This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received GIFFIN, William Wayne, 1938- THE NEGRO IN OHIO, 1914-1939. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1968 History, modern University Microf ilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan Copyright by William Wayne Giffin 1969 THE NEGRO IN OHIO, 1914-1959 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By William Wayne Giffin, B.A., B.S. Ed., A.M. ****** The Ohio State University 1968 Approved by Adviser Department of History. PREFACE This dissertation concerns the public life of Negro Ohioans, their standing in the wider society of Ohio and their responses to this. It deals, to be more explicit, with the conditions of Negroes in relation to employment, housing and education; their treatment in public accommo­ dations; and their role in politics and government. The organizational response of Negroes to the status of the Negro population of Ohio is also stressed. Each of these factors is discussed in relation to the periods 1914-1919, I92O-I929 and 1950-1 9 3 9 * The research for this monograph was done in sources deposited in government, museum and university libraries. This dissertation is not, per se, cultural, social or intellectual history of the Negro in Ohio. Therefore, it is not basically concerned with the development of Negro' groups and institutions, e.g., families, churdæs, schools and fraternal organizations. Likewise, it does not cover the development of Negro art, music and drama. These as­ pects of the history of the Negro in Ohio are worthy of study and hopefully will be researched. Unfortunately, very few source materials relating to these fields are ii now available in libraries. Yet, with the current interest in black history, Ohio libraries are beginning to initiate programs for the acquisition of such materials. Thus, future research students with an interest in Negro history may be more fortunate than I in this regard. I wish to express my gratitude to all those who assisted or supported me in the preparation of this dissertation. I should especially like to acknowledge that the members of the staff of the Ohio Historical Society Museum Library gave me excellent assistance and made my many hours with them pleasant. I shall always be indebted to “Francis P. Weisenburger, a good and generous man. Professor Weisen- burger advised me conscientiously and helped me with problems when this was inconvenient for him. Finally and most importantly, I should like to thank my wife, Eliza­ beth Anne, who supported me with hard work, patience and good humor. Ill VITA April 6, 1 9 3 8 . Born - Bellaire, Ohio I960......... B.A., The College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio 1962 ......... B.S. Ed., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 196 3 ......... M.A., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1964— 1968 . Teaching Assistant, Uepartment of His­ tory, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio I968-I969 . Assistant Professor, Department of His­ tory, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana PIELDS OP STUDY Major Field: History Social and Political History of the United States. Professor Francis P. Weisenburger ( Slavery Controversy and the New South. Professor Henry Simms Colonial History. Professor Eugene Roseboom. History of England. Professors Clayton Roberts and Phillip Poirier IV TABLE OF GONTEÏÏTS Page No. PREFACE .................................... , . ii VITA .......................................... iv LIST OF TABLES .................................. vii INTRODUCTION .................................. 1 PART I.-- THE MIGRANT AND THE DOUGHBOY (1914- 1919) Chapter I. THE GREAT MIGRATION.................... 18 II. REACTIONS OF THE NEGRO COMMUNITY TO THE PROBLEMS OF THE MIGRANT AND RACIAL DIS­ CRIMINATION .......................... 52 III. WORLD WAR I .......................... 108 PART II. THE NINETEEN-TWENTIES IV. THE CONTINUING MIGRATION IN RELATION TO EMPLOYMENT, HOUSING AND EDUCATION. 144 V. WHITE SUPREMACY...................... 197 VI. DEVELOPMENT OF NEGRO WELFARE AND CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS ................ 24$ VII. INDEPENDENT REPUBLICANS.............. 253 PART III. THE GREAT DEPRESSION (1930-1939) VIII. ECONOMIC CONDITIONS AND PUBLIC WELFARE. $08 V Page No. IX. PUBLIC AND PRIVATE HOUSING. .............. $24- X. THE RAGE ISSUE IN EDUCATION.............. $41 XI. PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS............ $77 XII. POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE ................ 402 XIII. NEGRO ORGANIZATIONS REACT TO THE DEPRES­ SION .............................. 44$ BIBLIOGRAPHY................................ 48$ VI LIST 0? TABLES Page No. 1. NEGRO LEGISLATORS IN THE OHIO GENERAL ASSEMBLY ................ 14- 2. COURT SUITS UNDER OHIO PUBLIC ACCOMMO­ DATIONS LAW, 1 914-1919 .............. 50 3 . NUMBER OF NEGRO STUDENTS ENROLLED IN OHIO COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES ..... 355 4-. VOTE IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1935 IN PREDOMINANTLY NEGRO WARDS ............ 4-20 5 . VOTE IN GUBERNATORIAL ELECTIONS IN PRE­ DOMINANTLY NEGRO WARDS IN 1932, 1936 AND 1938................................ 4-21 V I 1 INTRODUCTION Initially Ohio was a free territory which entered the Union as a free state.^ In the last years of the eighteenth century the Ohio country was covered by the anti-slavery provision of the Northwest Ordinance of 178?« The Ohio constitutional convention of 1802 included an anti-slavery provision in the fundamental law of the state. However, Negroes in Ohio did not enjoy equality under this law during the early nineteenth century. The state constitution limited the franchise and the holding of public office to white male inhabitants and prohibited Negroes from giving ^There are a number of secondary works which include infor­ mation of the Negro in Ohio prior to 1914-. The six volume History of the State of Ohio, ed. by Carl Wittke; and Eugene Ë.l^oseboom and Francis P. Weisenburger, A History of Ohio make numerous references to Negroes. Charles t. Hickok, The Negro in Ohio. 1802-1870 and Frank U. Quillin, The Color Line in Ohio. À History of Race Prejudice in a Ti^ical Northern State are quite dated general surveys of Ohio Negro history tefore 1914. The only other general survey of the subject is James H. Rodabaugh, "The Negro in Ohio," Journal of Negro History. YXTL (1946), 9-29. Numerous theses, dis­ sertations, articles, monographs and biographies on parti­ cular aspects of Ohio Negro history prior to 1914 are listed in the bibliography. testimony against whites in the courts. The constitution also included a limited indenture provision which in effect permitted virtual enslavement of some Negroes. In 1804- and in 1807 the state legislature enacted the Black Laws which required Negroes to prove their status as freemen before they would be permitted to settle or work in Ohio, to post a five hundred dollar bond upon settling in the state and to register with county clerks if they were already residents of the state. The Black Laws also provided heavy penalties for anyone who aided a fugitive slave. Similarly, the legislature later provided aid for the public education of white children only. The racial discrimination in the fundamental and statute law of Ohio reflected the fact that contempt was felt for Negroes by many, if not most of the white people of the state, although they did not favor slavery. The contempt for Negroes of many white Ohioans was also mani­ fested in their support of a movement to colonize Ohio Negroes in Africa. Conversely, a significant group of White Ohioans were generally sympathetic to giving Negroes equal legal rights and were actively opposed to slavery. New Englanders who had settled in the Western Reserve and Quakers who had taken up residence in southeastern and central Ohio were prominent in this anti-slavery element. James G. Birney, Levi Coffin, Joshua Gildings, Benjamin Lundy, Charles Osborn, John Rankin, Benjamin Wade and Theodore Weld among others played well-known roles in the anti-slavery movement in Ohio and the nation. The Lane Seminary revolt, the establishment of Cberlin Col­ lege, the operation of the Underground Railroad and the Ohio fugitive slave cases are legendary in the story of the anti-slavery movement in the state and the nation. Beginning in about 1815 there was a great controversy in Ohio between abolitionists and conservatives. They were divided on the question of whether slavery should be permit­ ted to exist in the South. In relation to Chio itself the issue which separated them was whether the Black Laws should be repealed. After about 183C an effort was made to have the Black Laws repealed, but this campaign for repeal was resisted by racial "conservatives." The exponents of equal rights for Negroes won some concessions in the eight­ een-forties. The legislature provided for public support of separate schools for Negroes but permitted Negro chil­ dren to attend a public school where there were fewer than twenty of them in the school district provided no white person objected. In 184-9 the Black Laws were repealed. but the opponents of equality for Negroes remained strong. The Ohio constitutional convention of 1850 voted down pro­ posals to permit Negro suffrage and to open the public schools to Negro children. The convention did vote to limit service in the state militia to white male inhabitants. The Negro population of Ohio increased gradually and remained quite small prior to the Civil War. In 1800 Negroes comprised less than one per cent of the population of Ohio; this figure had increased to one and six-tenths per cent by