Flint Spokesman [Volume: 1, Issue: 11]

a

8: @

Entire Short Family

Lost In Fi ire; Arson

Suspected

By Verna Avery
Calvin~s News Service
Coming ~as. a distinct shock

to. minority ~groups ~in Califor-.

nia, the Attorney-General ~ of
the ~State has issued a report
saying that the fire which took

the ~lives of ~four colored people.

in~ Fontana in December, 1945,. after repeated thréats, wais ac
cidental, Grave doubts have
crept into the minds of the people who. have studied the case
and who have read the official
report, They wonder whether
it is. a co-incidence that. the At
_, torney-General, Robert W. Ken
ny, is now running for the office of Governor of California.
They also wonder whether there |.
is ~some inconsistency in Mr.
_Kenny~s former, constructive
stand on racial matters and
whether ~he is willing to be liberal only where words and
ideas are concerned, but afraid
to act when a genuine problem
ig presented. For Mr. Kenny has
gained much publicity by his
opposition to the California Ku
Klux Klan which, So far, is only
a ~potential danger, while the
Short case and its implications
from a concrete stumbling block
to amicable inter-racial rela_tionships.

~Toward the end of 1945, O~Day Short moved his wife and
two lovely children into a par~tically built house in Fontana,
California, He had bought unrestricted land and was building
the home himself, At first, the
other Fontana residents did not
know that the Shorts were Negroes,,-but when their unmistakably colored friends and relatives began to visit them, this
fact -became apparent, Almost
immediately, the Shorts began
to receive threats of violence
and warnings that they must
move, These threats were taken
by Mr. Short to Negro newspapers in. Los Angles, to the
NAACP and to the FBI.

~Soon after occured a fire of
such intensity in the Short
home that the entire family
was severely burned. Mrs. Short
and the children died within
a tew-hours. A few weeks later
-M?;--Short passed, The circumstances. of their deaths have
been related before in print,
However, immediatly the insurance company, the townfolk
and others made hasts to call
this matter an ~accident.~ The
anguished family of the Shorts

_ Was denied an inquest, and de
nied an autopsy. These rights
were later granted by the
authorities only after pressure.

~Meartwhile, the ios Angles
branch of the NAACP had engaged a distinguished arson expert, Paul T. -Wolfe.~The. latter
made certain chemical examin
~ ations and discovered that large

quantities of an inflammable]
substances had been placed. on.
yremises, probably, during
~Affe time the Shorts were absent
-fram..their. home.on: the fatal
day.

Citizens in Southern California, realizing the threat to their
own constitutional rights, banded together to bring. pressure
upon Mr, Kenny to order a.State.. investigation,. Kenny did
as they asked but instead of
working. independently, he
worked directly with the Fon~tana Distric Attorney and with

In Deaths

the Sheriff, of San Bernardine
Ceunty~the very -people who
were determined ~to call the affair an.~accident? in the first
~place! ~In the annals of contemporary police lore, every fire:is
'an arson case, and every death
~is a murder, That #s assumed at
~the outset, and the officers are
given the task of proving beyond a doubt that these accuSations are false, But in the
Kenny investigation of the
Short case, the exact opposite
~approach was used. At the outset, it was assumed (despite
the. threats) that everyone concerned was innocent of wrong-. doing, and that the ensuing in
vestigation should and would
~support this initial thesis.
Naturally, the shocking final
report indicated that there was
no evidence that the fire was
of incendiary origin, also that
there had been found -no evidence of vigilante activities
against Negroes in ~the community and against Mr. Short
Personally. ~Several unsatisfactory lines of reasoning were -followed to reach. this strange
conclusion, The. fact that there
were threats wus acmitted, but
no investigation of them was
made, No comment was made on
the fact that such threats are
not only directed against an
individual, but are contrary to
every individual~s constitutional
rights. No one attached any
mportance to the fact that one
of the white deputy sheriffs,
who made the threats, was
proud of his Texas origin and
us~d every means of showing
it, even to the wearing of the
traditional large Texas ~hat,
~Fhe most damning Dit of. evi
iGprse of ~the fire's incendiary
origin was dismissed in Kenny~s report wth this sentence:
~Statements of Paul T. ~Wolf
that he found a_ considerable
quantity of kerosene, probably
five or more gallons, in the
ground, beneath the house,

audience.at

not be confirmed or rejected by
this office because of the heavy
rains between the ~time when
~Mr. Wolfe made his investigation and the time in which Mr.
Carrol -vsited the scene of the
fire.~ ~Well then, why did not
the Kenny office accept Mr.
Wolfe~s statement?

Is an arson expert of ~Mr.
Wolfe~s: Standing less of an expert when he is employed by
colored people?

Cértainly the facts in this
case leave room for doubt in
the minds of all Americans.
Every member of a minority
eroup can be affected by the
outcome of the Kenny investigation, So can every member of
a migjority group, for while
thefe have.been lynchings in
California, to date ~the victims
of ~California lynchings have
other~ than Negroes, Amercdh
citizens may wel lask themselves whether the Kenny _investigation. of the Short case means
that any citizen may take the
law into his own hands in a

| SimiJar way and then have his

action labelled an ~accdent.~
They may well~ wonder whether 4 man-who values the votes
of ome particular section of the
country, is capable of holding
an jmportant public office.
Lat us hope that the unsatisfactory report on the Short case
will be repudiated and a new
investigation started, so that

WILBERFORCE TO CELEBRATE
90th ANNIVERSARY WITH
MORTGAGE BURNING

MANY OUTSTANDING AME
LEADERS PARTICIPATE

One of the outstanding features -of the 90th Anniversary
of--Wilberforce University will
_ be -the. burning of the twentyfour year old ~mortage, Wilberforce. University was incorporaied under its present title
in 1856 after existing as Union
Seminary since 1847, The Commencement on June 13,. 1946
will mark the 90th year of its
continuous existence, The mortgage was. placed on ~the University grounds in 1922 and in
1944 it was $122,000. Its cancel
a.

lation in 1946 ~marks a mile
| stone in the history of Negro

Education.

Speakers for ~this~ occasion
include Bishop Frank Madison
Reid, of the Seventh and Fifteenth Episcopal Districts, African Methodist Episcopal Church
who will deliver the baccalaureate sermon; Lt. Col. Charity
Edna Adams, WAC, who will
deliver the alumni address;, and
Bishop John drew Gregg,
of the Fourth Episcopal District. African Methodist Episcopal Church, who will deliver
the commencement address,

THE FLINT SPOKESMAN.

ST. LOUIS ~ ANP ~ The
provisional members of the St.
Louis chapter of the National
Junior league were happy when
they took the annual ~Book
Shower~ to ~Homer G. Phillips~
hospital with their president ~
Dorris Wheeler; their dean,
Geneva Evans; and the Sponsor
emeritus, Lou Swartz, nationally
known actress,

In the picture. extreme back,
left: is the president of the
group; directly behind the president ~is Lou Swartz; and to the

~Wallace,

left is the dean of pledges Geneva Evans, The provisional members are: Lucinda Parker, Marion Douglass Robinson, Mildred~
Walker, Justine and Irma Turner, Ida Williams, Bernice Nicholas, Alma _Kairson, Gloria
Saunders, Willa Mae _ Smith,
Maudell Dunlap, Viola Davis
Mable. Lillian Clark,
Mary Eloise~ Foster, Louise
Davis,

Also enjoying the shower are
nurses Aslan A. Shepard, Gret
Small, Barbara A, Hunt,
netta Owens and ~ ~Norwood.

Mary Hanna is piaphient of
~the St. Louis chapter and ~Vivian Jeffries is ~the sponsor.
The Jeague ~is busy with plans
for ~the national convention
which will convene in ~St, Louis
during the summer, Two ef
the national offieers of -the ~league are in:St, ~Louis: ~Mrs,. Mary
Hanna and Miss Josie ~Hawthorne.

Labor Leader
Discuss
Union Programs.

ATLANTA~ ner ~George
W. Crockett, executive director
of the UAW-CIO, told a forum
Morehouse college
last week that ~as long as there
are patterns of discrimination
throughout the country, there
will be the same types of patterns carried over into labor
unions.~ He said, however, that

the: ~CIO has endeavored ~ to
take some _ corrective action
against discrimination through

forceful planning: and a program
of education.~

Attorney Crockett ~was speaking -under ~the -auspices of the
Morehouse ~tepartrhént *df sociology ~as; ~the ~third,:<discussion

leaders ~in ~the ~series ~E&mploy
merit ~and Rmployment Opportunities ~for ~Negroes in ~the
PostWar World.~

Accorting ~to Atty, Crotkett
Negroes itetiay ~have ~the ~hést

opportunity ~to gain: ~equality on.

jobs. ~He, béliéves ~that~ ultimately discrimination ~cah:' ~be ~broken

down ~by irftdlligent, concerted.

aétion. <Decidring dhat. ~a strong
unified~ ~mivement~ is ~impossible

without ~ ~participation ~of -all.
é sspediter sfatel that
it thas ~Bewn -difiietilt ~in sonje:
~Negtoes | ~fo -participate in émeetings: of the ~local
unions ~and ~thenéby ~téke ad
workers, tH

areds' ito: ~st

vantage.of the opportunity to

fight for their rights. When in~dustry violates the. policy

of
unions, he- said,/ the workers
have the right: to eomplain,

~In ~the discussion ~that follow
ed, it was pointed out that the |.

problém -of discrimination in the
south ean ~best ~be handled when
a ~new ~plant is organized and
before policies have been established. The Atlanta.area, it
was relealed, is the toughest
area in the southeast in which
to combat discriminatory practices,

Atty. Crockett -was a senior
attorney in the U. S, Department of Labor, 1939-43, and
from 1943 through 1944 he was
hearing commissioner on the
FEPC. He was -graduated from
Morehouse colege in:1931,

Roller Bearings
~More than 30 nifllion complete ball
and roller bearings were made esth
month during the last two war years

by the anti-friction bearing manu

facturers' for U.S. military equipment. Approximately 100 million
ball and roller bearings of all types
were made during the last war year
tor'U. 8. military ~cr alone

citizens wll know ~that ~ their
rights as citizens will be protected by thei? public officials.

~romantic thrill,

~20,

chen McCullum, Maurice E,

YOUR HOR

CAPRICORN ~ Dec, 22 te
Jan. 19,

June, The desire for travel,
change, and. new experiences

| may, bring, fulfillment.of long,

nourished hopes. Since what you
hear, see, and do can make it

possible to advance in your
career, keep alert.
AQUARIUS ~ Jan. 20 io

February 18,

June, A foreigner may awakan your enthusiasm for a new
type of philosophy that can enable you to give a helpful coasel] to those who need guidance
in their personal and business
projects.

~PISCES ~ ~Feb, 19 to March
20th.
Jun2. Consider happiness, love,

ifriendship and the good things

of life as part of your h~ritage,

~Learn to appreciate what you

have so that you can with freedom from frustration.

ARIES ~ March 21 to April
20,

June, You may experience a
or acquire 2
Stimulating viewpoint about the

~future, as the result of a~new
-and

ardent. friendship..This
should enhance -the, originality

~of your work,:

TAURUS ~ April 21 to May

June. An offer you receive to
fill a prominent position may
focus the spotlight of Public esteen on oyu. Or you may be

| elected to an honorary ffice.,

GEMINI ~ May 21 to June
20.

June. Alternate moods of enthusiasm and seriousness should
enable you to derive pleasure
and. profit from almost every
occupation, Learn to do something you never attempted before. ~Handle electrical equipment with great care,,

CANCER ~ June 21 to July
22,
June. If you have 4a special
talent im art or music, make
every effort to develop it as a
pastime, and as a possible career: Gardening can prove pleasant relaxation, and outdoor exercises should prove refreshing.

LEO ~ July 23 to August 22,

June. Interesting events, and
unusual adventures may come
your way as the result of your
ability, Create unique and original things. Even your prosaic
work can be made glamorous
through the use of your ~imagination.

VIRGO ~ Aug. 23 to ~Sept. 22,

June. Every transaction which
invélves a large sum of money
should come to a satisfactory
-eenclition.~ Spend part of ~
money on a new type of elec
cal instrument devised to s ve
time and labor,

LIBRA ~ Sept. 23 to Oct, 23.

June. Your popularity can increase, but save yourself from
subsequent regret by not accepting the compliments of|. a
new acquaintance who is an
adept at flattery.

SCORPIO ~ Oct. 23 to Nov,
June, Keep your hopes center~d on the future,
changes that can bring progress
and the attainment of new goals.
Use your enthusiasm to encourage friends and _ relatives.
Invest your money wisely.

SAGITARIUS ~ Nov. 23 te
Dec, 21,

June. The originality of your
thoughts, giving direction to
your work, should enable you
to attain excellent results, partictlarly if you sel] meta artices,

July. You. might- malte a big
hit, or receive a: stibstantial amount of cash,

eae BS OB PME os 1

Nat'l heocation
Of Negro Vets
Elects

JACKSON, Missi ANP ~
In an enthusiastic meeting held
here last week,:Capt:.
Percy Bass
elected as national commander
of the National Association of
Negro veterans, Capt, Bass -was
elected to succeed ~Capt, Allen
L,. Johnson who was elected

ing last November but who ~de.
clined to serve following -a ~high
appcintment in the far western
area of the Methodist -~hurch.

Immediately upon his elec
national commander is to be
heard in Meridian, Hattiesburg,
~Laurel, Gulfport, Biloxi, Vicksburg, ~Greenville, _ Clarksdale
and Coumbus.

The National Association of
Negro veterans is chartered and
incorporated under the laws of
the state of Mié&s.

Percy Greene, veterans of
~World War HI and ~newspaper

publisher, is national adjutant,

ClO 2 het: Union
Called ~Kiss Of
Death~ to South

PETERSBURG, Va. ~ ANP~

| -Perming the CIO. Political Ac
organization
drive in the south a ~movement of carpetbaggers,~ Remmie L. Arnold, preSident of the
~Southern States Industpial council, last -week distributed
pamphlet of criticism titled
~The Kiss of Death.~

tien committee~s

The mcvement, Arnold says;
~3 a ~Kiss of death~ to ~all the
south and the nation held dear,~
and predicted dire results to
the N=gro who permits himself
to be ~used in this unholy effo'$*

The then wcerkman will
sufter most from effects of the
drive, according to Arnold, who
feel the laborer will: be. ~chosen.
~and favored. beneficiary of all
that socialism and communism

| can offer,~ He observed:

~He is to have the promise

An
| educational -

and ~make

~| to Teveal conditions

~Leroy
was -unanimously
at the first organization meet
tion, Capt. ~Bass announced the |.
opening of a membership drive
to ~begin officially ~May:24.'The |

of high wages and short hours,
he is to have the promise of
social security, and all for the
surrénder of one little thing
~his individual freedom.~

Arnod further predicted that
the ~free southern workman
will become the serf of Communist-CIO-PAC leaders, his
working hours will be filled
with fear for existence, and
his sleep made miserable by
dreams of the horrors that fill
his heart and, mind.~

N. Y. Councilman| 7
Seeks Facts
In Bias Quiz

NEW YORK ~ CNS -~ As
head of the Mayor~s Committ
~on Unity wwiitete conducted~ an
inquiry into bias in the city~s
system, Charles
Evans Hughes, Jr., refuséd to
say whether he would release

the Committee~s findings in time
for a City Council hearing on
discrimination Friday.

In a letter to Mr. Hughes,
Councilman Eugene P. Connolly (ALP, Man,) urged the report be made public immediately, stating, ~further withholding of this much-needed information possessed by your committee would be nothing short
of scandlous.~ The hearing on
Friday will deal with.a resoluticn sponsored by Connolly
which involves an investigation
into charges of enrollment discrimination. * ~Fhe committee
bears a grave responsibility to
the people of New York City

as they
actually exist,~ said he,

WASHING'FON ~ CANP)
las tae ithat:persons -resiil -
ing iin < medthy Ailington, Va.,
had appliey to tthe ss at
ters wf tthe Ku ~Klux Klan for
nize.a ~thap
ng distance.of
~quite a <4tir

Ailington thas ~been criticized {for ~its ~ladk:of educational
and +téctedtiondl:and ~hea'th ~fe
the étette where ~jim:crow:four
plicetic n for: ca.chatter ~to aperdte! ihooded -group in
that ~sedtiOn iis a ~slap at ~the
cr fies who -demand action.
This would:not ~be ~the first
~time ithe Klan ~has ~been active
in this:drea ~for during ~the summer of (f925 ~thousands of
sheéted and ~hooded whites
paraded ~the main thoroughfare

detetmined to fight the ~prospedtive ~organization i in ang out
of ~courts regardless of the
platitudes. issued by high ranking officials in the organization. -

Herring gulls open clams by dropving them from a beight onto the

socks below.

-delegation

| ticular who we let: in. The Klan

cilities for ~Negro -residerits f~
ishes ~andl ~it ~is ~felt ~that ~the sap- |

~of Washington down ~Penneyl-.

of the presidents ~from the
louse td the ~Capitol.
} are mot 24 ed
over the #

tion but they are

AFL Launches
Dixie Drive; Jim
Crow Defeated

ASHVILLE, N. C: ~ ANP ~
Jim crow received a_ setback
here Saturday as the American
Federation of Labor opened its
southern membership drive to
bring unionization to more than
one million induStrial workers
on Dye, A protest by a Negro
against segregation
in the auditorium ~brought a
sympathetic response from the
white delegates and they -wére
allowed to selett -seats | ~in any
part of the hall. ~

White and Negro. AFL le aaders

unionize unorganized southern
workers through state AFL. organizations, Lonnie Brown, organizer for the Southern Conference of Teamsters, is one -of
several prominent ~Negro AFL
leaders in the fight to unionize
the south,.

William Green, AFL president, declared ~that ~we are
-here to Stay,~ ~Resistance from
southern ~~mployers will.only|

strengthen the ~drive, ~he said.

The conference ~brought white
and Negro délegates from W.
Virginia, Virginia, North ~Carolina, ~South Carolina, Georgia,
Florida, ~Alabama, ~MissisSippi,
Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee,
and ~Kentucky.

Ku Klux Klan
o Expand, Says
Grand Dragon

ATLANTA ~ ~~KNP ~- An
avaianche of i~tters from all
sections of the country asking

information. on organization of |.
@~} Ku ~Klux Klan units was fe
ported received here last week
by Grand Dragon Samuel
Green, Great interest is -being
shown in revival-of the organi~
zation, he said,

_ Three letters selected. at. random. from Green~s correspondence were found to have been
written by persons in Cheynne,

Wyo.; Arlington, Va;; and
Nashville, Tenn.
Green denied that the Klan

is sending out organizers to solicit new members, and. denounced as ~pure fiction~ the
report that solicitcrs receive $8
of the $10 initiation fee paid
by new members.

Lauding the Klan, of which
he says he has been a member for 22 years,
Clared that the organization~s
roster of ~prominent;people~
would surprise the country.
The Klan doesn~t accept. ~just
anybody,~ he said, -and_ continued: |

~Before a man is accepted,
his character has to~ stand a
rigid examination,

Green de-/}

We're par
is for native-born whites, gentile, Protestant Americans, Our.
iirst aim #s tto Gevelep:
ter, our Sectonti to~ ~promote
Klanni ishness, the third--to =~protect the home and chastity. of
womanhood, and the ~fourth is
to exemplify pure patriotism
to America and the constitution,

ey.

charac!:

|South Worried
Over CIO-PAC

Invasion

BIRMINGHAM
A fear that the CIO-PAC will

~ ANP ~
destroy southern traditions in
Alabama and_ kill the state~s
jim crow laws~ was ' expressed
here last week by ~Handy Ellis, who pictured the gubernaterial election as a contest not
~between individuals~ but ~be
~tween the people of Alabama

and ~their srekiiticget democra-.

~

Speaking: against Jim ~Folsom,

-C1O-PAC canilidate for ~gover|nor, Ellis ~termed race relations
are combining ~their ~fforts ~to:
~He eaid ~the red] ~issue ~is ~the
people of Alabama and ~their

here ~fine~ sand ~wholesonie,~

traditional democracy ~versus
and -the Political ~Action committee.of ~the ~CIO whose ~~hairman is Sidney ~Hillman of ~New
York,

~I? ~this -group ~seizes ~the sole
power, it -will wreck all ~other
unions ~in our ~state,: ~@estroy - our
traditions ~and distupt our ~fine
and wholesome. ~race rélations
~by breaking down -our ~segrega
~tion laws ~and ~foreing -unwel~conred ~legislation ~like ~the ~F.

~:P.C. on ~the

~people.of ~this
state.~

Seeking ~to arou8e ~more sym-.

~pathy ~for ~the -southetn ~status

quo, Ellis labeled ~the PAC ~a
~group ~from otitside ~the state
whe ~seéks ~to dominate ~ eur: ~social and eeonomic ~affairs in ~the
~~x~lusive - ~interest: ~

-gélfish ams ~o ~the ~detriment 6f
all the laboring men 4s ~well
as the farmers ~ahd usiness
men of Alabama.~ ~~

i
Jobn Webb
a + r ee! # ~
_ oat Bos ~> ws

Ts Morehouse - =

ATLANTA~, ANP _~~ John
L. Webb, eraeenar téader and
business man of Hot Springs,
Ark. ast week gave $2,000 to
the Morehouse endowment fund.
According to President Benjamin ~, Mays, Webb is the ~first
Negro to make such a substantial gift to this institution.~

Mr, Webb, a strong believer |
in the giving ~of the tithe of
one~s earning to. worthy causes,
contributes 20 per cent annually
out of his income to philanthropies, He is a prominent ~Baptist
Layman and Serves on the executive commitee of the Fed
eral Council of thé~ Churches of 5

Christ in Ameri~a, and on the -
national boards of the YMCA
and the Boy Scouts, Webb is
grand master of Mississippi
Masons.

oe
Chinese Enterprise
The scientific. in entity, patience
and ~skill of ~the ~ is@ were re
vealed anew of ~recent,Bovernrap sleet ou Orient, In a vide
to a Chinese ~ity. famous: the last
2,000- years for brine wells, Chinese

ing ct is. tt
trated to depths of 8; 408 to
without any metal ccutonatt
the cutting edge of-a drill. They
using and have used, for
of-years, drilling: methods:
independently in Arrerica)~ ~*

hove pe

eteian
~eweeso~
Enadiititiacd

~ > 5 a:
Aeg@oaes**y

~
te

MERRIER mei DAY, JUNE 16, 19%

se.~ ~e,.

} aeoromas BraecToas eee gee ow Es ~ ch
Seacemacl | A fe ny
Sect 4 \ ~ sarvonat tarmen ay
|B WOM As UPOACK, TERAS \ 3%. SUNDAY in JUNE
National eae
idohal PresioentT

The Baptist Laymen of the
nation will observe Layman
man Day, To interest and enlist
men in the whole program of

their church and to create a

\ 310 SARATOGA ST.

church-going habit among the
men, ~We can mever have a better world until we have *better
men.~

of ~ia~ alete ols lee lalelelele.

3