The Hartford Chronicle
MARCH 8, 1947
Page Eleven
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
67 Center St. .
Wethersfield, Conn.
February 27, 1947
Mr. Leo Parskey, Hartford
Attorney, will speak on "Weak
nesses of the Governor's Pair
Employment Practice Bill" at a
regular meeting of the Hartford
Branch, National Association
for the Advancement of Colored
People, at 8:30 P.M. Wednes
day, March 5, at the Women's
League, 20 Avon St., Hartford.
Mr. Parskey, who is chairman
of the legislative committee of
Hartford Chapter No.. 1, Amer
ican's Veterans Committee, will
discuss legal loopholes in the
Administration-sponsored legis
lation , through which the intent
of the law might be evaded. Mr.
Percy Christian president of
the Hartford Branch, NAACP,
will preside at the meeting, to
which all interested persons are
invited. The NAACP, Mr.
Christian stated, is especially
interested in the passage of a
State anti-discrimination law,
and supports the Ward-Gillie
bill as the best of such measures
now pending before the State
Legislature.
Submittdby !
Robert E. Hart
Publicity Committee, NAACP
NEW FIELD SECRETARY
ON NAACP BRANCH STAFF
New York, N. Y. The em
ployment of a new assistant
field secretary, Miss Marion O.
Bond, was announced on Feb
ruary 26th, by Gloster B. Cur
rent, the NAACP director of
branches. Miss Bond, who re
places Miss Norma Jensen, will
take up her new duties with the
Association on March 1st.
Miss Bond has been national
sales representative with the
Pepsi Cola Company ftfr the
past five years. .A graduate of
Lane College, Jackson, Tenn.,
, Miss Bond has traveled exten
sively thrughout the country,
and has a working knowledge
of practically every large city
in the United States.
She will continue the work
Miss Jensen has been engaged
in since October ,1945, special
izing in the field of intercultur-
al education for the NAACP.
Miss Jensen, In her studies, las
visited some forty school sys
tems in over fourteen states.
' She is leaving the Association
to get married, and to take up
graduate work at the University
of Chicago in preparation for a
teaching position.
HEALTH FOR ALL
(Continued from Page, 10)
If given at least three months
before exposure, the vaccine
will usually prevent the disease
in 85 per cent of children. In
others who are vaccinated, the
attack will be much less severe.
Doctors advise that the vaccine
be given to all children between
four months and three years of
age,
In the next article, a recently
discovered drug used in treat
ing certain diseases will be dis-
cussed. .
By Ersa Hines
The Future Is Yours
From the moment I decided
to become an architect, it was
never out of my mind." This is
a clue to the success of
JOHN L. WILSON, Architect
New York City was an anx
ious host when the United Na
tions moved in : neither its hous
ing situation nor the disposition
of some of its citizens were ex
actly beaming in welcome to its
peace guests. But the City was
determined in its efforts to of
fer UN its best, selected the
'World of Tomorrow" Build
ing in Flushing Meadow Park,
and graciously lent its archi
tect,, John L. Wilson, to coor
dinaet the work of the private
firms who won the rebuilding
bid.
This speeial assignment was
only one of several Mr. Wilson
has in the course of his work as
architect with New York City's
Department of Parks. Another,
which recent visitors to New
York will remember, is the new
ly completed "Harlem Meer"
at the HOth end of Central
Park. The work, started by the
WPAwas taken over by the city
and completion and design of
both the building and the lake
fell to Mr. Wilson. Another of
his assignments is the Vander
bilt Gates and fence marking
the beautiful formal Conserva
tory Gardens entrance at 104th
and 105"th streets on 5th Avenue.
The buildings and gardens of
the Bronz Zoo ("The Greatest
Zoo in the World") and Bronx
Bontanieal Gardens are his spe
cial charges.
John L. Wilson was fourteen
years old, living in Birmingham,
Alabama, when he decided to
become an architect.
"I remember very well,' he
says, "a Negro architect named
Rayfield who was building a
CME church in Birmingham. He
used to come around with blue
prints under his arms and I
was fascinated
"I liked to draw I liked
mathematics and these were
two important points in my fav
or "From the moment I decided
to become an architect, it was
never out of my mind. I be
gan reading everything I could
find in the libraries. My fath
er's work as a Methodist minis
ter took us to New Orleans, La.,
where I finished high school and
college at New Orleans Univer
sity. There were no architec
tural courses to take but there
were mathematics courses, and
I kept up with my drawing. The
librarians there saved for me
every book they could find on
the subject. I was obsessed
with my ambition that every
body in the community knew
John L. "Wilson was going to be
an architect one day.
"I taught ntjfthematics for a
year at Philander Smith College
in Arkansass when I finished
college, and after that year,
with money saved, I came to
New York and entered Colum
bia University School of Archi
tecture. After two years my
money gave out and I had to
leave school for two and a half
years. I worked at all kinds of
jobs, mainly a sdraftsman in
architeetral offices until I had
enough money to finish study
ing for my degree."
Being an expert draftsman is
an invaluable asset to an archi
tect even if his ultimate dream
is that of pure creativeness in
building. Mr. Wilson 's first
jobs on finishing Columbia were
taken with a view to perfecting
his ability as a draftsman. He
worked with the City of New
York as junior and then senior
draftsman using his free hours
to plan and sell his own archi
tectural ideas. In a few years,
he opened his own office. His
reputation as a versatile archi
tect grew. His jobs have rang
ed from associate architect for
the New York City Harlem Riv
er houses, the designing and
building of a countryhouse for
a wealthy New York manufac
turer, to the alteration and the
modernization of a 90-year old
Greek revival house in upstate
New York, and renovations of
numbers of New York commer
cial houses, churches, theatres
and apartments.
Remembering his own dream
at fourteen and the difficulty
young Negro architects have in
getting apprenticeship training,
Mr. Wilson's eye is always alert
for the chance to help ambitious
young men. He has nurtured
several as -apprentices in his
office. They have, through his
contacts, gone into other posi-
tions some with white firms,
others to municipal or federal
posts.
"One of the most encourag
ing signs I see now,' he observes
"is the readiness with which ar
chitectural firms will take on
trained, efficient, creative minds
without regard to race. But
a youngster going into the field
must remember,
An architect must be bath an
artist and a business man
He must be able to draw, and
he must know mathematics
He must know the building
trades
He must have patience and
tact
, He must be well-trained
He must work hard.
For the thousands of Negro
youth scattered through the
country, the Nationa Urban
League emphasizes Mr. "Wil
son 's advice, and it adds : It
only happens that Mr. Wilson
lives in New York. In many
cities throughout the country
Negroes are succeeding in this
profession. It points to the
brilliant careers of Paul R.
Williams, Los Angeles, Califor
nia ; the McKissack Brothers in
Nashvile, Tennessee ; Hilyard
Robinson, Washington, .D. C. ;
Ferdinand L. Rousseve, 'New
Orleans, Louisiana; Benjamin
McAdoo, Jr., Seattle, Washing
ton, as a few examples.
"The Future Is Yours Plan
and Prepare!"
NAACP ASKS UN
CONSIDER PLIGHT OF
AMERICAN NEGRO
New York, N. Y. Resting its
case on th purpose stated in the
United Nations Charter that
there shall be respect" f6r hu
man rights and for fundamental
freedoms for all, without dis
tinction as to race, sex, religion
or language" the NAACP, on
February 21st, presented to the
Human Rights Commission of
the United Nations a statement
on the denial of human rights
to minorities in the. case of citi
zens' of Negro descent in the
United States and appealed to
the United Nations for redress.
Dr. W. E. B. DuBois, in the
introduction, states that "There
are in the United States of Am
erica, fifteen jnilions of native
born citizens, something less
than a tenth of the nation, who
form largely a segregated caste,
with restricted legal rights, and
many illegal disabiities . . .
and. charges that the effect of
this " has repeatedly led the
greatest modern attempt at
democratic government to deny
its political ideals, to falsify its
philanthropic assertions and to
make its religion to a great ex
tent hypocritical."
Tracing the history of the Ne
gro in the United States, and
the economic and social back
ground of his present disfran
chised state, Dr. DuBois assert
ed thai "there remains today a
block of one hundred and thirty-four
electoral votes and cor
responding votes in Congress
which could not be subjected to
democratic control or changed
in accord with methods, making
' ' party government ineffec
tive." The federal government
has been made, therefore, a gov
ernment which "continually
casts its influence with imperial
aggression throughout the
world and withdraws its sympa
thy from the colored peoples
and from the small nations.'
In conclusion, Dr. DuBois
states, "We have a recrude
scence of race hate and caste
restrictions in the United States
and of these dangerous tenden-
cies not simply for ih United
States itself but for all nations
... "We appeal, then, to the
United Nations to step to the
very edge of their authority in
protecting this minority of citi
zens in the United States, in
order that the .world may be
at peace. "
Prepared by W. E. B. DuBois,
director of. special research,
NAACP ; Earl B. Dickerson,
president of the National Bar
Association; Milton R. Konvitz,
associate professor at Cornell
University; William R. Ming,
Jr., associate professor, Univer
sity of Chicago Legal Institute ;
Leslie S. Perry, administrative
assistant, NAACP and Rayford
Logan, professor of history,
Howard University, the state
ment contains an introduction
and chapters on the denial of
legal rights of American Ne-
TOP HOUSING ADVISORS
GET THE AXE
Washington What for sev
eral weeks has been merely a ru-
ly what to expect, has now be
mor with no noe knowing exact
come a clearly defined reality in
National Housing.
Frank Creedon, national hous
ing expeditor let his axe swing
the other day and it severed 400
persons from the housing divi
sion payroll- While this was
expected in a measure, it was
hoped that some semblance of
effectiveness would be retained
in th eminority group picture.
Hut while l-r. r rariK xiorne was
away on the field trip, Miss Ann
Mason, liason reprsentative for
local mayors' emergency hous
ing committees and Donald "Wy
att, specialty on labor affairs,
were both dropped from the
rolls. In Mr. Creedon 's own
office"' he issued a termination
notice to William Clark, infor
mation specialist.
The dropping of these top
persons not only weakens the
whole housing picture from the
standpoint of the group but it is
contrary to the assurances that
Mr. Creedon is alleged to have
given. . "
Though there are marked in
dicaions that there will be stiff
protests over these steps, the
fact that Congress seems to be
bent on severer budget slashes,
makes the prospects for restitu
tion, seem slim.
groes from 1787 to 1914; the
legal status of Americans of
Negro descent since World
War I; the present legal and.
social status of the American
Negro ; patterns of social dis
crimination against Negroes
and a review of the charter of
the UN and its provisions for
human rights and the rights
and the rights of minorities and.
decisions already taken under
this charter.
In that section of the state
ment which deals with the pres
ent legal and social status of
the American Negro, "William
R. Ming, Jr., examines in de
tail "the appalling contrast be-
tweentle breadth of tie riglts
which are guaranteed by law
to every person and those few
which Negroes, generally, are
permitted to enjoy . . . wnen
the political and sociaHnstitu
tions of their country fail miser
. . . -m 1
ably to protect their lives, liber
ties or property. 11 s dis
cussion emphasizes the paradox
between "The American Creed,"
as set forth in the Declaration
of Independence, in the Con
stitution and the statement of
the "Four Freedoms" all of
which authorize no distinctions
based on race, color or previous
condition of servitude, and the
actual condition of Negroes
who are discriminated against
legally in the various states of
the country solely on the basis
of race.
Dr. Rayford JJogan wrote the
last chapter, on the UN Charter.