The Michigan chronicle. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1936-current, 1944-02-19

The Town
Bv loHN WOOD


CHICAGO. nl.-This. my friends.
is a story of Old Detroit back in
the days when only three Negro
homes df you could call them
homes) had steam heat: when Smell
and Atkins operated the old An
tome hotel on st. Antoine street
near Adams: when few Negroes
had moved out as far as Palmer
street; when the bartenders on the
ferry between the infant industrial
city and Windsor. the Canadian
metropolis which boosted only two
two-story buildings. tied aprons on
over their suits and six-shooters;
when men were men and black
smiths were BARRIERS.
THE STORY WAS told to us by
Samuel T. Jacks who. around about
1913 was heralded by the nite-life
gentry as the main vaudeville and
song and dance attraction playing
the Middlewest and South Cana
dian circuit. Jacks is now a plant
guard for the Chicago Defender,
the newspaper that blazed the trail
now so religiously followed by new
corners to the Negro field Of news
gathering and championing the
Race cause. II was only after con-
siderable prodding that Jacks
waxed reminiscent and gingerly
rationed from his stores of MEM
DRY small fragments of the story
of Detroit Of some 30-odd years ago.
JACKS ENTERTAINED in the
Motor City about the time the Pei
ham brothers BENJAMIN and Rob-
ert) were welding considerable in.
fluence with the Republican Party
remember that partyD through
their newspaper. the "Plaindealer."
Jacks told us that in 1918 only
about three Negro families in the
city could boast that their homes
were equipped with such modern
conveniences as had been invented
up to that time. and that most Ne
gro residents could be found be-
tween Gratiot and Vernon Highway
and Hastings and Beaubien street.
The way Jacks tell il. in 1918 you
couldn't have found enough Me-
groes in Detroit to start protest.
THE ANTOINE HOTEL, men,
toned above was the stopping off
point for most colored actors and
entertainers and the few railroad
men and newcomers to the city
back when railroad and steamboat
companies had not yet begun to
worry about too many automobiles
and buses. Jacks recalls playing
at Holley's Place, on Besubien be-
tween Gratiot and Adams. where
Milton Tears made one Of his initial
public appearances as a pianist and
went on to world fame. Walter
Jones twho may still be living)
was the plsyboy OF that horse-and-
buggy era and Is probably remem-
bered by old timers who can recall
their escapades at the old Americas
Club and Brooks Place on Hastings
street.
THE LUG CABIN on Woodward
avenue Is remembered ~ the spot
where white and colored alike,
weeping in high-collared beer
glasses, never failed to drink q
toast to Edna Warsaw, the bells
OF the town, the Lena Horne Of
by-gone days. (How many Of you
old -timers remember herb The few
thousand Negroes who had ven
tured North for employment In
factories as porters, when white
men hadn't thought of dignifying
these nunky positions by calling
janitors "custodial superintend-
ents." found their Sunday pleasure
on Belle Isle as they do today.
Some OF them made frequent ferry
trips to Windsor, not because they
derived so much pleasure from the
trip. but because they had 10 see.
before believing. that in Canada
IA man is man for a that" the
color OF his skin Notwithstanding.
THAT'S ABOUT ALL there is to
Jacks story Of old Detroit (but he
promises more the next time We
are in Chicago). However. as a foot
note to his theatrical career. Jacks
also remembers making about So
moving pictures, and il you are old
enough TO remember such movie
shorts as Some Boy" Spying the
Spy" and Pink Nighties and Bad
Bears" then you're too old to be
leaning on bars making passes at
the ladies OF this younger genera
ton. For the information OF those
seeking better and integrated parts
for Negro actors, Pink Nighties
and Bad Bears" twe'd like 10 have
seen that one) was made by q cast
Of colored and white actors, with
the leading roles divided between
the best actors in both groups.
X X "
THE GOOD CONDUCT advocates
OF Chicago have made a practical
approach to the problem Of con-
verting bad actors into respectable
citizens. Posted conspicuously in
most public places is a placard dis
tributed by the Chicago branch
OF the Urban League, which reads:
You are in Chicago now! You are
free to live and act like other peo-
pie. Have respect for yourself and
others. Don't use loud and vulgar
speech on the job, on the street car.
in the theatre and in public. Quit
Glowing: il holds you backl
BE ALERT AND industrious.
IL you have job, be on time and
| regular. Maintain your home
premises In a clean manner and
protect the grass and flowers. Show
respect for all women! Remember!
You are up North" in Chicago"
A tavern keeper on 6lst street told
your correspondent that this pos
ter has had the desired effect on
Negroes who. before reading the in
structions, were decidedly bad ac-
tors. You don't hear as much loud
and profane talk in public places in
Chicago as you hear in Detroit.
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