had "made peace " with Tammany. As • ' ; i ■■.- < _ - . t ,y 1 ■. ' • . , - - q IT * : .one reporter phrased it,-"Adarn's back on DeSapio's plantation. " ' The Abyssinian Baptist Church ' • • The intrument that enabled Powell to rout the Tammany forces in the bitter 1958 primary campaign was his church. The church was started in 1808 with 12 members. It was exactly 100 years old when Powell's father became pastor. Powell, Sr. moved it to its present site in Harlem . and began to build up the congregation while at the same time managing a lucrative real estate 'business i When the whites started leaving Harlem, after the Negroes began moving in, Powell, Sr. began to buy up white home at bargain prices. The value of the homes he bought: ultimately rose and - ' ' - \ ' 3g provided a firm base for the family fortune. The church his father built cost $400,000 and was paid for in four years. In 1960 his son launched a $450 ,000 church expansion program and threatened three collections per .Sunday service until the campaign was completed. Powell, Jr. says of the church, "My father said he built the . - 3 squire , op. cit. : o c / '. " ■ ■ . : ... -r- ■ ■ ' .. ' . . a - Hapgood, Op. cit. ^^Washington Post, op. cit. , p. 38. ' . ' :: y: / /- : ' : , ■ 1 83 ' 1 : - • : 3 7 '" , . church and I would interpret " The church is indeed a. Powell institu tion. Unaff.iliated as it is with any denomination, the church's letterhead speaks of it as "the church of the masses. " • • ■ The Abyssinian Baptist, Church is a complex organization. It has young people's groups and sponsors' a host of activities for children. The church's bulletin boards are fair indices of the activities; they are covered with announcements of labor and political m eetingsnotices to those on relief , calls for jobs, and a variety of social gatherings, The church' "provides a clearing-house -for the multiplicity of community interests 1 \ " : V r ; . The church is the "hard core of his political strength. • This fact : . ' , ■ ■ •.■ ■■■■ ■ . ■ .40 ■ - ' ■ .. ■ / , ■ is acknowledged by the church itself. " In a press release dated . July 30, 1950, the church said, "A special committee of church members has also been set up, independent of the church, to mobilize the church's. vast membership financially,., and,in terms ;of volunteer work , to help Representative Powell in his current campaign for re-election to Congress; " , A Harlem observer once commented, "Adam is unbeatable. My Lord, he has 10,000 parishioners—;ahd every one is a campaign worker before' ' ■ E. Ottlev, New World A-Cominq (Boston: Houghton- Mifflin Go., 1943), p. 220.. ' , ’ ; ■ 38Ibid. . \ . ' ■ ' ; 39IMd. ' : \ . ; V ' A Q ' ' ' : ' ' ' . , , • • Washington Post, op. cit. , ^ -,,; :;; -:"': ■ ■ . V". -■ ' 84 ' ; / ' ' ■ " .. '42 election time . W ho can. huild. a better machine ? " The church, the only institution permitted the Negro in slavery , .and one that is relatively free of white control, traditionally is an importanf source of Negro leader ship . Abyssiniah Baptists make up close to 10% of the district's registered voters. Powell points out , "I•speak to 4, 000 people every Sunday—that 's more than a Tammany district leader sees in a year. Besides, about 1,000 : ' - . : i ' ■' • i ' ■' " ' • • - - ' : 4 3 : ' people come to the church and community house every day in the week. " • . .. Powell’s Legislative Record Upon entering the House, Powell declared to his constituents, "I am your servant. Whatever.you want me to do, however great, call . ■■ k - v . .... ■ . . ■ ; ■ upon .mev. I am at your command. " If his ’constituents have called upon him to secure the passage of any certain legislation, they must be sadly disappointed. He has never introduced a bill, with the exception of some ■ bills he "co-authored" ' (some bills have 150 "co-authors 'g , which has become law. One bill he authored, to send "Greetings" to the West Indies Federation, was passed by the House. The Powell Amendment regarding > integration in schools has also passed the House.. ' . Forty-five percent of his bills have concerned civil rights. Education : and labor bills comprised 16 .9%, the second largest category. The third „ ^ ^Hapqood, op. cit. , p . 3 . 43Ibid. i ' / •- ■ ■ ' A A ■ - ^ u " ; .. -. '• ; ■ • ' U. S. , Cdngressional Hecord, 79th Cong., Ist Sess., 1945 , XCI, Part 1, 652 . , , ; v ; ' " ' ' ' V : : ' .' • ■ 85 ' ' largest category, 15.2%, concerned the Virgin Islands and Panama. An examination of Gh,art 1, which is broken down by individual sessions will reveal the picture more minutely. :: y , : ‘ An examination of Powell's voting record provides another insight into his career. Between 1945 and I960,, the House voted on 1,423 roll calls. Chart 2 breaks down the number of roll calls into a; session-by- session basis . This; chetf.t also"analyzes Powell's voting record, both by number and percentage of roll call votes, His overall voting percentage on » ; • .roll calls is 46.3%, with' a consequent absentee record on 53. 7% of them. , . Various classes of bills will now be examined in an attempt to develop a pattern for Powell's legislative behavior. (See Chart 3). . On roll call of votes he opposed his fellow Democrats on an average of 18.3%. His opposition to the simple House majority is 24.9%. This index varies considerably, depending upon which party organized the House. In Republican sessions the average percentage was 37.9% while ■ the percentage in Democratically-controlled sessions was 20.6%. : t : Powell voted with Dawson on the four agricultural issues described in Chapter III. Besides those issues, Powell voted on several occasions y against high price supports for tobacco. Powell has voted several times not to allow farmers to choose- from• amorig various price support programs. • He has voted against irinovatiohs in the wheat program for the past two sessions. v v’y." -‘v" v'y: y : ' y^\: "'y Cy.. " y- ; ^ky ; Most of his anti-Democratic majority civil rights votes have resulted from his. disapproval of the House Un-American Activities Committee r contempt Chart 1 Powell* ^ Breakdown of Legislation Introduced 1945 19 46 1947 1948 1949'1950 .95l|l952tl9531954 1955 1956 1957: 1958: 1959 196dTotal ' Total no. of bills introduced ea. vr. 13 • " 2 9 4 8 . 1 8l 2: ' 14 2 25 11 15 15 42 111 171 Total no:, acted on each year 0 0 0 0 ■ 0 0 0 0 . 0 0 0 0 - 0 1 0 ol 1 Total no „ passed each year : ' 0 0 0 •: 0 I ' O'7 . 0 : 0 0 0 ' 0 0 ' : 0 ' 0 "1 0 0! 1 Percentage of total acted on . 0 0: 0 0 0 0 0 0 :0 0 : ' 0 0 0 6 0 d .6 Percentage of total passed . ■ 0 o . 0 o 0 ' 0 ol t o! o ' 0 ■ 0 0 . 0 6 0 ol .6 Introduced: Civil Rights 6 i ' 8 : :: 4 6 0 6 ; 1 8 1 8 0 1 9 16 2 77 • - : Defense " 0 = 0 ' ' 0 0 F- , o 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 • 0 ' 0 77 1 Education & Labor • 0 ' 0 0 - ; o 0 0 0 0 2 0 11 1 9 0 5 1 29 ■ ' Finance : 0 0 0 0 I o 0 0 o 0 . 0 0 0 0 0 ; 3 0 7 3 . :: Foreign Policy 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 3 2 : 0 ' 2 7 6 ' ' 29 ' Housekeeping 0 • 1 0 0 0 ... o : o ■ 0 0 0 0 • 0 • o- 0 0 0 ■ 1 ' - i Housing ' ■ ' CO 0 0 0 0 0 o! o 0 0 ' 0 0 0 1 0 0 i" . ' . ■ Puerto Rico 0 0 " " 0 ■ 0 ■ 0 0 • 0 0 0 ' 0 0 0 1 0 0 - 0 : 1 ■ ■ Virgin. I si. & Panama 1 0 1 . 0 2 !■ o ■ i t '' 0 1 1 : 2 7 3 2 5 0 26 Others : 5 0 0 0 .' 0 i il o 2 : 0 . 3 2 0 2 . - 7 6 7 29 Percentage of total introduced:, • Civil Rights ' . 46 50 88 100 75 0 751 ' '50 ' 57 501I ■ 35 0 6.6 60 38 18 . 45.0: ■ • ' Defense : , 0 ' • 0 ' 0 0 0 0 0 ' 0 0 ol- " 0I9.0 0 0 0 0 . 6 Education & Labor 0 0 0 0; o 0 0 0 14 d 1744 19.0 6.6 0 11 9.0 16.99 Finance : , P 0 ■ 0 0 0 0 • 0 ; 0 0 . 0f7 0 0 0 ■ 0 71 0 1.7 Foreign Policy 0 o 0 0 O' 0 ■ 0 ; 50 0 014. 0I 0 6.6 6.6 14 18 7% Housekeeping . ■ p 50 0 0 . 0 0 0 ' 0 - 0 01: 0 . : 0 ■0 0 0 ' 0 6 : . Q. Housing : o 0 0 0 0 ' 0 0 0 7 0 0 O' 6.6 0 0 .6 Puerto Rico „ o-: 0 0 0 ' 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 .6 0 0 0 76 ■ ■ • ■ '•' Virgin Isl. & Panama . 8 0 ■11 0 25 O' 12 ■ 0 7.1 50 " 8 . 63. 20 13 9.9 0 15. 2 Others ' '\ . 38 ' 0 0 0 0 100 •12 0 14 0 12 18 0 13 16 54 16.9 Percentage of legislation acted on: K:, . Foreign Policy 0 0 0 01! ■ 0 0 . ' 0 0 • 0 0 . 0 0 0 100 0 70 7.6 Percentage passed: Foreign Policy 0 ■ 0 0 0 ' 0 0 . 0 , 0 0 0 0 0 0 100 0 • O' 7.6 No. passed: Foreign Policy 0 0 0 0 .. 0 I- 0] ' 0i 0 0I. 0 0 1 0 0 1 , 0 0: 1 * Congressman Powell introduced no legislation in the following categories: .Agriculture, Social Security, and .Veterans. - w ! ' / ' - i ’ V Chart 2 Roll Calls of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 195 7. 1958 1959 1960 Totals Roll C alls 99 130 . 83 79 121 ' 154 : 109 72 71 76 ' :76' ..73 100 93 87 ' 93 1423 Voted 49 59 27 54 . 59 77 38 17 33 25 51 42 36 . 43 44 46 ' 658 Absent 59 71 : 56 25 62 ' 77 71 : 55 38 : 51 '■ 25 29 64 50 43 47 765 Percent voted 49.4 45.3 32.5 67.0 40.2 50.0 34.9 23.6 46.033.3 67 58 36 46 51 49 46.3 Percent absent 50.6 54.7 67.5 33.0 59.8 50.0 65.1 77.4 54.0 66.6 ' 33 42 64 54 49 51 53.7 Votes differing w Dem. majority 11 17 22 24 18 19 :: 6 -.1:1 ‘ 10 ■ 7 ■•Vs 8 ■5 10 i i ov: 191 % differing W; Dem. majority 12. 1 13.0 27.5 31.5 14.0 12.3 5.5 IS; 2 15.2 9.2 6.5 10.9 .5. 0 9.6 11.1 V s 13.3 jVote s against •' House majority a s 38 41 43 29 34 34 22 ; 34 X, 13 ' 9 18 11 22 ■ i . 372 jPercerit against . ' House majority 18.1 29.2 49.4 54.4 23.9 22. 0 31.1 30.5 33. 7 00 | 18.4 12.3 18:0 11.8 25.2 13 24.9 8 8 ' : \ V ^ Chart 3 - Powell ::'\ Votes'- Against Majority of Democrats T9 4 519461947 1948 1949 195 0T9 51 1952 1953 1954 195519561 957' 195811958 i960 Totals Total :'V ; ' - ' 11 17 22 ■24 18 19 .6 y 11 : ' 10 ■ 7 y',-: 5' ■ 8 5 •■ S T 1yyy;7 ' 191 Agriculture -i C i >0 . :o - 0 0 ■y" 1 Q 1'■ 1 . 0 ' 1. : 2 7:-M -:■•■ y4 '. 4 2 .17 Givil Rights '' • * ' ' ' ' . 2i• : 5 ■■ 5 - ■ 5y 0 'y.y 4 0 : 0 : 0 yy H 0 ' :yl- -yyT y '3 2 Defense ' <> t A . ' 5 3 2 . 5 2 0 : •• 0 4 • *'1 0 2 0 • 0 ■ 0 yiyy T. ■ 0 y y ■ 25 Foreign Policy :yy::y0 ■HM'iV '2 3 y 9yy;. 8 0 0 yyy o 0y-'vto: y 0 i •■y-y-S ■ . 0 •Y i 25 Education & Labor . 0 ' : 4 ' V 8 ' 2 0 y : 0 : ■ 2 ■ 0 . 2 2 ■ 0 yy 0-' - i ' 0■'•yy-'Ly o 22 Finance . :•> i ■ 0 . '- 1 yi'yl' . 0 0 •o 0 0 • 2 0 '0. 0 . 1 :yv:;"-Ti •- i 8 Housing ^ 0 b • 0 j:"y:T . 0 : 0 y ; o O' M; i 0 ■ 0-. 0yybe ' *: 0 ■ 0 3 yyy'l Veterans . d.*- ' 'y .i 0 / 0 . .0 0 • ' 1 : i y o ' 0 0 0 0 0' . 0 ■ 0 ■' . 3 Government Operations ■ ^ • : 0 \ 0 0 . y 0 y 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 : 0 0 0 . 0 0 0 Natural Gas &.Tidelands Oil 0 0 y-y;;i 1 ■ - 0 o 2 i 2 ■ 0 ■y-'iy : 0 0 : 0 0 Yy o 8 Social Security ' . r--' :; . - .0 ' 0 V- 0 - ' 3 0y-vb - .o': o 0 0 ’ ■' 0 y o 0 ■D y o ■ 0 . 3 yk . jy Public Works '"''ido;". ;o 'p . • : o :•:. 0 0 ' 0 y: 2 ' 0 0 ■ 0 . 0 "• 0 ■ :yO'y 0 .0 Y 0 0 . 3 Immigration k; - ■ - ■ - 0 .0 : : . 0 0 . i .2 0 y:. 1 0 y 0 0 0 yy o . 0 ■: 0 ' 0■ -' 4 Price Controls - y • - - y v y-; ' 0 '■ ' 0 y 0 " -b o" rO y o 0 0: o ' 0 . o . 0 0:> ■ 0 • 0 ' 0 Miscellaneous - - : ^ ' '' 2 yi-'W 3 . 31. 31 - 3j’"■■■ 'I'! , 4 ' 3 1 " 0 's’ 2: 2; 1i 37 citations, and various internal security measures. The.rest dealt either with the Fair Employment Practices Commission or anti-poll tax legislation, which obviously he was in favor of, or with legislation intended to void the . Mallory Rule or Nelson decision, which Powell opposed. ; . . . ■■ Powell has cast 17-opposition votes to various types of selective service legislation, including Universal Military Training t the two year . draft, and the strengthening of the reserves. He has also voted against increasing Air Force funds and against the formation of the Central Intelli- . gence Agency. The only time he has not opposed the draft was for the duration, of the Korean War. - V: ' In the area of foreign policy, Powell opposed all economic and military assistance bills until the Korean "War. Since that time, he has ■ voted only twice against his party—once against a closed rule for discussion of the Eisenhower Mid-East Doctrine and once against having anything, except a formal treaty, change our relations with Panama. Powell's eight votes in opposition to financial matters involved -, ' issues that would benefit "the little man. " He supported bills which would cut excise taxes and continue excess profit taxes. . . ' Powell followed the liberal line in voting on housing legislation. He voted to limit interest on housing loan insurance to 6%, and against ' bills to curtail public housing. , . b In 1949 Powell voted to kill the Veterans' Pension Bill, and in 1951 he voted not to increase the veterans' disability pension. V "■ ■ ' : : ' . ' 90 On natural gas and tide lands legislation he supported the move to recommit the bills . His votes in this area reflected a desire, not to release natural gas producers from Federal control and not to give the states , namely southern ones r the disputed tidelands. His three votes against social security legislation all came in 1948. He voted against, raising public,assistance appropriations, and also against hot increasing social security coverage. . In the area of public works, he opposed the Democratic majority • in 1949 when he voted against providing funds for a dam project in North Dakota and a river improvement in Michigan. In 1955, he voted for the Highway Act . . ■ - • Powell's four anti-Democratic majority votes on immigration all have been aimed at increasing the flow of immigration into this country. Powell consistently advocates more governmental control over the social and economic aspect of man's life, but he advocates less control over the government's attempt to pry,into a person's private life. The Congressional Quarterly index "key votes " in 1945 through 1960 are analyzed in the following paragraphs in an atteihpt to determine any recognizable ■ trends in Powell's legislative behavior.. In.the: area of agricultural supports.,, he voted'against rigid pricey supports in 1949, but in the sessions since, when the matter has come up Powell has voted for them and against the flexible price supports. The key civil rights bills found him'obviously in favor of anti-poll tax legislation, and. F „ E.P. G However r on one occasion he voted against 'increasing civil rights, when he, cast his vote in 1954 for a wire-tapping ■ ' bill which would allow the Attorney General to use this technique in cer- ' / tain matters. In 1960 he did not vote on the' legislation designed to set : , . up federal referees to register voters in the areas where discrimination • exists, nor did he reveal his reasons why he did not or his position on , . • ■ : the bill. ’ ' '''v v : : v/'v;:.; - : V'' ' ■ Powell's record on key defense bills reveals a varied pattern. He voted' against the Selective Service Bill in 1948 . In 1952 r he voted to - ■ recommit the IT.M'. 1. Bill. He voted against giving the -Air Fofce .more ; ' ■ • money than the President requested in 1953 and against more, money for the Army in 1958.. . , : , : ; v 'r : ' Powell has consistently supported legislation fayorable to organized labor^ and opposed bdth the Taft-Hartley and Landrum-Griffith Bills. Unem- '. ployment measures which would extend the length of availability and raise the provided amount of unemployment compensation benefits have won. his , continual approval. : ' ; : I ■■ i-.;,- 'y ^ i,: ' ' School aid, school constructibn'and'federal aid',to education have '• • always received a positive vote from the New York Congressman.' t U;.'. ' : 1 . Public housing bills have also been regularly supported by Powell. He has voted favorably for continuation of rigid rent bontrols ..1 ! New York district has more, slum clearance projects completed or under construction than does any other' congressibnal district in the country. ■ British loans , Greek-Turkish aid, European Recovery plan. Mutual Defense Assistance .Act of 1949, the Korean Aid Act, and the Foreign Economic Assistance Act of 1950 are all foreign policy declarations that Powell has . opposed. At the beginning of the Korean War, Powell's votes against major foreign policy measures came to an end. By 1957 he had taken the opposite position. He voted against his two Negro colleagues to restore $715 ,000,000 to the Mutual Security Act. The Reciprocal Trade Agreements Extensions' . ; have always been supported by him. , _ • • In the area of finance, Powell opposes cuts in government spend ing. He has voted in favor of income tax reductions by allowing higher y ' personal exemptions in 1947, 1954, and 1955; but he has voted against other types of income; fax reduction: measures, such as ending the excess profits tax. He voted against increasing.interest on,government bonds and against raising the gasoline tax to finance the highway program. : / . . V His general pattern of not voting to cut government expenditures was changed when he voted to kill the 1949 Veteran's Pension Bill, which would have given all veterans of 65 years of age a pension of $90 a month. He also voted against raising disabled veterans 1 non-service-connected disability pension to $120 a month. . . . The further development of the TVA, the creation of the Colorado River Project, and the vote of approval for the St. Lawrence Seaway show his approval of government development of water and power sites. Powell 1 has consistently voted to thwart the natural gas producers who desired g". exemption from.Federal control and the oil interests ' request that Congress give the tidelands to the states. . / • \ ■ Public Speeches An additional aspect of a Congressman's behavior is his speeches. On domestic affairs outside of those dealing with the issue of segregation,' Powell has remained relatiyeiy silent." His foreign policy pronouncements are largely influenced by the. condition of the non-white peoples of the world in general anti, those particularly connected with his constituents' background West Indies > Virgin Islands^, and Panama. - : A • •• ' Foreign Policy •- ' ' • ' In his early years in Congress, Powell was a firm advocate of 1 Soviet-American friendship. On this ground he opposed President Truman's program to aid Greece and Turkey, stating that this proposal "reverses , the firm policy of friendship of the Soviet Union. . .betrays the wartime alliance which resulted in victory over the enemies of mankind, ignores . the Soviet contribution to that victory. . . . It presents a great and friendly nation in the guise of a mercenary enemy to be blocked at all costs. " • \ Powell continued, "It (the'aid) assumes a threat of aggression ■ from the Soviet Union, of which there is no evidence, . . . " On the contrary,. - "these countries (referring to certain countries of Eastern Europe) today ' have more democracy than they have ever known before. . .. " 4^U... S ., Congre s sional Record, 8 Qth Cong. r 1st Hess;, 1947 , : • XCIII, B art,l, 1:1.32. ; ■ ' ' . : . . : ■ '- : : ■ . • : ■ ' ' ■ ■ r : 94 A year later, in 1949, Powell voted against the Mutual Defense ■ Assistance Act, because it protected colonialism and was a "stab in the, , s ,, back" to the U. N. He also contended that as a pacifist he. could not. . support the program . . He observed further that the only way to stop Communism r.. ^ ' 46 ■■■■: - • is to have a real American democracy. ;■ ; , . In 1955, prior to going to the Bandung Conference, Powell out- ; lined a six-ppint foreign .policy program that'the U.S. should adopt: J . (1) Consult with the African and Asian countries on our foreign policy; (2) Recognize that social and political changes in the East mean more than simply supporting a nation agaihst 'Communism; (3) Supply adequate a s sis - tance for social change; (4) Channel aid into international organizations; \ (5) Stage an all-out offensive against economic exploitation and inadequate medical care and housing; and (6). Sell America and "I mean the Madison ; . Avenue concept " to the world , • Powell has introduced many resolutions concerning foreign policy, ■ only one of which, the "salute" to the West Indies Federation, has ever been acted upon. A list of those submitted in 1956 will illustrate how he has used this device: Birthday and anniversary greetings to Afghanistan, Burma Cambodia, Ceylon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan > Laos, Libya, Nepal, Pakistan, Phillipines, Vietnam, Thai land, f 46u. s. , Congressional Record,• 81st Cong-. , 1st Sess. , 1949, . XCV, Part 9 , A54031 ' '■ Z; ■" f : ' : '; ; - ; ■■'; ; : f,: ; ^^U. Sv Conaressidnal Record . 84th Cong, , 1st Sess . , 1955, . . ■ ' ; Cl, Part 2, 4142. ' \ x- Turkey:/ and Yemen. Almost all of the requests are for non-white countries, mo/St. of whom have been of recent birth/ ■ ■ , ■ ■ ,t../. " Labor Legislation v.:./; : Powell has spoken against several labor bills ^ but never in support of one • He biasted the Ftill-Employment Bill of 1945 , which whs; far too conservative for his tastes,f as ''vicious reactionary, un-American, and Hitlerlzed legislation. . ;if the bill goes through Congress we might as well pull down the.stars and stripes and run up the swastika:. " v In 1946, he expressed disapproval of the Case Labor BilT requiring a thirty-day ■ cooling-off period before a strike could commence after the government / intervened, because "we are not faced with the problem of labor being un- willing to settle the strike, we are faced with the problem of management striking against government,, because the government has tried to mediate and has offered a fair solution to each and every strike. " Powell attacked the Taft-Hartley Act o£ 1947 and oalled it "Fascist. " He alleged that "the'; billy without changing.a word, could just as easily have been introduced • in the Reichstag in the days of Nazism at its worst. ;Poweli/.although a member of the Labor Committee/ attended only a few meetings of the . S. , Congressional Record/. 79th Cong. , 1st.Bess . , 1945, ifC11- hart 7, ;11836. ■ ; - , /; v ^ : ^U. S. » Congressional Record, 79th Cong. , 2rrd Ses's., 1946, XGH, Part 2y 766. ■ ' . ' y/r ' /hy', : ' ./:'7' /, ^ ' y : ' ' ' c n - • ‘ ' ' ' " , ''■■■■■'■■'■'./; / vv /. ' . - , / t/- , 11. 8. , Congressional Record, 80th Cong. , 1st Bess., 1947, XCIII, Part 2, 3525. :y/ ; " -7 / , ■.;:" .;':7 ' 7 .... .•>7': - : " ; \ : \ '' '' ; . \ /;;- -'.:'' -< :/ ; ::'-,96. y.: ^ Committee during their .consideration of the Taft-Hartley bill. The Harlem Congressman charged that the "committee was following a rubber stamp.1 ■ ■ ■ ' : . ■ - ' . ■' ;'t v " v - , 'v ' v y .; ,. ; , - ' ■ : . ' " ' '51' . , procedure. . . and 'the times.; T did httend were a - complete wa ste of time. " . ' Virgin Islands and Panama Canal Legislation ■ z1 . : : . z ^ ■' .Z . •. In 1948 the Harlem Representative voiced concern about the Virgin Islands? "I am quite famiiiar ..with the situatioh, because it happens that most of the Virgin Islanders that are. in America are in my district. He has advocated legislation which would provide more self-government for the Islands r larger immigration quotasand increased development by the government. This legislation> plus that concerning Panama, comprises. ; . 15% of all the bills he has intro due ed. ■ ..Z: The Panama Canal issue vfas also brought up initially in the 1949 session. Adlai Stevenson has called racial discrimination in Panama "the greatest problem we face in Panama. " ; Although Negroes, Indians, and "Mestizos make up 90% of the population, the remaining 10% rule and domi- .nate the area. When the canal was built, "the slave silver-gold system" was set up. Originally, An eric an citizens employed in the "Zone were paid in gold, and the native workers were paid in silver. Since that time, "the ; \Z silver-gold system has solidified into a plain, unadulterated and vicious Z : z z ■policy of discrimination which forces thousands of darker employees to work - . 51Ibld.Phrt 2y 86216 '' ZZ ^ZZv ZZ‘ . V.' z c ''z1' .':':' 52n . s. , Conaressional Record, 8.0th Cong. , 2nd Sess . , 1948 , XG1V, Part 5y 8943\ : ; / ; ' ' ; v '-' - z' :Z: : z ' . 'Zf.: . Z-. z . Z Z . z • 53 "Panama,l'; New Republic, (Oct. 23, 1961), CXLV, 11. ■■ ■ * * ' ■ .. : , ' . 97 . ■ ■ • '■: • : ' V ' . and tq live under the most miserable Jim Crow conditions. “ Powell finds . the. situation in Panama of interest because "thousands of people who came originally from the West Indies and Panama are now voting citizens in the United States. Civil Rights Powell's first speech in the House was an attack on an anti segregation amendment to a draft labor bill« He charged that "it is the cheapest and lowest form of politics to play upon a subject as delicate as race in connection with legislation which is directly of a non-racial : character. Powell has violated this self-imposed rule many times, especially in'issues involving draft bills and school construction legis- / lation. Beginning in 1946, Powell introduced, amendments to bar segre gation in,projects that receive Federal money. The first such amendment was aimed at ending segregation in Washington, D. C. It failed to pass during the session or at any other time he re-introduced it through 1955. He announced in 1955 that, due to the leadership of President Eisenhower and the Supreme Court, it was no longer necessary to secure the passage of the amendment . , ■ . : . . • ; !- ' S'lxJi S ., C ongressional Record, 80th G o ng., 2nd S e ss. , 1948, XCIV, Part 9, A4130. -■7^';.'' V ; • 5% . B.:r Congressional Record, 79th Cong. , 1st Sess., 1945 , XCI, Part 1, 652. ' / h 7- The Powell .gchool amendmerit .which called for an end to discrimi- - nation in the school systems, was also introduced- in 1946. The .amendment did pass the House when it was attached to the school lunch program. After ■ the 1954 Brown v. Topeka, decision by the Supreme Court, Powell began introducing an amendment to bar Federal aid to segregated school facilities. It passed the House in 1956. Powell insists that the school amendment is -"distinctly not racial, .above: all it is not political . It is an amendment aimed at upholding the moral grandeur of the law. "^7 The man whose Congressional biography lists him "as the author or co-author of all civil ■ rights bills ' ■'■58 " can ' "list the school amendment ^ as '■' his " only legislative '■■■ ' ' ' 'accomplishment in this, field. No separate civil rights bill that he has authored has ever passed the House. Powell has also tried unsuccessfully to pass legislation to end segregation in the Armed Forces. "I serve notice, " Powell said in 1948, "that I will vote against, this (Air Force Appropriations) bill and any bill in connection with our Armed Forces which does not include definite and specific language abolishing Jim Crowism of all types. " . With the advent of the Korean War, Powell no longer pressed anti-segregation amendments for the Armed Forces, nor did he continue to oppose selective service legislation. ,; • 57u. s. , 'Congressional Record,-84th Cong. , 2nd Sess., 1956, CIl, Part 6 , 11474; W' ; ; ■ -V . . : ' ' . t; ■; . . • S. , Congressional Record, 83rd Cong., 2nd Sess., 1954, C, Part 5, 9123. . ; .: f , ' . ‘:v' - v , - ' 53u„ S ., Congressional Record, 80th Cong., 2nd B ess., 1948, ... XCIV, Part 2; 4548. \ . "' ' : ' ;' ■ ' :• . ' / . . : . ... ; ; ..;- ' . / %.y-^\^ .'■ 99 ■: Evaluation - . It is Powell's particular genius that he has managed to make him- • self a symbol, not only of the Negroes , but more specifically of their pro- . ■ tests... Ml of his public actions reinforce this image. . There were many others who fought in the economic protests of Harlem in the 1930's. Their names are largely forgotten, however the one name remembered as the . . champion of those masses is Adam Clayotn Powell* Jr. t and he lets no one forget it. . vf y ' ' . ' - ' /:: y. - y y' In the sprihg of 1959 he spoke to a meeting of Local 1199 of the 'A .- Retail Drug Workers 1 Union, which was trying to organize 30,000 Negro ... ' and Puerto Rican workers at the city 's voluntary hospitals , most of whom ''vy. y wore averaging less than $40 a week. Powell had picketed with this union in the ’30’s when it organized the drug stores in Harlem, and he told the • audience of hospital workers who:were fighting for union recognition, ' f:-:''v "Tomorrow night at 6:30 when you walk the picket line at the Knickerbocker • - Hospital I am going to walk it with you—I am an old picket walker, too. "Ohf yeSf. that's right/'' ro se up with f he cheers from the crowd & ^ ^ The next night Powell did walk in the picket line;. 'yA , ' ' A few hours after leaving the picket line Powell went to his pdlifiCaT club on 145th Street and said to a few? of the workers there that when he le ft. 60e squire. op . Clf ..; p . 98 . Gllbid. • the picket line ,"I went down to '21' just to have a drink, but the people I was with made me stay for dinner. " . Powell was once asked on an interview program what his con stituents felt about his high standard of living. Powell replied, "Well, I wouldn't say that they hold it against me; in fact, I think the people of . . my community love the fact that I live like I do and yet I am with them in ' their fight. . ' ■ , ■ "One of the things that gives me strength, " Powell says, "is that the people say, 'Here's a guy who could live white, be white, but he isn't- he's part of our community, ; His role of Congressman is inseparable from his role of Harlem ' ; politician. Powell's two offices, Washington and Harlem, are interrelated, and the Harlem office arid the Abyssinian Baptist Church operations are al- most indivisible. ' ' Shaping his career, Powell conjured up an image of himself , either by accident or design, as the- authentic voice.of the Negro and the indis pensable man in the Negro's uphill fight for equality. For all his apparent invincibility in his Congressional'.district, however, it has sometimes been 62Ibid. ' : ■ * % £ : C y ; y : y y y , y ■ ■; ■; ®^Wilson, "Two Negro Politicians , " op. cit. 'v'v' ■ ■ - ■ ; . ' / ■ ■ : : 101 said.by "friend and foe alike that he carries within himself the seeds of his own poiitical destruction> 11 ®® \ ■ ‘v- . ; : Though Powell for 21 years has been.pastor of one of the nation's largest churchest he is. considered by many to have shockingly little per- ' ■ ./ sonal discipline. He has been accused of being obsessed with fancy living, pf having an alarming capacity for alienating close friends, of being vain, childlike, insincere, undependable t disloyal and ungrateful. However, "it is still the Harlem that remembers when its own people had to sit in the balcony in their own neighborhood theater, a Harlem that is tired of humility as well as humiliation, and found, in—Adam Clayton Powell a spokesman to shout its pent-up protests to a world that had so long failed to listen. " Powell's value to the Negro voter lies in his "defying the white man, asserting loudly the rights of Negroes, pressing for liberalizing ' ' legislation regardless of the cost to other values held by the society, and keeping the issues alive and hot . To them, Powell is a path to a Utopia, which keeps their spirits high. 6 6 New York T im es, May 16, 1959, p. 16. . . ' ‘67Esquire, op. cit. , v ^.Wilson, “Two Negro Politicians, op. cit. , p. 356. . - ' : ; . " . ' CHAPTER V , ' , . . ' . . : : ■ v;: , Charles C „ Diggs:’, Jk. attd Robert E. C . Nix ■ ; • Due to the very limited amount of material available on the two . junior Negro Congressmen,. Charles Diggs (Democrat-Michigan) and Robert Nix (Democrat-Pennsylvania) * both will be treated in one chapter. V-.-' ■; - C harles C . Diggs , Jr. / Congressman Diggs .is something of a junior Adam Clayton Powell. Howeverf he does hot possess the ability, or perhaps the situation, to equal or surpass the success of Powell as a symbol.to the Negro people. The lives of Diggs and Powell have many common features# Both are sons ' and namesakes of wealthy^ prominent Negroes. Both.attended universities, Both entered, and later inherited, their fathers' enterprises—for Powell, • the largest church congregation in New York, for Diggs, the largest funeral home in Michigan. Both were elected to responsible political positions at an early age—Powell at the age of 33 was elected to the New York City Council, and Diggs at the age of 31 was elected to the Michigan State . : Senate. Each, after three years of service in his respective political _ positionj,-was elected on the Democratic ticket to the House. During the course of their political careers, both have been labelled a "playboy. " Powell's romantic life has put him in the headlines many times. In 1959, 102 ■ " . ' ' . : v. ■ 103 Diggs was. sued by his wife, the mother of his three children t for divorce«. At the same time Diggs was named in a paternity suit by a Miss Jacqueline M„ Gibbs> who claimed that her five-year-old child# Angela,:was fathered 1 ■ . • - ' v ■ ■ • ' / by Diggs „ Both have been re-elected to public office, despite personal scan d al.. Background of Diggs It is impossible to ascertain whether much of Diggs1 early life paralleled that of Powell's. Whereas considerable material is obtainable on Powell, very little is available on Diggs. He was born in Detroit, . Michigan, on December 2, 1922, the only child of a politician-mortician ; father. Early in life Diggs developed a reputation for oratory. In 1938 he won the city and state oratorical contests. . ■Throughout his high school career he distinguished himself as the school's representative in all speaking competition. Diggs entered the University of Michigan in 1940, was a student there for two years. In the fall of 1942 he entered Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. While at Fisk, his father became embroiled in a scandal in Michigan. The senior Diggs was a member of the Michigan State Senate. He was accused of, and later convicted o f • : ■/ taking a $150 bribe from Chester M. Howell to "kill the racing bill" in ' .X. V the State Affairs Gommittee. of which he was a member. ' • ■ - . , In 1943, the junior Diggs was drafted into the army. He entered Officers Candidate School and was commissioned an officer upon completiori ^Chicago Tribune, August 21 1959, p. 26. ' 2Ibid. , Tune 7 , 1945, p. 36 . . ; ' of the course. He was discharged from the .Army in 1945. He began his • rise in politics when he was elected to the Michigan State Senate in 1951. .He was re-elected in 1953. In 1954 he ran for his present House seat and was electedo ’ • ’ ‘W • t - . ' / - - \ .y: - \^ , ? Diggs1 Legislative Record ■ : ' , On entering Congress in 1955^ Diggs stated that the Negro was interested in four is sues--raising the minimum'wage f repealing the Taft- ' Hartley Act, increasing economic tax exemptions t and increasing public / h6»sln^ ■ , The degree.. of Diggs ' political success can be seen by examining ' the legislation he has initiated. Diggs has introduced a total of 59 pieces 1 of legislation (see Chart 1).. Gf this total, . 01%, or 1, was acted upon; . 01%,:'or 1, was passed , h'.' ■ y-- ■ ■ : ^ ■ r-' ^ : , " : ' : ' During his first term» one piece of legislation that he introduced was passed and was signed by the President. The bill extended the time . for filing applications by certain disabled veterans for payment on the pur-. chase price of an automobile. It is the only bill relating to veterans that : he introduced in his first six years in Congress. Almost one-half of the ■ bills he introduced concern civil rights , with the next largest category, 22%, involving education and labor m atters... An examination of Chart 1, - which is broken down by individual sessions y will reveal, the picture more ' minutely. W ', 5" ^ ' :■ ;- ' 8. , Congressional Record, 84th Cong. , 1st Hess., 1955 1 s Cl, Part 1, 1086. 105 Chart 1 - Diggs* Breakdown, of Legislation Introduced 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959' 1960 Totals Total number of bills introduced each year 23 - VO 13: " •-5 17 1 . 59 Total number of bills acted on each year . ' T'S ■ 0 0 0 0 0 1 Total number of bills passed each year . 1 0 : ■ o ■■ 0- 0 0 1 Percentage. - of ■ total - -- - acted . on y ■ ;r : • . >x■ 1 .t ‘ ■ i , ' 4 0‘ 0 0 0 01.6% Percentage of total passed 4 0 0 0 0 0 1.6% Introduced: Civil'Rights. ■ ' 13 0 6 • 3 6 0 27 Education & Labor : .3- f 0 4 1' . 5 0 13 Foreign Policy ' ‘ 0 0 0 . 0 1 0 1 Social Security 0 .0 1 0 0 0 1 Veterans V 1 0 ,0 0 0 0 1 Other 5 0 2 1 5 1 ' 14 Percentage of total introduced: . Civil Rights 56 0 ' 46 60 35 0 45 Education & Labor ' 13 0 30 20 24 0 22 Foreign Policy . 0 0 0 0 .5 0 1 .6% Social Security '■ 0 ■ 0 7 0 " 0 0 1 . 6% Veterans " - . • - 4 ■ 0 0 0 0 0 1.6% Other -i 21 0 « ' 15 20 24 100 ' 24% Percentage of legislation acted on: Veterans 100 0 0 0 ■: o 0 100% Percentage passed: Veterans 100 0 0 0 0 0 100% iNumber bassed: Veterans . ' ..-■? • rtVl; 0 0 . 0. o'. 0, 1 *Congressman Diggs introduced no legislation in the following categories: Agriculture, Defense, Finance , Hou'sekeepihg, HousingPuerto Rico, and Virgin Islands and Panama. • ; 1 ■ . ■ . iFonically, two areas of the four he cited as being of greatest Importance to the Negro, income tax exemptions and public housing, have never been the subject of a Diggs bill. Jhi. examination of his voting record provides another insight into the career of Charles Diggs. From 1955 to 1960, the House voted .on 522 roll calls. Chart 2 breaks the" number of roll calls down into a session- by-session base. This chart also, analyzes Dig'gs1 vp'ting record> both by number and by percentage of roll calls throughout his career. His overall voting percentage On roll calls is 70,6%., with.an absentee record of 29 . 4%. On roll calls his average percentage of voting in opposition to his fellow Democrats is 10. 5%/ His opposition to the simple House majority is 16 .4%, based on the roll calls during his tenure in the House. During his Con- " gressional service there have been no Republican Congresses, as there were in the cases of Powell and Dawson. Consequently, the difference in his opposition to the House majority under the two parties cannot be measured. As was noted earlier, Diggs voted against the majority of his. party 10.5% of the time over the years. ' Various classes' of bills will now be examined in an attempt to develop a pattern of Diggs1 legislative be havior. (See Chart 3). : ' . ; ' : ' ■ 7 : ■ : ■ '• On four occasions he has voted against his party on agricultural issue Three of the votes were Of minor importance. The final one was a 1959 vote against price supports for tobacco / 107 ■ ; • Chart 2 - Diggs' > h Roll Calls 19 5 5 1956111957 1958 1959 1960 Totals Roll Calls C • #•:: 7311 m ' 9 :3 ■ m . 93 522 Voted . . ■ . : ■ ' ' " h'"' 61 48 60 64 ■ 64 74 371 Absent .l; 1 ■ • ■ . ■ 15 25 ' 40 29 23 19 151 Percent voted .. V ' • 75 " 66 : 60 69 84 80 70.7% Percent absent • ’ ' 7 ■ " 25 34 40 31 26 20 29.3% Votes differing with Democratic majority. v 4 ' . 5 : 11 16 13 4: . 53 Percent differing with Democratic •majority 5.2 5.4 12 16 13.8 4.3 10.1% Votes against House majority . 13 9 17 12 1-8 11 80 Percent against House majority' 7 ; 118.4 12.3 17 18.2 20.6. 12 16 ; 4% 1 08 ■ Chart 3 - Diggs Votes Against Majority of Democrats 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 '1960 Totals Totals 4 . 5 11 16 13 ■ 4 53 Agriculture , ■ ■ ■ ■ 1 0 0 2 1 . 0 4 Civil Rights ■ - 0 2 1 4 2 1 10 Defense /'I."-. 1 0 0 2 1 0 ' o 3 Foreign Policy . • , v • ■ O' 0 •11 2 5 0 8 Education and labor h,;;, , ■ l. ;..o ■ 0 'iix i •: 0 0 1 0 1 Finance :" 0 0 0 1 2 1 4 Housing ‘ ■ A.' -, -; ■. 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 : 0 Veterans ; 0 0 0 0 • 0 0 0 Natural Gas and Tidelands Oil ■ i 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 Social Security . ■ 0 ■ 0 : 0 0 0 . 0 0 Public Works 1' 1 3 0 . 1 0 6 Immigration ' 0 O’ 0 0 • 0 0 0 Miscellaneous 0 2 - 5 5 2 2 16 109 On issues dealing with civil rights he has disagreed with his party ten times „ His opposition to the party has been' concentrated on three issues. The first two were the attempts; to outlaw, the' Mallory Rule and : to invalidate the Nelson decision. The third measure, the Powell school amendmentdrew his support. His three votes in opposition to defense matters involved opposing the strengthening of the reserves in 1954, opposing the increasing of the defense budget in 1958, and voting to recommit the defense reorganization bill until it was made exactly as Eisenhower wished . With the exception of his 1958 vote to cut Voice of America funds, all of his opposition votes have been aimed at increasing foreign aid. His one opposition vote on education and labor bills was to cur tail the import of Mexican labor into the country. On financial matters t Diggs voted in 1959 not to give the Federal Reserve System' the power to eaee reserve requirements. His other signi ficant vote was his opposition.to raising the gas tax to pay for the highway program. The areas of housing, veterans legislation , Social security and immigration drew no opposition votes from Diggs. In 1955 his vote against releasing the natural gas producers from Federal control was his only opposition vote in this area. , 1 Besides his vote in favor of the 1955 highway program act, his other votes were all in opposition to various river and dam improvements and' ; V ;. '■ ' : . ' : . , ■ 110 projects around the country. .With the exception of his negative votes against.public works construction, Diggs has consistently advocated the government's taking a more constructive interest.in the protection of man's rights and in assisting the people .where it would benefit them. He has advocated these measures when it seemed that only.the government would, and could, be of adequate assistance. : - ' v ■ y ' .'y ■ The'-index "key votes " from 1945 through 196 0 have been analyzed in an attempt to determine, any recognizable trends in Diggs ' legislative behavior. .: . h-- ' . ■ . ... y In the area of agricultural issues, Diggs has supported high supports, as opposed to the flexible plans of'President Eisenhower. Price supports are the only "key" agricultural issues of his era. • Except for Dawson's opposition vote to the Powell amendment in 1956, Diggs' record is identical with Dawson's in the civil rights area. ■ Two defense issues have been considered "key" ones since 1954. Diggs opposed the Sikes (Dem-Fla) motion to add $99,000 , 000 to the Army budget, The second issue was the final vote on Defense Department ■ Reorganization, which all four of the Negro Congressmen approved. On foreign policy votes, Diggs, independent of the other Negro ■ Congressmen, voted to recommit the trade agreements extension act in 1958. In 1960 Diggs voted against the bill granting incentives to provide investment in underdeveloped countries. He voted against the two senior , V v ' v:: ' ■ - '11-1^ " Negro memebers to retore $200, 000, 000 in military aid to the foreign aid .■ . / ■ program. On" the, other "key " foreign policy, votes :, the group was in agree ment (see Ohapter III) . , . ■ >' v:. - k i;;:- : On the matters of finance., education/and labor, public,works, ■ housing and. social security Diggs 1 record is identical withiDawson's record. While . Diggs has opposed several small public works projects, the• principal ones . he has supported. In other areas the pattern of voting is not significantly , at variance with his ^recordof, opposition, votes to the. Democratic majority, y' . t .. Public Speeches : AOongressmah's voting record is ah important but not an inclusive . : guide to his: political behavior.' Ah understanding of his speeches is also" essential in determining his position in the political arena. Due to the relatively short length of time Diggs has served in the House, the material available is limited i. His significant speeches, few in number, will be examined in the next few.pages ' ’ . ... . • ./ .. J:,- Diggs has spdkeh several times with regard to school segregation. He spoke in favor of , and voted for , the Powell amendment in 1956. When, the school bill came up a year later, Diggs reversed his position and expressed his opposition to adding a "Powell amendment" to the measure. Instead, he wished to see "a clear cut vote on the singular and all-impor tant issue of Federal aid to education'. In 1958, Diggs again reversed ■ : - : ^U. g.t , Congressional Record, 85th Congress , 1st Sess., 1957, GUI, Part 9, 12843. ; ’ " ^ ' ' Ms position by stating that he was in favor of the Roosevelt-amendment/:. '/ wMch would eliminate segregation is schools accepting Federal money. : Diggs claimed that segregated schooling was inferior and should be abolished immediately.^ ..// - - - / Diggs has also spoken out against increased postal rates , claiming the burden "will rest upon those who can least afford it-—individuals like ' 1 v v ' ' ' 6 - ' : ' those living in my district. " •. Although not an introducer of housing legislation, Diggs pushed for larger public housing programs than those advocated by Eisenhower, claiming that 125,000 units per year are needed by minority groups alone . In 1958. Diggs relinquished his post on the Veterans' Committeg, to which he had been appointed.when he entered the House, to accept a ' position dri the Foreign Affairs Committee. Previously, he rarely spoke of / veterans' legislation, but on joining.'the Foreign Affairs Committee he . ■ ; , expressed himself more on this subject. However, most of his speeches were Introductions of commemorations- for various countries > all of which \ had minority groups in Detroit. Besides such: commemorations, Diggs1 . : only pronouncements on foreign policy have been to advocate additional . economic assistance to Africa. • -. 5u. S... Congressional Record „ 85th Cong., 2nd Sess., 1958, CIV, Part 8, 7118:. . U. S ., Congressional Record, 84th Cong., 2nd Sess., 1956 , CII, Part 8, 11989. ' - - ’ Evaluation ■ . Diggs is not a,quiet machine-oriented man, nor is he an effectual , agitator-militant type-. .Although he probably did not plan it this way,, he is a poor imitation of Powell. Whereas Powell and his type thrive on - . action and publicity, Diggs seems unable or unwilling to create an aura of action and unending movement about him. After six years of service in the House, inquiries to a few Congressmen about Diggs brought the response: of "Who is he?" On the other hand, inquiries did not have to be made about Powell; his. name was volunteered immediately whenever the word 'Negro " was mentioned . Powell started out with a well-known name and \ v a powerful family base, and, in the end, he completely submerged both the church and his father under his image. Diggs, on the other hand, had the best-known Negro name in Detroit and a wealthy background to go with it, but he has never improved his position. Instead, he lives off the previous family reputation. He is not an initiator-.-he is a follower. He had the good fortune to be "born right" in an area that was changing from white to Negro. • ■ . •■ Robert Nix . Congressman Nix is, in some, respects, a prototype of William Dawson. However, he possesses neither the ability nor the opportunity - to equal or to surpass the political success of Dawson. Both have several features in common. ’ Nix, as Dawson, is a quiet, organization-oriented man. Both exist as leader’s of "sub-machines," owing their existence to the .. principal white organizations. Both curry the favor of voters by the ' : efficient dispensing of favors delivered through the ward-organi'zation .type of politics . . Neither is recognized as a symbol of defiance to the white . v \ . man or as an agitator type of'politician, :^]>jeittier is regarded as a dis- ' • tihguished'orator, although both men speak as well as Powell, who is . usually considered to be a moving, passionate speaker.' Both men were . ;; born in the South, of poor parentage, and moved North at an early age.' '■ ; Both hold Liberal Arts and law school degrees. Both took up politics as soon as they began to practice law. ' Both started out at the bottom in ’ ■ ; • organization politics and succeeded in being elected ward committeemen, ■ a post neither has relinquished to the present time.- Both have led personal lives free from scandal. , " r • : ' i : ■■ 'O' : Background of Mix . ' : , / - : , .. . : The little-known, quiet, Philadelphia Congressman was born on October 9 , 1905 in Orangeburg, South Carolina. He moved North with his family at an early age, attended high school in New York City; graduated from Lincoln University and later the University of Pennsylvania Law School. ; ■ As he began to practice law, he became interested in Democratic . politics.' His first political position came in 1932, when he was elected 44th.Ward Opmmitteeman of Philadelphia. Rising slowly in the organization, ' he was their candidate in the special Fourth District of Philadelphia election for Congress in 1958.. • He won the .unexpired term of Earl Chudoff, and took ' the oath of office on June 4, 1958. • ' , k t . ^ ■ " Nix's Legislative Record - Mix's degree of legislative success can be seen by examining the ■ legislation he has initiated throughout his short Gongressional career. Nix. ■ has introduced a total of seven bills (see Chart 4). Of these, none were acted on or passed. The seven bills that he introduced can be broken . down into three categories'—three each in education and labor, and housing, and one in foreign policy matters.. An examination of Chart 4 , which is . broken down by individual Sessions > will reveal the picture tiiore minutely: /. On entering Congress he was appointed to the Veterans' Committee ■ and to the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee. ' During his tenure in the House he has introduced no bills relating to these two committee assign ments . Like Diggs, Nix relinquished other committee positions in 1960 to accept a Foreign Affairs Committee assignment. He introduced one bill relating to this area. ' ' '''' ; ' An examination of his voting record during his three years in Congress provides another insight into the career of Robert Nix. During his tenure, there were 236 roll calls (see Chart 5). Chart 5 breaks the : number of roll calls down into a session-by-session base. This chart also analyzes Nix's voting record, both by number and by percentage of roll calls throughout the three years® His overall voting percentage on roll calls is .94.1%, with absentee record of 5 . 9% . His average percentage of voting in : opposition to his fellow Democrats on roll calls is 12.8%. His opposition to the simple House majority is 18.•2%. During his •service in the House, 116 */ / . Chart 4 -' Nix* Breakdown of Legislation Introduced 1958 1959 1960 Totals Total, number of bills introduced each year ' 0 - 5 • 2 ' 7 Total number of bills - acted on each year . 0 0 : o - 0 Total number of bills passed each year 0 0 0 0 Percentage of total- acted oh ' ’ • 0 0 77 o 0 Percentage of total passed 7 o 0 0 0 Introduced" Education & Labor 0 2 1 3 ' Foreign Policy . - O' 1 . 0 . 1 • Housing .- f - 0 2 -1. 3 %' of total introduced: Education & Labor • 0 40 50 .42% • - ' - Foreign Policy . . 0 20 0 16% ' ‘ ; Housing • ■- ' 0 40 50 42% * Congressman Nix introduced no legislation in the.following categoriesr ; Agriculturer Civil Rights/ Finance-, .Housekeeping, Puerto RicO, Social Security, Veterans, .and Virgin-Islands--and Panama. Chart 5 - Nix Roll C alls 1958 1959 1960 Totals Roii caiis . 56 . 87 93 236 Voted : ^ ^ r': :■ '' v 56 82 81 219 Absent ■' V 0 . 9 12 17 Percent voted ^ ' ' • : • . ' 100 99. 5 87 94.1 . Percent absent ' ' .. 0 ;■ 4.5 13 5.9 Votes differing with Democratic majority 8 12 11 31 Percent differing with Democratic majority 14.1 13:8 10.6 12.5 Votes against House majority • : • 10 20 13 43 Percent against House majority ' 17.8 23 14 18.2 . ■ • '• : - u s there have been no Republican Congresses, as there were in the cases of Dawson and Powell. Consequently, the difference in his oppos ition to the house majority under the two parties cannot be measured. As was" noted' earlier , Nix‘voted against the majority of his party 12.8% of the time over, the years. Various classes of bills now will be examined in an attempt to develop a pattern of Nix's legislative behavior (see Chart 6} . • His opposition votes on agricultural matters, involved the present wheat program and several attempts to change it by allowing the farmers a choice as to whether they desired a reduction in acreage or a lowering in price supports. Nix voted in opposition to any choice being allowed the farmers. Instead, he voted to retain wheat supports at.75% of parity and to cut wheat production' 20% . ' I - On is sties dealing with civil rights, he disagreed with his party seven times,. His opposition to the party was concerned with three issues. Three of his votes involved attempts to kill legislation opposing the Mallory Rule. ' Three more of the votes were an attempt to kill legislation to change the Nelson decision. The final vote was against citing a House Committee • witness for contempt. Four of the five opposition party"votes of Nix on foreign policy matters involved attempts to add additional funds to various Mutual Defense Security Acts. The fifth vote was to cut the funds of the Information Agency in 1958. ' : ■ y ; ' Chart 6 - Nix v ' y Votes Against Majority of Democrats 1958 1.959.] I960 Totals Total • 8 • 12 11 31 SiKfcaltiK® ; v : " /1 y , ,y -T] : ', ri'2' : V'R : 1 • 6 Civil Rights :. : ' ■ ;,;t; ■ii 4 3 v • 0 y:V-7y Defense • . ■■ ]-/ '' 0 . 0 : . 0 V o Foreign Policy ; .'y-y ' , - ;:y- ’ : 2 : , 0 3 s.. Education & Labor y ;r y ; . ■ - ': • : 1 2 ; ■ s Finance '.y^-•. : - y , ■' '’v'y o ■.-V.2;: : 1 . 3 Housing . : y ; ; - 0 / . o 1 ■■v-l.. Veterans. . .. y'.' R'.y.vVy y- .... o 0 1 : ::: 'F y Natural .Gas & Tidelands Oil , ; ' ;y.y •ffi • (0 : 0 : 0 Social Security . y \ ,-' . ,".,v0r 0 0 0 Public Works ■ ' ' - ' 0 . 0 ■ .. 0 :;i:o: Immigration ' Vi. 0 0 w - o ':li L M iscellaneous ' ' ' ; ; .y' "V.v;y.:- ■ 0 r : 3 2 :i:,:.5"- -:'' .^ .; '.v./-:'; - 120 • ’ Three opposition votes to his party were cast on education and labor issues, In 1959 , he voted against the Labor-Management Act. In ■ : 1960 he voted for the Powell amendment and for the Thompson-Powell amended - school bill. ’■ . His only important vote on-financial issues was his vote against the raising of the tax on gasoline.from three to four cents a gallon. In the area of housing legislation, he opposed the limiting of ' . Slum clearance projects hnvlA^shihgtph, in 1960. Diggs voted in , 1960 to increase by $35 ,000,000 the budget for construction of new veterans1 -hospitals; :v: / 'i; V'i ' ; ‘ , Peiensey;public works, immigration, and social' security areas brought no opposition votes from Nix. h : i Nixj.: like Diggs f : has consistently advocated the government's . taking a more constructive interest in the protection of man's rights and in assisting the people where it is evident that only the government would and could be of adequate assistance„ .i n ; . k k The index "key votes" from. 1958 through 196 0 have been analyzed in an attempt to determine any recognizable;trends in Nix's legislative . behavior „ In the area of agricultural issues, Nix has supported high parity prices, as against the flexible price support plans of President Eisenhower. Pried'supports are the only "key" agricultural issues of this period. '::-k Nix's record is identical with Dawson's in the civil rights area. . During Nix's service in the House, two defense votes have been regarded as "key" ones. Nix supported the Sikes (Dem-Fla) motion to add ' $99,000,000 to the Army budget. The other was the final vote on Defense • . - Department Reorganization which all four, of the Negro Congressmen sup ported. \ \ ' ' • ' V.. : ' - v’ On foreign policy votesN ix voted in 1960 for the measure granting ; tax incentives.to provide investment in underdeveloped countries and for \ restoration of a $200,000,000 cut in military aid to the foreign aid program. ;;y\. With the exception of Nix's support of the 1960 measure to ex tend corporate and excise taxes., the Negro group's votes have been iden- . tical in this area. . On the subjects of education, labor, public works, housing, and social security Nix's record is identical with Dawson's record. .Public Speeches Although analyzing a Congressman's voting record is necessary for an understanding of his political role, it does not provide the complete story. By such an analysis, is revealed how he stood on the issues but not why he took such a position. An examination of his speeches, which will be done in the following pages, is a method to aid in answering the question "why. " With the exception of Nix's speech advocating additional benefits for persons who helped construct the Panama Canal, all of his speeches ' have dealt with the subject of civil rights. During his first year in Congress, Nix spoke out against legislation designed to offset the Nelson Case decision. The f hard-won civil rights of minority groups'."’might be placed in jeopardy, Nix felt, by the passage of this legislation. This same issue was again • the subject of a speech by Nix in 195.9. . It was a "Powell-type" speech, :' although he' is not. regarded as a "Powell-type'", person. "If HR-3 (the bill designed to invalidate the Nelson, ruling) ever becomes law, " Nix said, "6n that day wel will have bombed out and gutted out our most prized . heritage—democracy,.■ and the respect for the dignity of man. On that day : we might as well forget and write off the billions in Lend-Lease and foreign aid. On that day we will stand naked before the world as a nation, no . longer moving forward' to the goal of equality, decency, and freedom for all men, " ' v' \ " : ' ... V yV; - ■ : '''r: ' The desire for improved civil rights legislation drew Nix's support in 1960. His Speeches advocating better protection of civil rights have stressed the image of America to the world.' The "revulsion of the peoples of the world must be.the price we will pay for failing to take heed of the . / V V- /' ' ' ' - ' 8 ''y:' ' . . inequities dealt the Negro in our society, " is his general theme on the civil ' rights issue. . h - ; ’ • ' : ■ ;v- E v aluation : ' . -v ' ' . This study encompasses only the first two and one-half, years of Nix's Congressional service, hardly enough time to make any definitive ..■ 7IT„. S0, Congressional Record, 86th Cong., 1st Sess., 1959, GV, Parf 8 , 'L1655 . . . > y :y. . ' '"' . -.'y . . • '.vV;?'; ■ ... . : • 123 'judgment of the man. He has not been a very active Congressman, due to his short time in office„ Questions to a few Congressmen about Nix brought wither-the response, "Never heard of him., " pr "He. is a very quiet man. " ; He has introduced few.bills, none that were ever acted upon. His speeches, less than a dozen in number, have all been short. Their content, coupled with his voting.record, indicate that he is primarily interested in two things — civil rights and foreign policy. , His major concern within the area of foreign policy is the emergence of the non-white people of the world into equality with the .white world. .. '■ • . 1 The narrow range of interests that Nix exhibits is closely akin . to the manner of acting that accompanied the early Congressional years - ' of Dawson . However, it is. i'mppssiW tell if the future of Nix will . ; , parallel the past of Dawson. - . CHAPTER VI ' ‘ . Conclusions ■ ' 1 . Several levels of explanation for the pattern of Negro public life are ppssible. One perspective would include a prolonged inquiry into the. ethos of Negro life in the city. Another perspective might come from an investigation of the economic position of the Negro and the pattern of • expectdtiohs which urban life produces in people accustomed to great ■rural deprivation. - The purpose of this study has been to examine Negro public life at the level of leadership, and within, that sphere, the level of the Negro ' Representative r as one of the many possible levels of description. These leaders cannot be divorced.from the community and culture that produced them; at the same time they are an identifiable group involved in a more or less common set of circumstahces. They stand on the border between the white ahd Negro world, and must interpret each world to the other. It has been my purpose to describe.the opportunities and problems of Negro Con gressmen and to analyze their goals and methods. - y \ • ■ \ : The, Negro Congressmen's legislative record is an intern sting phenomenon. Out of 393 bills introduced by the four of them, forty have been acted upon and twenty passed. Although Nix authored no civil rights legislation, this category exceeds all others in the number introduced by the four of them. However, no civil rights bill of theirs has ever been acted upon or passed. The two pieces of successful civil rights legislation authored by Powell were amendments tied on to other bills, rather than separate pieces of legislation. The next largest category is that bf housekeeping legislation. Dawson heads the committee that has jurisdiction over such legislation. Of the 114 bills in this grouping, Dawson's name is on 113 of them and Powell's on the remaining one. This category of legislation has both';±tie highest percentage acted upon, 31.9%, and passed, 14.0%. As an examination of Chart 1 reveals , a scattering of legislation has been introduced, acted upon and passed in several other areas. After examination of the available material on the four Negro Congressmen, it is evident that the Negro Congressmen have three roles , . each one more important than the next, and each one an end in itself. In all important ways, the Negro •Congressmen are politicians first. Congress- v. men second, and Negroes third. Being a Negro is important but it is hot at the center of their political roles. However/ their racial identity is a - source (a) bf nuances and attitudes in their dealings with whites which, . while significant,-'are not controlling in their political and Congressional ■; ambitions and (b) of opportunities and threats relating to the maintenance v of their jobs- as. Congressmen . ' All four of the Congressmen are successful politicians. Each one manages to be re-elected'with pluralites beyond those required to be classed ' " ■ . ' ' ■ ' ' ' : : N ; 126 •■■■ : as possessing a "safe district. " Within, the realm of Congressional poli tics, each" has also been successful. Two of them, Dawson and Powell, have gained the chairman's hips of important House Committees. The remain ing two, Diggs and Nix, after serving a short time in the House were selected to membership in the House Foreign Affairs Committee.' Neither • V . exhibited any expertise in foreign affairs nor did either make any signi- - ; ;■ ficaht contribution to the House to warrant a prize assignment. The third role, that of being a Negro, has been their least effective accomplishment. None of them have been very effective on civil rights matters, nor ever . vitally interested in race matters as subjects for legislation. No one of them has sponsored any serious civil rights legislation, or has any of their civil rights bills been acted on or passed. But Powell has become known as a "race agitator, " a title that to some extent is also applied to Diggs. Dawson has earned the reputation of being "cooperative, " "not a rabble-rouser, " "a man you could do business with. " Nix has . become attached in the public eye.also to this type of image. : V The difference between the two types of Negro Congressmen lies not in the varieties of districts they represent, for:manyparallels are-notice-" ' % able between the four districts. All are Northern, urban, Negro majority ' districts with substantial socio-educational-economic problems confronting them. Instead, the difference lies in the varying political character of the cities.; . Chicago and Philadelphia are organization cities. New York and Detroit are cl ties where many centers of power vie for political control. There is no coherent hierarchical system of politics from the precenct captain to the mayor!s office in Detroit and New York as there is in Chicago and Philadelphia. Powell has been constrained to be a race man in order to . keep his standing in Harlem politics c while Dawson does not need such tactics to retain his positionInzfact, such tactics on the part of Dawson would disrupt the Democratic organization and lead to his power being dissipated instead of feeing increased or maintained. Dawson was an • ' "agitator" type in his early.political years at the time when his following depended on his personal intangible appeals. After his acceptance into the established organization, he was able to deliver tangible rewards to his followers. His intangible race appeals then were eliminated for two , reasons. First, he could deliver tangible rewards and these rewards satis-' fied his constituents. . Second, the machine could not afford a serious disruptive force withih itself .A ' ' ' ' ' " • ^ v h ; • : Powe 11 began''his career,as a. politician with an, independent base— the church. He forged his whole, career around that base and offered to his people intangible rewards—the only type he was capable of offering. The white organization in New York has not been as powerful during the past thirty years as has its counterpart in Chicago. Hence there was no chance of another Negro joining forces with the organization, as Dawson did in -Chicago , ■and competing with Powell by offering .tangible rewards. Con sequently, the Negro people could not become infuriated,at Powell for failing to procure goods for them in the way Dawson has done for his ■ . ,■■■ - .. ■ ' : 128 people. 'If the pc3sitions of Dawson and Powell, or their, so to' speak, juniors, had been reversed, they might have exchanged political styles , • as well, • . t \ , ' ' Chart 1 :: ■ ’ ; : 129 Comparison, of.Legislation Introduced Dawson Powell . Diggs Nix Total number .of hills introduced 161 171 Y 11 89 ■ .1! ' 7 Total number acted upon 38 . F': -'t' .: 1 Y-'-/ ; ^ 0 Total number passed 19 0 1 : 0 Percentage of total acted upon . 23.6 .69 : : 1.6 Y : 0 Percentage of total passed 11.8 0 1.6 : 0 Introduced: Civil Rights 31 77 27 ■■' 0 Housekeeping 113 1 ... 0 0 ." • ' Education & Labor 2 : 29 13 Y 3 • Veterans • 1 ... 0 1 ■ Y'Y o Housing ' 0 1 ' 0 3 •. . Social Security 0 : o " 1 ■: • o Foreign Policy • 2 13 ; i- - - Y- i D efense ... 1 1 - " 0 Y 0 Finance . 1 ■ y 3" ' 0 ■ Y 0 . Agriculture - 0 0 0 . 0 . '■ Others 12 29 14 'Y; 0 Percentage of total introduced: • 19.2 45.0 45 .0 ' ::.y y y o Civil Rights " . . Housekeeping 65.8 . 6 0 ' 0 Education & Labor 1.2 16.9 22 ■ 42 Veterans .6 0 1.6 0 Housing / .... 0 - 0 0 42 Social Security ' 0 0 1.6 . : 0 Foreign Policy 1.2 Y 7 :. 0 16 • Defense .6 .6 0 Y ' 0 - Finance . . : .6 Y 1.7 : ' 0 - 0 Agriculture .. ’ ■ 0 ■ . - " ' 0 : — . 0 ■ ■Y 0 CD r—i . Others • ■ -■ " ' , : : v7 . ■'' CD 23 . 0 Percentage of legislation acted on: 0Civil Rights 0 0 0 0Civil Percentage of Civil Rights passed 0 0 . . 0 ' 01 % of Housekeeping acted on 31.9 0 ' 0 Y 0 % of Housekeeping passed 1.4.0 0 0 0 % of Education & Labor acted on 0 : o . 0 0 % of Education & Labor passed 0 o - 6 0 % of Veterans acted on 0 0 100 Y 0 % of Veterans passed - 0 0 100 0 % of Housing acted on - 0 . . 0 o '; 0 % of Housing passed 0 ■ 0 . 0 0 % of Social Security acted on ■■ 0 0 0 0 % of Social. Security passed 0 0 o . . 0 % of Foreign Policy acted on 0 ■ o ; -Y 0 : o % of Foreign Policy passed 0 ' 0 - o ; 0 % of Defense acted on .'V- 0 • : 0 0 • ' - 0 % of Defense passed . 0 ' ■ 0 - ' 0 0 % of Finance acted on 0 0 0 . 0 % of Finance passed 0 0 ■ o ' , . 0 % .of-AgricuIture acted on. o - 0 O' ' ’ Y o % of Agriculture passed 0 . . 0 0 0 % of Others acted on 16.6 0 ' ■ 0 0 % of Others passed 8.3 0 . : o 0 Virgin Islands and Panama No. of bills introduced . 1 26 ' 0 ’ 0 % introduced . 6 15.2 Y- o 0 % acted on 0 0 0 0 % passed 0 00 0 0 Puerto Rico: No. introduced 0 1 0 0 % introduced 0 .6 0 0 % acted on 0 0 . 0 - 0, % passed 0 0 : 0 ' oi BIBLIOGRAPHY . ' Books ' .. ' ' Algren, Nelsen. Chicago: City on the Make . Sausalito, ' California: Contact Editions, 1961. ■ • • Baldwin, James... Nobody .Knows My Nam e., New York: The Dial Press, 1961. Banfield, Edward. Political Influence. Glencoe: The Free Press', 1961. Conant, Tames. Slums and Suburbs. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1961. Congressional Quarterly Almanac. Vols. 1-16 . Washington, D. G. : Congressional Quarterly, Inc. Current Biography. New York:. H. W". Wilson Co. > 1942. Davie, R. Negroes in American Society. New York: McGraw- Hill Book C o .,. Inc. , 1949. Drake, St. Clair and Horace H. Clayton. Black Metropolis. New York: Harper and Bros . , 1945. Frazier, E. Franklin. The Negro in the United States. New York: The M acmillan Co., 195 7. Gosnell, Harold F. Machine Politics:. Chicago Model. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago'Press, 1939 . ' ■ • ' ; . Negro Politics: The Rise of Negro Politics in .Chicago. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press , 1935 . Gouldner, Alvin. W, Studies in L eadership. New York: ' Harper and Brothers, 1950. ■ Handlin, Oscar. The Newcomers. Cambridge: Harvard , University Press, 1959 . ______. Race and Nationality in American Life. Garden City: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1957. 131 Moon, Henry L: Balance of Power. The Negro Vote. Garden City: Double day, 1948. • Myrdal, Gunnar. An American Dilemma. New York: Harper and Brothers',. 1944. ■ ■, Nelson, L„ B . .ed. An Outline of Man's Knowledge of the Modem World. Garden City: Doubleday, Inc., I96 0, . Noulin, W. F. The Negro In American Politics Since 1868. Boston: Strafford Co. , 1931. Odegard, Peter, and E. Helms. American Politics. New York: Harper and Brothers , 1947 . Powell, Adam Clayton, Marching Blacks. New York:. Dial Press, 1945 . ■'/' V y : .7 / ' u Ottley, Roi. New World A-Coming.. Boston: Houghton- ,M ifflin Co., 1943. Riesman, David. Faces in the Crowd. New Haven: Yale University Press, .1952. . ■ 5 x .Simpson, J. M, Racial and’Cultural Minorities.. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1953. - • Smith, Samuel D. The Negro in Congress.: . 1670-1901. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1940. Warner,- W. Lloyd and Lee Srole. The Social Systems of American Ethnic. Groups-. New Haven: Yale University ' YPress, 1945. • ' .. 7 White. Theodore. The Making of the President, 1960. New York: Atheneum Publishers, 1961. • Wilson, James Q. Negro Politics, the search for leadership. Glencoe: The Free P re ss, 1960. Articles Barth, Ernest A. "Power Structure and the Negro Sub- . Community, " American Sociological Review, XXIV (February, 1959)^ 67-76 A ,. : "Charles C.; Diggs-A New Congressman with an Interest • : • . . . in Negro History, " The Negro History Bulletin, XVIII (April, 1955) f 162-164. : . . ; De Grazia, ..Alfred. "The Limits of External Leadership Over a Minority Electorate, " Public Opinion Quarterly, XX ' . (Spring, 1956), 122-130. . Duke, Paul. "A New Role for Mr. Powell, " The Reporter, XXV (September 28, 1961), 30-34. : "The FEPC, " Newsweek, XXXV (February 6, 1950), 21. : ' ; "Interview- with Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. * " U. S. News and . World Report, XXXVIII (April 25, 1955) , 42-44. Martin, Fletcher. "The Durable Mr. Dawson of Cook County, Illinois, " The Reporter, XVIII (August 19, 1956), 9-12. "Nobody Knows the Messes He's Seen, " National Review, VIII (March 26, I960), 190. V I . . "Panam a, " New Republic, CXLV (October 23 , 1961), "The Peacetim e U ses of Adam Clayton Pow ell, Jr., " Nation, CLXXXHI (November 3, 1956), 356. : ; "The People 's'. Voice , " New M asses ,- XLV (November 3 , 19420. - Powell, Adam Clayton. "My Mission at Bandung, " Nation, CLXXX (March 28.r ; i 955)> 455-56 .: , . ' V \ Wakefield,- Dan. "Adam. Clayton Powell, Jr. -The Angry Voice of Harlem,-" Esquire , LIV (November, 1959). , "What the American Negro W ants," II. S. News and World Report, XXXIII (September 5, 1952) , 52-59 . - Wilson, James Q. . "Two Negro Politicians: An Interpretation," Midwest Tournal of Political Science , IV •{November,. ,1'960.} ■ 346-360; ; 3 ', •''. . ■' - ■ 'vV;-':': ■ ; Public Documents U. S. Bureau of. the Census. Congressional District Data . ' Book, 1961, ; ''3 0 ; . U . S . Bureau of the Census. National Housing Inventory, 1956. U. S . Congressional Record. Vol. 89-106. : ; . . . : Newspapers v _ ' Chicago Daily News ; December 6, .19:61. . Chicago Tribune. 1943-1960. New York Time s . 1943-1960. : h ;; Washington Post and Times Herald. February 7', 1960. ' V. ..;:■' • \/. .. .'V' Reports '; .V:'.,'; • '' ; ' _ - . Hapgood, Davjd. The Purge That Failed: ’ Tammany v . Powell. ' New York: H olt, Rinehart and W inston, In c. , 1959 Rischi, Moses . Our Own Kind. A Report, for the Study of ' • . Democratic Institutions .;. Prepared by the Center for the Study of .Democratic Institutions. Santa Barbara, California, 1960. . . k : .>. ' '. ., "Letters " k ." . Follia.rd, Edward T ., September 20, 1961. . Letter to the author regarding Adam Clayton Powell. Nelson, George W ., October 10 , 1961. Letter to the author regarding Charles Diggs'. . ' . . • Nowlin, William F . ,. September;26, 1961. Letter to the-author . concerning the project‘in general . Wakefield, Dan, September 21, 1961. Letter to the author with regard to Adam Clayton Powell . ' ' . . Wilson, James Q. f September 22, 1961. • Letter to the author concerning.the entire project. Interviews Dawson,* William L. Personal .interview in Washington, D. C. on July 19 , 1961. Mason, Noah.- Personal Interview in Washington, D. C . , on : July 19, 1961.. .;. Yates, Sidneyi "Personal interview in Washington, D. C ., on.July 19 , 1961, ; ^ . Other Sources ■ Congressional Office Of Adam Clayton Powell. Biographical Sketch of Congressman Powell.