davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1931-1952, 1946-08-14
Urban League Protests

The Honorable Harry S. Truman
President of the United States
The White House
Washington 25, D. C.
My Dear Mr.. President:
Recent lynchings, mob violence
and brutal treatment of Negro
citizens, some of them veterans,
in Georgia, Mississippi and South
Carolina, are inhuman. and un-
American. These actions are par
ticularly significant and destruc-
tive as we seek a position of world
leadership.
Such un-democratic exhibitions
along with other manifestations
of white supremacy and bigotry
make the United States stand out
before the rest of the world as
fraudulent and insincere, thereby
constituting great threat to
world cooperation.
The Urban League of Portland
in the name of it's Board of Direc-
tors and its 1910 members, insist
that in the interest of American
Democracy and World Peace the
culprits in these bestial episodes
be brought to immediate justice
and that the Justice Department
and FBI be Immediately strength
ened and alerted in order that flu
ture fascistic brutality may be
averted. We further recommend
that legal machinery be set up
and implemented which will give
the Federal Government freedom
and specific responsibility in cases
of lynchings.
Yours respectfully,
Edwin G. Berry,
Executive Secretary.
DeNorval Unthank, MD.
President.
The Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1931-1952, 1946-08-14

This is but a manifestation of
the basic inequalities of life in
Portland. Unfair restrictions stem
ming from transformation or NAL
ice are indicated by white Only"
signs in restaurants and places
of amusement; by the symbolic
white only" signs on jobs, houses
for rent or sale; by rigid Sc
gregation in our war housing COM
munities; and by the difficulties
Negroes experience in buying in
surance of all kinds in this state.
Jim Grow practices such as in
Dictated above weaken our COM
munity, not only morally, but econ
omically For by depressing and
maligning Negroes, we are in eff
feet substituting crime, poverty,
and i'll health. Negroes in this
community are ready market for
the goods we produce, provided
they have the purchasing power.
By denying them jobs, as we do
today, We are in realty causing
them to become a drain on our
economy and, conversely, we are
preventing many of them from be-
coming productive and contribut-
ing citizens of the state and ma
ton. By denying them recreational
rights, we are causing them to
draw into a shell, and adopt white
versus black attitudes that foster
ill feelings. From these rebuffs,
which are the rule of life not
the exception, the young Negro
frequently finds it difficult to
make psychological adjustments,
and often turns to defense mech
anisms that result in juvenile de-
linquency and suppression of abil-
tiles. In the end, racism is COM
The Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1931-1952, 1946-08-14
FOLLOWING THE COLOR Line:
SEGREGATION AT BLUE LAKE PARK

pounded, and the community not
only does not gain, but pays a
high monetary cost for social big
otry.
The Amusement Park incident
is important because it symbolizes
the infectious growth of intoller-
ance and closely resembles the
Master Race theory of Hitler,
which caused so much world de-
vastation during the past decade.
We must ask ourselves two ques-
tions: First, Can we still afford
the luxury of bigotry and racism? ?"
think We can not. The enemies
of democracy make capital of
such incidents as these in peddling
their propaganda to other nations.
At time when we are struggling
for world peace and indeed world
leadership, we stand before the
rest of the world as fraudulent
and insincere. Secondly, did we
fight to destroy Hitlerism in Eur
ope and Asia. only to preserve the
growth of it in American" Every
thinking Portlander and American
must ask himself and answer
these questions; not in an aca-
demic way, but as the answers
can be translated into everyday
living, here and now.
Edwin c. Berry,
Executive Secretary
Urban League of Portland
The Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1931-1952, 1946-08-14
Labor and Government

Thoughtful leaders of labor
should be getting definitely con-
cerned over the Federal govern
ment's increasing dominance in
labor relations Throughout all
major industry.
Collective bargaining as we used
to know it - which meant that
representative flabor and man.
agement met, thrashed out their
difficulties, appointed mutually
agreeable umpires and arbitrator,
and reached a fair and reasonable
agreement - is practically a thing
of the past Now, when an i'm
portant labor dispute occurs, all
the power of government is even
tually used to force a settlement.
If the strike lasts long enough,
the government formally takes
over the industry on the theory
that no one can strike against it.
Short-sighted labor leaders may
favor this, in the belief that t
makes possible larger immediate
gains for them In the coal strike,
to take a typical example. the
owners and operators had almost
nothing to say when the showdown
came. The government arbitrators
simply adopted a formula salts
factory to the unions, and man
agement could do nothing but ac-
cept it.
In the long run, however, tn
sort of thing is going to cost
labor a great deal more than it
can gain. For government-dcmin-
ated labor - like governmental
minated industry - can not long
remain free. 1t becomes the Gre
ature of the state. 1t is used for
the purposes backed by many
labor groups - and it was Hitler
who destroyed organized labor N
Germany completely.
If we accept super, all power
full government, we must be pre-
pared to accept dictatorship We
must run the risk of slowly losing
our greatest liberties. And when
that happens, we will simply go
the way Europe has gone.
The Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1931-1952, 1946-08-14
ON PREJUDICE
BY RUTH TAYLOR

Do you know the story of the
Southern judge who said he could
always tell the way jury would
vote, provided he knew where lay
the preponderance of prejudice.
He knew his people. Too often
we make up our minds not ac-
cording to the facts, even as we
know them. but according to our
prejudices, our instructive likes
and dislikes.
l once knew a man who always
used to say - generally in the
midst of my most hectic argument
that a woman's intuitions were
usually her suspicious. | resented
that. Naturally. But | have to ad-
nit that, If the wording is chang
ed to 'intuitions are usually sus-
picions," the fact is correct.
We just don't use our heads
after we get to arguing. We talk
in generalities, rather than on
specific cases. We say it is be-
cause to be specific is to be spe-
cific is to be rude. 1t isn't. If you
see something of which you dis
approve done by an individual,
say so, but keep it to the individ-
ual and don't damn the group
from which he comes as well.
Don't lump people into one cate
CORY. You wouldn't like it your
self.
Doesn't it annoy you when any
one picks one man out of YOUR
group and says the whole group
or party or sect is crooked be-
cause this or that one isn't plas-
ter saint? You instinctively come
to his defense, in order to defend
your group. (And you usually
make matters worse by so doing
because you make up in heat what
you lack in facts.)
And yet-don't you often do
the same thing?
Don't let us be swayed by our
prejudices. Let us keep our own
thoughts clear and above such
reprehensible practices. And let's
not coin phrases. 1t isn't any bet
ter than coming money-and usu-
ally the product is just as false.
Now when, in the heat of po-
litical campaigns there is tensity
of feeling, let us be especially
careful in this regard, We must
keep cool, stick to facts, and not
allow prejudice-which in reality
is lack of knowledge-to rear its
ugly head among US. No man
no real American-has a right tC
vote his prejudices. WE must be
for an ideal, not against the idea
The Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1931-1952, 1946-08-14
Vets Employment

Mrs. Mary Duncan, Editor
Northwest Enterprise
2216 Sc 37th st.
Portland, Oregon
Dear Mrs. Duncan:
Dear Mrs. Duncan:
Mr.. Perry Faulkner. Chief OF
Veterans Employment Service, in
addressing a large group of civic
social and veteran representatives
at the Benson Hotel on July 20
1916, told a bewhiskered story OF
a Negro who had been drinking
and who returned home to steal
some money from the pocket OF
his wife in order to continue the
drinking. He was greeted by q
masculine voice from the dark
ness of his bedroom. The story
ran the gamut of stereotypes i'm
plying unresponsibility, drinking
petty thieving, immortality anC
buffooning.
We felt that such a thing coulC
not go unchallenged. Attached IL
letter We posted to Mr.. Faulk
The Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1931-1952, 1946-08-14

baby. His twin brother passed at
infancy"
Mr.. jeff Johnson of Los Angeles
who visited Mrs. Mary Ashford
is her nephew instead of cousin
as stated in a news item.
And Still they Come and Go.
Portland has become Mecca
for visitors, yacationists and tour
lists. Hosts and Hostesses have
been kept busy doing their best
to extend a cordial welcome and
share their genial hospitality. Mr..
and Mrs. Leslie Shipman, Omaha,
Nebr., parents of Mrs. Thelma
Unthank, will soon take their
leave going to their ranch in
Canada before returning to Omaha.
The Shipmans have had a most
enjoyable two months visit. During
which they have been royalty en-
tertained.
Mrs. Henrietta Foster of Den.
yer, Colo, is visiting her sister,
Mrs. Nelsene Cambell in N. Alb
ina Street. Mrs. Cambell is a
former Denverite. - Mrs. Hazel
Patterson of Detroit and Mrs.
Ethel Butler of Chicago were the
house guests of Mr.. and Mrs.
Richard Terrell in N. E. Hassalo.
Mrs. Patterson is the sister of
Mr.. Terrell. Mrs. Butler a resident
of the metropolis for number
of years is also a teacher in the
public schools system there. -
Mrs. Leta b. Davis, of Clarksdale,
Texas, is spending several weeks
with her aunt, Mrs. Ella Morton
and family, in Orchard Wash. -
Again out of Chicago, came Mrs.
Irwin C. Savere who had a grand
visit with her very good friend
Mrs. Gertrude Day former
Chicagoan. - With her uncle and
aunt, Mr.. and Mrs. Joseph Reed,
for an indefinite stay, is Miss
Francis Lacey of st. Paul, Mimi.
The Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1931-1952, 1946-08-14
Wait for 1t! The Book of
the Year: The Forgotten
Woman" the Negro Woman
of the Twentieth Century.
ner
Sincerely yours,
Edwin c. Berry
Executive Secretary
Vets Employment
July 20, 1916

July 20, 1916
Mr.. Perry Faulkner, Chief
Veterans Employment Service
co Mr.. ]. Richard Smurthwaite
Veterans Employment Repre-
sentative for Oregon
218 Pioneer Post Office Bldg.
Portland, Oregon
Dear Mr.. Faulkner:
We are writing you relative to
your speech at Benson Hotel to-
day noon, and with specific ref
erence to the dialect joke you told
about the Negro. Surely you are
aware of the fact that Negroes in
America have been, and are be-
ing, greatly disadvantaged by the
stereotyped impression that many
white Americans have of them.
Stories like the one you used to-
day perpetuates that stereotype.
1t takes on more Importance
when one considers your profess
sional standing, and the fact that
you direct a most important agen-
cy in the field of veterans re-
adjustment. | need not call to
your attention the fact that de-
cent jobs for veterans are ex-
tremely difficult to obtain in this
area. Jobs for Negro veterans are
much more difficult to get than
for veterans in general.
Your only reference to the Ne
gro veteran-his needs or his
plight-was the unusually I'M
friendly and clumsy interpreted
ton in the story. Is it not pos
isble that through an association
of ideas your subordinates in To-
cal offices are likely to consider
your portrayal of the Negro as
typical of the estimate which you
and the Veterans Administration
place on the abilities and dignity
of the Negro worker?
Public utterances such as the
one in question place an addition
al burden on the already handi-
capped Negro veteran, the work
of such organizations as the Ur-
ban League, and indeed upon the
agency which you represent.
We do not wish to leave the
impression that We think you told
the story maliciously. 1t quite pos
sibly could have been an mad
vertent error. 1t is, however, no
less destructive no matter how 1t
was intended.
Respectfully,
Edwin c. Berry,
Executive Secretary.
DeNorval Unthank,
President.
The Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1931-1952, 1946-08-14
TACOMA NEWS

Dr.. and Mrs. Codwel Of Kansas
City, is visiting Mrs. CodwelPs
sister. Mrs. Wendell Stafford, and
brother. Mr.. James Beck. The
Doctor is in need of a complete
rest and he chose the great North
west.
Mr. and Mrs Rob Addison led
a delegation of seventeen Bills
and Daughters through the forest
to the Elk's temple in Tacoma,
Wash. to attend the ball given
by Mt. Tacoma Lodge No. 142
and Lily of the West Temple No.
$50 on Saturday evening, all re-
ported good time.
Word was just received in Ia
coma of the death of the father
of Mr.. James Moore. Mr. Moore
is out at sea but is expected to
reach Seattle Tuesday. We ex-
tend our heart felt sympathy to
Mr.. and Mrs. Moore.
Mt. Tacoma Lodge No. 142 and
Lily of the West Temple No. so
will have another one of Their
outstanding dances on Saturday
evening August 10th You cannot
afford to miss this one rs they
have prepared ty supply you with
lots of fun.
Mr.. and Mrs. Henry Baker left
Tuesday for their future home in
San rancisco, California. We wish
them much happiness in their new
home.
Mrs. Margaret Perry was host
of a caravan from Bremerton who
after their jurney needed rest,
they We're much refreshed after
partaking of a bountiful repast.
Mt Tacoma Lodge No. 142 and
Lily of the West Temple No. $50
has a membership drive on and
it is reported they are joining
rapidly. See a Bill or a Daughter
and get your application and get
it in at once.
Mr. and Mrs. Bonnie Brown are
preparing for an extended trip. we
will miss them. but Mr. Brown
is in need of a rest. We know
that they will have a good trip.
The Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1931-1952, 1946-08-14
FOR SALE

FOR SALE
lovely bed rooms; venetian
blinds and drapes. The interior
recently decorated, spacious kit
chen. Two car garage. Autom-
attic Oil heat. Electric water heat
er, full cement basement beautiful
yard.
Located at N. f. 9Th and Mason
Street. Shown by appointments
Price $3.50
odgen Marshall, Times Bldg.
BE-7355
Residence Phone UN-135S
The Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1931-1952, 1946-08-14
PORTLAND SOCIALS

Mrs. James H. Williams in N.
E. 9Th anticipates the arrival this
week of Mrs. West of Dallas,
Texas, affectionately called "the
mother West" Mrs. West a be-
loved and admired school teacher
(now retired) taught for fifty
years. Mrs. Williams is a former
student of Mrs. West. Expected
also is Mrs. Winn widow of the
late Prof. VIM of Texas, who
will also visit Mrs. Williams and
family.
AS summer wanes, and we re-
alize the approach of fall, the
yearn for school, college, univer-
stiles and campus life looms on
the horizon. With thousands of
eager youth searching and seek
ing for that which will help pre-
pare them for life's work. Among
those who plan to go away are
the Misses Bernice Banks, to the
Lincoln University, Jefferson City,
Mo-, Bonnie Gragg, Bennett Col
lege, Greensboro, S. c., Bessie
Mae Harris, San Francisco State
College, in California.
Corrections: DR.. Walter |. DELPHI
and family recent visitors to Port
land, is a cousin to Mrs. Rose
Ivey and Mrs. Daisy Williams
instead of a brother as we pre-
viously stated. Mrs. Ivey however
says he is her son. "He is called
my son and wishes to be known
as SUCH" l reared him from q
The Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1931-1952, 1946-08-14
Young Democrats?

Mrs. Mary Duncan, Portland Editor
The Northwest Enterprise.
Dear Mrs. Duncan:
On Wednesday, July "a, the
Young Democrats of Multnomah
County attempted to picnic at the
Blue Lake Amusement Park port
land). They were told that the
three Negros members of the
group could not be admitted. The
entire group refused to enter. Com
menting on this incident, the Orb
an League of Portland has issued
the statement which is inclosed.
Sincerely yours,
Edwin C. Berry
Executive Secretary
The Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1931-1952, 1946-08-14
HOW TO VOTE

az vote as IL my ballot alone
decided the contest. 1 may lose
my preference, but L will not
throw away my cred vote.
For within the booth 1 hold In
my h m bic hand the living
proxy OF all my country's hon.
ored dead.
Evening star., 1946-12-15

The counter gained prime importance in
answering many problems of chemistry in
volving the human body. No one knows pre-
cisely what happens to steak or dish of ice
cream once it slips down our threats. The
counter offers means of solving this ancient
riddle.
If the carbon in sugar. for example, is made
radioactive, the counter can find it anywhere
in the body. Radioactive oxygen breathed
into the lungs can be traced to the most
minute capillaries after it is absorbed by the
Evening star., 1946-12-15

MERE is no defense against the atom
l. bomb. There is no weapon, no device, no
technique to counteract it and protect the
target from it. But there is little vacuum
tube, far less intricate than the tubes in your
home radio, which can raise the alarm should
atomic energy be released in any form. This
is the Geiger Counter
An exquisitely sensitive tube the counter
gives off warning bark whenever stray radia-
ton is present = whether it be from radium,
Xrays, or an atom bomb. In bomb plants it
warns workers of radiation leaks more deadly
than machine gun fire. In the future, there is
an excellent chance that the Geiger Counter
can warn us if any nation starts preparing
for atomic warfare. 1t would operate like
fne-alarm system = announcing fires before
they become conflagrations
They Sound Wsr.ins
oHoULD any country build an atomic bomb
1t would first have to explode an experimental
model - as we did at Alamogordo, N. M. BY
the time this happens it is likely that we will
hsve Geiger Counters sensitive enough to
pick up stray radiation from that bomb, even
from hundreds or thousands of miles away.
They could sound warning before the world
faced another Pearl Harbor on global scale.
Geiger Counters come in many sizes. They
may be as small as your little finger or as
large as drum majors baton. Portable
counters with built-in batteries may weigh as
little as pound. or may require truck to
carry. Whatever their size. the heart of the
counter is a slender vacuum tube
Inside the tube is wire, stretched from
Evening star., 1946-12-15
This tiny tube is watchdog that barks
when atomic energy is released. 1t can
help us guard the peace of the world

end to end, passing through metal cylinder.
There is potential of 1000 to 1,5OO volts.
Everything is in perfect electrical balance
until stray particle of radiation - an cleo
tIon. for example. or an alpha particle such
as radium emits - whizzes through.
When this happens the particle of radiation
ionizes the tiny amount of gas still left in the
Evening star., 1946-12-15

miles long. The counter solved
this. A small tube of radium was
attached to the brush. A counter
carried along the line would pick
up the radium's rays and instantly
locate the brush.
Counters were useful in deter
mining dosages of X-rays given
cancer patients. and in protecting
X-ray technicians from over
exposure. Industry found jobs for
them detecting flaws in metal
castings: radium rays can be shot
through a casting and picked up
by a counter. giving a picture of in
ternal irnperfections. Similar uses
were found in oil-well drilling,
metallurgy and other fields.
Evening star., 1946-12-15

Rutherford. Rutherford had launched on the
biggest game hunt of all time. He was explor-
ing the hearts of atoms, and needed a super
sensitive device to detect atomic fragments
- particularly the debris thrown off by radi-
um. Geiger obliged by inventing the counter.
He died only last year in Berlin. with record
of having opposed the Nazis all the way.
While the counter was primarily tool
for physicists, it found few jobs in
industry in pre-atom-bom days. Oil
pipelines need periodic cleanings. Brushes are
forced through the lines, riding along with the
current of oil. Occasionally brushes get lodged
and are difficult to find in line hundreds of
Evening star., 1946-12-15

earth. If the electron were enlarged to the
same degree, it would still be invisible under
the microscope. Yet, the counter can detect
an electron with unerring accuracy.
The dial of luminous watch contains only
a few cents worth of radium - and radium
sells for $4,000 gram But even this
microscopic feck of radium will start
counter clicking at top speed.
The counter was discovered in 1908 by
Hans Geiger, brilliant young German re-
searcher working in England with Ernest w.
Evening star., 1946-12-15

blood. Such techniques open the way for
new exploration of the human body.
One OF the chief jobs of the counter was
locating radium lost by physicians. Such
radium. packed in gold seeds is used to
treat skin cancers. They are often pulled of
and thrown away with bandages. A Geiger
Counter can locate this lost radium. A small
outfit. about as large as portable type
writer. does the job.
1t starts clicking when three-fifths of a
mile away from a gram of radium: clicks
faster and faster as the man carrying the
apparatus gets nearer to the radium. It has
found tiny seeds in sewers, city dumps,
refuse heaps
RADIUM was stolen from certain plant.
All workmen in the plant were under sus-
picion. A man with a counter got the home
address of each worker He drove past each
house. with counter head-phones clamped to
his ears. When there was burst of activity
before one house, he got search warrant.
Inside, he found the missing radium.
When work started on the Oak Ridge and
Hanford bomb plants, counter production
skyrocketed. Men had to be protected from
radioactive substances which might lodge
in the body to cause cancer, get in the blood
stream and destroy red cells, or do other dam
age Strategically placed counters screamed
an alarm whenever there was danger
They found other jobs. In disposing of
waste products, atomic-energy plants face
big problem Radioactive wastes can't be
sent up chimneys or dumped in rivers; they
might poison whole areas Atomic grave
yards appear to be the answer - desolate
poisoned areas where man can never live
again. Counters tell how near such areas it
is safe to venture.
The counter has intriguing possibilities as
warning system. How far will radiation from
Evening star., 1946-12-15

tube. Once Onized, the gas is able
to conduct electricity. A small
current jumps from wire to cylin-
der. This creates an impulse which
can be made to run mechanical
counters, flashlights, ring bells. In
the case of the mechanical count
er, there is an audible click every
time a particle of radiation strikes
the tube.
By all odds the most sensitive
instrument yet conceived. this
counter can detect a single elec-
tron. An eleetron is almost in
comprehensibly small. Place an
orange and an electron under a
microscope. Then enlarge the
orange until it is as large as the