Walter F. White to Charles W. Chesnutt, 27 August 1931
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Will you permit me again to urge renewal of your annual contribution of twenty-five ($25.00) dollars made in May, 1930, to the N.A.A.C.P.2 The present economic crisis has materially affected our income from certain of our branches in the larger industrial centers, and we are sorely in need of your continued support.3 Fortunately, we have been able to raise additional funds from other sources so that our total income is not less than the average of recent years.
However, the depression has brought a greatly increased number of appeals to us for aid so that we must have the continued moral and financial support of friends like yourself. Among the matters of particular importance facing us now are the defense of the eight boys sentenced to death at Scottsboro, which defense is gravely complicated by the tactics of the Communists in this case4; appeal to the United States Supreme Court of an important disfranchisement case from Texas5; marked progress in our efforts to aid in the restoration of sovereignty to the Republic of Haiti6, and a considerable number of legal cases in which we are now engaged.
Prompt renewal of your generous contribution and an increase, if it is possible, will be greatly appreciated and will help us to carry on.
Ever sincerely, Walter White Secretary Mr. Charles W. Chestnutt 9719 Lamont Avenue Cleveland, Ohio WW:LB ENDORSED BY THE NATIONAL INFORMATION BUREAU. 215 FOURTH AVENUE, NEW YORKCorrespondent: Walter Francis White (1893–1955) was a Black civil rights activist and writer. He began working at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1918, at its New York City headquarters, as assistant to James Weldon Johnson, the Association's first Black Executive Secretary. He investigated lynchings and riots, sometimes passing for White, and he became Executive Secretary in 1930. He helped desegregate the armed forces after WWII, and under his leadership the NAACP established its Legal Defense Fund. He nominally remained executive secretary until his death in 1955.
1. For readability, the remainder of the letterhead is not transcribed at the top of the letter but is included in this footnote as unformatted text. The letterhead can be seen in its entirety in the accompanying image of the letter. The text of the remainder of the letterhead is as follows: "NATIONAL OFFICERS PRESIDENT J. E. SPINGARN VICE PRESIDENTS HON. ARTHUR CAPPER BISHOP JOHN A. GREGG REV. JOHN HAYNES HOLMES JAMES WELDON JOHNSON ARTHUR B. SPINGARN OSWALD GARRISON VILLARD ACTING TREASURER MARY WHITE OVINGTON EXECUTIVE OFFICERS WALTER WHITE SECRETARY ROY WILKINS ASSISTANT SECRETARY DR. W. E. B. DUBOIS EDITOR OF THE CRISIS ROBERT W. BAGNALL DIRECTOR OF BRANCHES WILLIAM PICKENS FIELD SECRETARY DAISY E. LAMPKIN REGIONAL FIELD SECRETARY HERBERT J. SELIGMANN DIRECTOR OF PUBLICITY BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chairman MARY WHITE OVINGTON New York Baltimore Carl Murphy Boston Joseph Prince Loud Charleston, W. Va. T.G. Nutter Chicago Jane Addams Clarence Darrow Cleveland Hon. Harry E. Davis Detroit Hon. Ira W. Jayne Hon. Frank Murphy Indianapolis F. B. Ransom Los Angeles Dr. H. Claude Hudson Dr. J. A. Somerville Memphis R.R. Church New Haven George W. Crawford New York Lillian A. Alexander Rev. Hutchens C. Bishop Dr. W. E. B. DuBois Rev. John Haynes Holmes James Weldon Johnson Florence Kelley Hon. Herbert H. Lehman Ella Rush Murray John E. Nail Arthur B. Spingarn J. E. Spingarn Charles H. Studin William English Walling Dr. Louis T. Wright Northampton, Mass. Dr. William Allan Neilson Philadelphia Isadore Martin Richmond Maggie L. Walker Springfield Rev. G.R. Waller Topeka Hon. Arthur Capper Washington Nannie H. Burroughs Hon. James A. Cobb Prof. George William Cook Charles Edward Russell NATIONAL LEGAL COMMITTEE Chairman Arthur B. Spingarn Chicago Clarence Darrow Chambridge, Mass. Felix Frankfurter Charleston, W. Va. T.G. Nutter New York James Marshall Herbert K. Stockton Charles H. Studin WILLIAM T. ANDREWS Special Legal Assistant". [back]
2. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) began in February 1909, with a Committee on the Negro and "The Call," a statement protesting lawlessness against Black people. In 1910, the organization adopted its current name and in 1912 began publication of a monthly journal, The Crisis, which was edited by W. E. B. Du Bois from 1912 to 1944. Chesnutt's involvement with the NAACP extended over many years, and included serving on its General Committee, attending conferences, presiding at NAACP events in Cleveland, publishing four stories and two essays in The Crisis (1912, 1915, 1924, 1926, 1930, and 1931), and being awarded in 1928 the organization's highest honor, the Spingarn Medal. [back]
3. Between the initial Wall Street crash in late 1929 and the mid-1931 banking crises, most U.S. stocks lost ninety percent or more of their value, with effects that cascaded throughout the economy. Chesnutt, who had invested in the stock market and used these investments as collateral for his mortgages, was severely affected by the crash and discussed its effects in many letters between 1930 and 1932. [back]
4. In Scottsboro, Alabama, in 1931, nine Black teenagers were falsely accused of raping two White women, and eight of the "Scottsboro boys" were sentenced to death. The NAACP labor department was just being formed, and the International Labor Defense, known for having ties to the Communist Party, took control of the case. In 1932, because of its involvement, the attorney hired by the NAACP, Clarence Darrow, withdrew, which is what White references here. Spurred by criticism of inaction, within a year the NAACP formed the Scottsboro Defense Committee with the International Labor Defense, which quit the committee when the case lost publicity. Through a long series of legal battles, the defendants' lives were saved, with the NAACP winning freedom for the last of the nine defendants in 1976. [back]
5. In 1927 (Nixon v. Herdon), the Supreme Court ruled against a Texas statute that barred Black citizens from participation in Democratic party primary elections. The state immediately passed a slightly different statute, which the NAACP challenged, and which the U.S. Supreme Court also (in Nixon v. Condon, 1932) struck down. Three years later, when a third statute was appealed (Grovey v. Townshend, 1935), the Supreme Court concluded that the state Democratic Party was a private body and thus had the power to determine who was eligible for membership and eligible to vote in the party's primaries. It was not until 1944 that this decision was reversed. [back]
6. In 1920, James Weldon Johnson, the preceding NAACP Secretary, visited Haiti and the resulting report revealed discriminatory treatment of persons of African descent by American troops. The NAACP initiated legal action campaigns to get the U.S. president and Congress to take action to protect Haiti's sovereignty and the rights of its citizens. In 1931, Walter White and his first wife, Gladys Powell White, traveled to Haiti to continue the investigation. [back]
