Walter F. White to Charles Chesnutt, 2 March 1931
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NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE
69 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK
(AT FOURTEENTH STREET)
TELEPHONE: ALGONQUIN 4-65481
March 2, 1931
My dear Mr. Chestnutt
On the evening of Sunday, March 22, at the Mansfield Theatre, the Seventeenth Spingarn Medal2 will be presented to Mr. Richard B. Harrison.3 The presentation will be made by Hon. Herbert H. Lehman,4 Lieutenant Governor of the State of New York.
This will be a public ceremony and the admission is free.
A limited number of orchestra seats will be reserved until 8:30 o'clock, after which time the house will be thrown open to all. Mezzanine and balcony seats will be unreserved.
We would esteem it an honor to have you witness the presentation of the Spingarn Medal to Mr. Harrison whose long career as dramatic reader and entertainer is well known and whose crowning achievement is his fine and reverent characterization of the Lord in "The Green Pastures".
We will be happy to send you reserved seats without charge if you will let us know on the attached blank how many you would like.
Ever sincerely, Walter White Acting SecretaryPlease send me [blank] reserved seats for the Presenation of the Seventeenth Spingarn Medal to Mr. Richard B. Harrison, at the Mansfield Theatre (256 West 47th Street, New York City), Sunday evening, March 22.
(Name)____________ (Address)__________ ENDORSED BY THE NATIONAL INFORMATION BUREAU. 215 FOURTH AVENUE, NEW YORK TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL CONFERENCE — Pittsburgh Pa. — June 30 - July 5, 1931Correspondent: 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 EXECUTIVE OFFICERS WALTER WHITE ACTING 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 Memphis R. R. Church New Haven George W. Crawford New Orleans Dr. George W. Lucas 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 Cambridge, 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 ENDORSED BY THE NATIONAL INFORMATION BUREAU. 215 FOURTH AVENUE, NEW YORK TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL CONFERENCE — Pittsburgh Pa. — June 30 - July 5, 1931." [back]
2. The highest honor of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is the Spingarn Medal, awarded annually since 1915, for the highest achievement of a living African American in the preceding year. Joel Spingarn (1875—1939), a professor of literature and one of the NAACP founders, was elected board chairman of the NAACP in 1915 and served as president from 1929 to 1939. Charles Chesnutt received this award in 1928. [back]
3. Richard Berry Harrison (1864–1935) was a dramatic reader and actor. In the 1890s he traveled the U.S. with a repertoire that included the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar. In 1930 he gained further fame for the role of the Lord in Marc Connelly's Pulitzer-prize winning play The Green Pastures. The play ran for sixteen months on Broadway, and in more than 200 cities on tour. He received the Spingarn Medal in 1930. [back]
4. Herbert Henry Lehman (1878–1963) was, from 1933 to 1942, the 45th Governor of New York and an American banker and statesman. He also represented New York State in the U.S. Senate from 1949 until 1957. [back]
