The Houston Informer and the Texas Freeman (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 7, Ed. 1 Saturday, July 11, 1931 Page: 1 of 8
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45,
5Cts.
VOL. XIII
THE HOUSTON
AND
THE TEXAS FREEMAN
-
INFORMS
A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER FOR ALL THE PEOPLE
HOUSTON, TEXAS, SATURDAY, JULY 11,1931
CDIMC CATUED
JMO GAIUE
1491
0010
CLAV
PARTICIPANTS IN WEDDING OF JOURNAL AND GUIDE EDITOR
Members of the wedding party at Hampton, Va., last Saturday when P. Bernard Young, Jr., managing editor of the Norfolk
Journal and Guide, married Miss Undine Davis at St. Cyprian's “E piscopal Church. Seated (left to right) they are: Mrs. Helen San-
ta Cruz Hart of Hampton, Mrs. Bessie Jennings Coles of Roanoke; Miss Florence Byrd of Norfolk, maid of honor; Mr. and Mrs.
Young, Miss Felice Watson of Durham, and Miss Laura Wilkerson of Phoebus, Va.; standing (left to right) they are: Thomas W.
Young, best man; William Colden of Norfolk, Cecil Morton of Maysville, Ky.; Thomas P. Davis of Hampton, brother of Mrs. Young,
who gave her away; Dr. Albert C. Fentress of Norfolk, Prof. Arthur P. Davis of Union University, Dr. William S. Hart of Hampton,
and Abner E. Lee of Norfolk.
OF M£ CHURCH
' PASSES AWAY
Nashville, Tenn.—Isaiah Benjamin
Scott, A. M., D. D., age 77, bishop of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, died
at 11:45 last Saturday morning at
his residence, 125 14th Avenue North,
after an illness of about three weeks.
Funeral services were neid from1 Clark
Memorial Methodist Church on Frank-
lin Street, at 10 o’clock Wednesday
morning.
Bishop Scott was born in Milledge,
ville, Ky., February 1854, of slave
parents. When quite a young man
he finished the public schools, such as
existed at that time, and was an
early student at Gammon Seminary
in Atlanta, Ga. Leaving there he en-
tered Central Tennessee College of
this city, under the late Dr. Braden,
from which school he graduated with
honors. He went from Nashville to
Texas to accept a position as teacher
in Prairie View State College. Hav-
ing been ordained as a minister, he
left the school room to accept the pas-
torate of Methodist churches in Tex-
as. Later on he was made a presid-
ing elder in the East Texas Confer-
ence. He was then elected president
of Wiley University, located at Mar-
shall, Texas. After serving for some
years in that capacity he was elected
editor of the Southwestern Christian
Advocate, then being published in New
Orleans, La. For eight years he held
this position in the M. E. Church,
where he became nationally known as
a writer. He was later elected bishop
at the General Conference held in
Los Angeles, Calif., and was assign-
ed to the Liberia, Africa, diocese. He
served in Africa with headquarters in
Monrovia, for twelve years. On his
retirement as bishop, he came back to
this city, which he had made his home.
He was married to Miss Mattie
Evans of Franklin, Tenn., in 1880. As
a result of that union six children
were born: Evans Scott, Anna Laura
Scott, Marie Adell Scott, Anita Bell
Scott, Mable Etta Scott and Ira Ben-
jamin Scott; first three named chil-
dren passed into the great beyond
some years ago. He is survived by a
widow, Mrs. Mattie Evans Scott; two
daughters, Mesdames Mable Scott
Sanders of Cleveland, Ohio, and Ani-
ta Scott McIntosh of Birmingham,
Ala.; one son, Dr. I. B. Scott of Cleve-
land, Ohio; three grandchildren, two
sons-in-law, Dr. W. P. Sanders of
Cleveland, Ohio, Wm. McIntosh of
Birmingham, Ala., and several nieces
in Los Angeles, California.
BOSTON HONORS
NEGRO LAWYER
BLIND FOLK OPEN
HAND LAUNDRY
Boston, Mass.—(CNS)—The Massa-
chusetts State Republican Committee,
which has charge of the Republican - 3 1
activity in that state, has elected to the recentestablishing of = laundry
its membership recently Mathew W.
Bullock, prominent Negro attorney of
Boston. Mr. Bullock is the sole Ne-
Washington, D. C.—(CNS)—A new
project in the life of the blind people
of this city is now underway through
sponsored by the District of Colum-
bia Association of Aid to Colored
Blind.
The Die Is Cast
MUCH BUSINESS
(An Editorial)
We had hoped that the National Benefit would utilize all of its
energies and time in overcoming any difficulties which it may
face as a result of the recent “voluntary resignations” and the at-
tendant circumstances thereof. As long as it did this we had de-
cided merely to give the public the news as it came to us from
creditable news agencies and sources, and keep our private opin-
ion to ourselves. Now comes the intelligence that, in the face of
the fact that news relative to the recent uncertainty has been
carried even more extensively in all of the larger Negro papers in
the country (including the Pittsburgh Courier, the Kansas City
Call and others) than was carried by us, the National Benefit
takes the occasion of the limited publication of this news by us
to make a fight upon The Houston Informer and Texas Freeman.
On last Sunday at Wesley Chapel a representative of the Na-
tional Benefit took the floor at the morning service and told the
congregation that all this unfavorable publicity which is being
run in all of the Negro papers in the nation that amount to any-
thing about the National Benefit was hatched up by The Inform-
er and Freeman because some of the officials of this newspaper
are also connected with the Watchtower Mutual Life Insurance
Company. With this as his premise this representative of the
National Benefit went on with a long tirade and vitriolic denun-
ciation of The Informer and Freeman for fulfilling its simple duty
OF IMPORTANCE
IS TRANSACTED
On Monday night last, in the spaci-
ous auditorium of the Pilgrim Temple,
West Dallas and Bagby, the 49th An-
nual Conclave of The Supreme Home
of the Ancient Order of Pilgrims gave
a hearty welcome to delegates, visitors
and friends of the order. According
to time honored custom the first ses-
sion of the annual conclave was giv-
en over to a public program, which
proved to be interesting and inspiring.
The Pilgrim band was on hand to
open the meeting with "America,”
which was sung enthusiastically by
the audience. Other musical num-
bers on the program included selec-
tions from the very efficient choir of
Brown Chapel A. M. E. Church, from
the juvenile band, and a beautiful solo
by Miss V. Mildred Wilburn.
Welcomes and Responses
The delegates and visiting members
of the order were duly and fittingly
welcomed to the city. On behalf of
the citizens of Houston J. W. Rice,
endowment and burial secretary of
the Odd Fellows, gave them a real, old
fashioned, hearty welcome. In addi-
tion he advised them that “these are
times when we must be guided by the
facts, by intelligence and not by our
feelings.” This welcome on behalf of
the citizens was ably responded to by
Prof. A. W. Jackson, principal of the
FORMER TEXAN
TO FILL BATON
pamcr
to the public and Texas policyholders of the company by publish-
ing all of the important creditable news coming to us from sourc-
es which we believe to be reliable, and which we think to be of
interest to Texas people particularly. It seems also that, prior
to last Sunday, Dr. Butler, being greatly interested in racial en-
terprise as he is, had expressed regrets from his pulpit about the
news which is afloat throughout the country that the National _ ____r
Benefit was in the control of white people; and that Dr. Butler A. W. Jackson High School of Rosen-
had been taken to task for performing this duty to his congrega- REhand spree dente efuche elored
tion by a representative of the National Benefit, with a demand Among other things he said: "We
upon him that he retract the statement. Apparently, knowing must learn to follow those who know
that Dr. Butler would be fair to The Informer and Freeman in any and who stand guard over the welfare
remarks that he might make, the National Benefit decided to take behalf of the mem
matters into its own hands and make the fight ipon this news-
paper itself. We accept the chanllenge, and this is the first of a
series of editorials which will make up our answer to this unwar*
berg and president of the Colored
BURGLArS TRY
AT THE LINCOLN
On last Sunday night burglars
broke into the office of the Great-
er Lincoln Theatre and made a
futile attempt to rob the safe. They
merely succeeded in doing a good
deal of damage to the safe, but
failed to get into it.
Evidently the hoodlums who did
this job had in mind that Sunday
must have been a good day at the
show, and that they would reap the
reward of the labors of others by
breaking in and taking the receipts
for the day for themselves. They
got in but they missed the receipts.
gro member of this governing com-
mittee and is the titular head of the
Negro Republicans of Massachusetts.
His selection on the committee was
a popular choice among the fifty
thousand colored citizens of the state.
He has served two terms as member
of the state parole board. He has
also been twice elected grand basileus
of Omega Psi Phi, a national Greek
letter fraternity of Negro college men.
Before Mr. Bullock came to Boston
he made an enviable record at Dart-
mouth College where he played varsi-
ty football and was an excellent stu-
dent.
TOLD TO QUIT G. O.
P. OR LOSE HIS JOB
Baltimore, Md.—(CNS)—Unless he
resigns from the Republican City
Committee, John W. Badger, colored
foreman in the bureau of water sup-
ply, will be dropped from his position
in the bureau, Edward G. Rost, water
engineer, announced here Saturday.
He is a member of the committee
from the Seventeenth Ward, and in
the classified city service.
Mr. Rost explained that his order
to the committeeman was the result
of the. new rule of the City Service
Commission prohibiting classified em-
ployes of the city from taking an ac-
tive part in politics.
Joined Weller Forces
Badger recently joined the Weller-
Nice-Levin forces, who are reported
to be engaged in an effort to reorga-
Nize the city committee and the Re-
publican party in the city and state.
His friends said he would contest
the right of Mr. Rost to remove him
from his position in the water bureau
and the legality of the commission’s
rule.
Mr. Rost has given Badger until
Wednesday to make up his mind one
way or the other.
This laundry is the first of its
kind to be undertaken by blind peo-
ple anywhere in the United States.
The work is under the supervision of
Miss Charlotte Hunter, retired, for
more than 35 years a teacher in the
local public schools. She is a mem-
ber of the American Blind Associa-
tion and executive secretary of the
Association of Aid to Colored Blind.
She is also a federal teacher of the
blind and was instrumental in the
opening of the hand laundry.
The committee in charge of the
laundry, all of whom are blind, except
Miss Hunter, is composed of James
Matthews, chairman; Mrs. Emma La-
vendar, Nelson Lavendar, Miss Cathe-
rine Burrows and James E. Smith.
VICE DEAN OF LAW
SCHOOL AT HOWARD
IS GIVEN-APPROVAL
Washington, D. C.—(CNS)—James
C. Waters, Jr., librarian of the law
school was voted a leave of absence
with pay for the ensuing school year
to pursue further study in law library
administration following the meeting
of the trustees committee of the How-
ard University law school last Satur-
day.
The committee confirmed the rec-
ommendations of Vice Dean Charles
Houston and reappointed every mem-
ber of the present administrative
staff and faculty of the school of law
for the school year 1931-32.
The formal report of Vice Dean
Houston and the faculty of the law
school that it had been registered by
by the council on legal education of
the American Bar Association and the
state of New York was received by
the committee, who -commended the
administrative staff for this attain-
ment during the transition from part-
time evening school to full-time 3-year
day school, acceptable to the Ameri-
can Bar Association.
Baker, La.—The Mt. Zion Baptist
Church of Baton Rouge, La., in spe-
cial call meeting Tuesday evening,
June 30, unanimously elected Rev. J.
Alvin Bacoats as pastor of the church.
The late Dr. W. M. Taylor, a preach-
er with few equals and no superiors,
the president of the Fourth District
Association, the president of the Lou-
isiana Baptist State Convention, the
first vice president of the National
Baptist Conventon, Inc., was pastor
of the Mt. Zion Baptist Church for 33
years, and it was through his genius
as a preacher that the Mt. Zion Bap-
tist Church stands out as one among
the leading Baptist churches not only
of Louisiana but of the. South.
ranted, unsolicited, and utterly improper attack upon The Hous-
ton Informer and Texas Freeman, which tries at all times to be
fair to everybody, but which is not afraid to take a stand in de-
fense of Texas citizens.
First of all we give our unstinted praise and appreciation to
Henry L. Mims, local realtor and oil man, also a member of Wes-
ley, for the manly stand which he took at Wesley last Sun-
day, in calling the attention of his fellow Christians to the
brutal and unsportsmanlike impropriety of this attack upon
a local institution, which clearly has no interest in the matter be-
yond its duty to give the news to the public and protect Texas
citizens who are policyholders in the National Benefit, and which
had no representative present to speak for it. Some people wear
pants because they have been taught from childhood to wear
them; H. L. Mims wears them because he is a man, and we take
off our hat to him. Mr. Mims knew that the real persons who
need protection in a situation like this are the policyholders of the
National Benefit, and while he fought for justice for us, Texas
policyholders will not forget that the real fight was being made
for them; and these thousands of policyholders will consequent*
ly give Henry Mims the credit which he is due from them. *
Now let us close this first editorial by defining the issues. They
are these. Among its releases for the week of June 25, the Asso-
ciated Negro Press carried one release about the shake-up in the
National Benefit. This release contained the following state-
ment: “There can thus be little question that the white actuary,
Dawson, and the Guaranty Trust Company, control at the pres-
ent time, the National Benefit Life Insurance Company.” Be-
lieving this statement to contain the most significant information
in the entire release, The Informer and Freeman constructed its
feature headline from it, as did the Kansas City Call, the Pitts-
Rey. Bacoats came to the state of
Louisiana about two years ago to as-
sume the duties as president of Leland
College, the home mission college of
the state. During his brief two years
as president of Leland College, the
college faculty has been reorganized,
the courses of study revised and
strengthened, the student body in-,
creased more than 40 per cent, the burgh Courier, and other reputable newspapers,
college replaced on the list of four-
year approved colleges, giving its
graduates the same recognition as the
graduates of any college in the state,
and greatest of all of Rev. Bacoats’
accomplishments as president of the
college, the idea of Leland College as
a necessary denominational school has
been rather successfully sold to the
churchmen of the state and as a re-
sult the leading Baptist ministers of
The Associated Negro Press, as well as other private releases
which we received from Washington contained elaborate news
about the situation for the week of July 4. In these releases were
statements to the effect that Dawson, the white actuary, had com-
mited suicide, and that the company’s affairs were undergoing
a convention examination by four insurance departments. Be-
lieving this to be the most significant elements of these releases
The Informer and Freeman featured it in its headlines.
the state are rallying to the college as
never before. The greatest evidence
of the ministers’ awakening interest
in the college was seen in the mam-
moth enrollment and attendance at the
National Ministers’ Institute which
convened at the college recently.
Rev. Bacoats enters the pastorate
of the great Mt. Zion Baptist Church
well prepared for the great work. He
holds an A. B. degree from Bishop
College, Marshall, Texas; the B. D.
degree from Virginia Union Universi-
ty, Richmond, Va., the A. M. degree
from Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio.
What is the Associated Negro Press? It is the biggest news-
gathering agency which Negroes have yet developed; it is incor-
porated, and has its principal offices in Chicago; it has corres-
pondents in all of the important centers of Negro population in
the nation; it is used by practically all of the Negro newspapers
of the country that have any influence and standing; it is head-
ed by Claude Barnett, known in all Negro circles as being a man
of unquestioned integrity and great newspaper ability; it is gen-
erally regarded as being entirely fair in its news policy and its
news releases. ...
Now that the National Benefit has, uninvited, brought this
Mrs. Maude DeWalt Carries
««»««•« •* * * * # * «««««««
On As Greater Lincoln Head
fight to our door, we shall discuss every issue involved in the en-
tire situation—the question of who really did control the Nation-
al Benefit at the time the Rutherfords and Smith “voluntarily re-
signed,” the question of liens on the policies of Texas citizens, the
question of how quickly death claims due to Texas citizens are
being paid and policy loans to Texas policyholders are being made
—in fact we shall “miss nobody and nothing.” We started* to
say “Selah,” but we ain’t through yet.
Soon after the death of the Honor-
able 0. P. DeWalt the biggest ques-
tion in the minds of the Negroes of
Houston was this, “What will happen
to the Greater Lincoln Theatre?” The
third month is now fast slipping by
and it is proper to look about to see
what answer has been given and is
being given to that question. If it
had to be answered in one sentence,
an investigation shows that it may be
truthfully answered in this way: Mrs.
DeWalt is carrying on. The recital
of a few facts about the Greater Lin-
coln will indicate what this enterprise
is and what it means to have it car-
ried on after just as it was before.
The theatre has one of the best air
cooling systems in the South. It not
only has the very best sound and talk-
ing equipment put out by the R. C. A.
people, but it pays $100 per month to
a specialist in this line to service this
equipment and keep it in the best of
condition. It employs seventeen Ne-
groes in the theatre proper, and in
the affiliated businesses in the Lin-
coln building some 25 other Negroes.
In addition to the very creditable
task of carrying on for the Negroes
of Houston the very best in whole-
some theatre amusement, the follow-
ing facts have been determined to be
true with reference to Mrs. DeWalt:
She contributes liberally to every
worth while movement to better the
lot of her group in Houston. She
runs more advertising on her screen
for charity and churches than she does
for pay. She has permitted many
clubs and other oranizations to share
in the proceeds of pictures just to
help them put over worthy projects.
She has shared the profits of the busi-
ness by giving many passes. She car-
ries a tremendous load, but withal is
always cheerful, and finds time for
working in her church. Every Sun-
day she teaches Sunday School and
regularly attends church services. In
addition to her large business respon-
sibilites she runs her home and keeps
it spic and. span, within and without.
Surely such a woman and such a
program of carrying on an institu-
tion which has meant so much to Ne-
gro Houston deserve the active coope-
ration and support of every Houston
man, woman and child of color.
239 TEACHERS TAKE COURSE
Meridian, Miss.—(CNS)—Twenty-
four counties are represented at the
Meridian summer school for Negro
teachers which is being held at Wes-
chler High School with Prof. John
Pearson of the Meridian High School,
as director. The school has an en-
rollment of 239.
KING SOLOMON IS MARRIED
TO TWO HUNDREDTH WIFE
Capetown, Africa.—(CNS)—Solo-
mon Dinizulu, leading Zulu chief in
Africa, will be married in the royal
Kraal 200 miles from Durban July 8.
It is 'expected 6,000 warriors will be
present at the three-day ceremony
which include dances, feasting and rit-
ual. It is stated that this will be
the 200th wife of Dinizula.
NEWSBOYS TO GO
TO LINCOLN FREE
Arrangements have been per-
fected with the management of the
Lincoln Theatre to give all of The
Informer's newsboys a free show
Wednesdav afternoon of each week.
All of the members of the club, who
wish to attend, will meet at the of-
fice of The Houston Informer, 409-
411 Smith Street, at 2 p.m., and
will be escorted to the show in a
group. Please do not go directly to
the Lincoln.
Work for “The Informer,” and
boost “The Lincoln,” are slogans
of The Informer’s Newsboys Club.
The welcome on
behalf of the membership came from
Prof. Wm. Robinson. He welcomed
the delegates and visitors to all of
the good things of Houston, but not to
the bad things. In a beautiful address
he was responded to by Mrs. L. J.
Elder of Austin, who said in part:
“We pledge our best efforts and loy-
alty to the carrying ont of a construc-
tive program under the slogan, “The
Old Pilgrim Flag Shall Never Trail
in the Dust’.”
The opening meeting was closed by
preme worthy shepherd. S7.
9 A. M. Tuesday
On Tuesday morning at nine o’clock
the order of the day was the confer-
ring of the royal sceptre degree to
those who were qualified to take it.
This ceremony was carried out in due
ritualistic order, and was made very
impressive to those upon whom it was
conferred. The committees on rules
and credentials were then appointed.
3P.M. Tuesday
On Tuesday afternoon at three the
committee on rules and credentials,
which had been appointed at the morn-
ing session, made their reports, and,
after some discussion, were finally
adopted. Whereupon Grand Master
Davis, of the United Brothers of
Friendship and Sisters of the Mysteri-
ous Ten of Texas, was introduced to
the Conclave and made appropriate
remarks. The final business before
the body for the afternoon session of
Tuesday was the appointment of the
following committees: Supreme Home
officers reports, state of the order,
jurisprudence, Ark of Condolence and
obituary.
Supreme Worthy Shepherd Reports
Wednesday morning the supreme of-
ficers began to make their reports,
the first in order being the report of
G. A. Kennedy, supreme worthy shep-
herd. Contrary to the usual thing in
making such reports, Mr. Kennedy de-
parted and set his own standard by
making a verbal report. Most heads
of fraternal orders in Texas make 3
written reports, but Supreme Shep-
herd Kennedy was so full of and fa-
miliar with his subject that he did not
deem this advisable or necessary. In
characteristic language he told the
brothers and sisters present what ha
had on his mind, and closed with the
recommendations and changes which
he thought would benefit the order.
Report of Supreme Worthy Recorder
In a very carefully drawn written
report Prof. James D. Ryan called the
attention of the members of the an-
nual conclave to the present financial .
state of the order, and gave a com-
plete record of his stewardship. His "
report showed a total income for the
year of $116,077.82 and gross assets
of $375,702.04. He also reviewed the
actions of the special session of the :
conclave held in the month of April,
at which the creation and organization
of the Pilgrim Building Corporation
was organized, and pointed out to the
body the facts with reference to what
had been done to carry out the man- ■
dates of that special session. • y
The supreme worthy recorder clos-
ed his report by presenting for the
consideration and adoption of the con-
clave of “a few changes, apparently
desirable in order to protect the order
against some irregularities very dif- "
ficult to overcome, to which might be 1
added a change in the time of meet-
ing of the annual conclave from the ’
first Tuesday in July to the third ,’
Tuesday in June.".
Thursday’s Session
Thursday was taken up with a con-
tinuance of the heading of the reports a
of other supreme home officers, af-wo
ter which the hearing of the reports a
of the . various committees was the
order of the day. It was at this ses- 1
sion that the differences between some 0
of the prominent members of the
der began in real earnest to be aired,,
but it was confidently expected that
all controversies would be so handled a
—o—
(Continued on Editorial Page)'th
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Atkins, J. Alston. The Houston Informer and the Texas Freeman (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 7, Ed. 1 Saturday, July 11, 1931, newspaper, July 11, 1931; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1637760/m1/1/?q=songs: accessed June 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.