Evening star., 1949-04-04
Negro Family Guarded
After Stoning Of New
Home in White Area

fUltIC iii VHEiC Al Cd
A colored family who moved into
q brick row house at 1903 Ames
street NE, was under police pro-
lection today after stones were
hurled into the house and a fire
discovered against a rear fence
Saturday:
Victims of the action are Odis
Won Blasingame, 31-year-old ad-
vertising salesman for the news
paper American, his wife
Georgetta and their six-months-
old son, Odis, jr. Mr.. Won Bias
ingame purchased the house and
moved in Saturday.
The stones made two small
holes in rear windows and the
fire. quickly extinguished by the
fire department, did little damage.
Police Capt. William Murphy
of the 14th Precinct said the
patrolman's beat in the neighbor-
hood had been shortened to as
sure more frequent visits paststile
Won Blasingame home and that
Pvt. James B. Duvall has been
assigned to investigate the in
cident.
Citizens Open Investigation.
Another investigation-"to see
what action can be taken"-Was
under way by steering commit
tee of the Citizens Association OF
River Terrace. The committee
was named at a special meeting of
the association called last night
by President Robert F. Tibbetts,
1888 Blaine street NE.
Mr.. Tibbetts deplored the Incl
dent; termed it the action of
hot-heads. 1t does nothing toward
solving the problem" he said, but
only makes it worse and harder
to deal with"
From Clifford Newell, former
president of the Federation of
Citizens Associations, who ad-
dressed the special meeting at the
River Terrace Episcopal Chapel,
came additional criticism.
Il hope it will prove to be the
pranks of children-not adults"
he said. ut certainly is not the
American way of doing things.
Former Employe of VINO. N
IF those people have purchased
the house they have just as much
right to their home as the rest
of the people have. Above all
there should be no violence. The
only thing to do, if they don't
want those people in there, is to
socially ignore them. If they are
the right kind of colored people
and we have plenty of right
kind of colored people in Wash
ington-they will soon see they
are not wanted and move"
A general meeting of the aSso-
citation has been called for Thurs
day night.
Mr.. Won. Blasingame, a former
graduate student at Howard Uni
versity and former War Man
power Commission employe, said
he purchased the house last week
but did not disclose the price.
Mr.. Tibbetts said he understood it
was $11,500.
The new owner said it was the
second house offered TO- him in
the area. - ~ -
Men Looked Into Window.
Several hours after the stotfing
and fire, he said he was called on
by Mrs3Frazer and man who
gave his name as Sylvester. who
said they had come to inquire if
he would sell the house. He ere-
piled that he would "sell at a
profit"
In my 81 years of life. this is
the most outrageous thing I've
ever suffered" Mr.. Won Blasin-
game said today. Il frankly do
not believe that everyone in this
neighborhood is like the people
who threw those stones. The COM
munity was represented to me as
q very genteel one"
His wife, an employe of the
lAtomic Energy Commission, said
she did not fear to stay there pro
ivided things don't get any worse"
She said that first indication of
sany displeasure at their presence
lcame Saturday afternoon about
i30 minutes after they had moved
lin. Several men came up and
slooked into the window, she said,
land she asked them in.
] "They didn't reply" she said,
s"and walked off the porch"
! She said her husband and a
friend, John Payne, were in the
basement repairing refrigerator
.when a trash fire was discovered
against the back fence. Her hus-
sband rushed out with a pail OF
water, but someone else had called
the fire department.
. AS the firemen left and police
men were ringing the front door
bell, she said. the stones were
hurled. One broke a pane in
downstairs window and the other
went through a pane in an up
stairs bedroom window.