The Crisis, Vol. 20, No. 4, August 1920, cover and pages 179 and 195.
Type of event: Lynchings
Location: Minnesota; United States
Document date:
Document type: Publication(s)
Documents: The Crisis, Vol. 20, No. 4, August 1920, cover and pages 179 and 195.
Citation:
Burnquist, J.A.A. (Joseph Alfred Arner), 1879-1961.
J.A.A. Burnquist Papers, 1884-1961.
Correspondence and Miscellaneous Papers.
The Crisis, Vol. 20, No. 4 (August 1920), cover and pages 179, 195.
Image text
National – Association – for – the
– Advancement – of – Colored – People
Duluth
A Splendid example of branch activity and cooperation with the National
Office is given in the part played by the St. Paul and Minneapolis Branches of
the N.A.A.C.P. in investigating the recent lynchings at Duluth, Minn.
On June
16 the press of the country reported the lynching of three Negroes at Duluth,
Minnesota, by a mob - of 6,000 persons, who overpowered the police and firemen,
took possession of police headquarters and seized the Negroes along with three
others who were released after a mock trial was held. All were being held in
connection with an attack said to have been made upon a white girl.
The
National Headquarters of the N.A.A.C.P. immediately wired its St. Paul and
Minneapolis Branches asking that an investigation be made as to the facts in the
case. Governor J. A. Burnquist of Minnesota is President of the St.
Paul Branch, and a direct appeal for the apprehension and punishment of the
lynchers was made to him as Governor of the State.
Each of the
branches sent investigators to the scene of the lynching and full reports have
been rendered to the. National Office. Among other things, one of the
investigators was able to secure affidavits from fourteen other colored men who
were being held in jail on the same charge for which the three were lynched.
This investigator says, "It is not certain that any of the Negroes lynched or
those now under arrest are guilty of the crime charged.” It is not even
certain that the girl was assaulted." Of the fourteen Negroes being held he
says, "Each and every one of then protests his innocence. None of them
knew any of the men lynched. None of them saw the crime committed, if one was
committed. These men are extremely ignorant and I do not believe they, could
tell a lie so consistently that I could not catch them in it."
The reports
from both branches show that there was great negligence on the part of police
officials. They report that early in the afternoon of the date of the lynching
the police department was notified by a responsible party that a mob bent on
lynching the Negroes was forming, and that the Commissioner of Safety made no
substantial effort to prevent the lynching. The report says: "For two hours or
more immediately preceding the lynching, trucks loaded with ruffians ran up and
down the main streets past the Central station with ropes dragging
behind the trucks. The ruffians who occupied the trucks would stop and make
speeches, telling the crowds that the girl was dying, that they were going up to
the police station and hang the Negroes and that they invited the crowds to join
them. In the trucks they had ropes, hammers, steel saws to cut the bars and
large timbers to jam their way to the prisoners. In the meantime the
Commissioner was at the station giving strict orders that under no circumstances
were the police to use firearms for fear blood would be shed."
Not only did
the Minneapolis Branch investigate the facts leading up to the lynching, but
while on the ground the President of the Branch, who himself made the
investigation, assisted in the organization. of the Duluth Branch of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
A recent
communication from Governor Burnquist gives the encouraging information that
twelve persons have been indicted and arrested on first degree murder charges on
account of alleged participation in the lynchings The grand jury has not yet
completed its investigation. The Governor assures the Association that the State
departments are cooperating in every way possible.
The Hill Extradition Case
Robert L. Hill, alleged president of the Progressive Farmers and
Household Union of America, the organization charged with inciting the Arkansas
riots of October, 1919, has been released on bond. Mr. Hugh T. Fisher, the
attorney who, together with Messrs. Elisha Scott, James
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THE HORIZON
Four teachers of Howard University have been granted sabbatical leave.
during 1920-21:--Professor Charles H. Wesley of the Department of History has
been awarded an Austin Teacher's Scholarship in Harvard University and will.
study for a Ph.D.; Professor Martha MacLear of the School of Education
will study at Columbia University, being registered for the degree of Ph.D.;
Professor Thomas W. Turner, Acting Dean of the School of Education
and Professor of Applied Biology, will continue research in Vegetable Physiology
at Cornell University; Professor George W. Hines, Assistant Professor in the
School of Commerce and Finance, will attend the University of Washington, at
Seattle.
Edwina Kruse has resigned her position as principal of the colored
Howard High School, Wilmington, Del., and will be succeeded by Ray Wooten. Miss
Kruse was made principal emeritus of the school.
Congress appropriated for
Howard University during 1919-1920, $121,937; for 1920-21 the sum has been
raised to $243,000. With student fees added, the budget totals $366,000.
Mrs.
Coralie Franklin Cook has been reappointed to the Board of Education at
Washington, D.C. Mrs. Cook is colored and the only member to serve 3 consecutive
terms.
INDUSTRY
The People's Building and Loan Association, conducted by Negroes at
Hampton, Va., has declared a 7 per cent dividend.
Beresford Gale, fiscal
agent of the colored Hotel Dale Company. of Philadelphia, sold $100,000 of the
company's stock in 100 days.
A cooperative investment company has been formed
by Negroes in Middlesex County Va., to engage in real estate, farm buying and
merchandising. William M. Rich,, cashier of the Brown Savings and Banking
Company at Norfolk, is the leader.
The 21st annual statement of the colored
North Carolina Mutual Life insurance company records: total income, $1,662,527;
assets, $774,936, with $300,000 invested in Liberty Bonds; it has $26,634,649
worth of insurance in force.
James Miller, a Negro 31 years of age, has been
elected oven two white opponents as a member of the House of Representatives of
the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company at Akron Ohio, where. 25,000 persons,
mostly white, are employed.
A, syndicate of 36 Negroes in Atlanta, Ga., has
paid $120,000 and purchased the unsold stock of the Great Southern Fire
Insurance Company. Mr. W.C. Thomas was elected president and the Rev. I.A.
Townsley, secretary.
The United Community Stores have been opened by Negroes
in Philadelphia, Pa., as a chain grocery and meat business capitalized at
$100,000. Connected with the concern are Dr. W.H. Moses, the Rev. J.M. Moses,
E.T. Atwell, R.R. Wright, Jr., Benjamin F. Ammons, John. W. Goiens and Miss L.M.
Wright .
At Norfolk; Va., 3,138 out of 4,938 pupils in 8 colored schools
have deposited since last February through the stamp saving system $7,827 and
drawn out $1,367, leaving a balance of $6,459. Less than one-half of the white
pupils are thrifters, in comparison with three-fourths of the colored
children.
At Wilmington, Del., colored girl elevator operators have replaced
men at the Du Pont Building, a 16-story structure covering a square, and at the
Ford Building; 5 theatres are employing colored girls as ushers.
THE GHETTO
The Board of Education at Crisfield, Somerset County, Md., has approved
the following appropriation: $85,100 salaries for white teachers, $14,000 for
colored; $1,500 for white supervisor, $760 for colored; white school building
$7,000, colored. $4,600. There are only 1,200 more white school children
than
colored. W.H. Dashiel is superintendent.
CRIME
The following lynchings have taken ace since our last
record:
Duluth, Minn., June 16, Isaac McGhee, Elmer Jackson, Nate Green;
accused of attack on white girl.
Rincon, Ga., June 21, Philip Gaithers,
shot; murder.
Enterprise, Miss., July 5, .J.F. Spencer; fighting.
Paris,
Tex., July 6, Irving and Herman Arthur, burned; murder.
Durham, N.C., July.
10, Ed Roach; attack on a white girl.
SOCIAL PROGRESS
At the tenth
annual session of the South Carolina Federation of Colored Women's Clubs, held
in Camden, S.C., $11,577 was raised for education, charity and other purposes
during the fiscal year.
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