William R. Conners to Charles W. Chesnutt, 1 May 1931
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The Negro Welfare Association1
OF CLEVELAND, OHIO (INC.)
AFFLILIATED WITH THE NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE
2554 EAST 40TH STREET
PHONE, HENDERSON 6312-6313
WILLIAM R. CONNERS, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY2
May 1, 1931.
Mr. Chas. Chesnutt,
Union Trust Bldg.,
Cleveland, Ohio.
My dear Mr. Chesnutt:
There will be a luncheon meeting of the Interracial Committee of this Association upon which you recently accepted membership, on Friday, May 8th at 12:15 P. M. in the Chamber of Commerce Club, Terminal Tower Building.3
Professor Herbert A. Miller4 of Ohio State University, author of "Races, Nations, and Classes," and well known authority on this subject will address the meeting on "Race Relations and Racial Understanding." Following this address there will be the formal organization of the committee.
Please indicate your intention to be present on the enclosed card.
Sincerely yours, William R. Conners William R. Conners, Executive Secretary. WRC:MBH MEMBER OF WELFARE FEDERATION • SUPPORTED BY COMMUNITY FUNDCorrespondent: William Randall Conners (1878–1942) was a Black activist and organizer, born in Georgia. He graduated from historically Black Biddle College (now Johnson C. Smith University) in Charlotte, North Carolina, with a B.A. (1897) and an M.A. (1903), followed by a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. After stints as a college instructor and principal in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, he came to Cleveland in 1917. He founded Cleveland's Negro Welfare Association, forerunner of Cleveland's Urban League, and was its executive secretary (1917–1940). He also founded the Lower Woodland Community Council to work with Black leaders in the Woodland district of Cleveland.
1. The Negro Welfare Association (renamed the Urban League of Cleveland in 1940) was founded in 1917 by William Randall Conners (1878–1942) as an interracial organization to help find employment for newly arriving Black workers during the Great Migration and overcome work discrimination, but also sought to improve housing, sanitation, and education for the growing Black community of Cleveland. It was instrumental in founding the Cedar Ave. Branch of the Cleveland YMCA in 1922, the only YMCA branch open to Black men at the time, and was affiliated with the National Urban League (a major service organization to support the Black community, founded in 1910). Chesnutt served on the Association's Board of Trustees for many years and praised it for its "very useful service in opening up new fields of employment for Negroes... and other welfare activities" in "The Negro in Cleveland". [back]
2. For readability, the remainder of the Negro Welfare Association letterhead is not transcribed in the body 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: "REV W. B. SUTHERN, PRESIDENT J. W. WILLS, SR., SECRETARY MAJOR W. T. ANDERSON, VICE PRESIDENT VIRIGINA R. WING, TREASURER TRUSTEES JUDGE BRADLEY HULL, CHAIRMAN MAJOR W. T. ANDERSON A. A. BENESCH HON. DUDLEY BLOSSOM CHARLES W. CHESNUTT REV. CHAS. H. CRABLE REV. JAMES P. FOOTE MRS. LEMORA GIBSON W. P. HILTON TRUSTEES REV. C. H. LEBLOND A. H. MARTIN MR. LAWRENCE O. PAYNE REV. W. B. SUTHERN DR. J. E. TUCKERMAN JUDGE CARL V. WEYGANDT J. WALTER WILLS VIRGINIA R. WING" [back]
3. The Chamber of Commerce Club emerged from the Cleveland Council of Sociology in the mid-1910s. It regularly featured public lectures and debates, but also let many civic organizations use its rooms at the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, which had moved from its former location on the Public Square to the new Terminal Tower building by 1930. [back]
4. Herbert Adolphus Miller (1875–1951) was a White sociologist from New Hampshire who taught at a wide range of universities and colleges including Fisk University (1899–1902), Oberlin College (1914–1924), and The Ohio State University (1924–1931). His writings included the book-length Races, Nations and Classes: The Psychology of Domination and Freedom (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1924). He was an outspoken supporter of Black civil rights and friends with W. E. B. Du Bois. An expert in Eastern European and Asian nationalism, colonialism and racism, he also conducted a survey on the education of Eastern European immigrants in Cleveland (1915–1916). [back]
