St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1944-10-20
Cafe Operator
Adamant on Not
Wanting Trade

WOulu uOG COIIlIIlL lISS1 " d pOllCy
of non-discrimination against Ne
gro patrons, according to report
made by Maceo V. Littlejohn, chair
man of the legal redress committee
of the St. Paul Branch of the
NAACP. At the regular monthly
meeting Tuesday night at the Hal
lie @. Brown Community House,
Mr.. Littlejohn stated that he and
Rev. Clarence T. R. Nelson, presi-
dent of the St. Paul Branch, had
a conference with Sam Memo,
proprietor of the Roman Cafe, and
his son, Joe Memo, who is the man
ager of the cafe, last Saturday.
Petty Officer First Class John W.
Moore of the United States Coast
Guard, who had made a complaint
against the Roman Cafe, was in the
conference, which took place in the
cafe.
1t was pointed out to Mr.. Memo
that an act of discrimination was
committed when he called them out
of all the patrons there, including
some REPRESENTATIONS, and told
them that he did not care to serve
them, giving as a reason that his
white patrons objected to Negroes
being served there. Rev. Nelson
told Mr.. Memo that Negro soldiers
are now fighting in Italy to free the
people of Mr.. Nemo's ancestry and
the least he could do here in Amer
lea is obey the state laws.
Mr.. Memo said that he was sorry
and that he was not anti-Negro,
but that it would hurt his trade to
serve Negroes. 1t was then called
to Mr.. Nemo's attention that there
are many eating establishments
serving Negroes and those bust
nesses were not folding up. Mr..
Memo very weakly replied, 'Well
1 don't know about that, l spend
all my time here"
He's a Christian!
Later in the conference Mr.. Memo
said that he is a Christian, telling
what denomination he belonged to.
He was then appealed to, as a
Christian, to treat all men fairly,
as Christians ought to. "The few
people who might walk out of your
cafe, because you observed the law
of the state and the dictates of your
conscience as a Christian, are not
worthy of being served here" the
NAACP president told Memo. When
Mr.. Littlejohn asked Mr.. Memo for a
positive commitment on the matter,
Mr.. Memo said that he did not want
to commit himself. When Mr..
Littlejohn told him that the next
case of discrimination reported in
the Roman Cafe would be reported
to the county attorneys office for
action, Mr.. Memo said that he did
not want to serve Negroes and that
he wished that they would not come
into his establishment.
Officers Nominated
Nominations for officers and
members of the Executive Comit-
tee for 1916 were made at the
meeting. Rev. Clarence T. R. Mel
son was nominated for president
without opposition, after Louis P.
Moore, ST., declined the nomination.
Other officers nominated without
opposition include: first vice presi-
dent, Richard L. Stokes, Sr.; Sec
ond vice president, W. S. Butler;
secretary, Cyrus L. Lewis; assist
ant secretary, Pearl Sklar; treas
urer, Mrs. Hazel Butler.
All of the following Executive
Committee members were renomin-
ated by the Nominating Commit
tee: Josie B. Williams, 1. Myrtle
Garden, Dorothy Schulz, Ruth Gage
Colby, Frank Boyd, Alverta Cor
am, W. S. Butler, Elizabeth Moore,
Samuel L. Ransome, Ora T. Reed,
Dwight T. Reed, S. Vincent Owens,
Cecil Newman, w. B. Walker, ].
N. Smith, Herman Cotton, Maceo
V. Littlejohn. Other nominees for
the Board include: Rev. Llewlyn
Williams, George Wills, Louis P.
Moore, ST., Paul Chelstrom, Jean
Paddock, Mae Lark, Earl Brent,
William Ryan. The election will
be held at the next regular meet
ing.