ARIZONA SUN
VOL. XV—No. 32
Urban Renewal Director
Phoenix Project Speaks
By W. A. Robinson.
Speaking to a group of in
tersted Negroes at lunch on Mon
day Mr. Arthur R. Merkle, Urban
Renewal Director, described in
some detail the procedures of his
Commission in the purchase of
homes and the relocating of dis
placed residents in the south
west area between Harrison St.
and Durango and from 7th Ave.
to 15th Ave. the group was call
ed together because of their con
cern that the residents of this
area not be leA astray by the
many rumors being circulated
/in the area evidently intended
to frighten some of the resi
dents into hasty sales of their
property to people who plans
to take advantage of the dread
of some of the residents of hav
ing their homes taken from them
and of then not having anywhere
to go.
Mr. Merkel, who Is a civil serv
ice employee of the City of Phoe
nix subject to the city manager
and the council, came in Sep
tember to the directorship of
the Phoenix projects from a con
nection of year and a half with
a similar project in Sacramento,
Calif. He went to Sacramento
in 1956 after being connected
with an urban renewal project
in Kansas City, Missouri, since
1946. In Phoenix he took the
place formerly held on a tem
porary basis by Acting Director
Priebee who is now with the
Federal Government.
The new director has for more
Funeral Rites
Held For Mrs.
Nola Hamilton
Funeral services for Mrs. Nola
Hamilton, age 78, were held at
11 a.m. Thursday at Lucy Phil
lips CME Church. The Rev. L.
J. officiated. Palm Chap
ter No. 3 order of Eastern Stars
were in charge of the Graveside
services in Greenwood Memorial
Park. Order of Golden Circle
Assembly No. 1 held services
Wednesday afternoon in the
Chapel In The Valley, Ragsdale
Mortuary.
Mrs. Hamilton was born in
Homer, Texas and came to Phoe
nix in 1918. She resided at 1435
E. Washington St. She was one
of the first members of the Lucy
Phillips CME Church. There she
was a member of the senior
choir, a Sunday school teacher,
the retired pianist of the church
and church worker. Mrs. Hamil
ton was very active in ohurch
work until her recent illness of
three weeks. She was a member
of Heroines of Jericho Taber
nacle Olive Court No. 11, Knights
and Daughters of Tabor, Presi
dent of the Missionary Circle at
the Lucy Phillips church.- Sur
vivors include: Mrs. Vivian
Vaughn of Los Angeles, foster
daughter; sister, Mrs. Jennie
Lucus; 3 nieces, Mrs. Nola Wil
liams, Mrs. Helen Amelim of Los
Angeles, and Mrs. Lula Childs
of Albany, Texas; nephew, Ro
bert Dunbar of Los Angeles.
than a decade been connected
with urban renewal projects and
is throughly familiar with the
policies and procedures laid
down by the Federal Govern
ment for projects in which it
participates financially. There is
no room in these policies, when
they are properly followed, for
taking unfair advantage of a
single property owner.
Mr. Merkel explained to the
groun that all owners of pro
perty would have their property
appraised by professional ap
praisers employed by the Urban
Renewal Commission. It will be
the appraiser's job to see that
the value of the property (house
and lot and all improvements)
is set as nearly as possible at a
figure that evpresses its value
at the time of the sale and is
equally fair to both the owner
and the Federal Government.
These appraisers are not subject
to being influenced by any real
estate speculators who might
wish to profit from the fears
of the owners. If the value ar
rived at by the appraisers does
not seem fair to the property
owner, he can take the Govern
ment into court and force con
demnation proceedings and have
the appraised value reviewed by
the court.
If the property owner accepts
the appraised valuation of his
property he will have plenty of
time with the help and advice
of the Commission to find pro
per relocat ! on in standard hous
ing as near to his work as can
be arranged and within the city
limits if he desires. In fact it
is a responsibility of the Com
mission to relocate displaced
He will also be ad
•
PLAN SOUTHWIDE VOTER-DRIVE
MEMPHIS, Tenn. —The South
ern Christian Leadership Con- t
ference, meeting in Memphis for
the second quarterly executixe
session last week, 'sent a tele
gram to President Eisenhower
requesting that two Negro men
be appointed to the recently
established Cicil Rights Com
mission. During the same ses-#
sion plan for “A crusade for
Citizenship” to double the num
ber of Negro registered voters
in 11 deep southern states, were
announced. The telegram was
signed by Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr., president of the ,or
ganization.
The one-day meeting was held
at the Mt. Olive CME Cathedral
on Linden Ave.
In the telegram to .President
Eisenhower, the Southern Chris
tian Leadership Conference com
posed of some of the South’s
most outstanding ministers, law
yers and other professional Ne
groes from 40. communities in
nine states, explained to the
president that “time is passing
and the effectiveness of the
Civil Rights commission is be
ing diminished proportion to the
time allowed to pass before the
appointment of the commission.
It is urgent that this commis
sion be appointed immediately.”
PHOENIX, ARIZ.—THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1957
vised by the Commission regard
ing how he can arrange his
finances so as to be able, if he
desires, to move back into the
rehabilitated area at terms that
he can handle. However if the
property owner in the area
lcws himself to be panicked into
selling out and out with
out dealing with the Commis
sion, the Commission will not
have any responsibility to re
locate him or to advise him
about returning to the area in
standard housing that he can
afford.
The fact that a building
whether a residence, church, or
business building, meets the
standard of the city code, will
not guarantee that it will not
be tom down since the area may
be entirely replanned including
the layout of the streets, so no
one can be sure that his home,
church, or business will not be
taken by the city in the process
of renewing the entire acreage.
It is possible that some of the
area now residential should be
converted into industrial or busi
ness property and the same is
true the other way around.
Tl%re are naturally so many
questions in the minds of people
in the area who have, in many
instances at great sacrifice, se
cured and developed heme
sites, that Mr. Merkel agreed
with the group that it would be
a good idea if his office at an
early date distributed to those
concerned a list of questions and
answers covering the most per
tinent questions that might be
bothering the property owners
in the area. He also suggested
that any persons desiring an
swers to questions could call his
office directly and give their
question to the person who an
swers the phone. If anyone had
a question, whether or nor he is
a property owner, call AL 3-7313
(Continued on page 8>
Rites Held For
Long Time
Phoenician
Mrs. Mattie Lindsey
Funeral services for Mrs. Mat
tie Lindsey, 84, were held Thurs
day at First Institutional bap
tist Church. The Rev. A. G. Ken
dricks officiated. Burial was in
Greenwood Memorial Park.
Mrs. Lindsay was bom in Sar
dis, Miss, and came to Phoenix
in 1918. She resided at 1321 E.
Jefferson St. She was one of the
early members of the Ist Bap
tist Church, where she served
as a member of the usher staff,
senior choir and a Sunday
school teacher and worker. She
gave up active church work 8
years ago because of her health.
Survivors include: grandson,
Harvey Lindsey; sister, Mrs. Joe
Spain, of Batsville Miss.: 5 great
grandchildren, Harvey Jr., Clau
dia 8., Donna, Harrison Lee
Lindsey, and Delbert Hodge,
grand-niece, Mrs. Curtis Murray
all of Phoenix. Ragsdale Mort
uary made the arrangements.
Inter-Racial Marriages
Discussed In Magazine
Carver Found Most
Popular Alabaman
MONTGOMERY, Ala.—Scient
ist George Washington Carver
is the most popular 'Negro in
Alabama history, according to
the Negro high school students
of that state. In second place,
they ranked singer Nat “King”
Cole. Hank Aaron of the world
champion Milwaukee Braves
came third, topping the Tus
kegee sage, Booker T. Washing
ton who was fourth. Another
baseball star, Willie Mays was
rated fifth while ex-heavyweight
champion Joe Louis was sixth.
Dr. Carver, though born in
Missouri, spent most of his life
at Tuskegee Institute; Cole was
bom in Montgomery; Aaron in
Mobflla; Dr. Washington like
Carver was bom elsewhere, but
spent most of his life at Tus
kegee; Mays was bom in Fair
field, Alabama.
✓
These were the results of a
poll of some 185 high schools in
Alabama that was taken by Prof.
W. H. Coston, principal of the
demonstration high school of
- State College.
This study was conducted in
connection with the convention
of the Association for the Study
of Negro Life and History, held
in Montgomery Nov. 14-16.
That four out of the top six
personalities were present-day
athletes and entertainers caus
ed Prof. Coston to state the main
conclusions of his investigation.
He said that the poll reveals
that Negro high school students
of Alabama are not familiar
with many notable figures in
Alabama history and often ::ate
entertainers and athletes over
inventors, educators, farm own
ers, business men and politicians.
This shows, he continued, that
we need more than a once-a
year Negro History Week cele
bration in ordpr to give our stu
(Continued on page 8>
. “WHAT FAUBUS DID FOR
NEGROES’
CHICAGO, 111.— I The Governor
of Arkansas, Orval E. Faubus,
may be one of the best “friends”
the Negro ever had.
Carl T. Rowan, award-winn
ing newspaperman author, tells
why in his article, “What Fau
bus Did For The Negro” in the
current issue of EBONY Maga
zine.
Rowan points out that while
Faubus attempeted to appease
segregationists the results have
helped the Negro with action
by the federal government and
world moral opinion. Seeing the
youngsters heroically facing mob
violence has giVen the Negro a
deeper sense of pride and deter
mination, and has also put seg
regationists on the defensive.
“Thus”, author Rowan says,
“one might say that Orval Phu
bus has shocked the nation into
a realization that in this period
of racial change, ‘trouble’ may
mean progress whereas peaceful
do-nothingness means stagna
tion and decay”.
A GOOD newspaper and the
Bible in every house, a good
schoolhouse in every district,
and a church in every neigh
borhood, all appreciated as
they deserve, are the chief
support of virtue, morality,
civil liberty, and religion. —
—Benjamin Franklin
10 CENTS PER COPY
Writing in the Npvember issue
of Pageant Magazine, Louis E.
Lomax that most
Americans, Negro and white, ob
ject to inter-racial marriages
and “are not passive in their
opposition.”
He asserts that when some
1137 inter-racial couples took
their marriage vows last year,
they “knowingly moved into a
world that is neither black nor
white, leaving themselves open
to endless hostility, flagrant in
sults and wholesale ostracism.”
The writer gives the following
statistics on inter-racial mar
riages in the United States last
year, but does not explain how
he obtained his figures, for it is
well known that in the major
ity, if not all, of the northern
states race or nationality is not
recorded on marriage licenses.
Os the 1,569,000 American
couples wed last year, he says,
1137 were inter-racial; 90 per
cent of the latter were between
Negro men and white womn and
5 percent involved white men
and Negro women; the remain
der were between non-white
(Orientals, etc.) and whites.
Mr. Lomax records his per
sonal conversations held with
a number of the inter-racial
couples who cited their prob
lems and dilemmas: finding de
cent living quarters, making and
holding friends, getting and
keeping jobs, and alienating
their families. The problems of
their children were also recount
ed.
(Continued on pagev 8)
Phoenician’s
Kin Dies lit
San Diego
Lewis E. Ragsdale, former
owner and operator of the Home
Undertaking Company in Mus
kogee, Oklahoma and the Rags
dale Funeral Home in Bristol
and Rordersville, Oklahoma, died
Tuesday in San Diego, Calif.
Bom 55 years ago In Muskogee,
Mr. Ragsdale was one of five
sons in the Ragsdale family to
become morticians in the state
of Oklahoma. He operated there
until recent years when he mov
ed to San Diego to assist a ne
phew at the Anderson, Ragsdale
Mortuary. A .
Mr. Ragsdale was a graduate'
of Tuskegee Institute, TUskegee
Alabama, and Worsham College
of Mortuary Science in Chicago.
He was a member of the Na
tional Negro Directors Associa
tion, and was a Mason.
Survivors include his wife,
Marian; three daughters, Wan
da, Malinda, and Louie Donne;
one brother, Hartwell W. Rags
dale Sr., and one sister, Celestine
Sanders, both or Ardmore, Okla
homa; three nephews, Lincoln
J. Ragsdale, Phoenix, Hartwell
W. Ragsdale Jr., San Diego, and
Theodore Ragsdale Jr., Mus
kogee.
Funeral services will be held
Monday morning at Bethel AME
Church, San Diego, where the
deceased served as a steward.