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This is the first time I have been at my desk for five weeks, and the first thing I take occasion to do is to write you to thank you for your friendly call and for the beautiful flowers which so refreshed my sick room.2
I have before me at this moment a copy of The Union, and have been chuckling at some of the wisecracks in "Gossip and Reflections". Some of them are not above criticism from the standpoint of a purist, but they are all full of pep, which no doubt accounts for their popularity.
Quite a few things have been happening in the world at large. Mr. Hoover seems to have opened up quite a bit, which will be for the benefit of his popularity.3 Mr. DePriest4 and Alderman Anderson5 seem to be at swords' points, to whose advantage time alone will tell. Whichever one is nominated will undoubtedly be elected from that district. We have already seen what DePriest can do. He seems to have demonstrated one thing that he cannot do, that is to get a colored cadet in either West Point or Annapolis. Perhaps Mr. Anderson would do better in that regard.6
I see you are still working away at the N.A.A.C.P.7 From your point of view it would seem to be justified, but I hope the organization or the labor organization which is fighting for them, one or the other or both together, will succeed in saving the lives of the nine unfortunate colored boys in Scottsville. Their photographs -- and I don't mean their color -- are not particularly impressive, but I have no doubt they were framed, and if convicted and excuted will be just that many more martyrs to race prejudice. I am glad Clarence Darrow has been secured to aid in their defense.8
[2] Mr. Dabney - page 2My family are all well. My wife9 is pretty nearly tired out nursing me for the past six weeks. A more loyal and devoted wife no man ever had, and I've got my job cut out for the rest of my life to make her feel how much I appreciate her devotion. The young ladies of the family are well,10 and little Johnnie11 is full of pep and vinegar. All send their regards and hope to see you when you are around this way again.
Sincerely yours, CWC:ESCorrespondent: Wendell Phillips Dabney (1865–1952) was a Black activist, musician and journalist. Originally from Richmond, Virginia, he moved to Ohio in 1883 to study at Oberlin, and then to Cincinnati in 1894. He worked for the city of Cincinnati from 1895 until 1923 and was the founder, editor, and publisher of the Black weekly paper The Union (1907–1952). Chesnutt and Dabney knew of each other in the 1920s, but only their 1930s correspondence survives.