ment about the property-less laborer who saves from his wages, buys tools, labors
on his own account, and then hires others to help him, thereby inspiring a con-
tinuous cycle of improvement.
The association platform finished with a flourish:
American industry . . . will produce the machines and equipment needed
to defend our freedom. It will do the job with a speed and efficiency that
will astonish the world. American industry is proud too of its ability to
meet the present challenge. It will show that the spirit of freedom is the
strongest power on earth and no amount of slave labor can equal the vol-
untary cooperation of free men. 17
Liberty and Justice for All: In the Matter of Race
When Governor Eugene Talmadge of Georgia took the stump, the cry would
soon arise: “Take off your coat, Gene.” When he did, he would proudly display
his trademark red suspenders. His other trademark was his inveterate attachment
to segregation. This put him on a collision course with the Southern Association
of Colleges and Secondary Schools, which had dropped the accreditation of ten
Georgia institutions of higher learning on the ground of Governor Talmadge’s
“unprecedented and unjustifiable political interference.” 18 At the governor’s insistence, the state’s Board of Regents had dismissed Dr. Marvin Pittman, President of Georgia Teachers College, and Dr. Walter Cocking, Dean of the School
of Education at the University of Georgia, on the ground that they favored the
teaching of whites and Negroes in the same schools.
Affected were the state’s flagship institutions, the University of Georgia at Ath-
ens and the Georgia School of Technology at Atlanta. Other institutions included
the Georgia State College for Women at Milledgeville and the Georgia State
Women’s College at Valdosta. Unaffected were three Negro colleges, two agricul-
tural experiment stations and the medical and law schools. The latter two were not
dropped because they had been accredited by the American Medical Association
and the American Bar Association, respectively.
112 Last Week at Peace: December 1–6, 1941
Informed of the action, the governor pouted: “I hope that The Atlanta Constitu-
tion and The Atlanta Journal are satisfied.” He added he was proud that the university students would not be affected by the ruling. 19
When the Board of Regents at first refused the governor’s request to dismiss
Dean Cocking and President Pittman, the governor preferred charges against both
of them, and these were examined in a brief trial the Association found to be a
“mockery of democratic procedure.”
Having failed before the Board of Regents, even after a rehearing, the governor
sought to reconstitute the Board by obtaining resignations and appointing new
members “for the specific purpose of serving the governor’s will.”
The governor had other weapons in his armory. He had the right to veto any
expenditure in the University system and could achieve his purpose by striking the
names of nonacquiescing faculty members from the payroll. It became clear to the
association that the governor was willing to exercise that power when he boldly
announced that Dean Cocking would not return to the University of Georgia at
the very moment when the Board of Regents was negotiating his reinstatement.
The Association report did not spare the governor. It concluded:
In the light of all the evidence, the Committee is forced to conclude that
the University System of Georgia has been the victim of unprecedented
and unjustifiable political interference; that the Governor of the state has
violated not only sound educational policy but proper democratic proce-
dure in insisting upon the resignation of members of the Board of Regents
in order to appoint to that body men who would do his bidding; that the
Board of Regents had f lagrantly violated sound educational procedure in
dismissals and appointment of staff members . . . that there can be no effec-
tive educational program where this condition exists. . . . 20
It is testimony to the liberalism of youth that the majority of the students
at Georgia Tech thought the action of the Association was justified. When the
Student Council president called a campus meeting to examine the action and its
effects, it expressed concern that many students would stay away in the next aca-
demic term. If there were no demonstrations, there were, as reported in the papers,
“a flock of gripe sessions.” Sophomore Bill Harper called it a “rotten situation,”
and senior J. A. Hodge opined that the people of Georgia would resolve the situa-
tion at the polls in the next year. Tom Campbell of Tullahoma, Tennessee, thought
that the Georgia university system had been set back for ten or fifteen years and
that he himself would not return next year “if Talmadge is still riding the rocks.”
Superior Court Judge Chester A. Byars called the situation a disgrace, opining
that politics would ruin the standing of Georgia schools. There were those who
expressed optimism, without knowing how the situation could be righted. But it
was consoling to think, with the editor of The Griffin Daily News , that the Georgia University students were “the finest youngsters in the land” who wouldn’t be
discouraged by the predicament in which they found themselves.
Friday, December 5, 1941 113
Campus humorists and pranksters found a way to express their opinion. An arch
on the campus was decorated with a sign which read: “Lots for sale—University
being subdivided—see Eugene Talmadge.” 21
Another commentary on the impact of race could be found in the announce-
ment that 16 percent of District of Columbia draft selectees had been rejected on
physical or mental grounds. In stark contrast, one in four black selectees was found
unfit and one in thirty-five whites. 22
Life in These United States
The New York Times editorial writer was a busy man this day. He thought that
the legislation in Congress limiting strikes in defense industries needed some
touching up but that it contained much that was worthy. He said that beyond the
slightest doubt the country was strongly behind the Administration in its deal-
ings with Japan. He congratulated The Chicago Sun on its first day of publication, wishing good luck to a new friend in Chicago. He warned against evils inherent
in defense contracting and called attention to the statement of Senator George
of Georgia that taxes had reached their maximum levels and that any further
increases would do severe damage to the economy.
But in a lighter vein, he noted, or better celebrated, the eighth anniversary of
the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment prohibiting the sale of alcohol. Prohibi-
tion was a sign of that Puritanism which always lay uneasy beneath the surface of
American life. The drys might still cherish hopes for a return of the ban. But per-
haps Prohibition had not been all in vain. The editorialist noted that consumption
of tax-paid liquor per capita had declined from two gallons per capita in 1917 to a
gallon per capita in 1940. Drunkenness was no longer socially acceptable. Repeal
had other benefits, and the editorialist observed that “nobody is now compelled to
drink gin that would have put Mithridates out of business.” The conclusion was a
sober one. Regulation of alcoholic drink was now in the hands of the individual
states, which would deal with it as they and their electorates saw fit. 23
*
The full range of human interest was represented. In a coda to a celebrated trial,
the Houston Chronicle reported that Lucyle Richards, acquitted of murder charges, was on her way to join her husband, Royal Canadian Air Force man Donald
Mosier Taft. 24
One cannot but stand in awe of the scale and scope of the activities of the First
Lady and by the fact that she reported her activities regularly in her widely syndi-
cated daily column “My Day.”
There is an artless quality to her report of finding two hours to labor in her
Christmas closet, in her efforts not to waste string or paper and in her advice never
to open a package when once it has been tied. That same quality illuminates her
regret that the President’s stay at Warm Springs had been cut short but that he
had a wonderful dinner at the Foundation and a good sleep in his cottage. Then
114 Last Week at Peace: December 1–6, 1941
there was the President’s dog Fala who had not accompanied him to Georgia and
stayed behind, a pathetic and lonely object. He spent his nights in the First Lady’s
room crying with little yaps to command her attention. But when the President
returned, Fala “nearly wagged his tail off.”
Mrs. Roosevelt’s activities for the day indicate that she was not distracted by
domestic minutiae from the purposes and goals of an immensely sophisticated and
accomplished woman. On this day, she would attend a sale for the blind at 37th
Street and Fifth Avenue at noon. The next stop was an immigrants’ conference
followed by a meeting with the Henry Street Nurses at 4:30. If she could manage
it, she wrote, she would attend a concert by the celebrated black soprano Dorothy
Maynor for the benefit of the Trade Union League. She hoped to be there for at
least a little while, indicating that her purpose was not so much to enjoy the music
as to demonstrate her support for blacks and for trade unionism.
She enthused over the prospects of a women’s “land army.” Though it might
not be in the province of the Office of Civilian Defense, of which she and Mayor
La Guardia were national cochairs, she thought ways could be found for women
to help farmers as volunteers or paid workers trained and disciplined to do outside
work. 25
*
While the First Lady looked resolutely forward, the social world looked back to
another war. The Atlanta Ladies’ Memorial Association was planning its dia-
mond jubilee for Sunday, December 14, 1941. The purpose of the Association was
to keep fresh the memory and the graves of soldiers of the Lost Cause. The event
would be presided over by Miss Willie Fort Williams, whose grandfather James
Ethelred Williams had been the Mayor of Atlanta from 1866 to 1868. Among
its accomplishments, the Association had raised funds and erected a monument
in memory of the unknown Confederate dead; this, it believed, had inspired
other governments including the United States, to erect memorials for their
unknowns. The Association had placed markers at historic sites indicating the
battle lines of the Battle of Atlanta and it aided annually in the observances of the
April 26 Memorial Day, which was not the May 30 date celebrated by the rest of
the nation. 26 Surely there existed in Atlanta and across the South aged veterans who had worn the uniform and followed the banners of the Confederate States
of America and retained vivid personal memories of the Lost Cause.
*
It was a def lationary age. It is difficult to appreciate the then-current figures for
taxation or defense expenditures without having some sense of the costs of daily
living. A&P, a leading national chain grocer, offered beef or veal roast at 23 cents
a pound, which might be accompanied by Maine potatoes at 25 cents for a ten-
pound bag. Green beans were offered at three pounds for 25 cents and red beans
at two pounds for 9 cents. Oranges were two dozen for 25 cents, or in essence a
penny an orange; lettuce was 8 cents a head. A twelve-pound bag of f lour sold
for 57 cents; many breakfasts could be made with a box of ten packaged cereals
for 19 cents, or a twenty-ounce carton of pancake f lour for 5 cents accompanied
Friday, December 5, 1941 115
by a twelve-ounce bottle of syrup at 13 cents, all washed down with Eight
O’Clock Coffee, at three pounds for 57 cents.
Such figures bring meaning to the prevailing minimum wage of 40 cents per
hour, domestic help at $35 a month, room and board included, and the wages of
skilled craftsman at the then-prosperous rate of a dollar an hour. Economically
things were looking up in December 1941, but prudence and thrift in managing
the family budget were needed every day. 27
Similar price levels were visible across the levels of consumption and of the
economy. Lovers of lobsters could find a deviled fresh stuffed lobster accompa-
nied by fresh broccoli, Hollandaise sauce and allumette potatoes at 85 cents at all
Longchamps restaurants. Browning King offered three embroidered initials free
of charge on its $2 shirts, which might be worn with McCreery’s famous $35
Berkshire suits. Fashion leader Bonwit Teller offered fur-trimmed coats and suits
at $94, and for the higher reaches of society one could choose from a selection
of dance dresses for debutantes at $29.95. These were prosaic indicators of an
economy ready to expand and meet the challenges of a perilous world. 28
*
If the headlines screamed death and destruction, the newspaper reader could find
relief in the back of the paper where the comics reigned. There was something
for everybody. Skippy was a loveable little boy who saw the world through inno-
cent eyes. Gasoline Alley was the odyssey of the American boy growing up in
the twenties and thirties. Unlike other comic characters, Skeezix aged normally
with friends and adventures that led millions of boys across the country to see
him as “one of us.” The adolescence of such boys was ref lected in the soda foun-
tain background and high school activities of Harold Teen.
Then there were the series that reflected a humorous outlook on family life,
surely including The Gumps , Mutt and Jeff and Bringing Up Father to which Jiggs and Maggie brought a pronounced Irish ethnic tone. Blondie has continued to
this day, as have Dagwood’s fumblings, confusions and love of complex sand-
wiches. The comics were an ideal vehicle for stories of adventure— Dick Tracy in the world of crime and punishment, Buck Rogers in the twenty-first century, and
the beautifully drawn Terry and the Pirates in a perilous Orient. Thimble Theater starring Popeye and Olive Oyl was in a category all its own; and critics to this
day applaud the imaginative, if fractured, literacy of Coconino County’s perfect
person, Krazy Kat.
Notes
1.
New York Times , December 5, 1941, 1
2.
New York Times , December 5, 1941, 1
3.
New York Times , December 5, 1941, 4
4.
New York Tim
es , December 5, 1941, 5
5.
New York Times , December 5, 1941, 7
6.
Atlanta Constitution , December 5, 1941, 5
7.
New York Times , December 5, 1941, 1
8.
Houston Chronicle , December 5, 1941, 1
116 Last Week at Peace: December 1–6, 1941
9.
New York Times , December 5, 1941, 4
10. New York Times , December 5, 1941, 4
11. Los Angeles Times , December 5, 1941, 1
12. New York Times , December 5, 1941, 22
13. Chicago Tribune , December 5, 1941, 1
14. Chicago Tribune , December 5, 1941, 15
15. Chicago Tribune , December 5, 1941, 18
16. Chicago Tribune , December 5, 1941, 14
17. New York Times , December 5, 1941, 18
18. Atlanta Constitution, December 5, 1941, 5A
19. Atlanta Constitution , December 5, 1941, 1
20. Atlanta Constitution , December 5, 1941, 5A
21. Atlanta Constitution , December 5, 1941, 8
22. Washington Post , December 5, 1941, 16
23. New York Times , December 5, 1941, 22
24. Houston Chronicle , December 5, 1941, B1
25. Atlanta Constitution , December 5, 1941, 8
26. Atlanta Constitution , December 5, 1941, 3D
27. Atlanta Constitution , December 5, 1941, 2F
28. New York Times , December 5, 1941, 41
10
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1941
A World in Flames
The Russian offensive in the south continued to rack up meaningful gains.
After overrunning some 200 villages, it broke through the German lines around
Taganrog, leaving that town eleven miles behind. To the north, Russian units
had gained some forty miles, then were fanning south in an attempt to cut off
substantial German units.
Temperatures had dropped to thirteen degrees below zero on the Moscow
front, which was the scene of Russian counterattacks to relieve growing German
pressure. German sources claimed to have halted the Soviet drive in the south,
balancing that claim with reports of German gains before Moscow. 1
Britain, no longer alone after the German attack on the Soviet Union, had
addressed notes to Finland, Hungary, and Romania demanding that they cease their
participation in the German attack against Russia. Having received no reply, Britain
then notified them of its declaration of war. The declaration in the case of Finland
Crucible of a Generation Page 19