September 2-3, 1943

Jackson Davis

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About the electronic version:
September 2-3, 1943
Author: Jackson Davis
Creation of machine-readable version: Special Collections, University of Virginia Library
Creation of digital images: Special Collections, University of Virginia Library
Conversion to TEI.2-conformant markup: Mike Spaulding, University of Virginia Library
URL: http://www.lib.virginia.edu/speccol/jdavis
Electronic Series: Jackson Davis

About the original source:
September 2-3, 1943
in Papers of Jackson Davis [manuscript], 1910-1947.
Author:
, September 2-3, 1943
Note: [Notes about the original source]
Creation date: September 2-3, 1943

Revisions to the electronic version:
February 1, 2000 -- Mike Spaulding, University of Virginia Library
  • Added TEI Header.


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    All usage governed by our conditions of use: http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/conditions.html.

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    September 2-3, 1943
    Cartersville, Virginia
    Ralph P. Bridgman
    Re: Hampton Institute

    RPB telephoned from Richmond and came up and spent the night with me. He was in a troubled state of mind about the call to Hampton. He had just talked with W. W. Alexander and Mordecai Johnson in Washington. WWA advised him not to go to Hampton. He thinks a Negro president ought to be appointed. MJ did not advise against his going and RPB said his talk was helpful but not definite. His conversation reflected the influence of the more extreme group of colored people. He said he thought the white people at Hampton were the smug type and not genuinely altruistic. MJ had told him he would have to get rid of them. RPB was under the impression that Hampton was not attracting as good a type of student as the other colleges. He was critical of the trade courses, and he said the Board of Trustees

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    has little respect on the campus because of their complacency, condescension, and smugness. He thinks this is why Gregg and Howe failed- being associated with persons of that attitude. He thinks he would inherit this bias if he took the job under the present Board and that it would handicap him hopelessly.

    I told him I thought he was mistaken in these sweeping statements. Gregg was greatly handicapped by the appointment of the wrong man in Doermann and he had deferred too much to the Board of Trustees. Phenix, being a school man, took the attitude that the trustees had to be informed and he accomplished an amazing amount of constructive work in a short time. Howe's failure was primarily in postponing a readjustment of staff and program until too late.

    RPB's talks with Howe, Maclean, Alexander, and Johnson had given him a pretty low opinion of Hampton, and he was unwilling to accept the job until a reorganization of the Board was effected. He thought women should be represented and also labor. I agreed that there was need of reorganization, but I doubted if the Board would do this under its present guidance, but thought the Board would be glad to do it under the guidance of a new president in whom they had confidence. I suggested that he point out the changes he wished to make and outline his general policies and then say that he would accept if the Board would be willing to work out these changes and policies. RPB thinks the 50-50 by-law as to white and Negro

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    staff is a bad policy. He is inclined to think that he could not have anything to do with the local community except in ways that could be shared by Negroes. He spoke of admitting white students and thus challenging the law with an issue which he feels must be raised. I pointed out that it was doubtful if he could get any white students. There would be no reason for it except to challenge the law, and, in the long run, the law is the moral Judgment of the people. If he undertook to force issues which would not be supported by the moral judgment of the people, it would solidify and prolong the opposition. The reason for the present segregation laws was the policy of the federal government during the reconstruction regime in trying to force the South against its will. We have lately had another example of federal law which was not supported by the moral judgment of the people in prohibition. This kind of approach was contrary to the spirit and tradition of Hampton. We recognize that aggressive organizations like the NAACP play a useful part, but the Negro must not only be
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    granted his right, he must realize them and measure up to them in skill, intelligence, and responsibility. There is no solution to the problem of a minority race. We can only work to do Justice and improve conditions through broader general education, the spirit of tolerance, and give and take. Hampton was known as a meeting place of different sections and races which emphasized points in common and not differences and developed character and ability so that the Negro could realize opportunities in industry and his full civic rights. The South as a whole is prepared to go much further in granting higher status to Negroes as a matter of right and justice. Witness the movement for salary equalization and the increased opportunity the Negro is getting in trade and industry.

    I told RPB that I did not personally hold many of the views that I had expressed, but I had endeavored to make clear to him what I believed would be the reaction if the federal government or any other external agency attempts to apply force in race relations. It always results in a hollow victory. Real progress is made by throwing all these sanctions behind the best moral judgment of the enlightened people of the South.

    Race tensions subject the president to many emotional strains. This is just part of the day's work, just as the treatment of ill, suffering people is a part of the job of the physician. He gives an understanding hearing, applies his best knowledge, and manages to live his personal life under these limitations. In the matter of the local community and other relationships, RPB would need the counsel of a few wise and unselfish Negroes whom he could trust implicitly. General Armstrong had Booker Washington and Dr. Frissell had Major Moton.


    JACKSON DAVIS