After issuing a $3 million bond offering: “Westinghouse High School to Be Completed,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dec. 22, 1920, p. 5.
“Tough on Black Asses”: Dahl, Morning Glory, p. 38.
Erroll Garner was the baby: Whitney Balliett, “Being a Genius,” The New Yorker, Feb. 22, 1982, pp. 59–72.
Billy Strayhorn stood out: Hajdu, Lush Life, pp. 13–15.
When he was nineteen: “Convention Highlights,” Pittsburgh Courier, Sep. 1, 1934, p. 7.
Continuing to work at Pennfield Drug Store: Hajdu, Lush Life, pp. 30–45.
Billy began to work on a solo piano piece: Ibid., pp. 34–36.
One of those places was a small club: Ibid., p. 43; John M. Brewer Jr., African Americans in Pittsburgh (Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing, 2006), p. 53.
Teddy Horne was an unlikely racketeer: Gail Lumet Buckley, The Hornes: An American Family (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1986, Applause paperback), pp. 3–106.
By the time Lena was sixteen: Lena Horne and Richard Schickel, Lena (New York: Doubleday, 1965), pp. 45–76.
Teddy Horne surfaced again: Ibid., pp 77–103.
the Courier ran a story: “ ‘Love at First Sight’ Romance Ends at Altar,” Pittsburgh Courier, Jan. 23, 1937.
Within another month Lena was pregnant: Horne and Schickel, Lena, pp. 87–88.
the biggest news of the year: “Lena Horne Accepts Hollywood Film Offer,” Pittsburgh Courier, Feb. 5, 1938, p. 20.
Woogie’s little brother: Laurence Glasco, “An American Life, An American Story: Charles ‘Teenie’ Harris and Images of Black Pittsburgh,” in Cheryl Finley, Laurence Glasco, and Joe W. Trotter, Teenie Harris Photographer: Image, Memory History (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011), p. 11.
But it was a very different scene: “Refuses to Appear at Premiere of Own Film,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 18, 1938, p. 20.
But the gossips didn’t know the full story: Horne and Schickel, Lena, p. 91.
So when Lena received another show business offer: Ibid., pp. 91–97.
When Lena told her father: Ibid., pp. 97–98.
the experience of singing with Charlotte Catlin: Ibid., pp. 99–100.
it wasn’t enough to save Lena’s marriage: Ibid., pp. 100–3.
Billy left for New York on an odyssey that began: Hajdu, Lush Life, pp. 47–63.
Then a showdown in the music industry: Ibid., pp. 81–88.
While Duke was there: Ibid., pp. 90–92.
Fleeing Pittsburgh for New York: Horne and Schickel, Lena, pp. 105–21; Buckley, The Hornes, pp. 137–47.
They began a secret affair: Buckley, The Hornes, pp. 145–47.
Duke helped convince her: Horne and Schickel, Lena, pp. 122–26.
One of the first things Billy and Lena talked about: Hajdu, Lush Life, p. 94.
Billy and Lena became inseparable: Horne and Schickel, Lena, pp. 124–26; Hajdu, Lush Life, pp. 95–97.
the awful news about Pearl Harbor: Horne and Schickel, Lena, p. 125.
6. THE DOUBLE V WARRIORS
When Percival Leroy Prattis left Chicago: Charles A. Rosenberg, “Percival L. Prattis: The Pittsburgh Courier’s Man in Chicago,” Western Pennsylvania History, Fall 2014, pp. 48–60.
Lillian fled to New York again” “Talk O’ Town,” Pittsburgh Courier, March 13, 1937, p. 9.
When Prattis proposed marriage: Rosenberg, “Percival L. Prattis,” p. 58.
he was seen as an outsider: P.L. Prattis, unpublished “Autobiography,” University of Pittsburgh Archives, Collection no. AIS.2007.01.
Prattis was also not charmed: Rosenberg, “Percival L. Prattis,” p. 58.
Drafted at the age of twenty-two: Percival Leroy Prattis WI Registration Card and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs benefits application, ancestry.com.
After World War I: Andrew Buni, Robert L. Vann of the Pittsburgh Courier (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1974), pp. 299–300.
For Vann, it had been a sobering time: Ibid., pp. 203–21.
a near-fatal skull fracture: “Local Attorney Critically Hurt,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sep. 16, 1933, p. 1.
While the Vanns were in Los Angeles: Robert L. Vann, “Saw Shirley Temple . . . and Bill Robinson,” Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 23, 1935, p. 17.
In a mordant letter”: Buni, Robert L. Vann, p. 221.
P.L. Prattis sent Vann a letter: Prattis, unpublished “Autobiography.”
The war correspondent idea: Buni, Robert L. Vann, pp. 244–48.
Vann gave himself the assignment: Robert L. Vann, “Hitler Salutes Jesse Owens,” Pittsburgh Courier, Aug. 8, 1936, p. 1.
But in Vann’s letters home: Buni, Robert L. Vann, p. 259.
Jesse Vann hosted a welcome home picnic: “The Courier ‘Gang’ Welcomes The Chief Home!,” Pittsburgh Courier, Sep. 5, 1936, p. 9.
Vann threw the Courier’s clout: Buni, Robert L. Vann, pp. 264–72.
The rift would break wide open: Ibid., pp. 277–81, 291–93.
Three issues in particular rankled him: Ibid., pp. 283–84.
Vann’s high-minded opposition: “Editorial of the Day: Changing the Supreme Court,” Chicago Daily Tribune, March 7, 1937, p. 15.
Vann himself was touted: Buni, Robert L. Vann, pp. 285–86; “Head of the National Bar Association Endorses Vann for Supreme Court,” Pittsburgh Courier, Jan. 22, 1938, p. 2.
As Mencken put it: “The Unchanging Mencken,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 5, 1938, p. 4.
“We will never get anything”: Buni, Robert L. Vann, p 286.
Vann’s third and most passionate cause: Ibid., pp. 299–313.
In the letter: Pittsburgh Courier, April 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, May 7, 21, 1938, all p. 14.
an unlikely source: Buni, Robert L. Vann, pp. 306–10.
a second audience with Roosevelt: “Courier Editor Discusses Farm Bill, Negro Division with President Roosevelt,” Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 5, 1938, p. 1.
Vann refused to give up: Buni, Robert L. Vann, pp. 310–12.
the Courier congratulated itself: “We Thank All Who Helped Us,” Pittsburgh Courier, Sep. 28, 1940, p. 1.
he wrote his friend Claude Barnett: Rosenberg, “Percival L. Prattis,” p. 58.
he had been diagnosed with abdominal cancer: Buni, Robert L. Vann, pp. 316–18.
“You cannot afford”: Ibid., p 317.
But on an October morning in 1940: “Talk O’ Town,” Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 2, 1940, p. 9.
within days he slipped into a coma: “Courier Editor Succumbs Fighting,” Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 2, 1940, p. 1.
“NATION EULOGIZES VANN”: Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 2, 1940, pp. 1, 3.
FDR didn’t need the Courier’s backing in 1940: Buni, Robert L. Vann, pp. 322–23.
Hundreds of mourners attended: “Notables from All Sections of Country Attend Last Rites for Robert L. Vann,” Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 2, 1940, p. 28.
Floral tributes were sent: “Floral Tributes to Robert L. Vann,” Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 2, 1940, p. 4.
Vann’s casket to Homewood Cemetery: Buni, Robert L. Vann, p. 323.
P.L. Prattis and dozens of other mourners stayed behind: Teenie Harris Archive, photo no. 2001.35.18388.
P.L. Prattis embarked on a mission: “Gladden the Heart,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 26, 1941, p. 15.
In a series of articles: “Sent Illiterates to Skilled Units,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 14, p. 2; “Race Soldiers May Get Officers Training in Army Schools If—,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 31, 1941, p. 1.
Then on an August night at Fort Bragg: “Ft. Bragg’s ‘Night of Terror,’ ” Pittsburgh Courier, Aug. 16, 1941, p. 1.
the NAACP called for an investigation: “Developments!,” Pittsburgh Courier, Aug. 16, 1941, p. 1.
an unprecedented response: “Was in Command at Fort Bragg on ‘Night of Terror,’ ” Pittsburgh Courier, Oct. 18, 1941, p. 1; “Successful Courier Campaign Places Negro M.P.’s at Fort Bragg,” Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 22, 1941, p. 13.
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sp; “We Remember 1919”: Pittsburgh Courier, Feb. 7, 1942, p. 13.
In another column: “Rogers Says,” Pittsburgh Courier, Jan. 24, 1942, p. 7.
Prattis set out to discover the sailor’s name: Transcript of Frank Bolden interview for The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords, a film by Stanley Nelson, pbs.org/blackpress.
“MESSMAN HERO IDENTIFIED!”: Pittsburgh Courier, March 14, 1942, p. 1.
A bill was introduced in Congress: “Congressional Medal Sought for Dorie Miller,” Pittsburgh Courier, March 21, 1942, p. 1.
Instead, Knox hastily arranged: “Navy Cross for Dorie Miller,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 16, 1942, p. 1.
James Gratz Thompson was a cafeteria worker: George S. Schuyler, “ ‘Make Democracy Real,’ Says Double V Originator,” Pittsburgh Courier, April 18, 1942, p. 5.
he wrote a letter to the Courier: “Should I Sacrifice to Live ‘Half-American’?,” Pittsburgh Courier, Jan. 31, 1942, p. 3.
Holloway’s drawing appeared: Pittsburgh Courier, Feb. 7, 1942, p. 1.
The response from Courier readers: “Race Unites for Drive to Secure Real Democracy,” Pittsburgh Courier, March 7, 1942, p. 12.
In the next edition, the editors officially announced: Pittsburgh Courier, Feb. 14, p. 1.
Beatrice Williams: Pittsburgh Courier, Feb. 21, 1942, p. 1.
Singer Marian Anderson: Pittsburgh Courier, March 7, 1942, pp. 12–13.
the National Baptist Convention: “NBC Baptists Endorse Courier’s ‘Double V’ Drive,” Pittsburgh Courier, March 21, p. 15.
on behalf of the NAACP: “NAACP Joins Courier’s ‘Double Victory,’ ” Pittsburgh Courier, May 23, 1942, p. 4.
The Pullman Porters and Maids Association: “Future of Negro Depends on ‘VV’—Porters,” Pittsburgh Courier, Sep. 5, 1942, p. 15.
the United Automobile Workers: “UAW Endorses ‘Double V,’ ” Pittsburgh Courier, Aug. 15, 1942, p. 6.
Thomas Dewey: “Denounces Limit Placed on Negro in War Efforts,” Pittsburgh Courier, Feb. 28, 1942, p. 1.
Pearl Buck: “ ‘Racial Predjudices Must Go,’ Pearl Buck Warns in Speech,” Ibid.
From Hollywood: Pat Washburn, “The Pittsburgh Courier’s Double V Campaign in 1942,” presented at Annual Meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism, August 1981, p. 5.
Clare Boothe Luce: “Clare Luce Asks for ‘Double V’ in America,” Pittsburgh Courier, Nov. 28, 1942, p. 15.
the campaign even had a theme song: “Razaf, Johnson to Compose ‘Double V’ Song,” Pittsburgh Courier, March 14, 1942, p. 21; “Louis Jordan Will Feature ‘Double V’ Song on Tour,” Pittsburgh Courier, June 20, 1942, p. 21.
Double V hairdo: Pittsburgh Courier, May 30, 1942, p. 24.
“Double V Girl of the Week”: Pittsburgh Courier, March 28, p. 1.
Double V bathing suit contests: Pittsburgh Courier, Sep. 5, 1942, p. 15.
membership in “Double V Clubs”: Washburn, “Double V Campaign,” pp. 1, 8–9.
a very different response in Washington: Patrick S. Washburn, A Question of Sedition: The Federal Government’s Investigation of the Black Press During World War II (New York: Oxford University Press, 1986), pp. 41–65.
“When are you going to indict the seditionists?”: Geoffrey R. Stone, Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime from the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terrorism (New York: W. W. Norton, 2004), pp. 256–57.
FBI agents began showing up: “Cowing the Negro Press,” Pittsburgh Courier, March 14, 1942, p. 6.
“expressed dissatisfaction”: Patrick S. Washburn, The African American Newspaper: Voice of Freedom (Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 2006), p. 167.
“Hoover’s flunkies”: Washburn, A Question of Sedition, p. 84.
The report singled out a brief account: “ ‘Now Is the Hour to Strike for Race Justice’—Powell,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 2, 1942, p. 4.
he reached out directly to Roosevelt: Washburn, A Question of Sedition, p. 87.
Instead of Prattis, it was John Sengstacke: Ibid., pp. 87–92.
When Sengstacke arrived at the Justice Department: Ethan Michaeli, The Defender: How the Legendary Black Newspaper Changed America (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016), pp. 246–48.
one of the three most influential crusades: Washburn, The African American Newspaper, p. 144.
virtually all of the nearly one thousand articles: Washburn, “Double V Campaign,” pp. 14–26.
director Stanley Nelson suggested: “Section 4: Treason?,” in Study Guide Index for The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords, a film by Stanley Nelson, pbs.org/blackpress.
its wartime financial windfall: Washburn, A Question of Sedition, p. 133.
a new sense of optimism: “1942 in Retrospect Shows Gains Outweigh Losses,” Pittsburgh Courier, Jan. 2, 1943, p. 5.
In one photo, smiling riveters: “Air Force Signs Women Mechanics,” Pittsburgh Courier, Dec. 19, 1942, p. 11.
When the Courier recapped the year: Pittsburgh Courier, Jan. 2, 1943, p. 5.
“We Gain by War”: Pittsburgh Courier, Oct. 10, 1942, p. 13.
When Courier reporter Frank Bolden reflected back: Washburn, African American Newspaper, p. 162.
ten accredited war correspondents: John D. Stevens, “From the Back of the Foxhole: Black Correspondents in World War II,” Journalism Monographs, no. 27, Feb. 1973, p. 10. Of the ten Courier war correspondents, three—Frank Bolden, Fletcher Martin, and George Padmore—were also assigned to black newswires.
lift its circulation to all-time high: “Taxes Owed, U.S. Claims,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Nov. 21, 1967.
Blazing trails was nothing new: “Biography,” Frank E. Bolden Papers, University of Pittsburgh Library System, Collection no. AIS.2008.05, May 2010.
Vann offered him a full-time job: Bolden interview in Frank Bolden: The Man Behind the Words, a film by Daniel Love, 2001.
a gift for coining colorful phrases: “Reporter, Raconteur Frank Bolden Dies at 90,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Aug. 29, 2003, p. 1.
Under War Department rules: Michael S. Sweeney, “Press Accreditation During WWII,” nojobforawoman.com.
As soon as Bolden arrived at Fort Huachuca: “ ‘Arizona Is No Place for Negro Soldiers,’ ” Pittsburgh Courier, Jan. 13, 1934, p. 7; Truman K. Gibson, Knocking Down Barriers: My Fight for Black America (Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 2005), pp. 156–62.
Bolden labored to turn the drudgery of tank maneuvers: “Fort Huachuca Division Looks Good in Bayonet and Gas Mask Drills,” Pittsburgh Courier, July 4, 1942, p. 20.
To bypass the military censors: Bolden interview in Love, Frank Bolden: The Man Behind the Words.
After one story about a gunfight: “Three Soldiers Wounded in Huachuca Gun Battle,” Pittsburgh Courier, July 11, 1942, p. 12.
a troubled marriage: Frank E. Bolden Papers, Folders 46–48.
But unhappily for Rouzeau: “The Courier’s Edgar T. Rouzeau Is at the War Front!,” Pittsburgh Courier, July 18, 1942, p. 1.
Seven months passed before Rouzeau: “Negro Troops Land in Liberia on Sunday,” Pittsburgh Courier, Dec. 12, 1942, p. 19.
FDR inspected black troops in the field: “Roosevelt Reviews Famed 41st,” Pittsburgh Courier, Feb. 6, 1943, p. 1.
the squadron was treated like an “orphan” unit: “U.S. Gambled Millions; 99th Made Good—Rouzeau,” Pittsburgh Courier, Dec. 11, 1943.
Time magazine reported: “Army & Navy—Experiment Proved?,” Time, Sep. 20, 1943.
Rouzeau’s upbeat accounts: “99th Pilots Tell of Death-Defying Moments,” Pittsburgh Courier, Oct. 16, 1943, p. 2.
a story entitled “A Behaviour Pattern”: Newsweek, March 26, 1945, p. 37.
In The New York Times: “Americans Lose Ground in Italy,” New York Times, Feb. 14, 1945, p. 5.
P.L. Prattis had made two unlikely choices: “Eight Courier Men Gave You Ringside Seats During European Campaigns,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 12, 1945, p. 5; “Collins George Dead: He Was First Black C
ritic,” Detroit Free Press, Feb. 16, 1980, p. 3.
Almond also told the black troops: Gibson, Knocking Down Barriers, p. 185.
the Buffalos were widely mocked: Mary Penick Motley, ed., The Invisible Soldier: The Experience of the Black Soldier, World War II (Detroit, Mich.: Wayne State University Press, 1987), pp. 258–59.
But the Buffalos never forgot Collins George: “Collins George Made Blacks Feel Like Heroes,” Detroit Free Press, March 13, 1980, p. 8.
a frustrating ordeal: P.L. Prattis, “Days of Courier Past . . . ,” in Henry G. La Brie III, ed., Perspectives of the Black Press: 1974 (Kennebunkport, Maine: Mercer House Press, 1974), p. 71.
arrived at the beaches of Normandy two weeks later: “My Trip Across the Channel,” Pittsburgh Courier, July 22, 1944, p. 9.
Stanford arrived in France: “New Courier Writer Abroad,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 10, 1945, p. 1.
In Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan: Linda Hervieux, Forgotten: The Untold Story of D-Day’s Black Heroes, at Home and at War (New York: Harper, 2015), p. 263.
a minor hero of Billy Rowe himself: “93rd Warriors Trap Japanese” and “Billy Rowe Aids Wounded Soldiers,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 6, 1944, p. 1.
Bolden’s excitement was palpable: “Army, Navy ‘One Big Family’ on Transport to Middle East,” Pittsburgh Courier, Aug. 5, 1944, p. 3.
It was the desert monarchy of Iran: “Our Troops in Gulf of Persia Master Language of Natives,” Pittsburgh Courier, Oct. 7, 1944, p. 18.
the most ambitious engineering project of the war: Anand Sankar, “On the Road to China,” Business Standard, May 24, 2008, business-standard.com.
“They don’t need engineers here”: “Engineers Keep Supplies Moving Through Deluge,” Pittsburgh Courier, Aug. 4, 1945, p. 18.
Bolden described the mission as “Green Hell”: “Tan Yank Engineering Feat Was ‘Impossible,’ ” Pittsburgh Courier, April 14, 1945, p. 19.
The nearest “Negro Rest Club”: “GIs Get New Rest Camp in India-Burma Theatre,” Pittsburgh Courier, March 31, 1945, p. 19.
When the Ledo Road finally reached China: “Deny Move on to Keep Tan GIs Out of China,” Pittsburgh Courier, Feb. 17, 1945, p. 15.
When Bolden ran into two old friends: “Pittsburgh Boys Enjoy Happy Reunion on Stilwell Road,” Pittsburgh Courier, Jan. 30, 1945, p. 3.
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