Sumner High School - Maroon and White Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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The Y. W. C. A. Q f ' Iii i t Y Q f' uc . gif, 2L, .:1 I rmcx. hr, Newronacm .if E' mf. - 1 ' 5' 6TmF5g5 i 'F f 'A ' x - if 1 f' :gyihj fw , U xxx wma 32? 1NmANAPous. mu ,LF .Aw From Montreal to Shanghai, from far-away Italy to sunny Rio de J aniero, branches of the Y. W. C. A. play host to the weary traveler from other lands. If you are a lonely visitor in Egypt, or a total stranger sojourning through the beautiful and balmy isles of the Pacific, with no previous thought as to accom- modations, rest assured that as soon as you locate the Y you will be received with out- stretched arms Cso to speakj and brought in contact with familiar customs and friendly associates. This organization encircles the globe, promoting international relationships and good-will, and serving as a friend and guide to women and girls of different coun- tries. Here in our own nation, the Young Wom- en's Christian Association does much to al- leviate racial prejudices through inter-racial activities of various sorts. Thus, we have briefly touched upon the ex- tent and scope of the Association. Some of the different departments of the Y are the Committee of Management, Business and In- dustrial Department, Girl Reserves' division, and the Publicity Committee. An individual develops character and leadership within the Y. W. C. A. and is afforded an opportunity for growth. For example, a girl may start out as a member of a Girl Reserves' groupg in a few years she will have an opportunity of advancing to a voluntary leader of younger girls, still later, she may serve as a chairman of some committee. As her years of service increase, she will doubtless be elected to work on the Committee of Management, and if here she has done outstanding work, an invitation Page Fifty-four to serve on the Board of Directors possibly might be extended. So Y work includes, and has a place for all ages, abilities, and degrees of service. The fiexibility of the organization is a de- cided asset, as it strives to meet the community needs in many ways. For example, it pion- eered in the field of housing and in forcing jobs for women. It was also one of the first organizations to give educated women of the race an opportunity to speak for and before white groups, to tell of the problems of the Negroes and the things that they have ac- complished. Throughout most of the Negro branches of the Y. W. C. A. one crying need is recognized, the decidedly limited facilities with which they have to work. This fact alone cuts the scope of their work probably twenty to thirty per cent. In spite of this fact, however, many very successful Negro branches, with excel- lent facilities, are in operation throughout the country. Among these are the Washington, D. C., branch, the one at Indianapolis, the Harlem Y. W. C. A. in New York, and the Detroit, Michigan, branch. Some of the many problems other than financial facing the Negro branches of the Association, are the awakening of the people to the advantages and efforts of the Y , The general attitude of some Negroes is one of indifference. They think that the Y. W. C. A. is not worthy of their support or contribu- tions. If this thought can be eliminated, one of the biggest obstacles to the Young Women's Christian Association will be removed. Jane Bowles. Duke's Mixture 1. 'Sumner scores at the Musica Americana. 2. Sewing in a Big way. 3. End of a happy day. 4. Student Council's annual, Among These Presents. 5. Ghost backfield. 6. The climax of the Robeson hit, A Full House. 7. Beauties and the Beast. 8. Rug-cutters knocking themselves out at Le Cercle Francais Valentine Party. 9. I don't smell the smoke, but this is a fire drill. 10. A surrealist displays his etchings. 11. Sour-notes at the Stadium. 12. Midget Rogers. MAROON AND WHITE

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13. Andrew Sherlock Holmes Stokes Jack- son and his F. B. I.'s 14. A young genius at work. 15. Crowning the GREEN-HARPY Cand I do mean greenl. 16. Frances Hicks in conservation camp. 17. A hair-dressing moment in a grid-iron clash, starring Ben Jr. 18. That genial Latin teacher, Mr. J. J. Green. 19. A call to arms. 20. That versatile typing teacher. 21. Sumner's oomph girls. fAn Index of Snapshotsl The Urban League at Work The National Urban League, organized in New York City in 1910, has done and is con- tinuing to do splendid work. It has established branches in forty-four cities of twenty-four leading states. The president, L. Hollings- worth Wood, and the executive secretary, Eugene Kinckle Jones of the National Urban League, must be complimented on their fine work towards helping to make the Negroes an outstanding race. As an example of the excellent progress of the National Urban League, a brief history will now be given on the work of the St. Louis Branch. An old saying, I'm from Missouri, you'll have to show me, appeared to be the favorite slang of the people, when the St. Louis Urban League was organized as a part of the St. Louis Provident Association in 1918. The League told them that their purpose was not to give alms but opportunity. They did just the opposite of what the people expected them to do and showed them. The Urban League's greatest problem was the enlarging of employment opportunities for Negroes. Working this problem out began about 1925, when the headquarters of the League moved from 2343 Market Street to Jefferson and Lucas, and here the headquarters began to overflow with people applying for jobs. Something had to be done, so a com- mittee was organized whose duties were to hold as many Negroes on their jobs as possi- ble and to find jobs for those who had none. But still the number of unemployed did not decrease. More and more Negroes applied for work, but were turned down. Unemployment became so great that many of the families moved into smaller houses and many of the people were found living in one room with a family as large as eight people. Here in this room were the sleeping, eating, and living quarters. Oh, how unhealthy it was and everyone seemed to be doing as much as he MAROON AND WHITE possibly could to find work. The Industrial Department was doing all it could and it made possible for the first time, in 1930, the employment of eight Negro drivers for the St. Louis Dairy and four for the laundry com- panies. In this same year a colored office clerk was placed in a downtown store. With this much done, the conditions didn't seem to be noticeably improved. 'Time passed on and in the year 1932 it was estimated that 602: of the working people were out of work and 2073 employed at inadequate wages. In 1933 the depression reached its height. What would happen to the Negroes then? A careful study of Negro business was made and 'it was found that there were 512 Negro business places which were attempting to stay open. Therefore the Negroes had to organize to protect the few jobs that were left and to demand even more and better jobs for the race. In 1934 the Health and Housing Committee of the St. Louis Urban League organized a group of builders and architec- turers who wanted to help sponsor for the Negroes of St. Louis, at the first announce- ment of the federal housing project, a housing project which the people really needed. It was found in 1935, that the few buildings which were being constructed for Negroes did not employ a single man of this race and our people began to defy such injustices. During the year 1938, the work of the Ur- ban League began to show promising results and about one hundred jobs were opened for Negroes in clothing, shoes, food, and furniture stores. Since then the Negro race, with the help of the St. Louis Urban League, has gone forward in the attainment of position after position. While nothing has been said of the other activities of the League, we must realize that the unemployment problem was the biggest problem of the League. An outgrowth of em- ployment was education and community uplift. The League directed its attention in the interest of the school by conducting the first Neighborhood Service in 1919 and establishing recreation and social programs in the Lincoln, L'Ouverture, and Dumas Schools. Grade man- ual work was also set up in these schools and promising results were accomplished which enabled the Board of Education to set up grade manual work in all Negro schools. A year after this a Dental Clinic was put into operation at Lincoln School, and in 1929 the Clinic was taken over by the City Department of Health. From 1920-1929 the total treat- ments of the teeth of the Negro children Page Fifty-five

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Fighters for Justice Imagine yourself at an inter-racial banquet back in 1909, with such personages as Dubois, Spingarn, James Weldon Johnson, and others, amid subdued chatter and laughter, and hear rather suddenly plans for an organization which, in later years, was to be a vital part of the American Negro life. Indeed, this is exactly what took place on the night of Feb- ruary 12, 1909, at an Abraham Lincoln birth- day celebration. This organization of which I have spoken is known as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The basic idea for commencing this organization was to ight for full citizenship rights of the Negro. The organization has grown from one branch in New York City, to three hundred fifty branches in nearly every state in the country. It has at present 113 youth groups in 24 states, and 43 college groups in 11 states. With the idea of Negro citizenship rights in view, the N. A. A. C. P. has worked to end lynching, peonage and debt of slavery of southern sharecroppers and tenant farmers, to end disfranchisement, abolish injustices in legal procedure Cusually criminal procedure due solely to color or racej , have equal fund distribution for education, abolish segrega- tion, discrimination, insult, and humiliation because of color, have equal pay and work in all fields and abolish discrimination against Negroes in right of collective bargaining through membership in organized labor unions. In the past years the N. A. A. C. P. has won twelve out of thirteen cases before the U. S. Supreme Court. Six of these were achieved at a remarkably low cost of 331,193.- 92. This was largely due to the generosity of members of the national legal staff and lawyers who contributed their services. Because the N. A. A. C. P. waged a con- tinuous war on lynching by writing, lecturing, and mass demonstrations, the Gavagan anti- lynching bill was passed in the House by a vote of 277-119. This was on April 15, 1937. The bill was taken up by the Senate on No- vember 15, 1937, at a special session, and debated back and forth for six days, when it was displaced by a farm bill. By agreement it came up for debate on January 6, 1938, and from that date until February 21, south- ern senators established a lengthy filibuster which resulted in the bill being laid aside until the Seventy-Sixth Congress in 1939. As yet, it has not passed the Senate but hopes are still held by N. A. A. C. P. members and its well-wishers that the bill will be passed. MAROON AND WHITE Other cases of national standing have won and include: Louisville Residential Segrega- tion ordinance held unconstitutional in 1917, New Orleans Segregation law unconstitutional in 1927, Texas white primary law barring Negroes by statute from Democratic primaries held unconstitutional in 1927 , Scottsboro case in 1930, and more recently the case of Gaines vs. Missouri University. The Gaines Case , as it has been called, was ruled by the Supreme Court for either the admittance of Lloyd Gaines to the Missouri University law school or for the state of Missouri to establish a law school with equal accommodations for training of Negro graduate and professional students. The court also ruled that out-of-state scholar- ships did not answer the constitutional re- quirement of equal rights and that states must provide equal training within their borders. A much more recent case is the Bluford Case, which is still pending in Missouri courts. This case, like the Gaines case, wants the ad- mittance of Negro students to the Missouri University School of Journalism. It is be- lieved that the court will uphold the equal rights bill and permit students of the Negro race to enter the University. There have been numerous cases won in the past by N. A. A. C. P. m-embers in various states but those cited were won in the highest court of these United 'States. As has been seen in years gone by, the N. A. A. C. P. has fought a continuous battle for Negro rights and shall endeavor to do so with the coopera- tion of the American Negro youth of the present and future. Ermine Bush. Stand Aside Stand aside, white man! Stand aside, we're coming through. You've built your walls, But what are walls to us? We, who built the pyramids, We, who carried the foundation of civilization On our backs And never felt 'its weight, What do we care about your walls? See that star above your Manhattan? That star is our song. That star is our desire- Our goal. We've come too far to miss it now. Stand aside, white man, We're coming through. Naomi C. Lo . W9 Page Fifty-three