St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1945-02-02

Anderson to leave the employ Of
the company and yet other Negro
women were using the larger dress
ing room? This question Mr.. Wood
ford could not answer. When Rev.
Nelson called to ask Mr.. Dablow
to answer his Query, Mr.. Dablow
was "out."
One Woman Refuses
Jim Crow
According to Mr.. Nelson, he later
talked with one of the women who
is still using the larger dressing
room and she told him that she had
been asked to. move, since Mrs.
Anderson had quit, but that she re-
fused to and that nothing more has
been said to her. One Of the women
who are using the smaller dressing
room told Rev. Nelson that she
worked at Wards for more than a
year before she knew anything
about the smaller dressing room,
that was then being used by Negro
women of the night shift. This
woman admitted that she, with
others, asked to be permitted to
use the smaller dressing room and
that they had really segregated
themselves. "But, that is different
from being ordered to segregate
yourself" she said.
Rev. Nelson reported that he had
been told that the southern white
girl, who made the complaint about
Negroes and whites using the same
dressing room, had stopped using
the dressing room and that appar-
emily everything is going along
all right in this respect at this store
with it's separate dressing rooms.
Emporium" Incident
In another report the Emporium
incident" of last August was de-
clared closed. According to this
report by Mrs. Carrie Robertson,
$50 W. Central Avenue, heard a
store detective bureau operative Of
The Emporium, loop department
store, shouting the epithet "n-r,"
while running through the store in
search of an alleged Negro thief,
last August. Embarrassed Mrs.
Robertson demonstrated with the
detective and left the store. She
met Mrs. Ethel Maxwell Williams
in another store and told her Of
the incident and they went back into
The Emporium, where they learned
the identity of the detective opera
tive. They went to his office and
he denied having used the objec-
tionable word. The incident was
reported to the st. Paul Branch.
Rev. Nelson reported having tele-
phone conversations with Mr.. Rati-
gan and Russell Gill, both vice
presidents of the firm. Mr.. Nelson
said that his suggestion that a con-
ference be held that would include
Mrs. Robertson, Mrs. Williams, Mr..
Steen, the store detective, a vice
president and himself, was not ac-
copied.
Mr.. Nelson said that Mr.. Gill
was willing to talk to him, or Mrs.
Williams and Mrs. Robertson, or to
have any of the persons concerned
to talk to Mr.. Steen, but that Mr..
Gill did not think it would serve
any good purpose to have Mr.. Steen
in a conference with all the parties
suggested.
Several days ago Rev. Nelson
called Mr.. Gill and told him that
Mrs. Williams had refused to go
into the store and trade since the
incident of last August and that
possibly others had done likewise.
Mr.. Gill called Mrs. Williams by
telephone and assured her that the
policy of his firm toward Negroes
had not changed and that the incl
dent of last August would not be
repeated.
citing of the st. Paul Branch of the
House last Sunday and heard the
discussed by a panel, which included
rs. Elizabeth Schuck Halter, Mrs.