The Circle for Negro War Relief, inc.

489 FIFTH AVENUE
NEW YORK CITY

Mrs. Ella Barksdale Brown
343-Halladay Street
Jersey City, N.J.

# The Circle for Negro War Relief, Inc.

"Seldom have troops been called upon to face a severer fire, and never have they acquitted themselves better."

"General Orders" to Negro soldiers at Santiago.

PRESIDENT

MRS. EMILIE BIGELOW HAPGOOD

TREASURER

HARRISON RHODES

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY

MISS CAROLINE STEWART BOND

VICE-PRESIDENTS

GOVERNOR CHARLES S. WHITMAN

DR. W. E. BURGHARDT DU BOIS
DR. ROBERT R. MOTON

COLONEL CHARLES YOUNG

RAY STANNARD BAKER

GEORGE FOSTER PEABODY

DIRECTORS

GOVERNOR CHARLES S. WHITMAN

DR. W. E. BURGHARDT DU BOIS

COL. CHARLES YOUNG

MRS. AMOS R. E. PINCHOT

MRS. JAMES W. JOHNSON

RAY STANNARD BAKER

MRS. EMILIE BIGELOW HAPGOOD

CHARLES A. PEABODY

RUSSELL JANNEY

DR. ROBERT R. MOTON

EDWARD SHELDON

MRS. WILLIAM A. KISSAM

J. ROSAMOND JOHNSON

MRS. EGERTON L. WINTHROP

"The bare sight of 50,000 armed and drilled black soldiers upon the banks of the Mississippi would end the rebellion at once."
President Lincoln, 1863.

489 FIFTH AVENUE

TELEPHONE VANDERBILT 2816

NEW YORK CITY

September 18, 1918.

Mrs. E.B. Brown,
343 Halladay St.,
Jersey City, N.J.

My dear Mrs. Brown:

We have not written before because you said in your last letter that the Unit members were for the most part away for the summer. You will probably be beginning activities for the winter very shortly now, however, and Mrs. Boutté, who has taken up Miss Bond's work, would like very much to get in touch with the Unit. She would like first, however, to have a talk with you. Since Miss Bond has gone she is very closely confined to the office and would appreciate it very much if you would stop in if you happen to be in this neighborhood or could make it convenient.

LOCAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

REV. F. A. CULLEN

MRS. LELIA WALKER ROBINSON

HON. E. A. JOHNSON

MRS. DORA COLE NORMAN

MRS. SADIE DORSETTE TANDY

MRS. NORMAN COTTON

MRS. RUTH LOGAN ROBERTS

REV. G. FRAZIER MILLER

MRS. ADAH B. THOMS

SERVICE HEADQUARTERS

MUSIC SCHOOL SETTLEMENT

6 West 131st Street

Mrs. Ella Barksdale Brown,
120 Glenwood Avenue,
Jersey City, N. J.

Life and Works of Some of the
World's Great Men — Illustrated

For the Sundays in February the Association has
obtained a treat for its members and their friends

Sunday, Feb. 4th at 4 P. M.

REV. WILLIAM FREAS
of Holy Trinity English Lutheran Church, Jersey City

ILLUSTRATED LECTURE
"Life and Works of John Huss"

Sunday, Feb. 11th at 4 P. M.

MRS. ELLA BARKSDALE BROWN
of Jersey City

ILLUSTRATED LECTURE
"What One Black Boy Did" or
Tuskegee Institute

Special Singing—JOHN M. WASHINGTON
Tenor Soloist of Lafayette Presbyterian Church

Sunday, Feb. 18th at 4 P. M.

ILLUSTRATED LECTURE
"Life and Works of Martin Luther"

Sunday, Feb. 25th at 4 P. M.

REV. PAUL LINDEMANN
of Grace Lutheran Church, Jersey City
will speak on

"Luther and Washington"

Three of the above lectures are given by us in
the interest of our Lutheran friends, celebrating
the Four Hundredth Anniversary of the Refor-
mation. They will be of special interest.

PUBLIC INVITED

489 Fifth Avenue
New York City

7. Unit No. 62 in Palatka, Fla.:

a. Is conducting a kindergarten.

b. Has made the initial payment of $100 on a site for a small hospital and has $100 in the bank for the second payment.

8. Unit Numbers 26 and 45 in Staten Island; 39 in Ridgewood, N. J.; 50 in New London, Conn., and 61 in Passaic, N. J., have jointly raised $300 for a visiting nurse for a Southern community. They plan to raise this year the additional $900 needed.

9. Five of the units have contributed to the fund for the young colored girl who lost both hands and one eye by the explosion of a bomb intended for her employer.

### III. What the Circle Plans to Do Now!

1. To supply public health nurses for Negroes in as many localities as possible.

2. To develop small community hospitals and day nurseries as needs are found.

3. To be ready for emergency relief among Negroes.

3. To develop two hundred additional local units of at least one hundred members each.

5. To organize and inspire these members for health and relief activities.

### To Do This We Need the Following Budget:

<table><tr><td>Service (for five workers)</td><td>$6,000.00</td></tr><tr><td>Public health work</td><td>15,000.00</td></tr><tr><td>Office rent</td><td>1,000.00</td></tr><tr><td>Telephone and telegraph</td><td>300.00</td></tr><tr><td>Postage</td><td>475.00</td></tr><tr><td>Traveling expenses of field worker</td><td>3,160.00</td></tr><tr><td>Office expense</td><td>300.00</td></tr><tr><td>General expense (printing, advertising, etc.)</td><td>900.00</td></tr><tr><td>Stationery and supplies</td><td>550.00</td></tr><tr><td>Total expenses</td><td>$27,685.00</td></tr></table>

### IV. Officers and Board of Directors.

The members of the Board of Directors are elected at the Annual Meetings by the Circle members.

Honorary Pres't—Mrs. Emille Bigelow Hapgood.

President—Charles Hanson Towne.

Treasurer—Dr. E. P. Roberts.

Executive Secretary—Mrs. Etnah Rochon Boutte.

#### VICE-PRESIDENTS

Harrison Rhodes George Foster Peabody

Dr. W. E. B. DuBois Colonel Charles Young

Dr. Robert E. Moton

#### DIRECTORS

Charles S. Whitman Mrs. William Quick

Ray Stannard Baker Mrs. Salisbury Field

Dr. J. D. Bushell Mrs. Sewell T. Tyng

Mrs. James W. Johnson Dr. J. W. Brown

Mrs. William A. Kissam Mrs. E. P. Roberts

Charles S. Peabody Arthur Spingarn

Mrs. E. L. Winthrop Lloyd Osbourne

Miss L. Frelinghuysen Charles F. Wilcox

Miss Mary Vida Clark Miss Fannie Hurst

Mrs. J. W. Rose Miss Edna Ferber

Mrs. Dora Cole Norman John Hope

The Circle

FOR NEGRO RELIEF, Inc.

(ENDORSED BY THE NAT'L INFORMATION BUREAU)

489 Fifth Avenue

New York City

## I. What the Circle Is.

1. The Circle for Negro Relief is a national organization to promote health and organized relief among colored people. There are fifty chartered local units in seventeen states with 5,000 white and colored members. Regular members pay $1.00 per year; contributing members from $2.00 to $10.00, and sustaining members $25.00.

2. The Circle was organized and incorporated in 1917 as the Circle for Negro War Relief to meet the pressing need for specific relief among Negro soldiers. In June, 1919, with the decrease of war relief the program was altered to include health and relief work, so greatly needed and sorely neglected among Negroes. The name was altered accordingly.

3. Each unit is given charge of the work in its own community, subject to the approval of the National Board of Directors. Accurate monthly reports of all activities and monies raised and expended are required. These reports must be signed by the chairman and treasurer of the unit.

4. There is a national office as a clearing house for the local units making their work more effective by the exchange of methods, by adjusting relations between units, by attending to necessary legal procedure, by auditing local accounts, etc.

## II. What the Circle Has Done.

During the Great War Blue Circle units:

1. Raised and expended hundreds of dollars for wool which they knitted into regulation garments and distributed to the soldiers in camps.

2. Raised $2,000 for an ambulance for the 367th Regiment.

3. Conducted canteens in Memphis, Tenn., and New London, Conn.

4. Supplied soldiers in Camps Hancock, Sherman, Merritt, Dix, Upton, Grant and Funston with literature, musical instruments, toilet articles and other necessities.

5. Furnished musical and literary entertainment to the soldiers in army camps.

6. Gave advice and material aid to drafted men and their families.

7. Co-operated in some cases to help other local organizations get larger results.

Through action of the National Headquarters:

1. Discharged soldiers were aided to find employment.

2. Temporary aid in cases of delayed allotment and insurance was given.

3. Families seeking whereabouts of missing soldiers were served.

4. Since the signing of the armistice five women, selected from three New York City units, took the train-

ing given by the Red Cross and served without salary as ward workers in the base hospitals in New York City. Many letters from Red Cross officials testify to their fine work.

Considerable time and work was required to change from a war to a peace program. Local units, however, readily started on the new work with the following results:

1. Unit Number 5 in New York City.

a. Secured and fitted up two rooms in the North Harlem Community House and is remaking clothes for child relief.

b. Is aiding poor families investigated and recommended by the Charity Organization Society.

2. Unit No. 12 in Yonkers, N. Y., deposited about $300 toward a day nursery.

3. Unit No. 13 in Englewood, N. J., has raised $200 for the county orphanage.

4. Unit No. 28 in Rochester, N. Y., unable to finance a much needed Girls' Home has concentrated its influence, securing a local Y. W. C. A.

5. Unit No. 29 on the Island of St. Helena, S. C., is assisting four destitute families of old people who did not have even beds or bedding.

6. Unit No. 47 in Jersey City, N. J., has started a campaign for a day nursery.

These are the days when one is proud to be a Negro. The
word is growing in public esteem. It stands for loyalty, for
steadfast endeavor, for high glorious courage. We are winning
out because we have stood true to an ideal. Against obstacles
that would have crushed a weaker race; slowly, with infinite
patience, never faltering, never utterly despairing, we have climb-
ed to where we can see in the East the dawn of a better day.
We could not have succeeded had each man planned and plot-
ted for himself alone. It is by standing together that we have
grown strong, for as the individual raised himself above the mass
he stooped to give a helping hand to others who, gaining a foot-
hold turned back to aid those that followed. It has taken great
courage and endurance and these qualities, constantly exercised
have grown in the race year by year, but loyalty in the Negro
heart was a gift from God. It is to this loyalty that the Circle
for Negro War Relief appeals. Join our society, founded for
the benefit of our soldiers; help us in aiding their dependents,
work with us for the welfare of our fighting men that we may
support their high courage by our loyalty.

489 Fifth Avenue

# THE CIRCLE

## FOR NEGRO RELIEF, Inc.

(Endorsed by the National Investigation Bureau)

Harrison Rhodes, President
Dr. E. P. Roberts, Treasurer
Mrs. Etnah Rochon Boutte, Executive Secretary

The Circle for Negro Relief, Inc., came into existence soon after America entered the Great War, as a result of the wish on the part of colored people to do something directly for their own soldiers and the families of their soldiers. The Unit Workers—composing fifty-three groups in seventeen states with a membership of three thousand—are colored people and their work has proved to be the most significant effort at Negro self help of recent years.

The Circle work is not political or controversial, it is wholly that of mercy. Its first big undertaking was the gift of an ambulance, costing over $2,000 to the Government for the use of the "Buffaloes." The Units knitted hundreds of garments and sewed for the soldiers; looked after the welfare generally of the colored men in camps and their families at home; supplied soldiers at home and abroad with hundreds of dollars worth of sweets, smokes, musical instruments, literature, toilet articles, stamps for casuals, etc., conducted canteens in several places and co-operated with other organizations in providing recreation, furnishing Hostess Houses, etc. Many soldiers were given assistance in finding employment and in securing back allotments; in deserving cases temporary financial aid was given. By furnishing trained colored assistants in the base hospitals of New York City and in many other ways, the Circle has co-operated with the Red Cross, with which it has an official agreement.

The Unit members have learned what can be done by organized effort and they want to continue shouldering their share of the social responsibility of the country by carrying on the Circle. The Circle for Negro Relief, Inc., as it is now called, has a broad program of welfare work, including trained visiting nurses, day nurseries and greatly needed small community hospitals. As the first steps toward carrying out this program, various units are doing Home Service work; assisting local charities; giving scholarships; raising day nursery and visiting nurse funds; conducting a clothes reconstruction bureau for children's garments; establishing kindergartens; extending school terms in rural districts, etc.

The work of this organization is expedited and its honesty absolutely vouched for by the complete endorsement of the National Investigation Bureau. The fact that the Circle is under the supervision of this Bureau and is run in the most business-like manner to meet its requirements gives to the possible contributor assurance that all funds will be used carefully and economically. In order to carry out the proposed program of relief work we are appealing to both white and colored people for contributions to this greatly needed work.

Membership fees—$1.00 to $25.00 per year.

Make checks payable to the Circle for Negro Relief, Inc.

489 Fifth Avenue, New York City.

489 FIFTH AVENUE

TEL. VANDERBILT 286

NEW YORK CITY

LOCAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

REV. F. A. CULLEN
MRS. LELIA WALKER ROBINSON
HON. E. A. JOHNSON
MRS. DORA COLE NORMAN
DR. E. P. ROBERTS
MR. CONRAD V. NORMAN
MRS. SADIE DORSETTE TANDY
MRS. NORMAN COTTON
MRS. RUTH LOGAN ROBERTS
REV. G. FRAZIER MILLER
MRS. ADAH B. THOMS

SERVICE HEADQUARTERS

Music School Settlement
6 West 131st Street

July 16, 1918.

Mrs. Ella Barksdale Brown,
343 Halladay St.,
Jersey City, N.J.

My dear Mrs. Ella:

While I didn't have chance to see much of you Friday night I enjoyed getting at least a peep at you and the family and participating in the picnic. It is true that my feet were sore and weary by the time I got home but the next morning only the pleasant memories remained.

Be sure to let us know when you have your next meeting. I haven't seen Mrs. Boutte since Friday night as she has been busy at night and not down during the day but I do want to bring her over one afternoon. She is a very pleasant sort of person and I think you will like her - I don't think concerning her attitude to you. She is a Southerner, of course - Creole type from Louisiana. Her sister was Ann's chum in Tuskegee and another sister married Jimmie Cater from Atlanta. I guess Marcia knows him. Had she heard that he had been appointed Dean of Taladega? Quite an honor for so young a man.

Concerning the matter that we were speaking about - I think I told you that the Board of Directors in the last meeting had decided upon an amendment to the new By-Laws. This amendment permits a Unit to keep in its Treasury 50% of the net proceeds if they care to use it for some purpose approved by the Headquarters office. If you could read some of the reports you would see the absolute necessity for these rules. Each rule has been the result of mistakes on the part of some of the Units. Of course all of them have not made such mistakes but such rules have to be more or less general and, as I told you, in some cases concessions can be made where the personel of the Unit is known. The Circle is responsible for all of the finan-

PRESIDENT

MRS. EMILIE BIGELOW HAPGOOD

TREASURER

HARRISON RHODES

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY

MISS CAROLINE STEWART BOND

VICE-PRESIDENTS

DIRECTORS

MRS. WILLIAM A. KISSAM

J. ROSAMOND JOHNSON

MRS. EGERTON L. WINTHROP

All moral reforms grow out of the people who suffer and stand in need of them. The Negro's helpless position may yet bring America to a realizing sense that righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.

KELLY MILLER.

**PRESIDENT**
MRS. EMILIE BIGELOW HAPGOOD

**TREASURER**
HARRISON RHODES

**SECRETARY**
MRS. JAMES W. JOHNSON

**EXECUTIVE SECRETARY**
MISS CAROLINE BOND

**VICE-PRESIDENTS**

**DIRECTORS**

GOVERNOR CHARLES S. WHITMAN
DR. W. E. BURGHARDT DU BOIS
COL. CHARLES YOUNG
GEORGE FOSTER PEABODY
MRS. AMOS R. E. PINCHOT
MRS. JAMES W. JOHNSON
RAY STANNARD BAKER
MRS. EMILIE BIGELOW HAPGOOD
CHARLES S. PEABODY
A. B. SPINGARN
RUSSELL JANNEY
DR. ROBERT R. MOTON
EDWARD SHELDON
ROBERT J. COADY

489 FIFTH AVENUE

TEL. VANDERBILT 2816

NEW YORK CITY

**GENERAL COMMITTEE**

GOVERNOR LOWDEN of Illinois
MRS. FRANK LOWDEN
MOORFIELD STOREY
HARRISON RHODES
MRS. MARY MAC LEOD BETHUNE
REV. PERCY STICKNEY GRANT
ROBERT EDMOND JONES
JOHN BARRYMORE
MRS. VICTOR MOROWETZ
MISS MARY WHITE OVINGTON
J. ROSAMOND JOHNSON
LOUIS WILEY

**SERVICE HEADQUARTERS**

MUSIC SCHOOL SETTLEMENT,
6 WEST 131st STREET

489 FIFTH AVENUE

TEL. VANDERBILT 2816

NEW YORK CITY

July 12th, 1918.

TREASURER
HARRISON RHODES

SECRETARY
MRS. JAMES W. JOHNSON

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY
MISS CAROLINE BOND

DIRECTORS

GOVERNOR CHARLES S. WHITMAN

DR. W. E. BURGHARDT DU BOIS

COL. CHARLES YOUNG

GEORGE FOSTER PEABODY

MRS. AMOS R. E. PINCHOT

MRS. JAMES W. JOHNSON

RAY STANNARD BAKER

MRS. EMILIE BIGELOW HAPGOOD

CHARLES S. PEABODY

ARTHUR B. SPINGARN

RUSSELL JANNEY

DR. ROBERT R. MOTON

EDWARD SHELDON

ROBERT J. COADY

Mrs. Ella B. Brown

343- Halliday St.,

Jersey City, N.J.

My dear Mrs. Brown:-

GENERAL COMMITTEE

GOVERNOR LOWDEN of Illinois

MRS. FRANK LOWDEN

MOORFIELD STOREY

HARRISON RHODES

MRS. MARY MAC LEOD BETHUNE

MRS. WILLIAM C. HUMBERT

REV. PERCY STICKNEY GRANT

ROBERT EDMOND JONES

JOHN BARRYMORE

MRS. VICTOR MOROWETZ

MISS MARY WHITE OVINGTON

J. ROSAMOND JOHNSON

LOUIS WILEY

SERVICE HEADQUARTERS
MUSIC SCHOOL SETTLEMENT,
6 WEST 131st STREET

I have been out of town for the past week having just returned to the office Monday, and I am hastening to get in touch again with our various local Units. We are planning to have a general public meeting of all of the members of the Circle at the Music School Settlement on Monday evening July 22nd. We are anxious to have a large representation of your Unit present. We will then have just six more weeks before the first of September which marks the end of our Membership Drive. Let us all get together so that we may "go over the top" at this time. After that we have great plans for the fall and winter. The members of the Circle have a large responsibility in helping our boys win this war.

Mrs. V.M. Boutte who spoke at our last Chairmen's meeting has consented to act as special worker for the Circle, and she is interested just at present in the development and growth of the local Units. I am going to ask Mrs. Boutte if she will try and talk with the Chairman of each Unit before this meeting so as to work in accordance with any

individual plans which you may have in mind. If you will write Mrs. Boutte to this address and make an appointment for any afternoon of next week I am sure she will be pleased to arrange her time as nearly as possible to suit yours. If it is not convenient for you to arrange such an interview before the meeting I am sure she will be pleased to see you at some other time.

I should be glad if you would send either to her or this office a statement of the day and time of your Unit meetings, also how often they occur.

I am very anxious for Mrs. Boutte to be of some assistance to the Units in this Drive as I am so occupied here at the central office that it is impossible for me to give very much time to this.

Hoping for your earnest co-operation in this matter, I am,

MRS. EMILIE BIGELOW HAPGOOD, President

## VICE-PRESIDENTS

Governor Charles S. Whitman
Dr. Robert R. Moton

Colonel Charles Young

Dr. W. E. Burghardt Du Bois

Ray Stannard Baker

HARRISON RHODES, Treasurer

MRS. JAMES W. JOHNSON, Secretary

## DIRECTORS

Governor Chas. S. Whitman

Dr. W. E. Burghardt Du Bois

Col. Charles Young

George Foster Peabody

Edward Sheldon

Mrs. Amos R. E. Pinchot

Mrs. James W. Johnson

Ray Stannard Baker

Mrs. Emilie Bigelow Hapgood

Robert J. Coady

Charles S. Peabody

A. B. Spingarn

Russell Janney

Dr. Robert R. Moton

The Circle for Negro War Relief, Inc. is founded for the purpose of making the conditions under which the colored soldier trains and fights the same as those which exist for the white soldier. It intends to work in cooperation and harmony with the Red Cross and all other governmental agencies; indeed it intends to use its efforts and its influence that fair and satisfactory treatment be given by such agencies to the colored soldier.

It hopes to aid and supplement whatever they may be able to do, so that the soldier may have the necessities and comforts he needs and may also feel that his family, left behind, will have an organization doing everything it can, to see that they are being looked after and provided for.

It is feared, judging by past experiences in matters pertaining to colored people, that unless some special organization exists devoted to their interests, these interests may be neglected.

Will every Negro and every friend of the Negro not help the Circle for Negro War Relief do this much needed work?

["vice.", "vice.", "vice.", "vice.", "vice.", {"bbox": [57