St. Paul recorder., 1963-02-21

90 II " lb'NA ptAAN III AAAN " 'NiiNA
the same house that Honest Abe
lived in so many years ago.
Somehow, I believe Abe must
be turning over in his grave, think
ing that something terribly dis
honest has happened and he is
powerless to do anything about it.
1t wasn't a stunt, and no one is
sure yet whose brainchild 1t was,
but it most certainly must be re-
corded as the greatest political
coup of the Century and President
John F. Kennedy must be given
all the credit.
In a master storke, unparalleled
for its ingenuity, the President
gathered more than 1000 Of the
N atoms leading Negroes and
whites at the White House for a
one-hour celebration Of the Eman-
cipation Proclamation.
Republican & Democrats Invited
Republicans and D ocrats,
alike, were sent one of those never
to-be-forgotten engraved White
House invitations, and what local
could fail to celebrate
both Lincoln's birthday and the
Emancipation Proclamation at the
same time - even despite the fact
that the invitation came from the
countrys foremost Democrat.
To Washington they came, by
plane, by train, by bus, by car.
And on Jan. IL by 6 pm, most
had gathered in the thickly car
peted rooms of the White House.
Huge ThrOng Was Gay
Moving with ease, gaiety and re-
laxed informality, the huge throng
milled in the East Room which
had been made aromatic and lovely
with two huge chinese export
bowls of white stock, sweetpeas
Freesia, Gypsophila, with red and
lavender Anemones.
And the State Dining room,
filled with yellow, white and varig-
ated pink tulips, yellow, cream and
freesia, Lavender and
pink sweetpeas, and Heather.
Buffet Supper Served
A sumptuous buffet table pro-
vided by the host contained hot
creole and curried chicken,
and cold Hickory ham, roast tur-
key and tongue.
All Of this was abetted by celery
and carrot sticks, olives and two
kinds Of punch, one with an orange
base and the other with a grape
base, and assorted pastries. This
was all consumed to the strains Of
unforgettable tunes played by the
Band throughout the en-
tire reception.
Almost every famous name and
every famous Negro was there.
Roy wilkins, James Farmer, Whit
ney Young, John H. johnson,
Claude A. Barnett, Thurgood Mar
shall, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dick
Gregory, Carl Rowan, DR.. Spots
wood Robinson; DR.. Robert C.
new Georgia state SEN
ator Leroy Johnson - and their
wives came with them.
Among Minnesotans present in
addition to the Carl T. Rowans
were Richard Fox Of the State De-
partment personnel section and
Mrs. Fox; Publisher Cecil e. New
man, Mrs. Stephen Maxwell, Of st.
Paul, wife Of the assistant Ramsey
County attorney; Judge L. Howard
Bennett Of Mime apolis and
Marian, Radcliffe Col
lege freshman. Others were form
er Minnesotans Shelton Granger,
H. e. w. official and his wife
Dorothy; Secretary Of Agriculture
Orville Freeman and wife Jane and
Senate Democratic whip Senator
Hubert H. Humphrey, who had a
line Of his own, as guests
sought to shake the hand Of the
affable, personabIe noted civil
rights advocate.
Both Roy Wilkins NAACP di-
rector and Whitney Young, Jr.,
Urban League executive
are former Minnesotans.
Minnesotans present and past
gathered around the Freemans in
the oval room to almost hold a
meeting.
Humphrey Praised
A New Yorker commented that
the reception was symbolic Of and
a realization Of what Senator Hum
phrey had fought for at the 194s
Democratic convention when In a
speech he irrevocably committed