THE CONNERS of WACO: BLACK PROFESSIONALS in TWENTIETH CENTURY TEXAS by VIRGINIA LEE SPURLIN, B.A., M.A

Home , Black church, Black school, Confiscation Act of 1861, Jules Bledsoe, Norris Wright Cuney

THE CONNERS OF WACO: BLACK PROFESSIONALS IN TWENTIETH CENTURY TEXAS by VIRGINIA LEE SPURLIN, B.A., M.A. A DISSERTATION IN HISTORY

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Approved

~r·rp~(n oj the Committee

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Accepted

May, 1991 lAd ioi r2 1^^/ hJo 3? Cs-^.S-

This dissertation is a dream turned into a reality because of the goodness and generosity of the people who aided me in its completion. I am especially grateful to the sister of Jeffie Conner, Vera Malone, and her daughter, Vivienne Mayes, for donating the Conner papers to Baylor University. Kent Keeth, Ellen Brown, William Ming, and Virginia Ming helped me immensely at the Texas Collection at Baylor. I appreciated the assistance given me by Jene Wright at the Waco Public Library. Rowena Keatts, the librarian at Paul Quinn College, deserves my plaudits for having the foresight to preserve copies of the Waco Messenger, a valuable took for historical research about blacks in Waco and McLennan County. The staff members of the Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Texas State Library in Austin along with those at the Prairie View A and M University Library gave me aid, information, and guidance for which I thank them. Kathy Haigood and Fran Thompson expended time in locating records of the McLennan County School District for me. I certainly appreciated their efforts. Much appreciation also goes to Robert H. demons, the county school superintendent. ii To Will Stanton, Veola David, G. H. Radford, Bonnie Mitchell, B. Wesley Austin, R. J. Houston, Dolly Scott, D. H. Seastrunk, Oscar Reese, Esther Thomas, Henry Arnic, M. P. Harvey, and Ruth Kennedy who provided me with helpful details, I am most indebted. For my dissertation committee members, I should like to express heartfelt thanks for giving me guidance. The membership included Professors Alwyn Barr, the chairman, Paul Carlson, Robert Hayes, Allan Kuethe, Otto Nelson, and Warren Walker. Joan Weldon helped me tremendously by typing the final draft of this dissertation in her usually impeccable style and I am grateful for her assistance. My appreciation for the history classes which inspired me to this doctoral effort is in direct proportion to the greatness of two of my former professors. In memory of David Vigness and Ernest Wallace, I can express only a profound sadness that my final work at Texas Tech University will not be judged by them. The largest debt of gratitude is to my parents, R. J. and Effie Spurlin, who always have provided me with enthusiastic encouragement and support. To them, I dedicate this dissertation.

Ill TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii PREFACE V CHAPTER I. FAMILY AND YOUTH OF GEORGE CONNER 1 II. FAMILY AND COMMUNITY LIFE IN WACO 21 III. JEFFIE ALLEN CONNER 36 IV. MEDICAL PROFESSION OF GEORGE CONNER 53 V. SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS LIFE 77 VI. CLUBS AND FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS 97 VII. PROFESSIONAL LIFE OF JEFFIE CONNER 113 VIII. CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVITIES OF THE CONNERS 132 IX. C0NCLUSI0N--IMP0RTANCE AS INDIVIDUALS 161 BIBLIOGRAPHY 168

IV PREFACE

On August 11, 1990, blacks from the central Texas area held a seminar at Paul Quinn College to discuss the topic of "African American Males; An Endangered Species." Lester Gibson, a member of the Waco municipal council and vice president of the McLennan County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, served as a panelist. During the discussion Gibson stressed that blacks must comprehend their role in history. Instead of adopting the history of white Americans as theirs, blacks can improve their self worth by realizing their importance in American and world history. He emphasized that black children can rediscover role models when black communities revitalize themselves through development of businesses, industries, educational facilities, and churches. 1 To learn more about their own history and thus to discover role models certainly would seem beneficial to blacks as well as other ethnic groups. The purpose of this dissertation, then, is to contribute to that process by presenting two black professionals, George and Jeffie Conner, who resided in Waco during the twentieth century. The Conner story will return the reader to a time of prejudice, racism, and a struggle for equal rights. As the chronicle of their lives unfolds, I hope this dissertation will do justice to the Conners' legacy and will serve as an analysis of the era in which they lived. George Sherman Conner was born before the end of the Civil War in Tennessee- His parents, who had been free blacks before the war, encouraged George to receive an education. He became a teacher, but soon changed professions and studied to be a doctor. After graduating from Flint Medical College in New Orleans, George and his wife, Mattie, established their home and his practice in Waco. I have sought to assess the influence of free black family status on George's opportunities to advance his status. At the beginning of this century, blacks in Texas found their lives little different from those in any other part of the South. Segregation of whites from blacks existed in Waco as surely as the Brazos River divided the city in half. Blacks, for the most part, settled in east Waco although a few had homes scattered throughout the southern and northern sections of the city near the business district. Some whites had homes close to the center of town also, but the majority of middle and upper class whites maintained their residences in the western part of Waco at a distance from the blacks. The development of the black middle class in

VI Waco serves as a possible case study of what happened in Texas and southern towns in the twentieth century. George spent over forty years as a physician in this segregated environment. He treated such diverse diseases as the common cold, pneumonia, and high blood pressure. He delivered many babies in both the black and Hispanic communities and insured a healthy beginning for all of them. Always he maintained a professional attitude which endeared him to his patients. Because of his professionalism, his black colleagues elected him president of their county medical society. George repaid them by giving generously of his time to the society and by delivering speeches on medical topics at the local churches and schools. My effort has been to clarify both the professional career of George and the economic status which resulted from his role. David McBride's book. Integrating the City of Medicine; Blacks in Philadelphia Health Care, 1910-1965. allowed me the opportunity to draw some comparisons between northern and southern medical care. After the death of his first wife, George married Jeffie Obrea Allen. During their married life, both participated in cultural and social affairs in the black community. They attended New Hope Baptist Church and became actively involved in various fraternal organizations and clubs, such as the United Brothers of Friendship, Masons, vii and Texas Association of Women's Clubs. An understanding of these activities provides insight into the development and functions of black middle class organizations and institutions. William Muraskin's book. Middle-class Blacks in a White Society; Prince Hall Freemasonry in America, provided me with helpful conclusions about fraternal organizations. Even though the two enjoyed sharing many activities, Jeffie still maintained a separate, professional career. She had been born to educated parents in a rural community near Waco. After attending a girls' school, Mary Allen Seminary, in Crockett, Texas, she entered Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College. Jeffie received a degree and began to earn her livelihood as teacher. At the time she met and married George, she already had changed her career from teacher to that of home demonstration agent with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Several years later a promotion in her job caused her to travel throughout east Texas as a supervisor of other agents. Her career offers a better understanding of the roles which were possible for middle class black women of the period. During the time that she was away from home, George wrote her approximately three hundred letters. This correspondence gives an insightful study of black existence in Waco in the 1920s and 1930s. The letters exhibit viii examples of social, political, and economic problems which confronted George and Jeffie. Significantly, the letters reveal also the humanity of both as they faced each day's agenda. One can discern easily that the power of humor was never lost with George as he described various incidents to his wife. Business matters, funerals, church services, an unwelcome visit by George's nephew, and other subjects were explored carefully for Jeffie's benefit. By 1948 Jeffie had left her job as a home demonstration agent and secured a new position as supervisor of black schools in McLennan County. She retired in 1957 and, thereafter, became a more vocal proponent for the welfare of blacks in her community. As a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, she took an active role in the civil rights movement in central Texas. Her efforts in these fields reflect success in opening new positions for black women in a time of change. Both George and Jeffie thus served the black community in various ways. He, as a physician, and she, as an educator, gave time and effort to aid their community. In religious, cultural, social, educational, economic, or political matters, they shared a concern for black advancement. Their story is a record of challenge and achievement for themselves as well as the black community. Because of this, George and Jeffie Conner stand as role ix models for the black youth of today. This study will contribute, I hope, to a better understanding of an emerging black middle class in Texas. Notes ^Waco Tribune-Herald. August 12, 1990, IB, lOB

XI CHAPTER I FAMILY AND YOUTH OF GEORGE CONNER

Beginning with the earliest period of this nation's history, blacks have suffered, endured, and survived. Now twentieth century Americans serve as witnesses to a rising and successful black middle class created by sense of pride, determination, and hard work. In order to understand better the development of this middle class society, it is important to explore the nineteenth century background of its members as well as the advantages and limitations encountered by persons such as George Conner. In the South prior to the Civil War, a black man or woman had the legal status of either a free person or a slave. Legislation passed in North Carolina as early as 1715 determined the status of slaves in Tennessee, which was then a part of the Atlantic Coastal colony. There were laws adopted by local governments for the protection of slavery and by 1796, when Tennessee joined the Union, the institution of slavery existed throughout the new state.1 From 1800 to 1860 the slave and the free black population grew in Tennessee as the census reports of these years reflect. In 1800 the slave population numbered 13,584 while 309 free blacks lived there. By 1820 the free blacks had grown in number to 2,731 whereas the population of the slaves had reached 80,105. For the 1840 census the free blacks had more than doubled in growth to 5,524 and the slaves now totaled 183,059. By 1860 in Tennessee 7,300 free blacks resided within its boundaries as well as the 275,719 slaves found there.^ During these antebellum decades both slaves and freemen became a part of Tennessee's growing agricultural economy. Blacks raised cotton, tobacco, corn, and wheat as well as cattle, hogs, and chickens."* Yeomen farmers who owned no slaves or only a few hired free blacks for several days a week to help them. This gave the small landowners a chance to feel like the planter class by having blacks perform tasks for them. At the same time free blacks earned a steady wage by engaging in seasonal farm labor as well as fishing and working the boats that traveled on the major waterways.* Slaves worked not only on the small farms beside free blacks but also toiled with them in the iron foundries of Middle Tennessee. The most fortunate slaves became domestic servants and escaped the more strenuous tasks while receiving better clothing and food. Still both field hands and domestic servants endured the same physical abuse from their white masters. Beating and whipping slaves kept them obedient to the wishes of their owners and this cruelty remained as one of the worst aspects of slavery.^ For the most part free blacks avoided the brutality associated with slavery because they formed attachments with whites at every opportunity. Constantly they maintained the one asset which set them apart from other blacks—freedom. Because of this freedom which allowed them more opportunity than bondsmen, free blacks could in some cases become cart drivers, barbers, or brickmasons." Legally free blacks were set further apart from slaves because they enjoyed certain advantages. For example, they could be a party to court cases and contracts, they could acquire property and engage in trade, and they could legally marry.' Yet in Tennessee the white man never let the free black forget that he lived in a society with racial distinctions.^ After 1806 free blacks had to be registered with county court clerks. If they ever lost their registration certificate, they had to prove their free status. If they could not do so, they could be treated as escaped slaves by local officials. Kidnappers and slave traders could seize q free blacks and sell them into slavery.' Thus free blacks did not enjoy a secure life because the threat of slavery remained very real to them. Free blacks faced additional restrictions which made life difficult for them. They could not associate socially with slaves. A fine of $2.50 could be imposed for the first offense and $5.00 for any reoccurrence with the fine later set at $20.00. If the free black lacked money for the fine, the constable found him work until his wages equalled the fine. Free blacks had to have written approval from the slaveholder to wed a slave. A freeman who married a bondsman without permission could receive a $25 fine. A free black who could not afford that cost might be forced to labor a year for the owner. No free black could provide either a gun or a sword for a slave without the master's approval. A free black had no legal right to testify against anyone white and could not hold office. After 1834 free blacks could not vote.l" Even with such legal restrictions, white concerns about free blacks steadily rose because of the freemen's attempts to acquire land, organize educational and religious institutions, and create their own place in society.^ Because free black enterprise made a contradiction of white racial expectations, the Tennessee legislature decided to provide a legal definition of "Negro." It concluded that persons who had one black parent, grandparent, or great grandparent would be covered by the racial laws. By 1850 the mobility of free blacks had been limited and they could do little more than own property. 1^ To hold down the growing number of free blacks, a plan for colonization received much support in Tennessee. In 1853 the legislature required that emancipation of slaves be accompanied by their removal to Liberia. By 1858 Tennessee in an arrogant manner passed a law that free blacks might 13 enter slavery, though none seem to have taken that option." After John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry, Virginia, the legislature seriously considered a bill requiring free blacks to leave the state. Early in 1860 the state house of representatives approved the expulsion of free blacks and then sent the bill to the state senate. That body waited several weeks before finally voting down the bill because the senate wanted stronger restrictions for free blacks. When compromise between the two houses collapsed, the legislature adjourned having failed to pass a bill concerning the expulsion of free blacks. 1* The Civil War then intervened before any further action on expulsion could occur. Tennessee joined the Confederacy and began to aid in the war effort, which included the use of the state's blacks for much needed manpower. If the owners consented, the army could use slaves for $.50 a day or $25 a month and had to provide them also with food, clothing, and shelter. People did not want their slaves used in the war effort, however, because they sold for as much as $1,300 at the beginning of the war. Without the use of slaves the military had no choice except to recruit free blacks. 1^ The legislature passed a draft law on June 28, 1861, for all fifteen to fifty-year-old free black men. They would be paid $18 a month along with food and clothing, but they could use no weapons. Any who rejected military service could be charged with a misdemeanor by the county sheriffs. This law made nearly two thousand men liable for the draft, but only a few served. Most of the men avoided service by fleeing from the state or deserting later from the army.l" By February, 1862, federal troops had established a military presence in Tennessee and they did not know what to do about the blacks. The army returned slaves to their owners until Congress adopted the Confiscation Act of 1861. Free blacks came under a more relaxed version of the black codes. When President Abraham Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, he did not free slaves in Tennessee because the state already had been placed under a Union government. Twenty thousand slaves gained their freedom by entering the union Army and in 1864 their families also became free. By the end of the war the only worry of blacks in Tennessee was that a white civilian government would not treat them fairly after the federal troop*^ liad left. As later events confirmed, the premonition of the blacks proved correct. Most importantly, however, at this point the antebellum free blacks stepped forward to assert their legal rights to be treated as full citizens. 1^ Two of these free blacks, William Conner and Rachel Sterling Conner, lived in Tennessee through the antebellum years as well as the tumultuous years of the Civil War. According to family records, William Conner was born a slave during 1814 in Knox County, Tennessee. 1^ Although the U.S. Census Report in 1850 lists William Conner as 25 years of age and residing in Blount County, Tennessee, the U.S. Census Report in 1860 lists him as 46 years of age and residing at Brick Mill in Blount County, Tennessee, as a farmer with the value of his real estate at $220 and the value of his personal estate at $151.57.1' As a young man, he purchased his freedom from his master with his own earnings for extra work done while he was a slave.^^ This was possible because Tennessee allowed for private emancipation of slaves in a number of ways. A slave could be freed through a deed, will, contract, bill of sale, an action indicating emancipation by the master, or by 21 being taken to a free state." By legal means, then, William Conner was a free black when he married Rachel Sterling in 1843.^^ 8 Rachel Sterling was born a free black on September 10, 1829, in Blount County, Tennessee. She was free because her grandmother had been set free by her master. Rachel's mother was thus born a free black and Rachel's status was the same because the child took the status of the mother.^^ Tennessee had declared legal this rule of nature regarding humans and Judge John Catron upheld the law in court in the case of Harris v. Clarissa.^* William and Rachel Conner began their married life on a farm in Blount County in eastern Tennessee." The best opportunity for free blacks came when they acquired land by purchase or lease.^° From their marital union, they received the blessing of a growing family over the years with the births of six boys and one girl. The oldest child, James, was born in 1849 and then came the only daughter, Henrietta Caroline, who was born in 1851. More sons followed with the birth of Willis in 1854, William in 1857, David Alexander in 1859, and John Winfield Scott in 1862. Finally, the youngest child and also a son, George Sherman Conner, was born on April 6, 1864.2"7 Free blacks may have been the outcasts of society, but William Conner had enough sense to know that his family would survive if he worked hard. Tennessee had suffered during the Civil War and perhaps that is the reason William went to Alabama to work for extra income. Two letters exist from him to his wife, which reflect his literacy as well as his understanding of the world in which he lived. From near Greensboro in the Spring of 1866 he wrote; Your kind and affectionate letter of April 1st has come to hand and gives me great satisfaction to know that you are all well and doing well. This leaves me in good health and well pleased with our prospects. I want you to write to me as soon as Mr Love gets home and let me know what he has done and ask him what he done about the mule we lost between Dalton and Atlanta & if he got him back or not. Tell Mr Russell that I will let him know about taking the place for another year some time about harvest. This is as soon as I can tell what I am going to do. I want you to see John McGinly about the money he owes me. also the note on John Curtis try to collect these if you can. Get the boys to fix the pasture fence at the Conard place to put the sheep in. When you write again let me know how the wheat looks, you can sell what corn & meat you have to spare whenever it suits you. I want you to try & get some one to teach Henrietta until the crop is laid by and then perhaps you can send her to school somewhere. Perhaps you could get some young lady in the neighborhood to give her lessons until fall. We have 100 acres planted in cotton and have about 100 acres to plant. We will finish planting next week. I am faring [sic] as well as I could wish. I get all the comforts in the way of eating &c that Mr Mead & Mr Cox gets. I share every thing they get and live just as well as I could wish. The colord [sic] people here enjoy as much Freedom here as they do in E Tenn as any where else, and they seem civil friendly and industrious, anxious for education and some few seem inclined to save their wages and better their condition in life. Give my respects to John Sterling. I want you to make a suit of jeans and give him. Give my love to John & Jane and tell them I wish them much joy, long life & much 10 happiness. Give my love to all the children & accept for yourself the unchanging affection & remembrance of Your affect Husband Wm Conner P.S. Impress the children as much as you can against the great sin of swearing. I heard a sermon on my way down here that convinced me more forcibly of this great sin than I have ever been convinced before. I do not want the children to learn this bad habit." In the second letter on June 4, 1866, he continued; Your kind and welcome letter of May 21st came duly to hand and I hasten to reply. This leaves me enjoying good health & hope this will find you the same. I have written to you I think this is about the sixth letter since I came to this place and I cannot understand how it is they do not reach you. All are directed to Louisville. It still continues to rain here. The season is very wet and crops seriously damaged but we are still in hopes of making something. People here say they never had such a rainy season before. Vegetables of all kinds are very plenty here, we have been eating snap beans for three weeks. Also Irish potatoes and all other kinds of garden vegetables. We have a good garden & everything plenty. I am sorry to hear that we have lost the little bay horse but I suppose there is no remedy for it unless the party we bot [sic] of was good for it. In that case we could make him responsible. You write that you think I had better come home soon to see to things there. We have had so much rain here that it has thrown us a good deal behind in our work and I do not think I can leave here before next month and then I will try to come if possible. In the meantime do the best you can . . . you write . . . let . . . know how the wheat looks and the crop generally, write often and give me all the news. 11 Give my love to all the children and friends generally and beleve [sic] me truly your husband Wm Conner P.S. I think you had better cut the clover seperate [sic]. Our hands & Mikes to themselves but suit yourselves." On August 10, 1866, William Conner died and his wife then found herself as the sole supporter of the family.^° The United States Census Report in 1870 listed Rachel Conner as living in Louisville in Blount County, Tennessee. She was described as keeping house while James, 21, Willis, 16, and William, 15, were farm laborers. Alexander, 13, John, 8, and George, 5, attended school. Caroline, 19, was without occupation. Rachel's personal estate was $1,100 and James had $100.^^ In the early 1870s, Rachel moved her family to Maryville, Tennessee. She intended to educate her children and her youngest son, George, took the goal of education as his own as he grew toward manhood. In Maryville, George graduated from the Freedman's Normal Institute in 1876 or 1877. He then attended Maryville College, an integrated school for both races. His family moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he continued his studies and was graduated. ^^ Rachel Conner relocated her family sixteen miles from the rural area of Maryville to the city of Knoxville obviously with the hope of improving the family's welfare in 12 every possible way. Her choice coincided with a large number of other rural blacks who had been arriving in the city at an increasing rate since 1863 when the Union Army captured Knoxville. The Freedmen's Bureau had advised the blacks to stay in the countryside rather than compete for urban jobs. Yet from the end of the Civil War they came in greater numbers which brought the black population to 3,149, about one-third of Knoxville's total in 1880. They intended to get the jobs offered by the railroads, saw mill, marble quarries, and other industries. They wanted also to take advantage of the new opportunities offered in owning a home or having their own churches as well as the advantage of a higher education. The Presbyterian Church created an educational institution for freedmen in 1875 that later became Knoxville College.^^ Probably this is the school from which George graduated in the early 1880s. George then moved to Lewisville, Arkansas, where he taught school for two years. The Conner family had begun to go their separate ways and each member found a new home. James, the oldest son, moved to Paris, Texas, and spent most of his life in the city where he is buried. Henrietta Caroline married William Branch and moved to Helena, Arkansas. When he died, she moved to Natchez, Mississippi, and married George Egland. After his death, she moved to Waco, Texas, in 1915. When Henrietta died, she was buried 13 in Waco. Willis, like his sister, moved to Helena, Arkansas, and is buried there. William followed George later when he moved to Waco, Texas, and is buried there like Henrietta. David Alexander lived in Texarkana, Texas, and is buried there. John spent his life the farthest from the rest of the family by going to St. Louis, Missouri. There he met an untimely and tragic death by being murdered and was quietly buried. Rachel Conner moved from Tennessee also and spent her final years living in Waco. She died March 23, 1913, and was buried in Waco.^* The reasons the Conner family left Tennessee and moved westward are not clear. Certainly conditions in the South after the Civil War were not good, but family members waited more than a decade before they migrated. The Tennessee they knew in the 1870s was a state confronting social and economic change. After the Civil War, Republican laws had guaranteed blacks in Tennessee full voting rights, integration on railroads, public school education, and contracts for day laborers and house servants. By 1870, when white Democrats gained control of the government and federal troops had left the state, the Ku Klux Klan was no longer restrained by the law. Railroads once again became segregated and poll taxes were required of voters. Integrated public schools and interracial marriage were forbidden. A new labor law in 187 5 forbade encouraging a 14 worker to break a contract. Anyone who failed to pursue "an honest calling" could be charged with vagrancy. By 1877 black children's education was suffering from lack of funds and only 38.6 percent received an education.^^ An answer to these black problems at the time appeared in the form of emigration. In 1880 Benjamin Singleton, a former slave from Nashville, Tennessee, testified before a United States Senate committee that he had led 7,500 southern blacks into Kansas. He estimated one-half of them came from Tennessee.^^ The Conner family joined in the exodus, but George chose Arkansas as the place to start his teaching career. By 1885, George moved to Paris, Texas, to work in a printing shop for two months. He then taught school in Paris for the sum of $50 a month for two years and received appointment as the principal."" Besides this administrative position, he assisted in the organization of the black schools in Paris. While he was living in Paris, he married Mattie Jackson of Nashville, Tennessee, on August 24, 1887. Together, they continued teaching in Paris, but George finally made the decision to leave the teaching profession because he wanted to become a doctor." George selected Flint Medical College of New Orleans University as the place to gain his medical degree. Established in 1889 by the Freedman's Aid Society of the 15 Northern Methodist Episcopal Church, the medical school served the educational needs of a small number of blacks. In the twenty-two years in which the school existed, 120 students graduated. Yearly tuition fees amounted to $1,300 for the students, who were taught by fifteen faculty members. Medical students sharpened their skills in a twenty-bed hospital even though they found little to brag about in their classrooms or their laboratory. Rooms needed repairs and laboratory equipment was inadequate.^' Yet, despite any lack in the physical assets of the school, George thrived in his educational surroundings. In 1894 he successfully gained his medical degree as the class valedictorian. *" Mattie wrote to her husband on February 14, 1894, from Ladonia, Texas, where she was teaching, to express her thoughts on his accomplishments. Now we are about to begin the journey of a new life. So different from the other one, although it will be darkened with many clouds, may we treat every cloud so as to make the sun to shine the brighter. I have worked & prayed earnestly for your success. God has answered my prayers. He gave you health and strength to finish. All I have done for you I did because I love you. No one but God and myself knows how wearied I have been through it all, not because I did not want to work, but because I had to work under so many disadvantages and would get impatient when things did not go to suit me. I had to disappoint you some time. I would feel very bad for I know you would be bothered although you said once my troubles were small compared 16 with yours. . . . You often tell me if I am satisfied you are happy. If the rule works one way it will work both. My happiness in the future will depend entirely upon your success. If you have health I believe you will be successful. In your new position I am going to try to be a good true & model wife in every respect. I will do all I can of what I think is right to aid you. . . . In the past our work has been about the same, we have worked side by side. I had become familiar with all the besetments of that work, but this is different of which neither of us know what we have to encounter. . . . You spoke of being better off than some others who were not able to meet all their indebtness [sic]. I am sorry for them if there are any in that line. . . . I am very sorry that I will not get to witiness [sic] your graduation. And that I am not able to send you a fine present. I have nothing to offer you but a heart full of love for you and my best wishes for your success.*^

After graduation in New Orleans and before returning to his home, George made a trip to Waco, Texas, to visit a friend. He had chosen Waco as the site of his medical practice and soon returned there with his wife to be a part of the growing community located on the banks of the Brazos River. *^ George Conner had reached out and opened a door of opportunity for himself by seeking a higher education to become a physician. His parents' heritage as free blacks and their emphasis on education allowed his rise into the postwar black middle class. The economic efforts of his parents also aided him in his quest for an education. This 17 background prepared George well for the advantages and limitations he now faced in a new environment at the beginning of the twentieth century. 18 Notes Chase C. Mooney, Slavery in Tennessee (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1957), 7-8. 2 Lester C. Lamon, Blacks in Tennessee. 1791-1970 (Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 1981), 116. 4bid., 18-19. *Ira Berlin, Slaves Without Masters: The Free Negro in the Antebellum South (New York: Pantheon Books, 1974), 192. ^Lamon, Blacks in Tennessee, 1791-1970, 19. 4bid. 'Caleb Perry Patterson, The Negro in Tennessee, 1790- 1865 (Austin: University of Texas Bulletin, No. 2205, February 1, 1922), 174. ^Lamon, Blacks in Tennessee, 1791-1970, 20. ^Patterson, The Negro in Tennessee, 1790-1865, 161-162. ^°Ibid. , 173. ^^Berlin, Slaves Without Masters: The Free Negro in the Antebellum South, 89. ^^Lamon, Blacks in Tennessee, 1791-1970, 20. ^^Ibid. ^^Berlin, Slaves Without Masters: The Free Negro in the Antebellum South, 375, 379-380. ^^Bobby Lee Lovett, "The Negro in Tennessee, 1861-1866: A Socio-Military History of the Civil War Era" (Ph.D. dissertation. University of Arkansas, 1978), 6. ^4bid., 7. 17Ibid. , 192. ^^Biographical Records, Personal Materials, George S Conner Papers, The Texas Collection, Baylor University, Waco, Texas. 19 19 United States Census of 1850 and 1860, Blount County, Tennessee. 20 Biographical Records, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. 21 Patterson, The Negro in Tennessee. 1790-1865, 176- 179. ' 22 Biographical Records, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. The Biographical Records state that William Conner married in 1843 when he was 33 years old. 23 Ibid. The United States Census Report in 1850 lists Rachel Conner as 19 years of age. The United States Census Report in 1860 lists her as 29 years old and the 1870 United States Census Report lists her as 39 years old. ^^Patterson, The Negro in Tennessee, 1790-1865. 55. 25 Biographical Records, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. ^^Patterson, The Negro in Tennessee. 1790-1865. 174. ^'Biographical Records, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers.

TO "William Conner to Rachel Conner, [1866], George S. Conner Papers. The original punctuation has been retained in these quotations. ^'ibid. , June 4, 1866. ^"Biographical Records, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. ^^nited States Census of 1870, Blount County, Tennessee. ^^Biographical Records, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. ^^Michael J. McDonald, and William Bruce Wheeler, Knoxville, Tennessee: Continuity and Change in An Appalachian City (Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 1983), 19, 27. 20 ^^Biographical Records, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. ^^Lamon, Blacks in Tennessee, 1791-1970, 47. ^4bid. , 49. ^^Teacher's Contract, Paris, Texas, George S. Conner Papers. ^^Biographical Records, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. ^'Herbert Montfort Morals, The History of the Negro in Medicine (New York: Publishers Company, Inc., 1967), 66, 227. ^^Biographical Records, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. *^Mattie Conner to George Conner, February 14, 1894, George S. Conner Papers. ^^ibid. CHAPTER II FAMILY AND COMMUNITY LIFE IN WACO

Waco has a moderate climate and a rich, black soil that has drawn people to the locale for decades. From its earliest settlement, Waco steadily grew in population as agricultural, business, and industrial interests expanded. From the beginning also, blacks developed their own community, which enhanced the growth of Waco. George and Mattie Conner settled into the routine of life in this central Texas community, which presented both of them with new challenges and opportunities. Like so many others, the couple discovered also that many difficulties and disappointments could be overcome by proper management. They wanted to succeed and resolutely intended to do so. Although the area they moved to had developed a flourishing city by the turn of the twentieth century, originally it had been inhabited by the Waco Indians. In 1837 a group of Texas Rangers had built Fort Fisher near the Indian village and by 1844 George Barnard had established a post on nearby Tehuacana Creek to trade with the Indians.^ On March 1, 1849, Jacob De Cordova and George Erath made

21 22 a survey for town lots and began to sell them. Before long Waco became populated by white settlers who came predominantly from southern states with their slaves. When the Civil War began, the county's white population had reached over 6,200, along with more than 2,400 slaves. In 1871 Waco became incorporated as a city.^ Waco developed steadily in the years before the Conners moved into the community. After 1870 when a suspension bridge had been completed across the Brazos River, Waco became a center for agriculture and trade. Cotton was the major crop grown in the region and the town boasted its own cotton mill, which had been the first one built in the state. A few years later to celebrate the continued growth of the cotton industry in the area, some civic-minded businessmen constructed a giant Cotton Palace to serve

0 as an exhibition hall and for an annual fair."* In 1872 the first railroad entered the city as a branch of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad Company and by 1900 the county had approximately 166 miles of rail lines.* The completion of the bridge and the railroad boosted population growth and the local economy by serving as a means of transport for people and products. Thus at the beginning of the twentieth century, Waco had become a hub for commerce in central Texas. 23 By 1910 the city also had an abundance of factories which produced everything from sewing machines to brooms. Six banks kept the economy moving forward and more than a thousand new homes found buyers each year. In 1911 the Amicable Building, twenty-two stories high, became the tallest structure in the South and its fame served as a stimulus for the continuing prosperity in Waco.^ Across the state Wacoans also exhibited astute political leadership as Pat M. Neff, a local attorney, gained the governor's office in the election of 1921.^ This sense of well-being, economically and politically, carried over into every aspect of life in Waco and showed its effects in a continuous surge of growth in the white population. The census of 1920 gave the county's white population an increase of nearly ten thousand from the previous census. In 1910, 55,991 whites lived in McLennan County, whereas in 1920 the figure had jumped to 65,280. The next census proved an equally large increase with an estimated 75,813 whites residing within the county in 1930.' The first blacks arrived in Waco in 1849 as slaves of the Shapley P. Ross family. Armstead Ross had been born a slave in 1821 and had been brought to Texas in 1839 by the family. When they moved to Waco, Armstead and his wife, Lucindy, helped Shapley Ross build and maintain his home in the new settlement.^ Sophia Bereal, who was part Indian, 24 came to Waco in the early 1850s and became another pioneer black in the community.' More blacks settled in the area and by the decade of the Conners' arrival, 1890 to 1900, the black population in McLennan County, with Waco as county seat, had grown from 10,381 to 14,405. After 1900, blacks migrated from the farms in the county and gradually enlarged the population of Waco.^^ Willie Ray Anderson remembered moving in 1916 over twenty miles in a mule-drawn wagon from a farm near Otto to Waco. Her father. Major Ray, had spent most of his life raising cotton and tending to a few chickens, hogs, and cows, but like other rural blacks, he decided to seek employment in town. The family of eight moved into a rented, three-room house and Ray found a job at a cotton oil mill. He earned $1.50 a day and managed to feed his family for $9.00 a week. To supplement their diet, he kept a cow and some chickens in his yard, which at the time happened to be the same practice as many of his neighbors.^^ The Rays lived in a part of Waco called Frog Town by its black residents because of the numerous frogs which appeared along the muddy streets after a heavy rain. The roads in this section of town remained unpaved and a storm caused puddles which served as a habitat for the frogs and as a deterrent for travel and visiting by the people in the vicinity. When the weather permitted, blacks usually 25 congregated on Saturday at the town square. So many relatives, friends, and neighbors gathered at this central market place that horses and wagons had to be left all along the streets near the square.^^ Saturday became a day of visitation and enjoyment for people who had worked long hours at strenuous jobs during the week. Reverend Robert Gilbert grew up in an area of south Waco similar to Frog Town, but his neighborhood became known as Butcher Pen. His home had cardboard over the windows and rags crammed in all the holes. Like their black neighbors, the Gilberts had kerosene lamps, an outdoor toilet, and a vegetable garden.^ The minister described the large ditch located in front of the houses which retained water all the time except in dry, summer weather. For him and the other children, the ditch became their playground for a game of marbles or their stage for acting out stories. He believed that some whites felt sorry for the poor blacks in Butcher Pen, but these people had their dreams of achieving a better life someday. The children looked around their community and thought only of being successful and important adults.^* Another black preacher, the Reverend DeShong Smith, also had his memories of Waco at the beginning of this century. He spent his early manhood working for the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Company as a redcap, a name 26 given a luggage handler. He earned the magnificent sum of $2.25 a day and saw that reduced to $2.10 a day because of the Depression. Smith soon realized that his existence depended on the tips that he received.^^ Leodia Ward, a black woman born in 1885 in McLennan County, found herself the sole support of her family when she became a widow at an early age. She worked in the fields for fifty cents a day chopping cotton and for thirty- five cents for a hundred pounds of picked cotton. By sewing quilts, cooking, and making homemade dolls, she supplemented her income and reared her children through harsh times for black people.^° Most blacks tried to exist quietly within a segregated society and to earn a living the best way they could. Mahala Webster resided in south Waco and became recognized as a reliable soothsayer or clairvoyant. She told the fortunes of both prominent businessmen and housewives and quite often she gave medical advice to people if a doctor had a difficult time treating an illness. By working as a soothsayer, she provided an income for herself and her

17 children.^' Besides domestic service or farm labor, blacks earned an honest wage in their own shops and offices. Vividly Willie Anderson recalled that blacks had businesses, such as 27 drug stores, cafes, grocery stores, picture show, and a funeral home as well as professional men, such as pharmacists, lawyers, dentists, and doctors.^^ George Conner certainly chose a good place to begin his medical career because the Waco black community appeared large enough to support a professional class. By 1910 the black population in McLennan County had increased from 14,405 to 17,234. By 1920, 17,575 blacks resided within county limits and in 1930, 18,697 blacks

1Q lived there.^' Blacks thus showed a slow growth rate, with their percentage of the population declining from 23 to 20 percent. Several doctors practicing medicine in Waco during this period gave their own explanations for the slower growth of black population. One major theory stated that black women for the first time had begun to use methods of birth control. A second theory presented the idea that disease had kept the black population at a lower rate of growth. Venereal disease, for example, remained a threat to having children.^'' A more logical reason, aside from medical causes, could be the migration of blacks to other areas of the country during this period. In 1894 when George came to central Texas, he became the second black doctor in the area. Significantly he thus became a pioneer in the black professional class in Waco 28 because at the time no black lawyers or dentists practiced their craft in the vicinity. Four black-owned grocery stores, three restaurants, eight churches, and two schools with eleven teachers existed, however, to serve the needs of the black population.^^ Five years later two more blacks had begun their medical careers in Waco, but still no lawyers or dentists lived there. The number of grocery stores had increased to nine while eleven blacks owned restaurants. Three public schools employed twelve teachers and twelve ministers preached to their congregations.^^ Within the next two decades blacks, such as Willie Anderson and George and Mattie Conner, could be proud of their thriving community as more black businesses opened and the professional class expanded to include a lawyer and a dentist .^^ At the turn of the century, Waco's white population dealt with their black counterparts in the same general manner as in other locales of the South. Segregation had become entrenched and certain white citizens took it upon themselves to assure white domination. The city had outbreaks of mob violence and lynching an accused person replaced trial by jury on occasion. In 1916 Jesse Washington became a victim of such vigilante action. Washington, a black man, had killed a woman in Robinsonville by beating her to death with a hammer. A mob gathered at 29 his trial and took him by force from the courtroom. Outside the men chained him to a tree and set him on fire. Someone then tied his burned corpse behind a horse and dragged him around the streets of the city. Later his remains were taken to Robinsonville and put in a bag, which was displayed for awhile at a blacksmith shop.^* In 1923 Waco gained a place in history by being the site of the last legal hanging in Texas. Roy Mitchell, a thirty-year-old, black man, confessed to raping several white women, robbery, and murder. Brought to trial in a local district court, he received the death penalty for his crimes. Although Mitchell had been legally tried and convicted, white mobs lynched at least seven other blacks in McLennan County from 1905 to 1922.^^ Blacks in Waco endured the segregation and the mob violence for years, but finally in an editorial in the black-owned Waco Messenger, the concept of White justice received an admonition. As I pen these lines my heart is in anguish, my thoughts are at war with themselves, my eyes are tear dimmed because of Southern justice in particular and American justice in general. I am made to wonder how a government that has varied so far from the principles upon which it was established, by and for its people, can long endure. When justice is traveling a rocky road and suffers herself to be blindfolded by color and guided by passion, you may rest assured she will dash her foot against a stone.^ 30 Despite the potential for violence, George's medical practice improved financially and the Conners made investments in real estate. In the first three decades of the twentieth century as the black population steadily rose, ownership of property also increased. In 1900 only 659 blacks in McLennan County owned property, but by 1930, 1,770 blacks owned real estate.^^ Most owners, including the Conners, maintained their property to the best of their ability because of its rental value and its resale price. George made the statement, "There was a time when bath tubs were a rarity but . . . now they can be found in many homes along with electric lights, gas, sewer connections and other modern conveniences."^" George and Mattie selected a home on North Sixth Street as their residence and enjoyed all the advantages that his income as a doctor allowed." In 1920 he expressed jubilation that he had become the proud owner of a typewriter and had learned how to use it. He typed his first letter to his wife expressing his sentiments about his new possession. ... At the tender age of fifty-six I am using the typewriter. I am not as fast as the fastest, who tickle the bony ribs of the keyboard and make sweet music, but I would have you know that I am 'going some.' And when I get to the place where I can automatically strike the keys, I will be 'hard to catch.' [sic] To say I like it, is putting it mildly. I am indeed, boiling 31 over with enthusiasm at the thought of making cold type do my bidding, whereas, formerly, I had to depend upon my pen and pencil."^ While the couple lived in Waco, George made a decent wage and became the sole support of the family since Mattie apparently never taught school in the city. Instead of working outside the home, she seemingly became content in the role of housewife. One of her dearest friends, Eloise Willis, also did not teach and together they spent time with shopping or with friends.^^ Because of Mattie's help and her commitment to her husband as a doctor, George's status prospered."'' In turn she thrived because she gained recognition as the wife of a leading Waco physician. Unfortunately for them, their marriage produced no children, but they found comfort with each other."' In central Texas George and Mattie watched as the rest of the world changed around them. He described such differences in a letter to his wife. 0 how we grow! A few short years ago, the wagon supplanted the ox-cart as the mode of travel. Then the buggy supplanted the wagon: the automobile the buggy: and soon the aeroplane the automobile. Then like winged messengers, we will fly all over God's heaven. I wonder if this is the same world in which I was born?^* Yet during this time the Conners had settled quietly into a routine of daily living. On one particular occasion 32 George wrote to his wife and expressed his sentiments regarding their marriage. For thirty three years, hand in hand, we have travelled the highroad of life together. We have had just enough thorns in our pathway to make us appreciative of the roses; just enough shadows and darkness to give us a clearer conception of the beautiful sunlight. And as the day of our lives is dying in the west, and the sun casts its mellow rays against the azure blue of our declining years, may we hold each others hand more tightly, and if one be taken and the other left, let us stand firm on His everlasting promise and HOPE.^^ Two years later on August 23, 1922, one day before their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary, Mattie died.^^ Bereaved and saddened by the loss of his wife, George carried on with his day-to-day existence at home and with his medical practice. As the months passed, so did his unhappiness until he found solace and comfort from the companionship of a friend. Their friendship soon grew into love for each other and they decided to wed. On September 19, 1923, George married Jeffie Obrea Allen, the young woman whom he had come to 17 depend upon and to care for dearly,"" Together they embarked on their new marriage and both found continued satisfaction in their personal and professional lives. The black population in Waco had grown since George moved there. The black middle class had increased as well and prospered through investments in real estate and private 33 ownership of businesses. Despite the tensions and limitations from violence and segregation during the nearly thirty years George had lived in Waco, he had attained success as a physician within the black community. His acceptance by other blacks had given him financial security and the opportunity to become a community leader. His marriage to Mattie had served as the catalyst to make all of his goals a reality. With his new wife's encouragement and help, George could expand his achievements even further and his future looked brighter than ever. 34 Notes

Press ^^9^4^' ^^^^®^' ^^^O- A Basic History (Waco: Texian

^Ibid., 7-8. ^Ibid., 24-26. *Ibid.

/TT ^,P^t^icia Ward Wallace, Waco: Texas Crossroads !oo?x ^^^ Hills, California: Windsor Publications, Inc., 1983), 49-50.

Conger, Waco: A Basic History. 29. John Ramsey Gordon, "The Negro in McLennan County, Texas" (M.A. thesis, Baylor University, 1932), 9. ^Dayton Kelley (ed.). The Handbook of Waco and McLennan County. Texa.c; (Waco: Texian Press, 1972), 232. Gordon, "The Negro in McLennan County, Texas," 1. ^°Ibid. , 7, 9. ^^Waco Tribune-Herald. April 27, 1986, 1, 14. ^^Ibid. , 14.

10 ""Robert Gilbert and Nancy B. Barcus, No Excuses Accepted (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1988), 67-68. ^*Ibid. , 69. ^^Waco Tribune-Herald, December 5, 1987, 1. ^4bid., January 14, 1985, 8. ^'William H. Curry, A History of Early Waco With Allusions to Six Shooter Junction (Waco: Texian Press, 1968), 116. ^^Waco Tribune-Herald, December 5, 1987, 1. "Gordon, "The Negro m McLennan County, Texas," 9. 2°Ibid., 16. 35 ^^Waco City Directory. 1894-1895 (Houston: Morrison & Fourmy Directory Co., Inc., 1894-1895), 51-52, 311, 318, 320.

^^Ibid., 1900-1901. 224-225, 228, 251-252, 257-258, 259. ^^Ibid., 1919-1920. 575-576, 598. ^^Curry, A History of Early Waco With Allusions to Six Shooter Junction. 88-90; James M. SoRelle, "The 'Waco Horror': The Lynching of Jesse Washington," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 86 (April 1983): 517-536. ^^Waco Tribune-Herald. July 30, 1983, 1,8. ^^Waco Messenger. April 14, 1933, 2. ^^Gordon, "The Negro in McLennan County, Texas," 30. ^^bid. , 74. "Biographical Records, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers, The Texas Collection, Baylor University, Waco, Texas.

Of) "'"George Conner to Mattie Conner, April 14, 1920, George S. Conner Papers. 01 Interview with Mrs. Vera Malone and Dr. Vivienne Mayes, March 14, 1985. ^Îbid. ^^Biographical Records, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. ^^George Conner to Mattie Conner, April 14, 1920, George S. Conner Papers. ^Îbid. ^^Biographical Records, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. ^Îbid. CHAPTER III JEFFIE ALLEN CONNER

Jeffie Allen began her life in a small community southeast of Waco and received the rudiments of a basic education in a rural school house. Through her own desires and determination, she continued an educational process that ultimately rewarded her achievements with a college diploma and the opportunity to be an independent woman in an era when such women were exceptional. Jeff and Meddie Estelle Allen lived on a farm they owned near the tiny settlement of Harrison, Texas, located approximately ten miles from Waco in the southeastern corner of McLennan County.^ Named for James Harrison, who had a plantation in the area, the town became populated by former slaves who turned to sharecropping on the land after the Civil War. The population ranged as high as 150 in 1880, but gradually decreased until the census showed only twenty- five people living there during the 1920s and 1930s. At the peak of activity, the town possessed a school, several churches, a cotton gin, a mercantile store, a train station, and a post office. In 1905 the post office closed and the

36 37 railroad shut down its station which had given the town its more popular name of Harrison Switch.^ On August 17, 1895, the Aliens had their first child, a daughter, whom they named Jeffie Obrea.^ After her, they had two more children. The second child, a son called Booker, died in his twenties. Their third child. Vera, grew into an accomplished young lady, became a teacher, married P. R. Malone, and had a daughter, Vivienne, who became a professor at Baylor University in the Department of Mathematics.* The Aliens always had believed firmly in education and intended to see that their children received the best they could provide. After all, Jeff Allen had graduated from Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College and both Meddie Estelle Allen and her mother were teachers. Meddie taught school at Riesel, Bethlehem, and Pilgrim's Rest over a period of forty years."* Jeffie began her elementary education in a rural schoolhouse at Harrison.° Like most other country schools of that era, the building was probably a simple frame structure which also acted as a community center or as a lodge hall. Most small school districts considered themselves fortunate to provide desks, benches, and a blackboard for their teachers and students. Textbooks were difficult to obtain, although the state could readily furnish a list of what books a teacher could use in order to 38 instruct the children. Usually the teachers used whatever books appeared the easiest to get until finally in 1919, Texas began to distribute free textbooks to its public schools. In 1926 the state further aided public education by free bus transportation for students living at least two miles away. In 1902, however, when Jeffie started her educational training at Holder's Chapel, she knew nothing of free books or free bus rides.^ Like other students at the turn of the century, she got to school by walking, by horseback, or by riding in a wagon. Once there she learned from any available book. Children brought their lunches in a sack or a syrup pail, ladled water out of a bucket from a well or a tank, and all drank from one cup. Teachers allowed short recess periods for physical activities in the morning and in the afternoon so the children could expend their excess energy in a ball game or a friendly game of marbles. Once inside, though, after the bell had been rung, teachers expected their pupils to master the basics in "'reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic.'"' After attending elementary school in Harrison for several years, Jeffie transferred to Anderson School in Mart for two years.^'^ Then her mother decided to send her to Mary Allen Seminary in Crockett, Texas, a school that Meddie thought highly of since she at one time had been a student 39 there.^^ This institution had been established to educate black females through the efforts of the Freedmen's Board of the Presbyterian Church. People in the town had given ten acres, while James Snydor from Illinois had provided an additional two hundred and sixty acres in order to start the school named in honor of the board secretary's wife. In 1886 the school began with only forty-six students, but expanded rapidly to two hundred and sixty-six over the next few years. Teaching the young girls the art of domestic service became a basic part of the curriculum.^^ In later years Jeffie gave glowing testimony on behalf of her former school when she said, "At Mary Allen they were teaching for the good and love of people."^^ She always spoke fondly of the "missionary ladies from the North who wanted to teach Negro girls."^ While a student at Mary Allen Seminary, she took the entrance examination for admission to Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College. She passed the test and her score was good enough to place her in second year classes.^^ At the age of sixteen in 1911, she entered Prairie View College at Prairie View, Texas, and began a course of study which eventually led her into the teaching profession.^^ On March 11, 1878, Prairie View had begun as a small college near Houston for the scientific study of agricul ture. It started with a paltry enrollment of eight students 40 because blacks accustomed to hard farm labor did not feel the need to attend such an institution. The next year the college changed the emphasis of its curriculum from agricultural courses to subjects aimed at preparing 17 teachers."' Much of the instruction actually dealt with college preparatory work, however, since the segregated public school system in Texas did not adequately prepare its 10 graduates. Into this strange, new environment, then, came Jeffie Allen. She quickly learned that "idleness was held up as a great foe to individual progress and the parent of moral weakness and ruin."^' Students at Prairie View had "to be prompt, orderly, and busy, cultivating kindness and courtesy 70 as distinguished from insolence and boorishness."'" She also found out that contact between male and female students remained limited and existed only under the strictest, puritanical guidelines. Mealtime gave a brief respite from hectic schedules and the administration insisted that the students be served only good, nutritious food. Plenty of fruits and vegetables with desserts allowed only two nights a week assured a healthful diet. In case any students became ill, however, a local doctor provided the college with his services as a health officer and a student nurse helped in the campus hospital. Each week on a regular basis the college had Sunday school and vesper services at which 41 all students had to be present. Entertainment for the students centered around anything literary such as speeches, debates, or even classical music and the young people joined such clubs as the Excelsior Literary Society. The school finally did permit the formation of football and baseball teams to enhance the students' sense of devotion to the college.^^

Jeffie spent three years at Prairie View and during this period of time she had been thoroughly receptive to the educational training which she had received. In 1914 she graduated and possessed not only a college diploma but also the requisite state certification to become a member of the

79 teaching profession." This represented a personal accomplishment for her and a public one for Prairie View. She and her classmates represented one more group of teachers the college had trained. At last Prairie View had begun to graduate enough black teachers to supply a never- ending demand for them in a segregated school system." In the black public schools some opposition had existed to having white teachers and Prairie View's capacity to alleviate the demand for black teachers helped relieve the situation.^* After Jeffie's graduation she taught at Clifton Elementary School in Clifton, Texas, until 1919. Then she moved closer to her parents' home at Harrison when she took 42 a teaching position at Riesel in the Billingly Elementary School and taught there until 1922. That same year she decided to quit the teaching profession and change her career entirely. Jeffie had an opportunity to become a home demonstration agent for McLennan County. She quickly accepted the new job and began at once to learn the tasks and requirements needed to be a successful agent.^^ As with the public school system, home demonstration agents found their work to be of a segregated nature. Black agents dealt only with rural black families.^^ The county rented separate office space too for its black home demonstration agents and Jeffie found that her office was in a building owned by a black physician named George Conner 77 . . and his friend, W. S. Willis. This particular building had been one of George's real estate investments when he and his wife, Mattie, had believed they were financially secure enough to purchase property. Situated on the corner of South Second Street and Franklin Avenue in downtown Waco not far from the Brazos River, the building fitted George's needs as a doctor perfectly. He had set up his medical office there and had had a grand opening for the Conner Building on September 28, 1914. 28 When Jeffie moved to Waco, she joined an expanding black middle class. Eight doctors practiced medicine in the black community and four schools existed with thirty-four 43 teachers employed in them. J. M. Vandavell served as the only dentist and R. D. Evans had opened a law office. Black churches had increased over the years to twenty-four and new stores and businesses also had come into existence. Twelve grocers and fourteen restaurant-owners kept the blacks in their neighborhoods supplied with food.^' Jeffie, like other blacks, certainly had her choice of where to shop, dine, or attend church. Her selection of her physician also came rather easily and quickly. George's wife had died in 1922, the same year that Jeffie became a tenant in his building. They spoke to one another and became well acquainted as they passed each other every day in the building. After a period of mourning and after their friendship had begun to blossom, George asked Jeffie for a date. Before long they became involved in a full-blown courtship. He escorted her to church, took her on picnics to Cameron Park, and bought her an ice cream soda or a soft drink at the Mecca Drugstore on Bridge Street. At the time, however, Jeffie was not alone in vying for George's attention. Several other young ladies also happened to be most interested in this eligible man, but after a short courtship of several months, Jeffie succeeded in completely winning his heart. He, in turn, had won her

on heart and her hand in marriage.^" On September 19, 1923, 01 George Sherman Conner married Jeffie Obrea Allen."*' After 44 their marriage, he wanted her to quit her job as a county home demonstration agent, but she refused. She "told him his home would not suffer. And it did not."^^ When they realized how happy they were and felt others should be the same way, they decided to play matchmaker between Jeffie's sister. Vera Allen, and P. R. Malone, a friend of George. Pizarro Ray Malone had begun working for George Conner in 1913 doing errands for him and his first wife, Mattie. At that time George used a horse and buggy to make house calls in his medical practice and Ray kept the horse fed and groomed. Also the young man cut the grass around the house, washed dishes, and eventually in later years collected rent on property that George owned. The matchmaking effort proved successful because Vera and Ray soon wed and the two couples remained close throughout their

00 lives .^^ Jeffie enjoyed her work as a home demonstration agent, but after eight years of advising rural families, she decided to return to college in 1930. Since she had become involved in a different profession from teaching in a public school, she believed she should take courses which would improve her knowledge as a county agent. She majored in home economics and in 1933 she received her second degree, a Bachelor of Science, from Prairie View.^* With her newly- acquired expertise, she already had accepted a significant 45 promotion on October 1, 1932, as a supervisor of home demonstration agents in seventeen East Texas counties.^^ While Jeffie spent the next few years traveling, George remained at home and had to content himself with his medical practice and his business affairs. During this period of his wife's absence from home, he wrote her approximately three hundred letters and she saved them all.^^ In the letters George affectionately addressed her as "My Darling Baby Face" or "My Sweet Baby Face" and in closing he referred to himself as "Your Own Daddy."^^ He always did his best to keep her informed about current happenings in Waco and he filled the letters with news about family, friends, his medical practice, social, political, and religious events, and financial matters. Because he dealt on a daily basis with people in the black, Hispanic, and white communities, the letters give an important insight into the lives of local people, many of whom Jeffie obviously knew. For instance, he wrote that "Sophia Bereal is to be funeralized tomorrow from James Church. She is purported to be 113 years old???"^^ Her death rated the attention of the Conners and the entire black community

00 because she was one of the pioneer blacks m Waco. With Jeffie gone, George attended to their rental property and their personal business by himself, but he 46 reported his transactions to her by mail. In one letter he said:

Malone and I went to Hillsboro this morning, leaving at 10:30. Had my deed recorded which was 90 cents, paid the County tax which was $6.03 and rendered the property for 1935. Had to go to Hubbard to pay city tax. Paid the said tax which was $7.30 and rendered the same for 1935.*"

George told her on another occasion about a trip to their farm and explained the purpose of the journey. Malone, The Well Digger and I went to the country Wednesday for the purpose of locating the well. We had the proverbial forked peach tree twig which turned down indicating a very strong stream of water at a certain location. This spot was designated as the place to dig. (smiles) He will begin operation Saturday. I am extending to you a special invitation to come and quaff cool water from this famous well.*^ When Jeffie received a letter from him about his nephew, George, she probably laughed to herself about the way he handled the situation. My nephew George blew in last night rather unexpectedly. You recall I told you I wrote him a letter discouraging the idea of a visit from him at this time. He said he had not received it. I told him that there was no work to do and that Negroes are on the point of starvation because of the scarcity of work. I advised that he go elsewhere. I recommended that he pick cotton in south Texas, then come to central Texas when the crop was gathered there, then to West Texas and on to Oklahoma. He did not take to that suggestion and decided he would go 47 back to Texarkana. He left on the Interurban at 3 P.M. Doubtless he will not like my attitude but I find from bitter experience that too much help ruins young Negroes and makes you poorer still.*^ George wrote letters to his wife that expressed every human emotion which he possessed. He appeared to feel a sense of elation when he told her, "The Jeans [sic] teacher began work today. The trustees decided on offices in our building. Eight dollars per month."*^ Always the businessman, he wanted his wife to know what a good deal he had struck with the school board in furnishing an office for the newly-hired Jeanes teacher. Perhaps the school board, the Conners, and all the blacks in the county were fortunate because a Jeanes teacher finally had been hired for the rural areas. Many years before, in 1907, a fund of one million dollars had been established by Anna T. Jeanes, a Quaker from Philadelphia, "for the furthering and fostering of rudimentary education in small Negro rural schools."** At last the bequest had come to fruition for rural blacks in central Texas and George found himself richer by eight dollars a month because of a philanthropic Quaker. From his first letters when Jeffie began traveling as a supervisor until his last letters to her, George constantly let her know that he missed her. In one letter he wrote: Was real glad to receive your letter informing me of your safe arrival at the 48 end of the journey. Glad that you are well and in fine fettle for the tasks that lie before you. This leaves us at home 'All Alone.' Like a deserted village, whose inhabitants have fled to distant climes. It is not the most pleasant thing to contemplate after one or two weeks of noise and bustle and pleasant situations with those you love.

At one point he even questioned why they were apart and said: I sometimes think why we sacrifice so much? Then I consider our programme that we thought out carefully and resign myself to the thought that. It may be Gods way and His ways are past finding out. I am doing my best. Whatever the future holds in store for us I shall be content, knowing that I have had a good sweet partner all along the journey as a solace in times like these.*° As a student, a teacher, and a home demonstration agent, Jeffie strived to achieve certain goals in her life. She traveled and worked hard to attain her success. From the very beginning, however, she had received support from her family. Her middle class parents had made an economic and philosophical commitment to her education. George, for his part, helped her as best he could. He stayed home alone and contented himself with his medical practice. To occupy his spare time, he kept busy with social, church, and business affairs. George, without voicing too many complaints, became Jeffie's strongest ally as she advanced in her career. The disruption in their marriage by her absences from home must have put tremendous stress on their 49 relationship. Yet it appears their bond remained close. With support from a caring husband, Jeffie maintained a professional career as a black woman during a time when such accomplishments for any woman were rare. 50 Notes ^Biographical Records, Personal Materials, Jeffie 0. A. Conner Papers, The Texas Collection, Baylor University, Waco, Texas. 7 'Dayton Kelley (ed.). The Handbook of Waco and McLennan County, Texas, 125-126. 0 "'Biographical Records, Personal Materials, Jeffie Conner Papers. *Interview with Dr. Vivienne Mayes, March 6, 1985. Vaco News-Tribune. January 13, 1969, 1. ^Biographical Records, Personal Materials, Jeffie Conner Papers. 7 'W. R. Poage, McLennan County--Before 1980 (Waco: Texian Press, 1981), 153. 0 "Biographical Records, Personal Materials, Jeffie Conner Papers. 'poage, McLennan County--Before 1980. 154-155. ^'^Biographical Records, Personal Materials, Jeffie Conner Papers. ^^Waco News-Tribune, January 13, 1969, 1. ^^Lawrence D. Rice, The Negro in Texas, 1874-1900 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1971), 233; Michael R. Heintze, Private Black Colleges in Texas, 1865- 1984 (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1985), 33-34. ^^Waco News-Tribune, January 13, 1969, 1. ^*Ibid. ^^Ibid. ^^Biographical Records, Personal Materials, Jeffie Conner Papers. ^^Rice, The Negro in Texas. 1874-1900, 226-227. 51 ^^Ibid. , 231. 19 George Ruble Woolfolk, Prairie View: A Study in Public Conscience, 1878-1946 (New York: Pageant Press, 1962), 137. 20lbid. ^4bid., 138-139, 142-143. Biographical Records, Personal Materials, Jeffie Conner Papers. ^^Rice, The Negro in Texas. 1874-1900. 228. ^*Ibid. , 230. "Biographical Records, Personal Materials, Jeffie Conner Papers. "Patricia Ward Wallace, A Spirit So Rare: A History of the Women of Waco (Austin: Nortex Press, 1984), 199. ^'interview with Mrs. Vera Malone, March 21, 1985.

00 "Biographical Records, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. ^'waco City Directory, 1921-1922. 40-41, 42, 575-576, 598, 607-609, 636, 640-641. ^''interview with Mrs. Vera Malone, March 21, 1985.

01 "'"Biographical Records, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. ^^Waco News-Tribune, January 13, 1969, 1. -'"Interview with Mrs. Vera Malone, March 21, 1985. ^*Biographical Records, Personal Materials, Jeffie Conner Papers. ^^Interview with Dr. D. H. Seastrunk, October 17, 1990 ^^'Biographical Records, Personal Materials, Jeffie Conner Papers. 52 37Letter s from George S. Conner to Jeffie Conner, Personal Materials, Jeffie Conner Papers.

00 "'"George Conner to Jeffie Conner, December 5, 1934, Jeffie Conner Papers. oq ""Gordon, "The Negro in McLennan County, Texas," 1. 40 '''George Conner to Jeffie Conner, January 31, 1935, Jeffie Conner Papers. *4bid., November 5, 1937. *^Ibid. , July 27, 1938. *^Ibid., January 9, 1939. Lance G. E. Jones, The Jeanes Teacher m the United States, 1908-1933 (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1937), 17-18.

iCj George Conner to Jeffie Conner, September 6, 1934, Jeffie Conner Papers. *4bid., November 30, 1937. CHAPTER IV MEDICAL PROFESSION OF GEORGE CONNER

George Conner terminated his teaching career in order to become a physician and chose Waco as the site to launch his new profession. With ambitious desires and extensive dreams, he arrived in central Texas in 1894 to begin another segment in his life. For the next four decades he devoted himself to his medical practice and to the welfare of the people who resided in his community. George traded the security of a teaching position in Paris, Texas, for the opportunity to be a physician because he understood that a doctor occupied a special social level and under the proper circumstances could gain considerable financial benefits.^ George selected Flint Medical School m New Orleans s the place to secure his training. He must have been quite pleased to receive the honor of class

0 valedictorian when he graduated in 1894.' Conner had no way of knowing that in 1911 Flint would be closed, like Shaw University, which ceased to exist in 1902, because it could not implement all the standards for the study of modern 0 medicine."'

53 54 After George obtained his medical degree, he joined a group of blacks dating back to the 1700s who had served as physicians. As early as 1740 Simon, an escaped slave, could "'bleed and draw teeth' and 'pretended to be a great doctor among his people.'"* In 1792 a black called Caesar used herbal medicine to treat patients. He helped everyone so much with his successful remedies that the South Carolina legislature bought his freedom and gave him a pension of $100 a year.^ Another black, James Derham, began the study of medicine with his owner. Dr. John Kearlsey, by helping him mix his medicines and tend to his patients. When Kearlsey died, Derham was sold to George West, a surgeon, and finally he went to New Orleans as the property of Dr. Robert Dove. Because Derham exhibited talent in the medical field. Dove let him buy his freedom. He quickly opened his office and earned nearly $3,000 in 1800. James McCune Smith studied at the University of Glasgow and began practicing medicine in New York City in 1837. Well-respected by white doctors in the city, he became an outstanding spokesman regarding differences in the races and scientifically attacked widely- held beliefs of the inferiority of the black race.^ Other well-known blacks in the medical field included John V. Degrasse, who became the first black admitted into a medical society when he joined the one in Massachusetts in 1854; 55 M. V. Link, who published the first lack medical journal in 1892 in Jackson, Tennessee; and Daniel H. Williams of Chicago, who performed the first surgical operation on the heart .^

George wrote once about the first black doctor he had seen and the impression that medical science had made on him.

I remember quite distinctly the first negro physician that I ever saw. He had a massive frame, a large head and a very solid foundation on which to stand. . . . The following summer I visited the centennial at Nashville. Among the many exhibits and magnificent attractions in that exposition, the display by Meharry Medical College made a very lasting impression upon my mind. In the laboratory department there was a half-gallon jar full of bones of irregular shape, possibly the size of a small marble, and hair in abundance. I was curious to know, how they were obtained. To my consternation and surprise, I was told that they were the stomach contents of a colored man, removed by a skillful operation of a negro surgeon. I was profoundly impressed.° J. M. Vandavell was the first black physician in Waco. In 1884 he started his practice in an office behind a white drugstore. There he mended broken bones, performed operations, and even pulled teeth. The procedures were done in his office because no hospitals existed in Waco at the time. He performed surgical operations on a kitchen table by lamplight with no disinfectants except iodifoam and carbolic acid. In extracting teeth, Vandavell used no 56 anesthetic, but simply sat the patient in a chair and told him to grip the arms. He then cut the gums away from the tooth and pulled hard on it with his forceps. Many times the patient and chair gave way before the tooth did. He did treat patients in their homes and invariably it seemed the house calls occurred at night. Darkness, wooded areas, wild animals, and poor roads made such trips dangerous. For the journey, he had his wife drive the buggy while he sat with his gun ready to shoot. Vandavell struggled for ten years as the only black physician in Waco ministering to the black community.'q When George began his medical practice in Waco, he thus became the second black doctor in the community. Thirty years later eight blacks served as physicians in the city.^" The black citizens of Waco benefited from an increase in the number of doctors and the rest of the state saw an increase in black physicians as well. In 1900, 136 blacks served as physicians and surgeons in Texas and in 1910 the number had grown to 168. The ranks of black doctors swelled to 217 in 1920 but dwindled to 205 in 1930.^^ White doctors in Texas numbered 5,684 in 1900; increased to 6,051 in 1910; then declined to 5,738 in 1920, and 5,892 in 1930.^^ In Waco white physicians also showed an increase from the time of George's arrival until several decades later. In 1894, 55 57 white doctors practiced in Waco and by the 1920s the number had reached 81.^^ George opened his office with high hopes, but he knew that there would be problems. Years later he enumerated possible circumstances and critical remarks which he had thought might occur to a beginning black physician. First: His own extreme poverty. He necessarily has to begin at the beginning with no one to help, and an indifferent populace to criticize. Second: He is not fully equipped to render service promptly and efficiently. In other words he has no automobile and cannot answer calls promptly. Third: He has not attended school long enough and does not know enough to practice medicine. Fourth: Negroes have not been free long enough to be trusted to administer to the sick. These and many other objections and frivolous excuses confront the young man when he asks his race for their patronage.^* He understood that blacks did not readily accept formal medical help. The majority of blacks for decades under slavery or in the rural South had used herbal or homemade cures for minor illnesses. If anything serious ever arose, they sought the services of a "witch doctor or voodoo practitioner." Gradually over the years small numbers of blacks decided to give the black doctor a chance to treat their health problems. Yet if the doctor could not solve the problem as quickly as the patient expected, more than likely the person returned to the use of voodoo for relief. 58 It took a period of time and medical advances before blacks realized the value of formal health care and began to utilize physicians for their own welfare.^^ David McBride in his book. Integrating the City of Medicine: Blacks in Philadelphia Health Care, 1910-1965, gives a view of medical care in a northern city. He stated that like southern blacks, the blacks in Philadelphia accepted quite slowly the medical opinions of members of their own race. Once they did, however, they exhibited a sense of pride that they were being treated by black physicians. They eventually admired the black doctors so much that groups sought them as speakers for many public events. The black physicians in Philadelphia thus became the leaders and spokesmen within the black community. Yet like the medical care workers in the South, their main objective centered on the battle against disease. Tuberculosis caused the majority of deaths in Philadelphia and black doctors spent countless hours fighting epidemics of the disease. Denied medical privileges at white hospitals, blacks opened two hospitals for themselves

17 in Philadelphia." In the South black physicians did not have any easier access to white hospitals. L. G. Pinkston, a black doctor in Dallas, said that a white administrator allowed black doctors to practice at his hospital for a short time during 59 the 1920s. When several white doctors complained, the administrator revoked the blacks' medical privileges. He and the other black doctors then treated their patients at a clinic which Pinkston owned.^^ White hospital privileges for Conner also did not exist. If one of his patients required surgery, a white doctor performed the necessary operation at the hospital. For instance in 1939, he wrote Jeffie that he had paid Dr. Dugeon, a white surgeon, seventy-five dollars for performing an operation on one of his patients.^' Conner treated illnesses in his office or at the patient's home, not in a hospital. Before 1905 no one had kept any records on the cause of death of blacks in Waco and McLennan County. No one even had kept count of how many blacks had died. Elderly black residents claimed that malaria and typhoid fever took many Of) lives.'" After records were kept, the leading causes of death for blacks in the community centered on tuberculosis, pneumonia, and typhoid fever. Other causes which closely followed included heart, disease, senility or old-age, 01 stillborn births, accidents, and pellagra.'" Two abortions were listed as cause of deaths between 1905 and 1910. Cancer, later a leading cause of death in the United States, accounted for 2.8 percent of black deaths in McLennan County from 1905 to 1925.^^ 60 Dr. Joe Dilby, President of the Texas State Medical Association, started a program after World War I to inform citizens about health topics. When each county became responsible for implementing its own agenda, George was selected to present a program for black health care in Waco. He chose New Hope Baptist Church as the site to give a speech concerning diseases within the black community." In his presentation he discussed diseases which were preventable, curable, and incurable. He stated that books, pamphlets, lectures, newspapers, and radio made the public aware that certain diseases could be prevented. George named smallpox as a contagious disease that vaccination had overcome and he urged blacks to take advantage of the vaccine to prevent future epidemics in their community. He talked about typhoid fever and said at one time it "was almost as much a part of the summer and autumn as was the sunshine and harvest."^* Again he lauded the use of vaccine as the measure to stop the spread of the disease. Likewise, he stated that the diphtheria vaccine, developed in 1894, had stopped another potentially fatal disease.'25 George described curable diseases as those that with "the aid of medicine administered by a capable physician . . . are amenable to treatment. "^^ He cautioned the audience that a person's health is the most important possession and should be safeguarded at all times. Certain 61 basic rules received his recommendation in order to maintain a sound mind and body. He advocated positive thinking and a nutritious diet as the foundation for good health. Other suggestions included proper breathing habits along with exercise, relaxation, and recreation to increase vitality. He said also that eight hours of sleep and daily baths kept the body resistant to germs.^^

George did not elaborate on incurable diseases in his speech, but he did emphasize that a truly professional doctor would do his best to aid his patients. He stressed that physicians used the latest scientific knowledge to find cures for diseases and that educating the public about all diseases could prove a doctor's real value to his fellow man. He believed that a doctor's objectives should be to preserve a patient's health and consequently prolong his life.-^^ Conner's discussion of medical fallacies in his speech centered on people's conception of alcohol as a cure for everything from pneumonia to snake bite. He warned that excessive alcohol consumption was destroying the black race. Many patent medicines found in drugstores contained alcohol and he cautioned the people about trying to treat themselves without knowing the specific cause of their illness since it could be "a very dangerous thing, for he who doctors himself has a fool for a patient."" 62 He ended his speech by saying that the most serious fallacy concerning doctors was the belief that a doctor had to treat a patient without being paid for his services. Some doctors, he admitted, were poor at business and did not require payment, which in turn left them unable to meet their own debts. Such doctors should be pitied because they should manage their affairs in such a manner as to guarantee their financial success. In conclusion he quoted this poem. The doctor sadly counts his bills. Which must be met some way; He counts his cash, which won't go round. The while his patients say: 'I thank you. Doc, for work you've done; I wish that I could pay; I've bills to meet, a car to buy. But I'll get to you some day.' They pay for cars, they pay for clothes, They pay other debts they owe. But they pay the doctor. When their money has no other place to go. So crowded are his waiting rooms. But empty are his tills; May Heaven send him patients. Who pay their bills.^" George was not the only doctor who could complain about a patient's refusal to pay. G. H. Radford, a retired black dentist in Waco, told of charging only fifty cents for pulling a tooth when he began his practice in Marlin, Texas, in 1929. Yet even at that small cost, some people did not pay him. He said that the patient many times did not have 63 the money. Other times the person could have paid, but had spent the money for something else. Of course, Radford had begun his practice during the Depression and often he realized that a handshake and a thank-you had to suffice.^^ Conner at times might indicate his displeasure about patients who did not pay their bills, but actually he made a comfortable living. Letters to his wife reflect his delight in the amount of money he had collected in his office. In 1936 he wrote; The Shop made $15.00 last week. On account of having to pay for gas and lights and other expenses my net profit was more than $8.00. I think this is wonderful.^^ He proudly proclaimed in 1939 that his income had improved from the previous year. I am sending your annual statements of business for 1938. You will see that I collected $8,000.00 this year from all sources. Last year it was $7,000.00. My medical transactions were not as much this year as last year but Rents were more. And too I sold a piece of property amounting to about $200.00. All things considered this was a better year by far. I feel happy over it." George's interest in his financial status did not deter him from his service to the community regarding speeches on health topics. He gave another lecture at the church which he aimed directly toward the young men in the black community. In the speech he informed them about the spread 64 of venereal disease because of the boys who "will marry pure girls with not a blot upon their character."^* He warned them about going to an older boy for advice or to someone for medical help who would sell them a liquid concoction of roots and herbs. A homemade brew certainly would not cure them of any venereal disease. Instead, he urged all the boys to confide in their fathers and to go to them with any problem which could arise.^^ The medical lectures at the church occupied some of George's time, but he had ample opportunity to meet other obligations. One responsibility he gladly accepted was his membership in the Lone Star Medical, Dental, and Pharmaceutical Society. This organization had been formed in 1886 when the white medical association would not let blacks join.^^ In 1928 black membership had risen from a small group to three hundred within the state and the rapid growth made it the biggest medical association in the entire country.^^ The Lone Star Medical Society also had a women's auxiliary which Jeffie Conner joined. In June of 1936 George reminded his wife in a letter that she had been

00 invited to attend the state convention in Dallas.'" On July 20, 1937, George became the president of the county medical society and proudly delivered his inaugural address to nine fellow members who attended the meeting in his office. He told the group about a cartoon he had seen 65 which depicted a large, black man lying on the floor. A small, white man sat on his body and the caption asked, "'What will he do when he wakes up?' "^' George compared this cartoon to their medical group and declared that the society needed to wake up. He made suggestions how this could be accomplished and said that cooperation among all the members was necessary. George wanted to hire a secretary to keep a central file on those who did not pay their bills. He reasoned that the public would be come aware of this procedure and the doctors would no longer have to worry about collecting their money. This in turn would allow the physicians more time to accomplish their own goals such as reading recently published medical journals and books or attending a summer institute.*" He made these suggestions also. In order that we may reach our highest aim and fondest expectation, we must banish the charlatan from our midst. The quack whose chief aim is to secure easy money, the unprofessional who preys upon the credulity of the public must go also. The physician who believes in shots and other devices when they are not needed must be condemned. The abortionist whose stock in trade is to destroy life in embryo as well as to cut short the promising young woman whose future is blighted and whose death is a travesty upon justice. They also must go and in their ranks we hope to enlist men of honesty and integrity, men who put honor to the front as the highest commendation for entrance in our homes. Efficiency must be the watch word and be assured that it will reap a rich reward. 66 People will be attracted to us by reason of our skill and not for our bombast and our show.*^

His final suggestion dealt with the women's auxiliary of their society. He emphasized that the women's steadfast aid and guidance would allow the doctors to achieve an even greater rate of success.*^ The members of the county medical society showed their professional commitment through meetings of their organization such as one described in the Waco Messenger. The McLennan County Medical, Dental and Pharmaceutical Society met August 3 in offices of Drs. Adams and Sorrelle at 8 p.m. with President G. S. Conner presiding. Every member was present and on time. Program consisted of papers by Drs. Mitchell and Vandavell. Dr. W. D. Mitchell's paper on Appendicitis was great from every standpoint and quite original. Dr. J. M. Vandavell's paper treated on Pyorrhea and was quite exhaustive; stressing the fact that eighty teeth of every hundred extracted today, pyorrhea is the cause. The Society went on record not to take the State Association in 1938, but to have them come to Waco in 1939. After all business was disposed of the society in a body went to Ashford's Cafe and there a delicious chicken dinner was served. Drs. Adams and Allen came in for much praise for having arranged such a fine dinner. The Society decided to honor Dr. H. L. Smith by holding the next meeting at his home, 1103 Taylor Street, August 17, 1937.*^ George also continued his participation in the medical society and wrote to his wife, Jeffie, about his success. 67 My paper on Contraception was well received. They regard it as the best production that they have heard and voted unanimously to have me read it at the State Medical, Dental & Pharmaceutical Association next spring, at Austin, Texas.**

Another letter to his wife told more about his activities in the medical society. I did not write you on yesterday because I was busy trying to get one of my '16 Lectures' together to read before the Medical Society. By the time I got it written it was almost time to deliver it. I wrote on 'Chorea' or 'St. Vitus Dance,' from actual observation of the little Chatman girl. It was well received and highly complimented by all.*^ One speech he delivered to the medical association dealt with the subject of tuberculosis. He stated that the cure for the disease was fresh air, sunshine, and plenty of rest as well as educating the people about health care. He believed firmly that state hospitals should be provided for tuberculosis patients to keep them from spreading the disease to their families and friends.*° George freely gave his professional opinions to the members of his medical association and to the people who attended his medical lectures at the church. He also treated patients of different races. Besides blacks and Mexicans, his practice served recent Italian immigrants. Speaking no English and thus finding it difficult to 68 communicate, the Italians located their homes within the black and Mexican communities in East Waco. When they needed medical attention, George provided it. In a letter to his wife in 1935 he told of making a house call at the Reistinos.*^ His patients exhibited a variety of health concerns, but the difficulties of delivering babies occupied a major portion of his practice, as the following letters to his wife, Jeffie, indicate. On July 5, 1934, he wrote: I had a difficult case of obstetrics this morning with a Mexican woman. It was a foot presentation. I put her under Ether and brought the other foot down and with all the force I could summons, I succeeded in delivering her. Though the baby did not survive. The Mexican people were loud in their praise of me for successfully performing such a difficult task unaided. When I was through I did not have a dry thread on me. I went home and took a bath, put on dry clothes and have been busy the rest of the day.*^ Later the same month he seemed pleased as he explained: As is usually the case I was waiting for a case of obstetrics before I left for Ft. Worth. I was hoping I would be called before Sunday but to my surprise the call came for me Monday night about 12 o'clock I am told. That was $12.50 that would have been paid by the Government. When I returned I heard about the call. I went to Mrs. John Green and asked if she had had her Baby. She replied. No Doctor. I was determined to hold it until you returned. She is still holding it.*' By January of 1935 he elaborated further upon his success in assisting with births. 69 I am just in from a case of Obstetrics. Had no untoward results. Left Mother and a 10 lb Baby doing well. This case is on Ivy next door to Fannie Wilson. Have had 4 cases of Obstetrics in less than four weeks. This is a good record. The midwives have had a monopoly on the baby cases recently.^" Yet success was not uniform, for in August, 1935, he recorded: "I delivered Louise Price of a fine boy which weighed at least 12 or 14 lbs. Sorry to say the little fellow did not live. Louise is doing nicely."^^ Other cases raised his spirits again, however, as in June, 1936, when he wrote: This morning I received a call about 6 A.M. on Second St. I delayed going until I had arranged my toilet and eaten Breakfast. When I arrived at the house, to my astonish ment it was a Mexican girl in confinement who had been at the Sanitarium for four days without being delivered. The mother became disgusted and brought her child home. I was not near a phone and therefore I had to remain and see the whole affair through. Then too, I could not afford to be remiss in any particular for it would not have given me the publicity that I desired. I delivered the girl about 3 P.M. of a fine boy fat & healthy looking. The Physician at the Sanitarium said it could not live.^^

George struggled with additional health problems, which left him discouraged in April, 1937. I have been busy today. Have had several patients. I am sorry to say the results were not very encouraging. It looked as if all of them would cross the 'River Rubicund.' Bro. Eldridge Bartlett passed Sunday morning. He had Pneumonia. Mrs Billups sister passed today. She 70 also had the same malady. Mrs. Creiglers sister passed yesterday. Tuberculosis was the disease. So you can see that I must have had a black cat to cross my path." Earlier he had lost a patient to Bright's disease. But in January, 1939, he proudly reported: Had to rush Dr Vandavell to the Sanitarium for an emergency operation for appendicitis on yesterday evening. That broke into the day. That is the time for writing to you. The operation was suc cessful and so far the patient is doing well (smiles). Another concern already faced him, however, for he added: "Have not operated yet on Mrs. Hardys cousin. She has lost so much blood she has to have a transfusion. It is quite difficult to match her blood. Up to the present we have failed."^* The following day he continued: "I have been very busy today trying to find some one who can match blood with Mrs. Jones. So far I have failed. Have Mrs. Thompson out now in quest of a donor."" Finally, two days later he announced: "Sunday was a very dull day. I attended morning service but in the afternoon I went about in quest of donors for the transfusion. Was fortunate to get one which cost Two dollars. "^^ George summarized his views about the practice of medicine best in March, 1936, when he wrote: Have had a busy day. Sometimes all the patients seem to be doing well and you pat yourself on the back and poke out your 'chist' in blissful satisfaction. Other 71 times all look like they are going to die. Then you feel like you would feel more comfortable in New York or on the South Sea Islands. Such feelings and emotions are experienced in a days work. I have learned by experience that whatever 'comes comes' and whatever 'is is.' Therefore I do not worry." His patients, regardless of their social status or ethnic background, held George in high esteem. Margaret Washington, the wife of Booker T. Washington, wrote in 1911: I am now back at home safe and sound, and I want to thank you for the medicine which you were kind enough to send me, and which put me on my feet and kept me there until I reached Dr. Kenney here at Tuskegee. I want to thank you again and again for your courtesy. I am so glad that I met you and hope to count you as one of my friends.^° The doctor also had gifts bestowed upon him as he explained in a letter to Jeffie during January, 1938. Mrs Moreno a Mexican lady whose Husband has a shoe shop at the So 3d St Market made you a present of a beautiful table scarf, a token of respect and esteem for the noble work I have done in the family.^' Former employees, such as Will Stanton, later a teacher and a member of the city council of Mart, Texas, fondly remembered George as a doctor and an employer. While Will attended college in Waco, he worked in George's office by doing errands or any other job the doctor required. Since times were hard for blacks in central Texas during the depression years of the 1920s and 1930s, Will appreciated 72 the doctor letting him work because he needed the money. Yet one day he came close to losing his job.^'^ George used bottled water in his office and Will had to keep the bottles refilled, but he accidently dropped a full bottle that he had just bought. As the young man stood in a puddle of water and broken glass, he believed the worst was about to happen. Instead of getting reprimanded or fired, however. Will watched as George reached into his pocket and gave him more money to go and buy another bottle of water.^^ Such compassion and understanding obviously endeared him to Will Stanton and others. George's medical practice brought him into contact with all classes of people and took him into the homes of many in Waco who regarded him as a good physician. He treated all races of people even though he could not use the medical facilities of the local white hospitals. Because of his abilities as a doctor, members of his community listened to his advice concerning diseases and sought his counsel about personal problems. Professional associates honored him as president of their society and solicited his expertise as a lecturer on medical topics for the welfare of his fellow blacks. He derived an adequate income from a profession he thoroughly enjoyed. Throughout the years of George's service to the people of Waco, he did his best to aid them as a physician and as a friend. 73 Notes ^Carter Godwin Woodson, The Negro Professional Man and the Community with Special Emphasis on the Physician and the Lawyer (New York: Negro Universities Press, 1934), 82. 'Biographical Records, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers, The Texas Collection, Baylor University, Waco, Texas. ^Woodson, The Negro Professional Man. 86. *Ibid. , 5. ^Ibid. ^Ibid., 7-8. 7 Aubrey Kirk Knott, "Leadership in the Negro Race" (M.A. thesis, Baylor University, 1925), 20-22.

0 "Medical Lecture, "Has the Negro Physician Made Good," [No date]. Folder 11, Personal Materials, George S. Conner. 'A. Vandavell-Jones, "The Negro Doctor Fifty-Five Years Ago," Waco Heritage & History 14 (Spring 1984): 37-40. ^''selese Hunter, "A Study of the Negroes Engaged in the Professions and Business Activities in Waco, Texas" (M.A. thesis, Baylor University, 1927), 5; Waco City Directory, 1894-1895, 1919-1920, 318, 636. ^^William Joseph Brophy, "The Black Texan, 1900-1950: A Quantitative History" (Ph.D., Vanderbilt, University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1974), 100. ^Îbid. ^^Waco City Directory. 1894-1895. 1919-1920, 318, 636. ^*Medical Lecture, "Has the Negro Physician Made Good," George S. Conner Papers. 15Woodson , The Negro Professional Man, 122. ^4bid. , 123 74 17 David McBride, Integrating the City of Medicine: Blacks in Philadelphia Health Care. 1910-1965 (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1989), 8-10, 33, 68. 18 Leonard Brewster Murphy, "A History of Negro Segregation Practices in Texas, 1865-1958" (Ph.D. dissertation. Southern Methodist University, 1974), 278. 19/-Georg. e Conner to Jeffie Conner, January 7, 1939, Jeffie Conner Papers. 20 Gordon, "The Negro in McLennan County, Texas," 74. ^4bid., 80-81. ^Îbid., 77. ^^Medical Lecture, "Facts and Fallacies," [No date]. Folder 11, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. 2*Ibid. ^Îbid. 24bid. 2Îbid. 2Îbid. 2'lbid. ^°Ibid. ^Înterview with Dr. G. H. Radford, January 15, 1985.

00 ""George Conner to Jeffie Conner, April 6, 1936, Jeffie Conner Papers. 33 Ibid., January 19, 1939. ^*Medical Lecture "Gonorrhea and Syphilis," [No date]. Folder 11, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. ^^Ibid. oc -•"Alwyn Barr, Black Texans: A History of Negroes in Texas, 1528-1971 (Austin: Jenkins Publishing Company, 1973), 94. 75 37 Ibid., 151. 38 George Conner to Jeffie Conner, June 12, 1936, Jeffie Conner Papers. oq "''Inaugural Speech to McLennan County Lone Star Medical, Dental, and Pharmaceutical Society, July 20, 1937, Folder 11, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. 40 Ibid. 41 Ibid.

42 Ibid. 43 Waco Messenger, August 6, 1937, 1. 44 George Conner to Jeffie Conner, October 21, 1937, Jeffie Conner Papers. *^Ibid. , May 3, 1938. *^Medical Lecture, "Tuberculosis," [No date]. Folder 11, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. *^Interview with Ruth Kennedy, February 16, 1990; George Conner to Jeffie Conner, January 31, 1935, Jeffie Conner Papers. *^George Conner to Jeffie Conner, July 5, 1934, Jeffie Conner Papers. The original punctuation has been retained in these quotations.

49 Ibid July 27, 1934. 50 Ibid. January 8, 1935.

51 Ibid August 6, 1935. ^^Ibid June 30, 1936. 53 Ibid April 27, 1937. 54 Ibid. August 6, 1935; January 6, 1939 55 Ibid January 7, 1939.

56 Ibid. January 9, 1939. 76 ^^Ibid. , March 26, 1936. 58 Margaret Washington to George Conner, April 21, 1911, George S. Conner Papers. 'George Conner to Jeffie Conner, January 6, 1938, Jeffie Conner Papers. ^°Interview with Will Stanton, January 15, 1985. ^4bid. CHAPTER V SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS LIFE

George and Jeffie Conner not only established professional careers for themselves in Waco but also became part of the social and religious scene in the black community. They had an adequate income, which allowed them the opportunity to enjoy recreational activities and to support their church. These events in their lives, which they shared with their families and friends, formed happy and fulfilling times for them. Through their contributions to social activities and to the church, they reflected black middle class efforts to help develop and shape important events and institutions within their community. Blacks in Waco, like others in the state's urban communities, lived in a segregated environment. State laws requiring segregation, such as in transportation and education, placed limits on blacks in Waco.^ No legal statutes in the city enforced segregation, but the social mores between the races established before the Civil War persisted into the twentieth century.^ As a result, blacks created and participated in their own entertainment and

77 78 social life. They gathered on occasion to celebrate a family reunion or attend carnivals and fairs. For example, in September, 1900, Dallas held a North Texas Colored Fair and Cotton Exposition, which many blacks attended. In 1900 also, the Texas State Fair had a Colored People's Day, which set a new attendance record. Many blacks came that day to hear a speech given by Booker T. Washington.^ Waco held an integrated fair of its own, which George spoke of in a letter to his wife. He said, "The Brazos Valley Fair got off to a good start."* Two days later he told her of the fair's success. "The Brazos Fair scored a pretty good hit last night. The attraction was the game of football, Waco High vs Bryan. Score 28 to 6 in favor of Waco High."^ Athletic competitions developed into major attractions and in 1935 the Texas Negro Baseball League began with high expectations. Plans called for ten teams located in the cities of Houston, Galveston, Beaumont, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, Taylor, and Waco to play two games each week between them.^ The Negro League did not survive past the first year, but some of the teams continued to play because in 1938 George witnessed a game between the Dallas Black Giants and a team supposedly from Africa. About the game he wrote: Through the earnest solicitation of Malone, I witnessed a Base Ball game at Katy Park on yesterday evening. Dallas 79 Giants vs Zulu team from Africa. The score was 6 to 2 in favor of the Dallas Giants. It was very interesting.' The circus served as another form of entertainment and George mentioned it in several letters. In 1934 he wrote: Today Ringling Bros, show is in town. I am told that there are acres of people on the show grounds. Only a few in town. Malone did his best to get my consent to go to the circus with him but I stoutly refused.^ Even though he did not attend the circus in 1934, he seemed to look forward to the one in 1935. George said, "Tomorrow is Circus day. I was hoping you would be here to take in the sights with me."' Blacks enjoyed seeing motion pictures and there, too, they suffered segregation to have the pleasure of viewing a film. In January, 1930, Houston blacks waited outside a white theater in inclement weather to watch a black cast perform in the movie, "Hallelujah." They entered the building at midnight after the last whites had left the theater. Blacks chose to stand at the back exit while whites left through the front because they wanted to see the picture during its first-run instead of waiting to see it in a future-run at a black movie house.^" In Waco, blacks endured the same experiences if they wished to attend a white theater. The Orpheum Theater in downtown Waco offered a midnight showing to black audiences for a twenty-five cent admission fee. In July, 1937, the 80 theater advertised "Entire House Reserved for colored" to view the film, "Underworld," starring "Ethel Moses, the sweetheart; Bee Freeman, the vampire; and Sol Johnson, the victim. "^^ Black performers who appeared in Waco also encountered segregation. Even a native of the city upon returning to his hometown found that racial separation remained alive and well. Julius Lorenzo Cob Bledsoe took the stage name, Jules Bledsoe, when he began to perform in Broadway musicals in New York City. Best known for his role of Joe, the riverboat worker who sang "01' Man River" in the musical, "Showboat," he returned to sing at New Hope Baptist Church in Waco thus extended to the sale of tickets for Bledsoe's

10 performance at a black church."' Marian Anderson, a renowned opera singer, encountered segregation on a first-hand basis when she came to Waco. She had agreed to give a concert at Waco Hall on the Baylor University campus on March 27, 1939. On February 24, Professor A. J. Armstrong, Chairman of the English Department, wrote to Jeffie Conner. I have your letter of February 21st, and I am grateful to know that you are still kind enough to accept Marian Anderson as a guest in your home. I had hoped that you would be able to do this. You may rest assured that I realize how exceedingly Kind this is of you under the circumstances.*^ 81 After an exhaustive singing engagement, Marian Anderson must have appreciated the hospitality provided by Jeffie. Segregation in Waco included hotel accommodations and without Jeffie's kindness, there would have been no place at the inn for Marian Anderson. Besides these varied social events, blacks celebrated holidays during the year. June 19 held special importance to blacks in Texas. On this date in 1865, Major General Gordon Granger with Union troops landed at Galveston and announced the end of slavery in the state. Word soon spread among blacks of their freedom and many traveled to the banks of the Navasota River at Comanche Crossing to celebrate. Located about forty miles east of Waco, the site continued to be the meeting place on June 19 for blacks to have a yearly reunion of family and friends."* The Conners, as well as other blacks from Waco, came to the celebration. The participants enjoyed games like baseball, dominoes, cards, and horseshoes along with dancing, fishing, boating, and horseback riding. During the day the people sang gospels and folk songs at a religious service. All kinds of food were available including fried chicken, fish, barbecue, mustard greens, red beans, crackling bread, pies, cakes, and ice cream.^^ Social gatherings at Comanche Crossing gave blacks an opportunity to relax and celebrate an important day in their history as Texans. 82 George took note of another independence day in a letter to Jeffie during 1934. This am the 4th day of July. The day in which the American Eagle first chewed up its iron cage and with a Yankedudle scream tossed upon its affrighted tyrant and tore its despotic habilets into a thousand jiblets.^^

To have any kind of social gathering, blacks in Waco needed a place to hold their meetings and parties. George referred to a possible solution for this when he wrote in a letter:

Was in a conference yesterday with Mr Compton, Mrs Shear, Mrs Brown, Mrs Dean Moore and husband W. D. Cain, R. L. Smith and Mrs Boykin at Mrs Kirks residence, relative to the purchase of the Central Texas College for a Community Center for our groupe. This project is not new as you well know but I wanted you to know that some progress has been made. Mr Compton seems to be in a position to speak very hopefully of the purchase of the property by the City Commissioners. Our meeting was filled with optimism. I hope we are not Misguided.^' Central Texas College, a black institution, had begun in 1903 on North Sixth Street. Established primarily to train teachers, the school developed financial problems in 1920

10 and soon afterwards ceased to operate."" With the purchase of this building, blacks could look forward to having an adequate location for many of their activities. George continued to enjoy social activities within the black community. He wrote of those he attended in letters 83 to his wife. In one letter he detailed a play by a local drama group which he had seen in 1935. The Hermit of Hawaii was all that could have been desired. Well rendered and to an appreciative audience. The costumes were gorgeous and the rendition was up to our expectation. Even Dumb Bell Wallace came out all right. The Wise Men brought down the house contrary to our expectation. Toto and Tata deserve much favorable comment. Tom was at his best and Dr Allen played the Old Man Takapili to perfection. The Old regulars Nix, Robert, and Pete were at their best and lived up to their established reputation. I suspect the audience would number about 150. Three of whom were white. I dont think there was much effort made to get the white people out.^'

In 1936 he wrote about a musical presentation at his church. I attended the Program put on by the Centenial Jubileers, at New Hope Church, last evening. It was a good program, consisting of Jubilees, Folk Songs and several Popular numbers. The Harmony was good and was very pleasing. The audience was very poor. The white people made up the larger part. A splendid 'write up' appeared in the morning paper." The next year he described a singing group which attracted attention. A female quartette is the sensation of the hour here. The sensational part is a lady, more than six feet and 8 inches sings Bass with as much sweetness and perfection as any one of the opposite sex. She is j filling engagements in the white churches as well as Negro churches. Will be at New Hope Baptist Church on the 17 proximo.^^ 84 In 1937 George also noted two events at the church which focused on race relations. Last night I attended a Program at the Church gotten up by Mrs Martins Circle, called the Nationalities. It was real good. Such entertainments draw well. This one was in the nature of a Pageant, in which the nationalities were characterized. Today I heard Mrs Aimes in a talk on interracial relations. It was my first time to hear her and I thought her talk was real good.^^ Jessie Daniel Ames had founded the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching in 1930 in Atlanta, Georgia. She traveled across the country giving speeches and garnering support against lynching in the South. She wanted to change the prevailing attitude which linked black crime to sexual violence. Ames quoted the same statistic in each lecture to prove her point. From 1922 to 1930, 204 lynchings occurred, but only 29 percent of the blacks hanged had been charged with sexual crimes against white women. She argued constantly "that black men did not provoke

00 lynching by raping white women."'"' For George, Jeffie, and other blacks in Waco, the church served as one of the major settings for a social life. Historians found that to be true across Texas and the South. In the words of Leonard Brewster Murphy: "These churches served an important function in the Negro community because they were the first social institution actually 85 controlled by Negroes."^* In Waco as early as 1851, blacks attended religious services with whites at First Baptist Church. By 1854, blacks began to attend services held for them on Sunday afternoon after the whites had finished their religious services. Four years later in 1858, two blacks became ordained as deacons to help in the black worship service.2 5 By 1864, seventy-six blacks had become members on the church's roll. After the Civil War ended and blacks secured their freedom, a small group wanted to leave First Baptist Church and start their own congregation.^^ Blacks left white churches after the Civil War to develop their own leaders and to control their own religious services. In May, 1866, eighteen blacks petitioned the church: That we the colored members of the Baptist Church at Waco fraternally request and petition our white brethren of the church to grant us a letter or certificate of dismission in a body in order that we may be formed into a separate and distinct church organization; and that the Elders of the church be requested to organize us into a church and to ordain for us Elders and Deacons of our own color." The black Baptists had their petition granted and held their first meeting on June 10, 1866, in a deserted building at North Sixth and Jefferson Streets. They selected Stephen Cobb as their pastor and named their church New Hope Baptist at his suggestion. The members paid two dollars a month for rent, but they set no specified salary for their minister. 86 For a period of two years, however, the congregation paid him three hundred dollars a year. Cobb served as their pastor until 1878, except for a few months in 1874 when he had resigned and N. T. Denison had replaced him. Cobb's retirement had been short-lived because the people recalled him to the pulpit. When he resigned for the second time, L. G. Hordan replaced him. Even then, Cobb served as pastor in 1885 while Hordan traveled to Africa.^^ The members of New Hope did not use the structure at North Sixth and Jefferson Streets for long because in 1867, they joined with black Methodists to erect a new, thirty by forty foot building. Each congregation used the sanctuary two Sundays a month. This partnership in sharing the sanctuary did not last long either because the Baptists moved again for the third time to Howard Institute and paid oq five dollars a month to use the building." Howard Institute had been started by northern missionaries to educate black children.^^ This use of a building for both religious and educational purposes occurred frequently in postwar black communities. In 1884 New Hope secured a loan to buy a new site. Subsequently in 1922 the congregation built a large, two-story building where it remained. The membership, through the leadership of its pastor, J. Newton Jenkins, made final payment on the mortgage in 1943 and received legal title to the property."'3"1 87 Although New Hope Baptist Church became the first church in Waco, its leaders, such as the Conners, shared their important institutional roles with other congregations. Blacks living in south Waco had to cross a creek to attend services on North Sixth Street. When heavy rains fell, the water in Barron Creek would rise and prevent the people from traveling across town to church. Consequently, the blacks of south Waco decided to form their own church. In 1879 they began Second Colored Baptist Church, but in 1897 the church moved to South Second Street and changed its name to Second Baptist Church. Blacks living in this neighborhood and those living close to the

00 Brazos River attended services in this church. During the same period, the black Methodists who had met with the Baptists of New Hope for awhile also formed their own church. Mount Zion, the oldest black Methodist church in the city, held services in a frame building across from New Hope's location on North Sixth Street. In later years Mount Zion tore down its frame building and the church relocated to North Fifth Street. In 1874 a group of blacks left Mount Zion and began St. James Methodist Church on South Second Street. A third group of black Methodists began meeting along the banks of the Brazos River. Finally in 1891 they built St. Paul's Methodist Church from bricks 00 made of Brazos River sand. 88 When George and his first wife, Mattie, moved to Waco, they worshipped at New Hope Baptist Church. On February 21, 1895, they became members and began a life of service to this church.^* George and Mattie had been active in their previous church, the First Congregational Church in Paris, Texas. There George had sung as a tenor in the choir and had been the director of a musical program presented at the church on June 17, 1892.^^ At New Hope Church, he continued his work as a musical director by leading the choir, a position he held for forty-four years. George served also as church treasurer for thirty-two years, a member of the Board of Trustees, and chairman of the Board of Deacons.^" On occasion the black Baptist churches in Waco selected George to deliver the welcoming address to delegates at a convention of the Baptist Young People's Union. In his speech he exalted the young men and women by calling them "the flower of the Chivalry of the Baptist Church in the B.Y.P.U."'^ He praised them for being dedicated to the work of God. The young men "convert everything with which they

00 come in contact into praises and hosannas to God."" The young women have "preserved Christianity in its purity."^' He claimed that a half million Baptist young people stood ready to fight for Christ. He said they had the privilege and responsibility to uplift the Christian cause. George concluded by extending them "a christian welcome to 89 Christian homes where the unsullied waters of transcendent peace flows placidly along the river of time."**^ After Jeffie married George, she soon became a member of New Hope Baptist Church. While still a young girl, she had accepted Christ and joined the Cumberland Presbyterian Church at Harrison. Her decision to change denominations centered on the fact that she believed she could help her husband with his church work.*^ Certainly this was true because even when she was away from home, George kept her informed about church activities in letters. He also wrote her if he heard any news concerning the church at Harrison. For instance in 1934, he sent her information about evangelical efforts at her former church. "The Encampment is in full blast today at Harrison, Henry and Dr Allen were the Principle speakers. Dr Allen said they had a very nice crowd. "*^ The next day he reported: The encampment I am told was a success. Quite a few people present. About night there was a great windstorm which preceded a rain. In the mad rush to seek shelter in the church some one tried to take the money from Mrs Barefield who was cashier at one of the stands. They did not succeed but some of the gang was successful in stealing a freezer of cream. Your home town is becoming desperate. (smiles)*^ In 1935 George told her about a revival at New Hope Baptist Church. The week of prayer has been largely attended. Much interest is being manifested. 90 and many favorable expressions are heard concerning the Revivalist by those who have heard him. Vera says she is informed that he is a 'good looker,' which will aid greatly in securing a crowd, especially of the female species.** Two weeks later he described the last night of the revival The meeting closed in fine style. The crowd at the closing of the High School has not been larger any year than was the audience at the close of the revival. Every available space was taken to seat the people. The religious manifestation and spiritual fervor were equally in evidence. They shouted from the choir loft to the front doors. The ushers and other 'official holders' were busy. Had the meeting not closed when it did, I was thinking of making application for one of the 'Official Holders.'*^ In 1938 he sent news about the changing moods of another revival at New Hope Church. The revival had a chill last night. While the audience was almost as large as the night previous, yet the Spiritual Thermometer did not register as high by several degrees as the previous night. Notwithstanding the slump in spiritual fervor six 'regenerated and born again' persons hit the saw dust trail to the tune of 'Something within.'*" After three days, the revival was still going strong. The meeting is still interesting. It is said that Rev. Hardeman preached his best sermon last night. About 12 or 14 'renounced sin and satan and came over on the Lord's side.' Sister Blackburn and many others enlivened the occasion with demonstrations of genuine religious fire and the Holy Ghost.*' 91 George described the humor in an episode that took place during a service in 1936. Went to church last night. (This is not unusual.) Heard the Pastor deliver a splendid discourse in which was depicted the 'Wandering Boy.' Of course when he was through and an invitation for sinners and wanderers to join the church was given the Madam sang 'Oh Where is my boy tonight.' When she had finished singing 3 verses, exhibiting all the pathos and solemnity her harsh voice could command, just as she had made the last tremulo on Oh where is my boy tonight. In stepped her wandering boy. (smiles)*" On June 15, 1936, he explained the variety of activities on that Sunday. Had a full day Sunday. The Pastor preached a 'soul stirring sermon' in the morning and the Sunday school had a Program at night. It was about as usual, consisting of songs and recitations. Next Sunday will be the 70th anniversary celebration of New Hope Church. Mrs Bartlette assisted by Mrs Booth will have charge of the affair.*' Yet in 1937 he described for her a less inspiring Sunday at church. I went to church yesterday as usual. As there was no substitute to be found the pastor 'Broke the bread of life to us.' He did not 'rear or boil over.' It was devoid of any exertion and was soon over. At night Preacher-teacher S. A. Hayden expostulated. We gave him $3.10 for some hash that was warmed over several times to my knowledge. When he concluded the Pastor made some closing remarks and soon w^ looked to the Lord and was dismissed. 92 In January, 1938, he told his wife of an unusual integrated service. "I attended church Sunday evening but was called out and did not have the pleasure of listening to a young white preacher who chose our congregation to practice on."^^ In September, 1938, he attended a musical presentation. I went to church last night and listened to the Song service. As I expected it was very ordinary indeed. Prof Davis a teacher at Paul Quinn College rendered two numbers, nothing extra. They consisted of 2 Spirituals and were far from good. I think the people will cease coming to hear such a Program if it is not changed. ^^ Some blacks who were active in their congregation preferred funerals to be held at their church. In 1939 George participated in such a service. I have just returned from the church where I took part in the funeral service of Mr Holloway. I was one of the Honorary Paul bearers. The services were long and silent. Not much demonstration. Several songs long and loud. Presiding Elders had their say. Dr Jenkins represented New Hope in a very befitting way. Dr A. S. Jackson, Dr Jenkins and Bishop Howard were the speakers of the occasion. Prof Bevis read telegrams and of course had a few words to say. A repetition of what the others said. The choir was 'bum' and the Pianist was worse.' The Conners lived in a segregated environment, but this did not prevent them from enjoying many of the things that their community had to offer. They attended fairs. 93 circuses, ball games, movies, and concerts. Because of their middle class status, they had opportunities to meet well-known performers, such as Jules Bledsoe and Marian Anderson. They attended a black Baptist church and participated in its activities. In turn, George and Jeffie gave much to their fellow citizens. Their home became a haven for a black opera star. George worked diligently with the choir and served ably as treasurer, deacon, and trustee of their church. Jeffie joined New Hope Baptist Church to support her husband's endeavors with church affairs. As leaders in the black community, they helped to guide the policy and growth of their church. Through their efforts, black social events and religious institutions in Waco attained greater stature. 94 Notes ^Bruce Alden Glasrud, "Black Texans, 1900-1930: A History" (Ph.D. dissertation, Texas Tech University, 1969), 11. 2 'Charter of Waco and Digest of Ordinances and Rules of Order of the City Council (Waco: Examiner Book and Job Establishment, 1879), 1-472; The New City Charter (Waco: Brooks & Wallace Printing House, 1891), 1-487; Code of Ordinances of the City of Waco. Texas (Waco: Amicable Press, 1918), 1-504; City Charter and Codification of the Ordinances of the City of Waco (Waco: Thomas E. McDonald and James A. Carlson, Publishers, 1938), 1-516. ^Glasrud, "Black Texans, 1900-1930," 19-20. *George Conner to Jeffie Conner, October 29, 1936, Jeffie Conner Papers, The Texas Collection, Baylor University, Waco, Texas. Îbid., October 31, 1936. "Neil Gary Sapper, "A Survey of the History of the Black People of Texas, 1930-1954" (Ph.D. dissertation, Texas Tech University, 1972), 326. 'George Conner to Jeffie Conner, May 24, 1938, Jeffie Conner Papers. Îbid., September 26, 1934. 'ibid., October 28, 1935. ^•^Sapper, "Black People of Texas, 1930-1954," 323-324. ^^Waco Messenger, July 30, 1937, 8. ^Wco Tribune-Herald, January 4, 1989, 1, 4. ^^Dr. A. J. Armstrong to Jeffie Conner, February 24, 1939, Jeffie Conner Papers. ^*Doris Hollis Pemberton, Juneteenth at Comanche Crossing (Austin: Eaken Press, 1983), 1; Waco Tribune- Herald, June 18, 1988, 1, 4. 15Intervie w with Bonnie Mitchell, February 20, 1990 95 ^"George Conner to Jeffie Conner, July 4, 1934, Jeffie Conner Papers. -Îbid. , June 21, 1934.

10 ""Poage, McLennan County—Before 1980, 151-152. iq "'George Conner to Jeffie Conner, August 28, 1935, Jeffie Conner Papers. ^"'ibid. , March 17, 1936. ^4bid., April 26, 1937. ^Îbid. , March 24, 1936. "Jacquelyn Dowd Hall, Revolt Against Chivalry: Jessie Daniel Ames and the Women's Campaign Against Lynching (New York: Columbia University Press, 1979), 159, 163. ^*Murphy, "A History of Negro Segregation Practices in Texas, 1865-1958," 17. ^^Curry, A History of Early Waco With Allusions to Six Shooter Junction, 28. ^^Wallace, Waco: Texas Crossroads, 42. 2Îbid. 28 Poage, McLennan County--Before 1980, 135. ^'patricia Ward Wallace, Our Land, Our Lives: A Pictorial History of McLennan County (Norfolk: The Donning Company, 1986), 183. ^•^Poage, McLennan County—Before 1980, 144. ^^Wallace, Our Land. Our Lives, 183. 32waco Tribune-Herald, September 12, 1988, 1. ^-Intervîews with Rev. B. Wesley Austin, New Hope Baptist Church; Rev. R. J. Houston, St. Paul AME Church; and Rev. Dolly Scott, St. James Methodist Church, February 20, 1990. ^*Biographical Records, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. 96 35 Copy of a Program for a Musicale, June 17, 1892, Folder 13, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. 36 Biographical Records, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. 37 General Speeches, [No date]. Folder 10, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers 38 Ibid. 39 Ibid. *Olbid. *^Biographical Records, Personal Materials, Jeffie Conner Papers, *^George Conner to Jeffie Conner, July 27, 1934, Jeffie Conner Papers.

*hbid. July 28, 1934. 44 Ibid. April 5, 1935. 45 Ibid. April 22, 1935. 46 Ibid. April 2, 1938. 47 Ibid. April 5, 1938. 48 Ibid. March 16, 1936. 49 Ibid. June 15, 1936. 50 Ibid. August 9, 1937. 51 Ibid. January 17, 1938. 52 Ibid. September 26, 1938 53 Ibid. January 12, 1939. CHAPTER VI CLUBS AND FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS

George and Jeffie became actively involved in clubs and fraternal organizations because they wanted to share social activities with their friends. They enjoyed membership in various middle class groups and held leadership roles in several of them. The Conners belonged to fraternal orders that had affiliations with national associations, such as the Masons and the Eastern Stars. They also founded local choral and study clubs in Waco, which served their varied interests. Membership in social clubs and fraternal organizations became an important aspect of black existence in Texas according to Lawrence D. Rice. As the Negro was pushed out of politics, and as segregation became more pronounced, Negro interest in social and fraternal orders increased. Undoubtedly the secrecy, ritual, and insurance and death benefits were attractions for Negroes in addition to their social and fraternal value.^ Many blacks, like the Conners, enjoyed the social life that membership in such organizations afforded. The benevolent help which they could receive also proved

97 98 especially important to them. Insurance benefits and funeral expenses ensured proper care and burial for members whenever they were needed. For years most white-owned insurance companies would not sell policies to blacks. Even if a company agreed to insure blacks, it required higher rates than those charged to other people. The white companies considered blacks a bad insurance risk, especially after Frederick L. Hoffman wrote Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro in 1896, which argued such a view.^ The refusal of the white insurance industry to provide policies for blacks caused the fraternal orders to supply the necessary coverage. Over a period of time, however, black-owned insurance companies became established and served the needs of the black community.^ George belonged to the Waco chapter of the United Brothers of Friendship and served as Grand Treasurer of that fraternal organization.* In a letter to his wife, Jeffie, he wrote about several insurance claims. George pointed out the significant assistance given by the lodges to black beneficiaries, who needed aid and usually could receive it nowhere else. On January 7, 1936, he wrote: I have taken a few minutes from a meeting with Adjuster of Claims of the U.B. of F. Grand Lodge to write you a few lines. We have several of the beneficiaries here and they are signing up to accept payments and a note for the amounts due them. I think this is a wise thing for them to do.^ 99 The United Brothers of Friendship had been founded before the Civil War in Louisville, Kentucky, by free and enslaved blacks. An auxiliary order for black women had begun at the same time and had become known as the Sisters of the Mysterious Ten. Both lodges grew rapidly and in 1892 had a membership of more than one hundred thousand, including some whites.^ The two groups had started lodges in Texas as early as 1871.^ C. H. McGruder from Tyler, Texas, held the office of National Grand Secretary from 1907 to 1937.^ As treasurer of his lodge, George had the responsibility of submitting an annual financial statement to his fellow members. On the occasions when he submitted the reports, he usually took the opportunity to make a speech. Significantly, one speech gives an insight into what George perceived as the community support role of black fraternal organizations. In the speech he said: Fraternal Institutions have won by meritorious conduct, a place in the life and affairs of the people. This has not been achieved in an incredibly short period of time, but is the work of years of study, patient and thoughtful effort on the part of those who presided over the destinies of our Institutions. . . . We point with pride to the many homes that have been saved to the women and children, that would have otherwise been lost to them, because of their inability to meet the last note on a mortgage loan. . . . We yield to no group more loyalty to the principles of 'Justice, Mercy and Truth.'' 100 To expand those efforts, George urged an energetic program of recruitment. It is the mission of the United Brothers of Friendship and Sisters of Mysterious Ten to touch the lives of our respective communities, to the extent that we interest them in what we have to offer. The benefits to be derived from membership and association with us will be worth much toward their uplift. It is my candid opinion, based upon my experience with matters of this kind, that if our attitude towards members of our group were changed from disinterested spectators to one of mutual helpfulness, our membership would be doubled and our influence materially increased. Let us sell our Institution to the people; we must let them know what we have to offer. Let us touch the lives of friends and our neighbors next door. Let us concern ourselves about their welfare and direct them to an Institution that was founded by and for Negroes."^

In 1937 George ended his service as Grand Treasurer because of concern about carelessness by another officer. To his wife he wrote: I resigned my position as Treasurer of the U.B.F. Grand Lodge for several reasons of which I will explain fully when I see you. I became tired of the annoyance of bad book keeping on the part of the Secretary who knows as much about it as Vivian. Then I could not tell what all this inefficiency would lead to. Some of it might be of a grave nature personally. The Banks here were disgusted at the way he managed affairs and kept me all my time keeping things straight. I did not have time to talk this matter over with you and I acted on my own initiative, feeling that you would see it in the same light after I explained the whole matter to you.^^ 101 His decision perhaps reflected middle class moral values as well as economic concerns. Another fraternal organization, the Masons, also attracted many blacks. The first black Masonic lodge formed in Boston during 1775 under the leadership of Prince Hall and fourteen other members through the auspices of a British army regimental lodge. It became officially recognized by the Grand Lodge of England in 1787. Quickly the Masonic lodges spread to Philadelphia, Providence, Rhode Island, and eventually to Louisville, Kentucky, by 1850.^^ Prince Hall Masonic lodges had been established in Texas at San Antonio, Galveston, and Calvert in 1875. Leading black Masons in Texas included Norris Wright Cuney, a prominent Republican politician and the first state Grand Master, and William McDonald, a banker and the state Grand Secretary from 1899 to 1946.^^ George belonged to the Sunset Grand Lodge of Masons in Waco.'"* This lodge was not affiliated with the Prince Hall Masons, but rather belonged to a branch associated with clandestine Masonry. This group sprang from an attempt to create a National Masonic Grand Lodge. Leaders of the state lodges blocked the effort to have such a centralized union since they feared losing the powerful influence they wielded on the local level. Even though the national organization had failed, the local lodges created by the movement 102 survived. Prince Hall Masons decried the spread of the clandestine lodges, but they appeared powerless to stop it. Attempts to unite the two Masonic organizations repeatedly failed.^^ George's lodge met on the third floor of the Conner Building and performed the same rituals as the Prince Hall Masons." As Grand Secretary of his Masonic lodge, George in one speech before his fellow Masons emphasized the need for growth in membership. . . . If you desire him to join your lodge, you must know masonry. You must know enough about it to impress him with what masonry is and for what it stands. You must be able, in a very lucid manner, to elucidate the principles upon which freemasonry are founded and what is the relative influence upon the hearts and lives of all true masons. In fact you must become enthusiastic about it before you can interest others as to its benefits. If our influence counts for anything, we ought at least, be able to influence one person. And if one person can influence one more person, our member ship will double itself in one year. But we ought not stop at one person. There are those among us, who have the ability to influence many and they should feel it their duty to work that our membership shall be materially increased. There should be a healthy increase of members so that they can take care of those who lapse or drop out."

If George worried about increasing membership in the Masons, he also helped other fraternal organizations, such as the True People of America, by joining them and devoting time to their causes.^^ In 1936 he delivered the welcoming 103 address in Waco to an assemblage of lodges from across the state. In it he emphasized the black role in American history. In discovery, we stand side by side and sometimes in advance of the chief discoverers of the world. History shows that Negroes were with Columbus when he discovered America and after this, he was with other early explorers. The Negro's part in the history of this country is very conspicuous, although delightful events of which he was so brilliantly connected are being brought to light recently. We not only find him conspicuous in the discovery of our country with deeds of valor and exploration and conquest, but we also see him exemplifying the highest type of civilization in which labor is a basic factor. He has gone into the virgin field, made bare the forest, tickled the soil and brought forth an abundant harvest. History has proven that he is not only an important factor in the agricultural development of the country, but as an inventor he has surprised many who doubted his mental capacity. As a result, the patent office in Washington shows many inventions that are the product of [the] Negro brain. We point with pride to the Negro, the True People of America, as a soldier. Beginning with Crispus Attucks who was the first to shed his blood for American Inde pendence, and including Caldwell Gray, Maverick and the great Peter Salem, all down through the ages. These are notable examples and by no means all of the True People of America who have won a name for themselves in the various conquests in the great arena of life." George exhibited great pride in black achievements as he lauded them in this speech. He stressed the same goal 104 of accomplishment for himself in every fraternal organization he joined. With the idea of service in mind, he also became a member of the Progressive Order of Pilgrims and of the American Woodmen.^^ Yet perhaps his greatest sense of accomplishment came when he organized a black choral club in Waco on May 1, 1929.^^ The choir members named themselves the George S. Conner Choral Club in honor of their conductor. Proudly the club claimed its members had graduated from some of the best black colleges in the country. They represented schools such as Fisk University, Meharry Medical College, and Prairie View College as well as Wiley, Bishop, and Samuel Huston colleges. The choir traveled across the state and gave concerts of Negro spirituals and folk songs. Thomas B. Wilson, a graduate of Fisk University and a member of the Mozart Society, helped George immensely with the melodies and renditions of the songs. They spent considerable time in training the choir and eventually George could take pride

00 in the results." If George fulfilled a desire by joining various fraternal organizations, Jeffie did too. She belonged to the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and served as president of 00 the local chapter for four years.'"^ This national sorority became the second Greek letter sorority founded by black women after Alpha Kappa Alpha started in 1908 at Howard 105 University. Begun in 1913 at the same college. Delta Sigma Theta dealt with matters of black social life. The sorority set up an agenda to handle certain problem areas such as education, employment, child care, pregnant and delinquent females, and financial aid to promote interracial understanding. ^* The Greek letter sororities began as social organizations for black college women, but after their graduation the clubs became important as a source for communication among black intellectuals of the middle and upper classes. These societies gave black women a sense of leadership and allowed them to interact with each other as well as the lower classes of blacks. They thus used the clubs to call attention to social problems facing blacks and to achieve goals necessary to the advancement of the black population." Such problems and solutions had been included in the program adopted by Jeffie's sorority. Delta Sigma Theta. Jeffie also belonged to the Court of Calanthe, which was the female auxiliary of the fraternal lodge of Colored Knights of Pythias.^^ The male group had been organized by blacks who had passed for white and surreptitiously joined the white lodge in New York in 1870. After moving to Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1880, the black Pythians declared their lodge had come into existence as an act of God's will. 106 The Lord had made it possible for blacks to join a white lodge because "the exclusion of colored men violated the purpose of the order, which was to extend friendship, charity, and benevolence among men."^^ The Court of Calanthe in Waco apparently had internal conflicts and competition for leadership positions which George mentioned in a letter to his wife. "Controversy about the office of the Court of Calanthe has been settled in favor of Mrs. Davis. This was to be expected. Money talks in times like these. "^^ Jeffie also became a member of Eastern Star, the female counterpart of the Masons. She joined the Blue Triangle of the Young Women's Christian Association in Waco and served as a member of the YWCA Board of Administration." Most programs of this group dealt with social problems of blacks Of) and church activities within a segregated environment.'" In the early 1890s black women had organized clubs in major cities across the United States. By 1896 the National Association of Colored Women had been started with the slogan, "Lifting As We Climb," based upon the idea of improving the status of the black race. The clubs did their best to help the poverty-stricken, the orphans, and the elderly as well as to educate nurses and supervise kindergartens and day-care centers. 31 107 The Texas Association of Women's Clubs began during 1905 in affiliation with the national club. Jeffie, as a young woman in the 1920s, joined the Waco branch of the group. From 1955 to 1959 she served as president of the

00 state association." In 1958 while president, she gave a speech to the state meeting in which she expressed her views on the abilities and potential of the black race. She said: Much of the innate potential of the Negro population in America remains not only unutilized but undeveloped. Fuller develop ment of Negro potential depends not only on the willingness of the White community to grant greater opportunities to Negroes, in the struggle for integrated schools and equal access to jobs; but it also depends at least as much on what the Negro community does to help its own members prepare themselves for new opportunities. The Negro population represents the outstanding example of wasted resources in our country today. In a democratic society, efforts to improve the development and use of human abilities can only be based on extending the opportunities of every individual to make of his life what he chooses. How well the individual develops and utilizes his potential depends, not only on the opportunities that come his way as a youth and a man, but equally on his own determination to make the most of opportunity. This is why the Negro family and the Negro community must play major roles in the development of Negro potential. The determination to grasp new opportunity cannot be given from without; it must spring from within. In Waco Jeffie organized and presided over a study club named in her honor, the J.O.A. Conner Study Club. The members of this group pursued different aspects of literary 108 knowledge through book reviews and also occupied themselves with bridge games.^* An interpretation of the significance of black clubs and fraternal organizations in Texas is offered by Neil Gary Sapper. Another of the maintstays in providing group cohesion and engendering self-help among black Texans was the black fraternal organization. Because white Texans maintained a discreet separation from blacks and welcomed them into no areas of white cultural activities, black Texans were compelled to create institutions and activities that, in turn, created a black culture. Next to the black church, the various fraternal organizations have represented the most influential asso ciations which black people have built up within their segregated communities." George and Jeffie, who certainly lived in a segregated society, made an effort to serve their own interests and those of their community through membership in various clubs and organizations. Their educational background and professional status allowed them to enter middle class fraternal groups which reflected their economic and social position and also offered opportunities for leadership. George and Jeffie thus chose carefully to join the clubs and lodges which would represent their middle class values. Through those organizations they sought to use their capabilities as fully as possible to improve black oportunities for educational and cultural development. 109 Through their efforts the Conners also sustained and advanced the black clubs and fraternal organizations in Waco and in Texas. George expressed their view in a speech to the United Brothers of Friendship and Sisters of the Mysterious Ten when he said, "It is natural for man to ruminate and ponder. To consider from what depths we have climbed, our present position and the heights which we wish to attain."-^ 110 Notes ^Lawrence D. Rice, The Negro in Texas, 1874-1900 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1971), 268.

0 'Rayford W. Logan, The Betrayal of the Negro from Rutherford B. Hayes to Woodrow Wilson (New York; Collier Books, 1969), 324. hbid. *Biographical Records, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers, The Texas Collection, Baylor University, Waco, Texas. ^George Conner to Jeffie Conner, January 7, 1936, Jeffie Conner Papers. ^Charles W. Ferguson, Fifty Million Brothers; A Panorama of American Lodges and Clubs (New York; Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., 1937), 194; Neil Gary Sapper, "A Survey of the History of the Black People of Texas, 1930-1954" (Ph.D. dissertation, Texas Tech University, 1972), 514. ^William Joseph Brophy, "The Black Texan, 1900-1950: A Quantitative History" (Ph.D. dissertation, Vanderbilt University, 1974), 209. ^Sapper, "A Survey of the History of the Black People of Texas, 1930-1954," 514. 'speech of George Conner to the United Brothers of Friendship and Sisters of the Mysterious Ten, [No date]. Folder 12, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. The financial records of his lodge no longer exist. l^Ibid. ^^George Conner to Jeffie Conner, January 28, 1937, Jeffie Conner Papers. ^^E. Franklin Frazier, The Negro in the United States (Toronto; The Macmillan Company, 1969), 370. ^^Sapper, "A Survey of the History of the Black People of Texas, 1930-1954," 509-510; Alwyn Barr and Robert A. Calvert (eds.). Black Leaders; Texans for Their Times (Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1981), 82-111. Ill 14 Biographical Records, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. William A. Muraskin, Middle-class Blacks in a White Society: Prince Hall Freemasonry in America (Berkeley; University of California Press, 1975), 39-40. Interview with Oscar Reese, October 17, 1990. 17 Speech of George Conner to the Sunset Grand Lodge of Colored Masons, August 12, 1924, Folder 12, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. 18 Biographical Records, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. 19 Speech of George Conner to the True People of America, July 28, 1936, Folder 12, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. on . '"Biographical Records, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. 01 '"Folder 13, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. 22lbid.

00 '"'Biographical Records, Personal Materials, Jeffie Conner Papers. ^*Frazier, The Negro in the United States, 384-385. ^^Ibid. , 385.

ot Biographical Records, Personal Materials, Jeffie Conner Papers. 97 ' Frazizer, The Negro m the United States. 374. "George Conner to Jeffie Conner, August 1, 1934, Jeffie Conner Papers. "Biographical Records, Personal Materials, Jeffie Conner Papers. ^^August Meier, Negro Thought in America. 1880-1915: Racial Ideologies in the Age of Booker T. Washington (Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1963), 133. 112 ^4bid. , 135. ^^Biographical Records, Personal Materials, Jeffie Conner Papers. ^"Speech of Jeffie Conner to the Texas Association of Women's Clubs, July 2, 1958, Folder 12, Personal Materials, Jeffie Conner Papers. ^*Biographical Records, Personal Materials, Jeffie Conner Papers. In 1990 the J.O.A. Conner Study Club combined with the North Sixth Street Community Club. The new club, still called the J.O.A. Conner Study Club, then became affiliated with the Texas Association of Women and Girls, Inc. Waco Tribune-Herald, May 23, 1990, C 6. ^^Sapper, "A Survey of the History of the Black People of Texas, 1930-1954," 508-509. ^^Speech of George Conner to the United Brothers of Friendship and Sisters of the Mysterious Ten, July 22, 1929, Folder 12, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. CHAPTER VII PROFESSIONAL LIFE OF JEFFIE CONNER

Jeffie Allen Conner followed the career choice of her mother and grandmother to become a teacher. She taught in several small schools, first in Clifton and then at Riesel, until finally she decided to quit the teaching profession. She then secured a position in 1922 from the United States Department of Agriculture as a home demonstration agent for McLennan County and embarked on an entirely new career.^ Perhaps, however, her interest in home demonstration work had been piqued at an earlier time. From March 16 to September 30, 1912, she had served as an assistant in boys' and girls' club work in East Texas.^ Jeffie thus exhibited as a teenager her interest in this field of endeavor and returned to it at the first opportunity. The Smith-Lever Act of 1914 allowed people in the towns and in the countryside across America to receive instructions and obtain knowledge from extension agents who gave farm and home demonstrations.^ Texas already had established this type of service during 1903 in the north eastern area of the state in Kaufman County. Using the

113 114 Walter Porter farm as a model, agricultural demonstrations had been held to improve all aspects of farming the land and increasing profit. The next year the state created a Farmer's Cooperative Extension Service with Dr. Seaman A. Knapp as its leader. Because of his efforts, agricultural and home demonstration extension services gradually spread across Texas.* Black home demonstration services officially began in 1:515 when Mary Evelyn Hunter became the first extension agent appointed to work with rural blacks. She soon had help from R. L. Smith, the state director, and J. H. Ford, the new farm agent. Together, these three blacks set about organizing farm and home demonstration clubs to teach people proper planting techniques and canning of food. They hired more agents to supervise the work and within a short time had twenty-three agents managing nearly thirty thousand people in clubs around the state. To defray the costs of services by these agents, county commissioners' courts set aside the necessary funds."' Jeffie began her job as a home demonstration agent with some trepidation, which she expressed in a speech three years later in 1925. "Because the work had been introduced in the county made the job a very difficult one for me, with the constant fear of not being able to do as much for the people as the former county home dem. agent," she 115 explained.° By the time she gave this speech, however, she already had seen many of her efforts prove successful. Conner reorganized her widespread community groups into twelve with two representatives for each one. With these members and help from her girls' clubs, Jeffie could disseminate more information throughout the county. She held cooking demonstrations in rural homes and in schools and emphasized sanitary conditions in food preparation. She urged the people to build bathrooms in their homes and to safeguard their water supply. By emphasizing healthier living conditions, she tried to stop the spread of disease. Jeffie had school children obtain their own drinking cup by using a tin can. In one year she proudly proclaimed that seventeen hundred of these cups had been made. Hot meals and heated rooms in winter became a reality because she secured small ovens and gasoline stoves for rural schools. Women who had no gardening experience began to grow bountiful crops because of Jeffie's encouragement. With extra money realized from the sale of surplus vegetables, many farm families purchased needed items. Modestly she believed she could not have accomplished these things by herself. She praised the county superintendent, the Chamber of Commerce, and her fellow blacks for the advances she had 7 made in the county. 116 Jeffie served as a county agent until 1932 when she received a promotion to supervisor or district agent over home demonstration work in seventeen East Texas counties. She continued to work out of her office in Waco and spent a lot of time traveling to maintain her job. During 1935 all agents had to move their offices to Prairie View because of

0 a recently passed requirement." Traveling became a routine part of her life after that as she drove her car from the northeastern part of the state at Texarkana into the piney woods of East Texas at Palestine. As a newspaper article later explained: "She traveled from county to county 'in the days before we could stop in hotels.' So she had 17 hostesses--one in each county if she needed to stay the night."' Readily she admitted that over the years she wore out more than one automobile." At Prairie View College in 1934 she spoke to a group of home economics students. In her speech she gave an inter pretation of the value and importance of efforts in her field. Home Demonstration Work serves the individual, the family, and the Community. It improves the efficiency of rural women at necessary tasks; it provides an incentive to altruistic service for the community and those in need; it stimulates recognition of the security and sure satisfaction of life on the farm; it stimulates analysis of fundamental values in life, and at the same time, increases the income and reduces living expenses to the minimum. It helps to 117 stabilize the faith and courage of rural women who through word, act, and deed have evidenced their need and desire for home demonstration work and the rich rewards it brings into their lives." During the same speech she offered a list of goals for a program to be able to help a rural family. The home demonstration program at this time, of necessity, takes an economic trend, for it must be capable of aiding farm families in--'Producing sufficient food for their own use. 'A better distribution of food over the year. 'A wise expenditure of family finances. Upkeep and care of clothing for all members of the family. 'Rearrangement and care of house furnishings to insure to farm families a greater enjoyment of their homes and all activities of the home maker so managed that she spends most wisely of her time and energy. '^^ Jeffie had developed a theory of three steps in extension work. She explained: After any phase of home demonstration work has been introduced into the community program, three distinct steps are found necessary in the extension process: (1) The presentation or suggestion that attracts sufficient interest to result in individual action, (2) the application of the informa tion or improved practice by those who become interested and who demonstrate it in their own homes, and (3) an organized effort to bring successful demonstration to the attention of a larger number in order to encourage a wider adaptation of the practicee ananda ttoo obtaiootainn publipuoiicc interesinterestt |s and approva 118 She concluded her speech by quoting R. L. Smith, the state director. 'The great goal we are striving for in extension work is to plant the germ of improvement in men's minds; to goad on desire for achievement in every soul; to fan into a flame that spark of altruism that every farm man and woman possesses but which, without encouragement, too often smoulders and dies; to promote economic success; but beyond that-- way beyond that--to promote a social, educa tional, and spiritual home and community life that meets life's needs. It is not enough to grow more crops and make more money. Extension work is seeking to promote a contented rural people, a people who find satisfaction in their work, in each other, in the glory of the soil, the growing of crops, the harvests, the bounteous table, the neighborly visit.'^* Black home demonstration agents came into frequent contact with the county courts because of needed appro priations. On one occasion Jeffie dealt with the Falls County Commissioners' Court and won its support. George soon wrote: You did not tell me in your letter that you succeeded in getting the Court order from the Commissioners in Falls County. This would have been a very pleasant item of news to me. You should know that I am very much interested in your work. I wish to congratulate you. 'I knowed you could do it.'" Jeffie received recognition of her achievements with young people when Lyndon Baines Johnson, state leader for the National Youth Administration, appointed her on December 7, 1935, to the Negro Advisory Board for the Texas Youth 119 Administration. W. L. Davis, Principal of Harper Junior High School in Houston; Mary Branch, President of Tillotson College in Austin; L. Virgil Williams, Principal of Booker T. Washington High School in Dallas; and Joseph J. Rhoads, President of Bishop College in Marshall, served on the board with her.^^ President Franklin D. Roosevelt, through the influence of his wife, Eleanor, had created this new federal program. Mrs. Roosevelt said, "A civilization which does not provide young people with a way to earn a living is pretty poor.""1'7 She envisioned a job training plan for young men and women to help those in school and those already out of school. The National Youth Administration thus began in every state with each director given the right

10 to manage the program at his own discretion."" The Negro Advisory Board shared in planning and directing the achievements of the program throughout the state. In March, 1936, an administrative report of the Texas Youth Administration explained the reasons for creation of the separate Negro Advisory Board. The racial question during the past one hundred years in Texas, and particularly since Texas entered the Union, and again after the Civil War, has resolved itself to a definite system of customs which cannot be up-set over night. So long as these customs are observed, there is peace and harmony between the races in Texas, but it is exceedingly difficult to step over a line so long established, and to up-set a custom so deeply rooted, but any act which would be 120 shockingly against precedence, as the attempt to mix Negroes and whites on a common board in this state.^' The report further assured that the board had been selected with the advice of Negro leaders in Texas. The Negroes serving on the board had excellent reputations in their professions and constantly worked to advance their race.^^ After Lyndon Johnson had selected the members for the Negro Advisory Board and hired his staff, he started fulfilling the first official order from Washington. He had to employ twelve thousand people in Texas in a public works program. He began by hiring thirty-six hundred to construct parks along the highways across the state. Johnson found employment for the remaining number of youths in various capacities. They dug ditches to stop erosion, cut trees and bushes, helped gravel roadways, and created walkways for school children as well as working in communities doing whatever projects the town proposed. For all their hard work, the young Texans made the magnificent sum of thirty dollars per month. Most importantly, however, the program accomplished what the government wanted. It kept them employed, out of trouble, and created worthwhile public projects. 21 The other part of the proposal for the National Youth Administration dealt with keeping young people in college. To do so, a variety of work programs for them came into 121 being along with an average monthly stipend of fifteen dollars. For those who did not want to go to college on a full-time basis, the NYA established twenty Freshmen College centers around the state to offer classes to students. The courses cost the students nothing, while at the same time they could stay at home and hold a job. The plan helped unemployed professors, too, by giving them a chance to return to the classroom at government expense. The program also started four Resident Training Centers to offer such things as drafting, auto mechanics, and secretarial training. The four-month course allowed the students to learn various skills and paid them twenty-one dollars a month. In return, the students had to work on different projects on the campus, such as repairing buildings or

00 maintaining the lawn." One of the best projects for blacks occurred at Prairie View when black men built dormitories for black women to aid both to attend college. The women majored in domestic science, which included general courses in how to maintain a household. Cooking, sewing, cleaning, and child care became a major part of the women's education. The young black men also received training in animal husbandry and minor construction skills to allow them to build and maintain wooden structures on the farm. 23 122 Lyndon Johnson reported that there seemed to be no criticism of blacks participating in the program in Texas. Blacks and whites even had worked at the same sites, but mostly they worked on different jobs at the locations. This happened although his report claimed that "the benefits of the program have been extended to Negroes fairly and

Oi equitably."" Johnson concluded with the optimistic viewpoint that the NYA plan would arouse black communities to put forth the leadership to provide for the desires and requirement? of its young people.^^ By the beginning of 1937, the National Youth Administration could be declared a success in Texas because twenty thousand young men and women had gained the help they needed." Jeffie enjoyed serving on the Negro Advisory Board because she always seemed to know what she wanted to do with her life. She continually sought to better herself through education. For that reason she returned to graduate school at Prairie View, where in 1944 she received a Master of Science degree. During the summer of 1946, she attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.^^ By the time she returned home, she had decided to resign her supervisor's position because the constant traveling had begun to take its toll. Jeffie stated, "Naturally it would as you grow older. "^^ On October 31, 1946, she retired.^' After twenty- four years as a county agent and supervisor in home demon- 123 stration work, she brought her career to an end. Jeffie obviously had enjoyed the years she had worked with rural families and with young people in clubs. Throughout her life, she had helped the young to achieve, first in the public schools and then in home demonstration service. Inactivity, however, bored Jeffie because she had spent her adult life in one or another occupation. Her retirement did not last long because in 1948 she accepted a position as supervisor of the black public schools for McLennan County. ^° During this period in American history, the public school system in Texas remained segregated. Jeffie struggled to accomplish as much as possible with the limited resources a county school bureaucracy allowed her. County schools operated within a strict budget because no tax support came from the residents of the county, itself. Money to operate the county schools came from state funds on a per capita basis.^^ Most blacks received their education in dilapidated buildings with desks and books in used and abused condition from white students. Black boys on the football team wore uniforms previously worn by white boys. Sanitation facilities were nonexistent except for an "outhouse." Problems such as these confronted Jeffie everyday and she worked responsibly and diligently to solve 124 them. For her efforts, Jeffie received an annual salary of $4,462 with a $50 per month travel allowance.^^ The McLennan County School Board dealt with various matters concerning black schools within their district. Purchase of a school bus for the black children at Rosenthal won the board's approval as well as the sale of the old black school building at Golinda to the black Methodist

00 Church."'"' A proposal for summer school for the county's black school children received unanimous support. The board believed "this would aid cotton picking and assist the Negroes in being better able to take care of fall and winter clothes and their food supply."^* Student transfers of black students from Hallsburg to Mart and Riesel to Waco also received board approval." Jeffie's greatest achieve ment with the board members came when she convinced them to consolidate thirty-five rural schools into fourteen for economic reasons. In 1957 Jeffie decided to retire once again from the nation's work force and spend her time Of quietly at home."'*' In 1966 Governor John Connally called Jeffie out of retirement and appointed her to the Governor's Committee on Public School Education. She served as a member until June, 1969.^^ The other members of the committee included Leon Jaworski, the chairman; Paul R. Haas, M. K. Hage, Jr., Joe E. Chapa, Mrs. George Hawn, Harold Hitt, Frank W. R. Hubert, 125 Wales Madden, Jr., June Hyer, James McCrocklin, Morgan Jones, Jr., Loyd L. Turner, Mrs. Savannah Cross Lockey and Dick West.^° This committee set as its goal the complete study of public schools in Texas. The group wanted basic recommendations to ensure that the Texas educational system ranked high among the systems in the nation."o"q To begin its study, the committee selected 128 school districts as samples. This represented only one-tenth of the districts in Texas, but the selected schools contained over half of the students and teachers in the state. Thirty of the schools had approximately twelve thousand students and the remaining ninety-eight had different enrollments. The selected schools thus represented the entire state school system4- .4 0 The committee wanted five questions answered in its study. 1. What should be the goals of the public education system? 2. What programs and services must be provided to achieve the goals of the system? 3. What must be done to staff the system with competent, dedicated, professional personnel? 4. What organizational structure will permit the system to function most efficiently? 5. What financial changes will be required to underwrite the costs of a long-range plan for national leadership in educational achievements? * 126 Answers to these questions resulted from eight types of inquiries used by the committee. The members collected an opinion poll of 1,000 randomly picked adults and 500 teachers in the selected schools, a property valuation survey to gather information about school taxes on property, answers to questionnaires compiled from 11,000 staff members in public education, and an inventory of courses and services offered in each school district in the state. The committee also gathered an educational development test given to 67,361 seniors in state schools, a report by the selected school districts on their dropout rate in grades six to twelve, questionnaires about pre-school programs and innovative teaching techniques in the selected schools, and information from field trips by the committee to sample school districts. When the committee completed the compilation of the data, computer analysis provided answers to the group to aid in specific recommendations to the

10 governor and the state legislature." The committee wanted the educational system in Texas to enter the decade of the 1970s on a par with the rest of the nation. To do so, the members recommended certain steps to achieve this goal. They suggested that the state needed to supply financial aid to help school districts reorganize and to study reorganization of the county school districts, replace regional service center personnel with officials of 127 the Texas Education Agency, begin a program for education ally disabled pre-schoolers, and expend more money to schools with educationally disabled children. The committee urged the state to maintain summer school programs for educationally disabled children, raise financial allotments for transporting educationally disabled children, start more adult education programs, and change the teacher certification requirement. Further the state should give more financial aid for purchase of textbooks, start more vocational programs for potential student dropouts, add a tenth month to teacher salary schedules and provide them with adequate sick leave as well as require a teacher graduate exam, support innovative school programs, support kindergarten programs across the state with ample aid, and lower the teacher work load by allowing ten hours a week for conferences or planning periods• J . 43 The committee completed its work and gave the recommendations to the governor and the state legislature. Jeffie spent time during 1969 speaking to groups and trying to explain the recommendations about school reform in Texas. One of the proposals dealt with the elimination of the county school superintendent's office. She believed this proved ironic since she formerly had worked for the county schools.** Jeffie spent many years of her life involved in the field of education. She expressed her feelings about 128 education in a speech given while she served as a home demonstration agent. "Education is the parent of progress, the Creator of culture, the moulder of destiny, the source of inspiration and the aid to aspiration."*^ During all the traveling and sacrifices Jeffie made for her career, George supported her endeavors. He expressed his sentiments in a letter to her. These are strenuous times. I am sure were it not for the great satisfaction of giving the best that is in you to the cause you represent and the work that you are doing it would be useless to burn the midnight oil for its accomplishment. When we shall have reached the acme of our striving, we can point with pride to our achievement. 'There is no excellence without great labor.'*" Jeffie had been reared by educated parents, who instilled in her a desire to achieve. She had a husband, who gave her support even though he was reluctant to do so at first. Because of her own wish to succeed, she accepted separation from her family and home for extended periods to travel as a district supervisor for the home demonstration service. She chose to be a teacher, who became supervisor for black schools in McLennan County. Two astute politicians, Lyndon Johnson and John Connally, recognized her abilities and appointed her to prestigious boards. Always with service in mind, she gave of herself in order to achieve also a better status for members of her own race. 129 Notes Biographical Records, Personal Materials, Jeffie Conner Papers, The Texas Collection, Baylor University, Waco, Texas.

0 'Kate Adele Hill, Home Demonstration Work in Texas (San Antonio: The Naylor Company, 1958), 194. Îbid., 12-14. *Ibid., 1-2. Îbid., 132-133. ^Speech of Jeffie Conner, 1925, Personal Materials, Jeffie Conner Papers. Îbid. ^Biographical Records, Personal Materials, Jeffie Conner Papers; Interview with D. H. Seastrunk, October 17, 1900. 'waco News-Tribune, January 13, 1969, 1. lÎbid. llgpeech of Jeffie Conner to Home Economics Students at Prairie View College, November 2, 1934, Personal Materials, Jeffie Conner Papers. ^Îbid. ^Îbid. ^*Ibid. ^^'George Conner to Jeffie Conner, April 4, 1935, Jeffie Conner Papers. ^^Letter from Lyndon Johnson to Richard R. Brown, Assistant Executive Director of Texas Youth Administration, December 7, 1935, Box 8, United States Government Records, National Youth Administration Papers, Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library, Austin, Texas. ^^Robert A. Caro, The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Path to Power (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1982), 343. 130 '°Ibid., 343-344. 19 "'Administrative Report of Lyndon Johnson, Executive Director of Texas Youth Administration, March 16, 1936, Box 5, United Stated Government Records, National Youth Administration Papers, Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library, Austin, Texas. 20lbid. ^^Caro, The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Path to Power, 344, 346-349. ^Îbid. , 365-367.

00 '•'Christie L. Bourgeois, "Stepping Over Lines: Lyndon Johnson, Black Texans, and the National Youth Administra tion, 1935-1937," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 91 (October 1987) : 160. 'Administrative Report of Lyndon Johnson, March 16, 1936 ^^Ibid. "Caro, The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Path to Power, 368. "Biographical Records, Personal Materials, Jeffie Conner Papers. ^^Waco News-Tribune, January 13, 1969, 1. ^'interview with D. H. Seastrunk, October 17, 1990. ^^Waco News-Tribune, January 13, 1969, 1. ^'History of the Waco Public Schools (Waco: Waco Independent School District, 1975), 15. ^^Minutes of the McLennan County School Board, October 3, 1955, McLennan County School Administration Building, Waco, Texas. ^hbid., February 2, 1948; March 7, 1949. ^*Ibid. , April 2, 1951. ^^Ibid. , June 20, 1956. 131 "Biographical Records, Personal Materials, Jeffie Conner Papers. 07 ""Waco News-Tribune, January 13, 1969, 1. 00 ••"Report of the Governor's Committee on Public School Education, 1966-1969, . . . To Make Texas A National Leader in Public Education: The Challenge and the Chance, Texas State Library, Austin, Texas. ^'ibid. *Olbid. *4bid. *2lbid. *2lbid. **Waco News-Tribune, January 13, 1969, 1. *^Speech of Jeffie Conner, "Balanced Education," [No date]. Personal materials, Jeffie Conner Papers. *^George Conner to Jeffie Conner, June 29, 1934, Jeffie Conner Papers. CHAPTER VIII CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVITIES OF THE CONNERS

George and Jeffie Conner believed strongly in equal rights and equal justice for themselves and other blacks. Because of that commitment, they stepped forward to fight for the advancement of their community. From voting rights to job opportunities, they thought blacks deserved their share of the American dream. Out of concern for them, they gave time, effort, and money to further their cause. They faced each challenge as it surfaced and intended to overcome any problem. One evening in June, 1963, President John F. Kennedy appeared on television and posed several questions about these issues to the American public. He said: If an American, because his skin is dark, cannot eat lunch in a restaurant open to the public, if he cannot send his children to the best public school available, if he cannot vote for the public officials who represent him, if, in short, he cannot enjoy the full and free life which all of us want, then who among us would be content to have the color of his skin changed and stand in his place? Who among us would then be content with the counsels of patience and delay?^

132 133 Blacks, who had been discontented for decades, had waged an unceasing struggle against the injustices toward them. The fight never had been an easy one, but black leaders always had planned to prevail. W. J. Cash in his book. The Mind of the South, had described this attitude of blacks when he stated: Throughout Dixie in short, the Negro was slowly lifting his head and beginning to grow perceptibly more assertive and everywhere, there was in evidence a subtle but quite real change in attitude--a rising sullenness before brutality and indignity, a tendency to force outburst when pressed too hard, a mounting reluctance . . . toward acting out the role of Jim Crow or Uncle Tom.^ By the end of World War I, blacks had become convinced that if they could fight for democracy abroad, they deserved certain freedoms at home. A. A. Lucas, a black minister in Waco during the 1920s, said quite bluntly that segregation could not be condoned from the Christian viewpoint. Upset by the discrepancies under which the black man had been forced to live, he declared the time had come for blacks to stand up for their rights and die if necessary. According to whites, blacks could achieve nothing and had to be beaten or hanged to keep them in their place in society. Lucas spoke for black weariness with mistreatment by whites."" Lucas gave a personal, but accurate, view of segregation. In Waco white Christian support did not extend at all times to the black community. In the early 1930s the 134 prestigious Austin Avenue Methodist Church had a soup kitchen for the poor. It advertised that "all white people whether residents or transients were welcome."* Obviously, no others needed to wait in line. Obdurate behavior of whites toward blacks in Waco did not end at the church door. In a letter to Jeffie, George told of a meeting concerning the treatment of blacks at the hands of white police. He wrote: Dr. Jenkins, Cain, Dr. Smith and I have just been in conference with the Mayor, City Manager, City Secretary and Mr. Goldstein concerning ill treatment by Police who have been manhandling Negroes under arrest. I think the conference will result to quiet the ill feeling existing on the part of some of our people.^ An editorial in the Waco Messenger urged unity in the black community to overcome the various forms of discrimi nation. The world in which we actually live today is not governed by truth or logic or reason. It is controlled chiefly by those prejudices, inherited and acquired, which have come down from prehistoric ages. The world is not a united world. It is definitely divided up into races and nations. Nobody can do great things for us but ourselves. And when we do build in unity, in mutual confidence, and in self respect, refusing to let a world stalemate us or suspicion and internal strife divide us, we may by this high spiritual accomplishment go over the bars. We shall have defeated segregation. 135 For blacks in Texas the fight for equality began in the political arena. The right to vote became an important issue for blacks as they sought to control their own destiny. One of the first hurdles for them to overcome in order to vote dealt with payment of a poll tax. Some people in the state believed for a long time that the poll tax kept the poverty-stricken and minorities from casting ballots.^ Others could argue that the tax brought revenue into the state treasury. A close look at the poll tax requirement for voting explains both viewpoints. When the legislature convened in Austin in 1876 after the new state constitution had been adopted, it adopted a poll tax, or head tax, amendment. Intended as a fiscal means to add revenue to the state treasury, the tax served its purpose for more than twenty-five years. Then, in 1902, the legislature passed a law which made the poll tax a requirement to vote. Males between the ages of twenty-one and sixty had to pay a tax of $1.50, with counties having the right to collect twenty-five cents more. A dollar of each tax receipt went into the public education fund while the remaining fifty cents went into the general revenue

0 coffers." The controversy concerning the purpose of the tax surfaced with its consideration as a voting requirement. Defenders of the tax came up with various reasons to explain 136 how the tax served the government and the people of Texas. They offered as a foremost reason the revenue brought into the public school fund. Money did go into the fund for education, but since its inception, the poll tax had been a source of revenue. If the amendment requiring payment for voting were repealed, the tax would still produce revenue for the government. With the disposal of this theory, the actual use of a poll tax appeared to be political.' For many white Texans the poll tax seemed to be a strong deterrent to black voting power. White supremacists and those who wanted to give governmental power only to the affluent class of people knew that. The poor and the working class whose salaries were low could not afford to pay a tax to vote. Most of them stayed in debt and had enough trouble trying to provide for their families." Yet for the predominately white middle class, who could afford to pay $1.75, the poll tax presented no problem. Members of the black middle class realized that they could vote and over the years political activists took steps to ensure that their people understood the voting procedure. Groups in Houston and San Antonio organized for that very purpose. Two political action groups, the Progressive Voters League and the Texas Club of Democratic Voters, also worked hard to inform black voters. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and black 137 church leaders worked overtime to disseminate information on the process and the significance of voting to blacks. Poll tax deputies even went to each house or apartment to sign up blacks to vote and collect the tax money.^- Through the efforts of these organizations and leaders, a growing number of persons knew their voting rights. George certainly knew that he had the right to vote and he made sure to pay the poll taxes promptly each year. In 1935 he wrote his wife about this matter: "I paid your poll tax and you are now a full fledged American Citizen for the next 12 months. "^^ Throughout the years some blacks in Texas had voted in the general election held in November as well as in city elections. Discrimination against voting by blacks came not only from the poll tax requirement but also from various election laws passed by the state legislature. Beginning with the Terrell Election Law in 1903 and ending with the white primary statute in 1923, blacks lived with the knowledge that their voting rights had been eroded.^ The white primary statute effectively barred blacks from voting in the state's Democratic primary, an election which put forth the candidates who eventually governed the state and the nation because they usually won. For blacks, the primary election law served as a telling blow because a majority shifted to the Democratic party in the 1930s as a 138 result of New Deal programs under Franklin Roosevelt.^* A review of these election laws shows how blacks became disfranchised. The Terrell Election Law in 1903 began to limit black participation in elections. The law stated that a voter had to submit to a party test before being allowed to participate in a party primary. Since a few counties wanted blacks to vote in their primaries while others did not, another provision in the law addressed that situation. The executive committee of each county could expand on the required test for the party primary. To keep blacks from voting, the committee only had to make additional qualifi cations so difficult that no black could possibly pass. For those counties wanting black voter participation, the test could remain simple. 15 Harris County became one of the counties opting against black voting rights. On January 27, 1921, the Democratic committee in Houston decided that blacks could not vote in the upcoming primary scheduled for February 9. Two blacks, Charles N. Love, editor of the Texas Freeman, and W. L. Davis, editor of the Western Star, joined forces to seek an injunction against the Houston Democratic committee. William Nickerson, Jr., Newman Dudley, Jr., and Perry Mack united with Love and Davis in the proceedings. They hired Richard Evans, a recent graduate of Yale University Law 139 School, to represent them. Evans, who had begun to practice law in Waco, sought the injunction against G. W. Griffith, chairman of the Harris County committee.^^ The District Court ruled against Evans and the Court of Civil Appeals upheld this ruling. Evans continued the legal process, however, with the aid of James A. Cobb, a renowned attorney in Washington, D.C. Together, they presented the case of Love v. Griffith before the U.S. Supreme Court, which also ruled against the black plaintiffs. The Supreme Court stated that any ruling on the case would be a moot point of law because by the time the case had reached the tribunal, the election in question already had been held. Significantly, though, the justices gave the opinion that if the case had reached them earlier as presented in Houston, a serious question of constitutional law would have arisen. Equally significant, the case aroused interest at the headquarters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The legal staff of that organization took note of the case from Texas and began to make plans to 17 confront the election law."' White legislators in the state also began to take a renewed interest in their election laws after this court decision as well as the Newberry decision four months later. That case involved Truman Newberry, who had opposed Henry Ford for a U.S. Senate seat. Newberry had spent more money 140 in his campaign than allowed under the limits set forth in the Federal Corrupt Practices Act of 1910. Brought to trial for violating federal law, Newberry saw his case finally reach the Supreme Court, where he received vindication. The majority of the judges ruled in favor of Newberry because they said that primary elections came under state, not federal, control. When white Texans understood the importance of this decision, they moved to pass the white primary law of 1923.^^ That law aimed directly at taking the vote from all blacks in Texas. It stated, "in no event shall a Negro be eligible to participate in a Democratic party primary

1Q election held in the State of Texas."" White legislators had come to realize that black voting power would increase in time and took the legal steps necessary to curb that power. Whites correctly understood that more and more blacks had begun to pay their poll tax and vote. A rising middle class of black professionals and a growing literacy rate among the lower class had increased the potential for black political power.^^ Enactment of the new law disfranchising blacks put a temporary stumbling block in their path, but it never stopped their determination to be able to vote. At once the NAACP launched a case from El Paso to test the validity of the white primary election law. On July 26, 141 1924, when Dr. Lawrence A, Nixon and J. H. Dudley attempted to vote, C. C. Herndon, the election judge, denied them a ballot. Fred C. Knollenberg, an El Paso attorney, represented Nixon and immediately filed a suit on behalf of his client. The case, Nixon v. Herndon. made its way through the court system and finally reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 1927. Dan Moody, the Attorney General of Texas, appeared before the Supreme Court Justices as counsel for the defendant. After hearing arguments from both sides, the court ruled in favor of Nixon. Justice Oliver W. Holmes, in rendering the majority opinion, stated that the fifteenth amendment did not have to be considered because the fourteenth amendment had been so flagrantly violated. He concluded his opinion by chastising state action regarding the law.^^ Blacks involved in the case became ecstatic when they won and white legislators began to map out a new strategy to circumvent the court decision. The new plan came quickly. In studying the decision, a loophole in the precise wording given by Justice Holmes had been discovered. He had placed responsibility on state action and had not implied that the Democratic party, itself, could not keep blacks from voting. Recently elected Governor Moody soon recommended a bill which was introduced into the House of Representatives. The bill found some opposition in the house from a small group of men, including 142 W. R. Poage of Waco. After passing both the house and senate. Governor Moody approved the final bill. Immediately, the State Executive Committee of each political party in Texas received notification from the legislature. Each party had the right to determine its own membership qualifications and who should have the right to vote. Nixon again found himself in a lawsuit.^^ The case of Nixon v. Condon came after James Condon, another election judge in El Paso, refused Nixon a ballot for a primary election. The case reached the Supreme Court in 1932 and that time Justice Benjamin Cardozo rendered the majority opinion in favor of Nixon. He ruled that the representatives of the state's authority, the State Executive Committee, had violated the rights of blacks guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. The State Executive Committee had no authority to set qualifications on the

00 right to vote by race or color.' Blacks received the news of a second victory with jubilation while whites in Texas prepared for a new approach to stifle black voters. Over the years the Conners in Waco, like other blacks across the state, had been anxious about their right to vote. George and Jeffie, as members of the black profes sional class concerned with disfranchisement and as close friends of Richard Evans, followed the legal proceedings with great interest. In a number of letters to his wife. 143 George discussed voting, elections, and government. In July of 1934, he wrote: We are somewhat up in the air today and much perplexed because Atty General Allred gave an opinion that Negroes could be barred from voting in the Democratic Primary. I have just talked with Lawyer Evans who says the local Democratic Committee refuses to abide by the opinion of the Atty General and will permit Negroes to vote in this county.^* In 1934 James Allred, the Texas Attorney General and a candidate for governor, had been persuaded by his supporters to issue his "Opinion" concerning black voting rights. He stated that blacks should not be allowed to vote in Democratic Party primary elections. He based his idea on a resolution adopted by the Democratic Party State Convention in Houston on May 24, 1932. Because whites in Texas could never reach a unanimous decision about black voting rights, some counties, like McLennan County, allowed blacks to vote." When primary election day arrived, George wrote to Jeffie: As you are aware this is primary election day. Negroes voted in all the wards today for the first time. But in our ward those who attempted to vote in the morning were told to return in the afternoon as they were awaiting instruction from Houston. Lawyer Evans was one. I went to vote about 3 o'clock and had no difficulty whatever. As I was leaving. Lawyer Evans and wife came back and they were permitted to vote.^^ 144 Three days later, George sent a letter to his wife detailing a plan of Richard Evans. It was not my privilege to write you on yesterday due to the fact that Lawyer Evans has another project on foot to go to Washington to circumvent any move in the next primary to prevent us from voting. He called a committee together to put his plans before us relative to it. We must give him credit for the measure of success we have been able to secure. All the other wise Lawyers of color seem to have failed. He was active on the day of the election and I believe exerted quite an influence in our behalf with the election Judges in bringing pressure to bear on them. So his next pilgrimage is to Washington to see the Attorney General in person and get him to enforce the 15th Amendment. It may be a pipe dream but as a citizen I thought I would invest $1.00 in it."

After Allred gave his "Opinion," Evans and Walter White of the NAACP became concerned. Each one filed a complaint with the United States Attorney General and asked him to examine the election process in the state. Evans also endorsed the idea of sending a black delegation to Washington to talk with the Attorney General. Walter White disagreed with the proposal and Evans dropped the matter. Instead, blacks sent affidavits in hopes of securing an investigation. The Justice Department eventually declined to interfere and blacks realized once again they had to fend

00 for themselves. In the meantime, whites in Texas had been trying to come up with a legal solution to offset Justice Cardozo's 145 ruling in Nixon v. Condon. Taking the hint once more from Justice Cardozo's interpretation of state action, Texas legislators turned the Democratic party into a private organization. That move excluded blacks entirely from sharing in its operation.^' When blacks in Houston decided to challenge that decision, Richard Grovey served as the plaintiff. Denied a ballot by the election judge, Albert Townsend, Grovey filed a suit in a justice of the peace court. Blacks wanted the fastest route for the case to travel to the Supreme Court if they lost the decision in Houston. They did lose and Grovey v. Townsend went to the Supreme Court because it concerned federal law. The NAACP had nothing to do with this particular case, but its legal staff had warned against it. Lawrence Nixon of El Paso and Richard Evans of Waco also opposed the case. Dissent came from them because they realized the Supreme Court had grown more conservative, but their warnings went unheeded. Justice Owen Roberts, speaking on behalf of a unanimous court, ruled against Grovey in 1935. He upheld the idea of the Democratic party Of) as a private organization.^" Suddenly, everything blacks in Texas had worked for had disappeared and the white legislative program to disfranchise them had taken effect. Yet blacks did not give up and forged ahead with legal plans. 146 Fortunately for them, blacks always had been allowed to vote in some municipal elections. George enjoyed telling Jeffie about an upcoming city election and the role he played. He said: Have been in conference today with a committee of white and colored citizens concerning our city election of commissioners. Cain, Jenkins, Lowe and Hodges and myself represented the colored contingent. They were anxious that I act as chairman. I respectfully declined. I knew you would not stand for it and would stand on your head. You know I am always obedient to your every wish. (smile)^ Months later he told her about the outcome of the Waco election. "The city charter election has passed into history. The result was the commission form of government

00 remains as the choice of the electorate of Waco."'" Voting rights for blacks in Texas had been a hard fight for them. Richard Evans, the young black attorney from Waco, had worked tirelessly in that effort. He had made great strides in his attempts to gain civil rights for blacks. Evans had been an outstanding leader of the National Bar Association, an organization for black attorneys, and the NAACP. He served as the first president of the Texas State Conference of Branches of the NAACP, a group of 170 chapters. He traveled extensively across the state working for the benefit of the conference. Often he confided his legal plans to George because of their 147 friendship. Naturally, then, it came as a shock to George when Evans died suddenly in a car-train crash on June 26, 1938.^^

George wrote to Jeffie and gave her a description of the Evans' funeral. Have just returned from the Funeral of Lawyer Evans which was largely attended. However not as large as others I have witnessed. Not much demonstration. The daughters were the most demonstrative. Rev. A. A. Lucas was the chief demonstrator. The White Bar Association was represented by 2 white Lawyers. The Colored Bar Association by Resolutions from the Dallas Bar, Lawyers Turner & Mason. All the Doctors and the Knights of the Cloth brought up the rear in great numbers. A nice metallic casket and flowers in profusion.^* Evans' death had cost blacks a tremendous champion for their cause. Others would have to step forward to fill the gap since the fight for voting rights had to continue. In 1941 a case from Louisiana gave renewed hope to blacks when it appeared on the calendar of the Supreme Court. United States v. Classic concerned five election officials, including Patrick B. Classic, who had committed fraud by altering ballots cast during an election. The majority of judges on the Supreme Court had changed from those who had ruled on Grovey v. Townsend. Seven new justices had been appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and most had liberal philosophies. Yet, Chief 148 Justice Harlan Fiske Stone, one of the two remaining justices, presented the majority opinion. He had been on the court which ruled against Grovey and set the precedent of disfranchising blacks under the white primary statute. The judges ruled against Classic, however, and based their opinion on Article 1, Sections 2 and 4 of the United States Constitution. They stated that a person had the right to vote and expect his ballot to be counted as guaranteed by the Constitution. They further said that the primary in some states became the only election in which the voters had any significant choice and could effect the outcome of the general election. Thus Congress had the power to regulate such primary elections and protect the rights of people from oc wrongful acts by individuals or states."'"^ Blacks saw their opportunity. In July and August of 1942, Dr. Lonnie Smith had been denied a ballot to vote for candidates of the United States Senate and House of Representatives. The NAACP chose Smith as their plaintiff in a suit to bring an end to the white primary statute in Texas. The defendant in the case was S. E. Allwright, the election judge. In 1944 Smith v. Allwright reached the United States Supreme Court. In an eight to one decision, with Justice Owen Roberts dissenting, the justices ruled in favor of Smith. Their opinion stated that "primaries were a part of the election process and effectively controlled the 149 choice of the officials elected."^^ Furthermore, "the Democratic party's refusal to permit Smith to vote in the Democratic primaries had been state action and violated the Fifteenth Amendment."^^ Blacks finally and at long last had won the victory. They could vote. Although Jeffie and George did not have a direct hand in the fight for voting rights, they, like all blacks, had an interest in the outcome. Other battles remained to be waged, however, and Jeffie took an active role in the civil rights struggle in Waco. As a member of the NAACP, she helped lead the fight against segregation in the workplace and in the school system,^^ After World War II, blacks in Waco found segregation still entrenched in the community. Blacks had fought for democracy abroad in the war and yet they continued to be denied their civil liberties in the heart of Texas, Coque Gibson remembered the harshness of segregation on young blacks in that period because she grew up in Waco during the 1950s and 1960s, She recalled vividly living in two societies, one white and one black. As a young black child, she had been denied a drink of water at a public fountain in downtown Waco, A restaurant had refused service to her mother and her unless they went to the back door. As a teen-ager, she decided to leave Waco to attend college. After graduating from Huston-Tillotson College in Austin, 150 she applied for a teaching position in Waco, but was never hired. By 1990, ironically, she served as a trustee on the board of the Waco Independent School District.^' Segregation also existed in the Waco job market and young blacks found it difficult to find work. In 1962 Foster Tolbert, twenty-three years old and married with two children, needed a job. He applied for one at the Seven- Eleven store on Elm Street in East Waco, a predominantly black area. He quickly learned that the store policy prevented the employment of blacks. Disappointed, he decided to hunt for a job elsewhere. News of his plight soon spread through the black community, however, and the local chapter of the NAACP decided to intervene. After contacting officials at the Waco Police Department to notify them of its intention, the NAACP had its members to set up a picket line in front of the store.*" Jeffie Conner became one of those who marched because she believed the young man deserved the opportunity to have a job. Joining her in the protest, her young great-niece, Patsyanne, complained about being hot, tired, and thirsty. Nevertheless, despite all the problems, the child continued the protest along with the other marchers,*^ After eighteen weeks, the store relented in its policy and agreed to hire black employees.*^ 151 The national civil rights movement, which had begun with the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955-1956, had spread throughout the South. That protest movement had worked and blacks in Waco and across the state became aware that their organized efforts could succeed. Blacks thus began to employ different methods to achieve their goal of ending segregation. Tactics they used included economic boycotts of white businesses, public protest marches, job blockades, like the one used in Waco against the Seven-Eleven, and sit- ins at segregated lunch counters by students in Waco, Galveston, Austin, Dallas, and Longview,*^ All of these methods worked up to a point, but in 1964 the United States Congress took a more positive approach. It passed a civil rights law which ended segregation in public places and in employment. In 1965 another civil rights law clarified the use of registration in voting rights for blacks.** Jeffie continued to work diligently in the struggle for equal rights. She also became involved in the legal battle concerning the school system in Waco. In 1954, the United States Supreme Court had issued a decision that abolished school segregation and reversed the Plessy v. Ferguson decision in 1896, which had allowed for separate but equal facilities. The case. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, ended forever the concept of separate and unequal school facilities. The court in 1955 gave some leeway in

/ 152 the time frame, however, to allow school districts to adjust to desegregation of their systems. Districts had been told they should desegregate with "all deliberate speed,"*^ In Waco, as in other parts of the country, this phrase seemed to imply that the district could take all the time it wanted. The school board had decided in 1955 to integrate, but then opted against it out of fear of losing state funds. Finally, in 1963 District Judge Homer Thornberry ordered the system integrated. By 1966, grades one, two, three, four, seven, and ten had been integrated, followed the next year by grades five, eight, and eleven. In 1968 all grades had been integrated and eleven black faculty members also had been reassigned in order to integrate them into the system, Waco schools, however, did not bus students to achieve desegregation. *" In 1971 Jeffie began a campaign of letter writing to rectify some of the problems associated with school integration. She wrote her first letter to Allen Black, Jr., Deputy Director of the NAACP, in Memphis, Tennessee, She explained to him that in November, 1970, the Justice Department had received complaints from Waco citizens about segregation and inferior schools. Officials in the department had responded by asking the Waco schools to begin faculty integration, but the school board had integrated only a few of the teachers. She asked the NAACP for help 153 because she said the people had become tired of the delay in integrating the schools. She said that blacks wanted integration, but some feared getting involved. They expressed concern about losing their jobs or having their children hurt, Jeffie wanted the NAACP to secure integration m the entire district as soon as possible.' The NAACP immediately responded to Jeffie's request and set up a team to investigate the situation. By August, 1971, Allen Black, Jr. had enough information at hand to realize that the Waco School District had not integrated as it should have done. In a memorandum the following facts had been compiled: 1. Over 75% of Black students attend all-Black or majority Black schools; 2. All high schools are racially identifiable; 3. Five of 8 junior high schools are racially identifiable; 4. 15 of 23 elementary schools are racially identifiable. Even so, the school board on July 15, 1971, by a 4-3 vote finalized the following plan of operation for the coming school year. Freedom of choice for elementary and junior high schools and high school district boundaries basgd on the neigh borhood school concept.-' The NAACP showed an interest in the case because Jeffie had bothered to get involved. In April, 1971, she had promised money to Allen Black, Jr. from a coalition in Waco to cover the legal fees and to secure new plaintiffs for a 154 lawsuit,-' The NAACP soon set in motion once again its legal machinery. In August, however, the Waco School Administration had begun planning to bus black students to the white schools in the district. That decision occurred because the federal district court had issued a new order to achieve integration through busing. In the fall, thirteen hundred black students transferred from East Waco schools to white schools in the city. One junior high and three elementary schools remained black schools in the district,^" When the black students transferred to the white schools, sixty-two black teachers lost their jobs in East Waco. Jeffie immediately started to write letters again. She wrote James Butler, Director of the DuShane Emergency Fund of the National Education Association, in Washington, D.C, Jeffie explained to him that a number of black teachers had been fired after it was too late for them to find other jobs. The school district officials claimed that federal guidelines caused the firing of the teachers. Such guidelines required that the ratio of black teachers equal the number of black students in the schools, Jeffie said she already had contacted the Dallas office of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, which replied that no such guideline existed. She then asked the NEA for immediate help.'^ She also wrote J. W. Edgar, Commissioner 155 of Education at the Texas Education Agency, and requested that he investigate the firing of the teachers "solely because of their race,"-^ Jeffie went beyond letter writing, however, and financially aided the teachers. She gave money to some and loaned money to others. She tried to do everything possible to help them. Unfortunately, no teachers were rehired.'- Such a sense of caring and concern for her fellow blacks, when no one else seemed to care, reflected her character. In November, 1971, Jeffie received a letter from a law firm in Little Rock, Arkansas. John W. Walker wrote that a new lawsuit had been filed against the Waco Independent School District,^* On April 27, 1973, United States District Judge Jack Roberts ordered Waco school officials to formulate a plan to eliminate racially identifiable schools. He said, "the new plan must provide equal opportunity for all minority students, distribute the burdens of desegre gation equally and eliminate as fully as possible the disparity in school facilities,"'"' Three months later on July 27, 1973, Judge Roberts approved the plan submitted by the Waco school district. He stated, . . , the proposed plan is an effective desegregation plan which will eliminate all vestiges of the old dual school system in Waco and will fulfill the district's obligation to assure to all students an equal opportunity for qualitative education. 156 A requirement for busing students sharply reduced school segregation in Waco,"'' George and Jeffie had witnessed and participated through the years in the struggle in Texas and in Waco over voting rights, job discrimination, and school segregation. As members of the black professional class, they realized the political power which could be engendered at the ballot box. Thus they sought a share for the black community by paying their poll taxes and by opposing local use of the white primary. As a working woman, Jeffie knew the importance of a job. As a teacher, she understood the importance of a good education. To get involved in the civil rights movement she joined the NAACP, She went beyond membership in that organization and personally became involved in the daily protests blacks waged for equal opportunities in work and in schools. Because of her efforts, blacks in Waco progressed in the struggle and came closer to their goal of a better life for themselves and their children in a desegregated society. 157 Notes -Thomas F. Pettigrew, A Profile of the Negro American (Princeton: D, Van Nostrand Company, Inc,, 1964), 159,

0 'Melvin James Banks, "The Pursuit of Equality: The Movement for First Class Citizenship Among Negroes in Texas, 1920-1950" (Ph.D. dissertation, Syracuse University, 1962), 101, ^Ibid., 94-95. Donald W, Whisenhunt, The Depression in Texas: The Hoover Years (New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1983), 121,

r 'George Conner to Jeffie Conner, January 6, 1936, Jeffie Conner Papers, The Texas Collection, Baylor University, Waco, Texas. ^Waco Messenger. March 30, 1934, 2. Allan Scott, "Twenty-Five Years of Opinion on Integration in Texas," Southwestern Social Science Quarterly 48 (September 1967); 155. ^Dick Smith, "Texas and the Poll Tax," Southwestern Social Science Quarterly 35 (September 1964): 167-168. 'Donald S. Strong, "American Government and Politics, The Poll Tax: The Case of Texas," American Political Science Review 38 (August 1944): 697. ^'^Alwyn Barr, Reconstruction to Reform: Texas Politics. 1876-1906 (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1971), 203-208. ^'Donald S, Strong, "The Rise of Negro Voting in Texas," American Political Science Review 42 (June 1948): 515, '^George Conner to Jeffie Conner, February 1, 1935, Jeffie Conner Papers, -^Strong, "American Government and Politics, The Poll Tax: The Case of Texas," 696, --Strong, "The Rise of Negro Voting in Texas," 518. 158 4 'Roberc t Wendell Hainsworth, "The Negro and the Texas Primaries," Journal of Negro History 18 (October 1933), 426.

4 f -•Robert H, Brisbane, The Black Vanguard: Origins of the Negro Social Revolution, 1900-1960 (Valley Forge: Judson Press, 1970), 128; Darlene Clark Hine, Black Victory: The Rise and Fall of the White Primary in Texas (Millwood, New York: KTO Press, 1979), 59-60, -Brisbane, The Black Vanguard, 128; Hine, Black Victory, 60-61, ^^Brisbane, The Black Vanguard, 128, ^'ibid, , 129, 20lbid. ^^Conrey Bryson, Dr, Lawrence A. Nixon and the White Primary (El Paso: Texas Western Press, 1974), 21, 37, 44- 50. ^^Bryson, Dr, Lawrence A. Nixon, 53-55; Brisbane, The Black Vanguard, 130-131. ^^Bryson, Dr, Lawrence A. Nixon, 62-70. ^*George Conner to Jeffie Conner, July 13, 1934, Jeffie Conner Papers. ^^Hine, Black Victory, 155-157. ^'George Conner to Jeffie Conner, July 28, 1934, Jeffie Conner Papers. ^hbid., July 31, 1934. ^^Hine, Black Victory, 159-161. ^'Brisbane, The Black Vanguard, 131. ^'^Hine, Black Victory, 168-172. ^^George Conner to Jeffie Conner, March 25, 1936, Jeffie Conner Papers. ^^Ibid., November 21, 1936. 159 ^^Michael Lowery Gillette, "The NAACP in Texas, 1937- 1957" (Ph.D. dissertation. University of Texas at Austin, 1984), 1, 7, 13. ^*George Conner to Jeffie Conner, July 1, 1938, Jeffie Conner Papers. ^^Hine, Black Victory. 202-204. ^4bid,, 215-220. ^'Ibid. , 220.

"-"Biographical Records, Personal Materials, Jeffie Conner Papers. ^'waco Tribune-Herald, February 18, 1990, 12A. *°Ibid. , 1, 14A. *-Interview with Dr. Vivienne Mayes, March 6, 1985. *^Waco Tribune-Herald, Feburary 18, 1990, 14A. *^Arthur I. Waskow, From Race Riot to Sit-in, 1919 and the 1960s: A Study in the Connections Between Conflict and Violence (Garden City: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1967), 231- 243; Gillette, "The NAACP in Texas, 1937-1957," 146. August Meier and Elliott Rudwick, From Plantation to Ghetto (New York: Hill and Wang, 1976), 288-289, 293. *^Mary Frair-^s Berry and John W. Blassingame, Long Memory: The Black Experience in America (New York: Oxford University Press, 1982), 280-281. *^History of the Waco Public Schools (Waco: Waco Independent School District, 1975), 79. *^Jeffie Conner to Allen Black, Jr., April 22, 1971, Jeffie Conner Papers. *^Memorandum of Jamille Boyd to Allen Black, Jr. regarding the Waco School System, August 27, 1971, Jeffie Conner Papers. *'Memorandum of Allen Black, Jr. to Melvin Leventhal regarding the Waco Independent School District, April 27, 1971, Jeffie Conner Papers. 160

Cf) •'"History of the Waco Public Schools. 80. 51 Conner"Jeffi Paperse .Conne r to James Butler, August 4, 1971, Jeffie ^^Jeffie Conner to J. W. Edgar, August 10, 1971, Jeffie Conner Papers.

KO "'•'Interview with Dr. Vivienne Mayes, March 6, 1985. ^*John W. Walker to Jeffie Conner, November 12, 1971, Jeffie Conner Papers. ^^Waco Tribune-Herald, April 29, 1973, 1. ^^Waco Times-Herald, July 30, 1973, 1. ^^Ibid. CHAPTER IX CONCLUSION--IMPORTANCE AS INDIVIDUALS

A black person during any decade of United States history needed the stamina and the willpower to survive. Blacks had to overcome economic, political, and social barriers that the most ordinary white person never encountered. Martin Luther King, Jr. once described a dream of equality for the black race. Many blacks had the same dreams about equality and the opportunity to achieve a better life. Yet for most of them, the obstacles in their path proved to be too difficult and forced them to accept an inferior standard of living. George Conner became an exception to that pattern. He also had dreams, but as a member of the middle class he could do more about them. Because of his ambitious dreams, George moved from the mountains of his native Tennessee to the fertile, black soil of Central Texas. He even changed professions from teacher to physician in order to achieve a greater livelihood and status within the black community. He wanted to be successful and attain all the accouterments such success

161 162 deserved. George succeeded, but he received help along the way.

His free black mother, Rachel Conner, had struggled to rear her children after the death of her husband. That had been a tremendous task with the disruption the entire country experienced during and after the Civil War. George had been only a small child when his father died. Yet he received an education through the financial support and the encouragement from his mother to seek a better life for himself. George's heritage of free black status also allowed him to develop a middle class position in society. He settled in Paris, Texas, worked as a teacher and as an administrator in the public schools, and married another teacher. Once again for George, the encouragement and economic assistance to succeed came from a woman, his wife Mattie. He attended medical school, graduated, and set up his practice in Waco, Texas. When Mattie died, he married for a second time. His new wife, Jeffie Allen Conner, had as much drive and ambition as George ever possessed. She continued the process of encouragement begun by his mother and his first wife. Consequently, all three women helped him succeed and attain his goals,-^ In Waco, George became a leader within the black community and a figure of prominence with whom the white community dealt. He practiced medicine for more than forty 163 years and served as president of his county medical society. He raised awareness in the black community concerning health care by delivering speeches about diseases. George joined fraternal orders and assumed leadership roles in them,^ Unlike William Muraskin's conclusion about black middle class Masons who reflected leadership and community service but remained aloof from the larger working class, George spent his time in the Masons, as well as the United Brothers of Friendship and the True People of America, serving and associating with the entire community,"* Active in church affairs, he established and led the choir for a number of years as well as serving the church in the positions of treasurer, deacon, and trustee. Over the years he acquired many valued and trusted friends in the black, Hispanic, and white communities,* Truly in Waco, George attained the success he had desired. Along with his professional and social achievements, he gained financial security. He invested in real estate by buying houses and renting them. He owned a building in downtown Waco which he named for himself. George took pride in the ownership of a nice home and an expensive car. When he died on February 14, 1939, of acute urinary suppression, he bequeathed an estate valued at forty thousand dollars to Jeffie. That included their home, the Conner Building, and various tracts of land in Waco as well as his personal 164 property. George and Jeffie had been married for nearly sixteen years, but their union had produced no children.^ His wife received an outpouring of sympathy at his death because he was a respected and beloved person in the city. The American Woodmen sent Jeffie a resolution eulogizing him, which epitomized the feelings of those touched by his death. It said: A Christian gentleman of the very highest type, honest & loyal to every cause he was connected with. Always ready to render service and support any worthy cause for the betterment of his Race,° At the age of forty-four, Jeffie found herself a widow. She still had a professional career to occupy her time and also had to manage the property which George previously had supervised. Fortunately for her, she had the support of her family. P. R, Malone, her brother-in-law, had helped George manage the property and certainly had become quite capable of helping Jeffie anytime she needed his assistance. After her husband's death, Jeffie kept up a steady pace and continued with her career choices. From home demonstration agent to supervisor of black schools in McLennan County, she never slowed down until she retired in 1957, Even after that she served on the Governor's Committee on Public School Education from 1966 to 1969. By her appointment to service on this committee and her previous service on the Negro 165 Advisory Board of the Texas Youth Administration, white leaders in Texas recognized her leadership abilities.^ Because of her own expanding roles in leadership, she became a pioneer in creating new opportunities for other black women. Jeffie enjoyed her retirement in Waco because she could spend more time with her family and friends. She and her sister, Vera, had planned for a number of years to build a house and live together. When they completed the brick home on North Fourth Street, Jeffie happily moved in with her

0 mahogany furniture." Then she devoted more time to her q church, her social clubs, and her civil rights activities.' For once she caught her breath long enough to be able to do the things she enjoyed. Jeffie savored every minute of her life as she always had done and looked forward to helping others. She lent a hand to anyone in need until she, herself, became ill. After a battle with cancer, Jeffie succumbed to the disease on June 10, 1972." If Jeffie had lived two more months, she would have celebrated her seventy-seventh birthday. Yet she had lived her life exactly as she had wanted. She chose to be a teacher, a home demonstration agent, a supervisor for black county schools, a civil rights activist, and above all else, a Christian dedicated to the service of others. During her life she had been a devoted wife, daughter, sister, and 166 aunt. She had helped George after their marriage maintain a successful lifestyle and achieve the goals he desired. As a reward for her own determination and dedication, she received various accolades and awards. In 1954 Paul Quinn College in Waco awarded her an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree. Prairie View State College gave her a citation in 1959 as an outstanding alumnus in the field of human relations.-^ She received a further honor in 1986 when the

10 Texas Women's Hall of Fame inducted her posthumously."' A humanitarian throughout her life, she did her best to aid members of her race. Both George and Jeffie spent their time in Waco in a productive way of life. They had achieved professional status by overcoming obstacles placed in their path by those intent upon stifling black desires. Life for them had been a struggle, but they had the ability to achieve the quality of existence they wanted in middle class society. They left behind them a heritage of caring and concern for their fellow human beings not easily duplicated by anyone. 167 Notes ^Biographical Records, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers, The Texas Collection, Baylor University, Waco, Texas. ^Ibid. 'William A. Murskm, Middle-class Blacks m a White Society: Prince Hall Freemasonry in America (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975), 292-297. *Biographical Records, Personal Materials, George S. Conner Papers. 'ibid.; Will of George S. Conner, April 13, 1935; Waco Messenger, February 17, 1939, 6; Waco News-Tribune, February 24, 1939, 10. ^Resolution eulogizing George S. Conner, American Woodmen, February 17, 1939, George S. Conner Papers. ^Biographical Records, Personal Materials, Jeffie Conner Papers. Wco News-Tribune, January 13, 1969, 1. 'Biographical Records, Personal Materials, Jeffie Conner Papers. ^^Death Records, Bureau of Vital Statistics, City Hall, Waco, Texas. -^Biographical Records, Personal Materials, Jeffie Conner Papers. -Wco Tribune-Herald, September 14, 1986, 1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Sources Manuscripts Conner, George Sherman. The Texas Collection, Baylor University, Waco, Texas. This collection contains letters, speeches, certificates, and photographs which give information about professional, middle class blacks in Waco during the early decades of the twentieth century, Conner, Jeffie Obrea Allen. The Texas Collection, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, This collection contains approximately three hundred letters from Dr, George Conner to his wife. They reveal information about black culture in Waco during the early twentieth century. Letters and speeches also detail the professional life of Jeffie Conner as well as her civil rights activities.

Government Documents Death Records. Bureau of Vital Statistics, City Hall, Waco, Texas. Minutes of the McLennan County School Board, 1948-1957. McLennan County School Administration Building, Waco, Texas. National Youth Administration Papers, Administrative Reports, Boxes 5 and 8, 1935-1936, Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library, Austin, Texas. Report of the Governor's Committee on Public School Education, 1966-1969. . . . To Make Texas A National Leader in Public Education: The Challenge and the Chance. Texas State Library, Austin, Texas.

168 169 United States Census Report of 1850. Blount County, Tennessee. United States Census Report of 1860. Blount County, Tennessee. United States Census Report of 1870. Blount County, Tennessee.

Interviews Interview with B, Wesley Austin, February 20, 1990, Interview-with R, J, Houston, February 20, 1990. Interview with Ruth Kennedy, February 16, 1990. Interview with Vera Malone, March 14, 1985. Interview with Vera Malone, March 21, 1985. Interview with Vivienne Mayes, March 6, 1985. Interview with Vivienne Mayes, March 14, 1985. Interview with Bonnie Mitchell, February 20, 1990. Interview with G. H. Radford, January 15, 1985. Interview with Dolly Scott, February 20, 1990. Interview with D. H. Seastrunk, October 17, 1990. Interview with Will Stanton, January 15, 1985.

Newspapers Waco Messenger. April 14, 1933; March 30, 1934; July 30, 1937; August 6, 1937, and February 17, 1939. Waco News-Tribune. February 24, 1939, and January 13, 1969. Waco Times-Herald. July 30, 1973. Waco Tribune-Herald. April 29, 1973; July 30, 1983; January 14, 1985; April 27, 1986; September 14, 1986; December 5, 1987; June 18, 1988; September 12, 1988; January 4, 170 1989; February 18, 1990; May 23, 1990, and August 12, 1990.

Books Charter of Waco and Digest of Ordinances and Rules of Order of the City Council. Waco: Examiner Book and Job Establishment, 1879. City Charter and Codification of the Ordinances of the City of Waco. Waco: Thomas E. McDonald and James A. Carlson, Publishers, 1938. Code of Ordinances of the City of Waco. Texas. Waco: Amicable Press, 1938. The New City Charter. Waco: Brooks & Wallace Printing House, 1891. Waco City Directory, 1894-1895. Houston: Morrison & Fourmy Directory Co., Inc., 1894-1895. . 1900-1901. Houston: Morrison & Fourmy Directory Co., Inc., 1900-1901. . 1919-1920. Houston: Morrison & Fourmy Directory Co., Inc., 1900-1901. . 1921-1922. Houston: Morrison & Fourmy Directory Co., Inc., 1921-1922.

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Gordon, John Ramsey. "The Negro in McLennan County, Texas." M.A. thesis, Baylor University, 1932. Hunter, Selese. "A Study of the Negroes Engaged in the Professions and Business Activities in Waco, Texas." M.A, thesis, Baylor University, 1927. Knott, Aubrey Kird. "Leadership in the Negro Race." M.A. thesis, Baylor University, 1925. Lovett, Bobby Lee. "The Negro in Tennessee, 1861-1866: A Socio-Military History of the Civil War Era." Ph.D. dissertation. University of Arkanss, 1978. Murphy, Leonard Brewster, "A History of Negro Segregation Practices in Texas, 1865-1958." Ph.D. dissertation, Southern Methodist University, 1974. Sapper, Neil Gary, "A Survey of the History of the Black People of Texas, 1930-1954," Ph,D. dissertation, Texas Tech University, 1972.

Articles Bourgeois, Christie L. "Stepping Over Lines: Lyndon Johnson, Black Texans, and the National Youth Administration, 1935-1937." Southwestern Historical Quarterly 91 (October 1987): 149-172. Hainsworth, Robert Wendell. "The Negro and the Texas Primaries." Journal of Negro History 18 (October 1933): 426-450. Scott, Allan. "Twenty-Five Years of Opinion on Integration in Texas." Southwestern Social Science Quarterly 48 (September 1967): 155-163. Smith, Dick. "Texas and the Poll Tax." Southwestern Social Science Quarterly 35 (September 1964): 167-173. SoRelle, James M. "The 'Waco Horror': The Lynching of Jesse Washington." Southwestern Historical Quarterly 86 (April 1983): 517-536. 172 Strong, Donald S. "American Government and Politics, The Poll Tax; The Case of Texas," American Political Science Review 38 (August 1944): 693-709, "The Rise of Negro Voting in Texas," American Political Science Review 42 (June 1948): 510-522 Vandavell-Jones, A, "The Negro Doctor Fifty-Five Years Ago," Waco Heritage & History 14 (Spring 1984), 37-40

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