Walter F. White to Charles W. Chesnutt, 19 October 1931
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NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE
69 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK
TELEPHONE: ALGONQUIN 4-6548
Official Organ: The Crisis1
October 19th 1931
My dear Mr. Chesnutt:
I can well understand your predicament which, alas, is not untrue of many others of us.2 I, for example, was in the Bank of United States.
We don't want to have any break in our records of your membership. There are smaller ones than the $25 one which you have been giving for some years.
With cordial personal regards, I am
Ever sincerely, Walter Secretary. Mr. Charles W. Chesnutt 1646 Union Trust Building Cleveland, Ohio WW:CTF 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. 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]
