The guardian. [volume] (Boston, Mass.) 1901-1960, 1940-09-28

works have been exhibited In the out
standing galleries of the world.
Then to the exhibits in neatly
arranged rooms or sections attended
by courteous, efficient and obliging
young people ready to answer ques-
tons and impart information-and to
have you sign their quest books.
Here we found religion, press, music,
sports, art, literature, industry, science,
stage, social sciences-every phase of
activity of Afro life. We walked into
the exhibit on "Religion"-found it to-
be very bare so continued. Then we
came to the exhibits of all the different
religious sects and denominations; the
Methodists, Baptists, Episcopals,
Catholics, etc all full of statistics, facts
and literature as to their strength of
Afro followers and activity. The
sports exhibit was very popular exhi-
biting pictures and trophies of the out
standing Afro athletes with the cham
pionship belt of champion Joe Louis
the centre of interest.
We fingered longest at the exhibit of
Journalism" noting the mastheads of
two hundred and thirty Afro news
papers. From Massachusetts we found
but one represented, "THE GUAR
DIAN"
Afro colleges were well represented.
fraternities and sororities. The govern
ment took up very large portion of
the exhibit showing the part played by
the Afro and his place in the many
federal projects and departments such
as FWA, CCC, NYA, AAA, FSA,
WPA, PWA, the U. S. Extension Ser
vice, Social Security, Dept. of Labor,
Agriculture, Education and Public
Health, etc Private business firms
employing Afro help or seeking Afro
trade also had considerable floor space.
Nor must we forget the great art
exhibit in Tanner Hall". Here was
assembled the greatest collection of
Afro art ever before gathered with ten
paintings of the great artist Henry O.
Tanner, called the Tanners. Also
three hundred separate items selected
by art critics headed by the head of
the Chicago Art Institute. Also, the
Hall of Fame" paying tribute to
Dubois, Robson, Handy, Woodson,
Bethune, Maynor, Hayes, Dunbar,
Abbott and many others.
For those who sought other diver
tlsement, each night a show was pro
duced in the exposition theatre. The
attendance at the Exposition was very
light during our stay but we under
stand that the theatre was well at
tended. In fact the people of Chicago
did not seem to appreciate the Expo
sltlon which was quite educational,
inspiring and interesting. Most of
those attending were visitors from all
parts of the United States and its
possessions with some coming even
from Africa.
We noted with great interest that on
the program was schedule of special
days for the exhibits of states and their
delegates. MASSACHUSETTS WAS
CONSPICUOUS BY ITS ABSENCE
Naturally we lost no time investigating
this oversight. At the headquarters of
the Exposition on South Parkway we
found the executive director, Atty.
Truman Gibson. He was very plea
SAINT but quite disappointed that the
East had failed to cooperate more
fully. He spoke very admiringly of
the late Editor William Monroe Trotter
who was a classmate of his fathers at
Harvard.
Mr. Gibson had me read correspon-
dence with the state of Mass. wherein
he had requested that this state parti-
clpate and cooperate in presenting at
the Exposition the achievements and
progress Of the Afros in this state.
Massachusetts, replied that it HAD NO
FUNDS AND WAS UNABLE TO
BE REPRESENTED! This exposi-
ton wished particularly to feature the
Boston Massacre and Martyrdom of
Crispus Attucks. I was very much
disguised, disappointed and Inundated
though at the same time told Mr..
Gibson that our Mayor of Medford,
John G. Carr considered this matter
worthy of his attention making it pos
slble for Massachusetts to be repre-
scented through the city of Medford if
not by the state itself!
The Exposition was operated solely
on a non-proft basis. Though with
$l5O,OOO at its disposal, with paid
admissions to the exhibits and to the
theatre, with private firms and agencies
paying for space and nothing but sales
literature free, l fail to see where there
could help but be a profit. We would
have liked to had more money spent
for greater dissemination of informa-
ton of Afro progress. No money was
spent on the delegates who came from
all parts of the United States-other
than for an imposing delegate certif-
cate and an Identification card-not
even much attention was paid to them
In fact we arranged with Mr.. Gibson to
return an evening in order to be pre-