Mr. Will Maslow
Director of Field Operations
Clarence M. Mitchell
Associate Director of Field Operations
Weekly Report for the Week Ending Saturday, March 3, 1945
March 5, 1945
IMPORTANT EVENTS AND PROBLEMS
For a second time in two weeks I am listing the Macon Vocational Training Program under important events in this weekly report.1 I do this because an entirely new series of events presented themselves this week showing the type of opposition we face in moving forward in Region VII. After the War Manpower Commission, the Navy, and our office had ironed out the question of getting Negroes employed at the company, the local school board finally gave in and agreed to assist in the establishing of a course. This week I discovered in checking with the War Production Board, at the request of the region, that certain data needed for the granting of a priority had been sloppily and improperly presented by the local representatives either in the training field (non-Federal employees) or the War Production Board in Atlanta. This presentation resulted in the cancellation of a priority request for lathes and drill presses and the granting of a lower priority for sewing machines. I am glad to report that we were able to straighten out these kinks with the assistance of a very able and energetic person in the War Manpower Commission, Mrs. Marie Smoot, Administrative Analyst. The Textile Division of the War Production Board in Washington was also cooperative. It now appears that the training will get underway and Region VII will deserve considerable credit for its persistent work on this case.
I treat this at some length because the work done by the regional office on cases of this kind shows up on a statistical report as one case. However, the one case in this instance was many times more difficult and time consuming than several dozen other cases in a more favorable area. For the sake of continuity as soon as I am informed that the Negro individuals are actually in the classes, I will include that information in a future weekly report.2 At the risk of seeming sentimental on this point, I wish to include the thought that it is cases of this kind which translate telephone calls, memoranda, and conferences into the tangible result of individuals on jobs who previously had no chance of getting them because of race.
At my request the U. S. Office of Education this week submitted a report on the number of training courses offered for the Consolidated Vultee Corporation in Fort Worth, Texas. I have submitted these to the Legal Division as a supplement to the file. Also, I wired the Legal Division’s position on the proposed plan for using Negroes to Mr. Ellinger.3
This week I took action on a new case from North Carolina involving the Machinists Union. Although the basic issue of exclusion practiced by the Machinists Union is as yet unresolved, it occurred to me that this would be an important opportunity to bring one of the pending cases up-to-date. It also affords an opportunity to test out certain statements made by Mr. Harvey Brown, President of the Machinists, in a conference with Messrs. Hook and Evans of Region IV.4
I have treated at some length the conference with Mr. Robert Goodwin, Executive Director of the War Manpower Commission, in a separate memorandum.5
Region VII informed me this week that the Aluminum Company of America was expected to employ one thousand soldiers released from the Air Corps for production. I have taken this matter up with the War Department since we have a pending case against this company. The region also reports that ALCOA does not properly utilize Negro labor.6
A new report from the Post Office Department came in this week on the Houston Post Office in Houston, Texas. Although the report indicates that Negro women are now being employed and apparently resolved one of the issues in the case, the other items were treated in a very negative fashion and it will be necessary to make a careful analysis of the file before taking further action.7
ASSIGNMENTS
The following cases were received from the regions:
- Watson Bros. Transfer Company, 9-BR-414.
- International Association of Machinists, 4-UR-502 (2/14/45).
- Wright Automatic Machinery Company, 4-BR-510 (2/14/45).
The following FDR’s were received and acted upon by me during the past week:
| Region VI— | 4 | Region VIII— | 1 | |||
| Region VII— | 1 | Region XII— | 11 |
| cc: | Mr. Davidson |
| Mr. Davis | |
| Mr. Johnson | |
| Mr. Jones |
MS: copy, FEPC RG228, Office Files of Clarence Mitchell, DNA.
[1] See report of 2/26/45. For other efforts to provide training opportunities in Macon, Georgia, see 12/4, 12/11, 12/18, 12/26, 12/29/44.
[2] No such information has been found.
[3] See the headnote on the Aircraft Industry. For the Legal Division’s position on the Vultee plan, see Mitchell to W. Don Ellinger, teletype, 2/28/45, which states the position as follows:
Quote. Understand company’s plan is to be as follows: Negroes are to be transferred on segregated basis to certain occupations in drop hammer and foundry departments, whites now in those occupations to be transferred to other departments and whites in other occupations in drop hammer and founry departments to remain there; Negroes so transferred are to be trained for upgrading in drop hammer and foundry departments to occupations temporarily retained by whites; additional Negroes are to be recruited to replace those transferred; and plan is to be extended to other departments if successful.
Quote. Assume that upgrading of Negroes within drop hammer and foundry departments is contemplated only on a segregated basis, i.e., when enough Negroes qualify to take over other occupations, with ultimate result of departmental rather than occupational segregation. Assume that recruitment to replaced Negroes transferred is to be on segregated basis also, thereby maintaining segregation at the lower job levels. Effort therefore is simply an extension of the system of department segregation. Extension of such a system is not in any sense a step toward compliance because it cannot possibly lead to equal job opportunity.
Quote. Only possible basis on which such a plan could be considered would be if upgrading within drop hammer and foundry departments were to be accomplished as Negroes qualified individually and if recruitment for replacement purposes were non-discriminatory, even though few if any whites would be available for such recruitment. With these modifications plan might be acceptable as a step toward compliance, provided that we reserved the right to process individual cases of discrimination and that the plan covered most of our outstanding complaints. Unquote.
Mitchell’s 8/28/45 telegram confirmed the information Ellinger had provided the associate director in a memorandum on 2/9/45. HqR3, Office Files of George M. Johnson. Clarence Mitchell.
[4] See the section on the International Association of Machinists in the headnote on the FEPC and Unions.
[5] See Mitchell, memorandum, 2/28/45.
[6] Mitchell informed Truman K. Gibson, civilian aide to the secretary of war, that the FEPC’s regional office had forwarded a front-page story in the Knoxville News-Sentinel 2/11/45, that reported the army’s intention to send one thousand men to ALCOA. Given ALCOA’s practice of racial discrimination, Mitchell wanted to know whether the War Department had examined the firm’s hiring policies before agreeing to use military personnel to ease its labor shortages. Mitchell told Gibson that the Committee’s regional staff would be available to work with the War Department to obtain a “greater utilization of Negro labor.” The War Department subsequently responded that black laborers had not in fact been available in the area when the army personnel were sent in. Mitchell to Gibson, 2/27/45, HqR67, Central Files. Reports, U.S. Government,War Department. For FEPC complaints regarding ALCOA, see also 5/1, 7/31, 9/14/43, 5/24/44.
[7] See the section on the Post Office Department in the headnote on Relationships with Federal Agencies.
Document Information
Date:
Author:
Recipient:
All People
All Organizations
Additional Details
Object Type:
Manuscript Type:
Volume:
Volume Page Number:
473-476
Source Variation:
FEPC RG 228, Office Files of Clarence Mitchell, DNA.