St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1944-06-30
White Soldier
Hats Attempt to
Harm People
By C. T. R. Nelson


phone rang and when I answered
it the party on the other end of
the line, after telling me who it
was, said to me, 81 want to tell
you of an incident that occurred on
the train when my husband and I
went to Kansas week before last"
I got set for what was sure would
be bad story, that is, a story of
mistreatment or discrimination
But l was in for a very agreeable
surprise, for the story that Mrs.
Susie Gaylord, $50 st. Anthony
Avenue, related to me made me feel
very good. AS Negroes we are so
accustomed to being mistreated
and hearing about others being mis-
treated that we just almost in
stinctively expect the worst.
According to Mrs. Gaylord, she
and her husband were passengers
on a Missouri Pacific train out of
Omaha to Atchinson, Kansas, on
Saturday, June II. There were four
other Negroes in the car; Pvt.
Sherman W. Orsweather, who is
stationed at Fl. Cook, Neb., a Mr..
Jackson of Omaha and two unidenti-
fed women. One of these women
was a mice looking intelligent
young woman, who was going to
Mississippi to visit her soldier hus-
band" Mrs. Gaylord says.
After the train left Union City,
Neb., a white soldier, who was evil
IDENTIFY a southerner by action and
a long drawl, yelled out to the
other white soldiers that had just
about filled the car, care you with
me?" The reply was eyes" Evil
IDENTIFY they did not know what he
meant or had in mind. Lets put
these d. hrs out of this car.
They have no business riding in
here with u.s." He walked up and
down the car shouting profane
language. Two Catholic nuns were
seated near Mr.. and Mrs. Gaylord.
They began to pray and every once
in a while they would look over at
the Negro passengers and smile,
indicating that they were sympa-
thetic toward them. Mrs. Gaylord
says that she was nearly a nervous
wreck.
Trouble seemed very imminent
and all were tense as the south
erner continued to hold sway. The
Catholic sisters leaned over and
talked to a white soldier who was
sitting with Mr.. Jackson. Then
the white soldier got up and chal-
lenged the soldier, who seemed to
think that he is a member of the
Confederate Army rather than an
army that is supposed to be fight
ing for the "four freedoms" 81
am not with you here, soldier, but
l will be when we get back to camp.
. I am going to report you," the
friendly soldier told the southern
soldier. Other white soldiers joined
with the spokesman for fair treat
ment of the Negro passengers and
assisted him in putting the preju-
diced soldier out of the car and thus
averting bloodshed. Mrs. Gaylord
told me that her husband and the
other Negro men in the car were
ready to protect themselves and
the women if any attempt had been
made to modest them.
I really like to report incidents
like this that demonstrate the fact,
that while many whites are still
wanting to mistreat the Negro and
jim crow us and the like, there are
many other white people who are
not in sympathy with that kind of
prejudiced attitude. There are many
white people who are genuinely for
US and some few who, like the
friendly soldier and the nuns, will
put their words and thoughts into
action and give us our full rights
as citizens. May their tribe in
crease!