Chapter VI: Introduction

On Sunday, July 27, 1919, there was a clash of white people and Negroes at a bathing-beach in Chicago, which resulted in the drowning of a Negro boy. This led to a race riot in which thirty-eight lives were lost--twenty-three Negroes and fifteen whites--and 537 persons were injured. After three days of mob violence, affecting several sections of the city, the state militia was called out to assist the police in restoring order. It was not until August 6 that danger of further clashes was regarded as past.

To discuss this serious situation and means of preventing its recurrence, a group of eighty-one citizens, representing forty-eight social, civic, commercial, and professional organizations of Chicago, met on August 1, 1919, at the Union League Club. Mr. Charles W. Folds, president of the Club, presided. Brief addresses were made by Mr. H. H. Merrick, president of the Chicago Association of Commerce, Dr. Graham Taylor, Miss Harriet Vittum, Major John S. Bonner, Mr. Charles J. Boyd, and Rev. William C. Covert.

Resolutions were passed and given to the press, and the following letter to the Governor of Illinois was authorized:

_To His Excellency, Frank O. Lowden_
_Governor of Illinois_

DEAR SIR: A meeting was held today at the Union League Club
to take up the matter of the present race riots.

This meeting was attended by 81 representatives of 48 prominent
civic, professional and commercial organizations, such as
Chicago Medical Association, Chicago Bar Association, Federation
of Churches, Association of Commerce, Packing House Industries,
Urban League, Woman's City Club, Chicago Woman's Club, Foreign
Language Division, representing foreign-born population, etc.

A resolution was adopted unanimously, appointing the undersigned
as a committee to wait upon you and ask that you appoint at
your earliest convenience an emergency state committee to study
the psychological, social and economic causes underlying the
conditions resulting in the present race riot and to make such
recommendations as will tend to prevent a recurrence of such
conditions in the future.

The committee would welcome an opportunity to meet you at any
time convenient to yourself and to talk over with you details
and give you such information as has been gathered through
these various organizations.

Respectfully,

CHARLES W. FOLDS
GRAHAM TAYLOR
WILLIAM C. GRAVES
HARRIET E. VITTUM
T. ARNOLD HILL
FELIX J. STREYCKMANS

In response to this and other urgent requests by various citizens and organizations, and pursuant to his personal knowledge of the situation derived from investigations made by him in Chicago during the period of the riot, Governor Lowden announced on August 20, 1919, the appointment of a Commission on Race Relations, consisting of twelve members, six from each race, as follows--Mr. Bancroft being designated by him as chairman:

Representing the white people: Edgar A. Bancroft, William Scott Bond, Edward Osgood Brown, Harry Eugene Kelly, Victor F. Lawson, Julius Rosenwald.

Representing the Negro people: Robert S. Abbott, George Cleveland Hall, George H. Jackson, Edward H. Morris, Adelbert H. Roberts, Lacey Kirk Williams.[1]

In announcing the appointment of this Commission, Governor Lowden made public the following statement:

I have been requested by many citizens and by many civic
organizations in Chicago to appoint a Commission to study
and report upon the broad question of the relations between
the two races. These riots were the work of the worst element
of both races. They did not represent the great overwhelming
majority of either race. The two are here and will remain here.
The great majority of each realizes the necessity of their
living upon terms of cordial good will and respect, each for
the other. That condition must be brought about.

To say that we cannot solve this problem is to confess the
failure of self-government. I offer no solution of the problem.
I do know, however, that the question cannot be answered by
mob violence. I do know that every time men, white or colored,
take the law into their own hands, instead of helping they
only postpone the settlement of the question. When we admit
the existence of a problem and courageously face it, we have
gone half-way toward its solution.

I have with the utmost care, in response to the requests above
set forth, appointed a Commission to undertake this great
work. I have sought only the most representative men of the
two races. I have not even asked them whether they had views
as to how the question could be met. I have asked them only
to approach the difficult subject with an open mind, and in
a spirit of fairness and justice to all. This is a tribunal
that has been constituted to get the facts and interpret them
and to find a way out. I believe that great good can come out
of the work of this Commission.

I ask that our people, white and colored, give their fullest
co-operation to the Commission. I ask, too, as I have a right to
ask, that both races exercise that patience and self-restraint
which are indispensable to self-government while we are working
out this problem.

During an absence of the chairman, due to ill health, Governor Lowden requested Dr. Francis W. Shepardson, director of the State Department of Registration and Education, to serve as acting chairman. On Mr. Bancroft's return and at the Commission's request, the Governor appointed Dr. Shepardson a member and vice-chairman of the Commission.

The Commission's first meeting was held on October 9, 1919. Nine other meetings were held during the remainder of that year to canvass the possible fields of inquiry, and to provide for the organization of studies and investigations.

The Commission was seriously handicapped at the outset by a complete lack of funds. The legislative session of 1919 had ended before the riot, and the next regular session was not to convene until January, 1921. The Commission felt that it could not with propriety seek to raise funds on its own appeal. To meet this situation a group of citizens offered to serve as a co-operating committee to finance the Commission's inquiry and the preparation and publication of its report. This Committee, consisting of Messrs. James B. Forgan, chairman, Abel Davis, treasurer, Arthur Meeker, John J. Mitchell, and John G. Shedd, gave effective aid, being most actively assisted by Messrs. R. B. Beach and John F. Bowman, of the staff of the Chicago Association of Commerce. Without the co-operation of these gentlemen and the resulting financial assistance of many generous contributors the Commission could not have carried on its work. It here expresses its most grateful appreciation.

The Commission organized its staff, inviting Mr. Graham Romeyn Taylor, as executive secretary, and Mr. Charles S. Johnson, as associate executive secretary, to assume charge of the inquiries and investigations under its direction. They began their work on December 7, 1919.

While the Commission recognized the importance of studying the facts of the riot, it felt that even greater emphasis should be placed on the study and interpretation of the conditions of Negro life in Chicago and of the relations between the two races. Therefore, after a brief survey of the data already collected and of the broad field for its inquiries, it organized into six committees, as follows: Committee on Racial Clashes, Committee on Housing, Committee on Industry, Committee on Crime, Committee on Racial Contacts, Committee on Public Opinion.

Along all these lines of inquiry information was sought in two general ways: through a series of conferences or informal hearings, and through research and field work carried on by a staff of trained investigators, white and Negro. Thus both races were represented in the membership of the Commission, in its executive secretaries, and in the field and office staff organized by the executive secretaries.

It is not without significance that in securing office quarters the Commission found several agents of buildings who declined to make a lease when they learned that Negroes as well as whites were among the prospective tenants. They stated their objections as based, not upon their own prejudices, but upon the fear that other tenants would resent the presence of Negroes. Office space at 118 North La Salle Street was leased to the Commission by the L. J. McCormick estate, beginning February 1, 1920. When these offices were vacated, May 1, 1921, the agents of the estate informed the Commission that no tenant of the building had complained of the presence of Negroes.

By March 1, 1920, the staff of investigators had been organized and was at work. The personnel was recruited as far as possible from social workers of both races whose training and experience had fitted them for intelligent and sympathetic handling of research and field work along the lines mapped out by the Commission.[2]

The period of investigations and conferences or informal hearings lasted until November, 1920. The work of compiling material and writing the various sections of the report had begun in October, 1920. Including its business meetings and thirty conferences the Commission held more than seventy-five meetings; forty of these were devoted to the consideration of the text of the report.

The executive secretaries with their staff collected the materials during 1920, and soon after presented the first draft of a report. This was considered and discussed by the Commission in numerous sessions, and the general outlines of the report were decided upon. Then a second draft, in accordance with its directions, was prepared by subjects, and a copy was submitted to each member of the Commission for suggestions and criticisms. Afterward the Commission met and discussed the questions raised by the different members, and determined upon the changes to be made in substance and form. After the entire report had been thus revised, the Commission in many conferences decided what recommendations to make. These recommendations, with a summary of the report, were then prepared, and were reviewed by the Commission after they had been sent to each member. After full consideration they were further revised and then adopted by the Commission. In all these conferences upon the report, all of the Commissioners, with one exception, conferred frequently and agreed unanimously. Mr. Morris, on account of his duties as a member of the Constitutional Convention, did not attend any of these conferences upon the report, summary, or recommendations, and does not concur in them.

The Commission received the cordial assistance of many agencies, organizations, and individuals. The Chicago Urban League placed at its disposal a large amount of material from its files. It also gave a leave of absence to the head of its Department of Research and Investigation, Mr. Charles S. Johnson, the Commission's associate executive secretary. Many citizens, representing widely divergent lines of interest, who were invited to attend conferences held by the Commission, gave most generously of their time and knowledge. The L. J. McCormick estate donated three months' office rent. Messrs. George C. Nimmons & Company, architects, contributed valuable services, including study and supervision by Frederick Jehnck of their office, in preparing maps and charts designed to present most effectively data collected by the Commission. The Federal Bureau of the Census made available advanced data from the 1920-21 censuses. Superintendent Peter A. Mortensen and many principals and teachers in the Chicago public schools co-operated in the extensive studies of race relations in the schools; and the Committee of Fifteen provided a report showing important facts in the study of environment and crime. The various park boards, many municipal, county, and state officials, superintendents and others connected with industrial plants, trades-union officers, and leaders in many civic and social agencies greatly facilitated investigations in their respective fields. To all these the Commission returns sincere thanks. But, perhaps, the greatest debt of gratitude is due Mr. Ernest S. Simpson, who generously and devotedly gave his spare time for many months to the editing of this report.

The Commission's letter to Governor Lowden summarizing its work, and his answer follow:

January 1, 1921

_Honorable Frank O. Lowden_
_Governor of Illinois_

SIR: Following the race riot in Chicago in July and August,
1919, in which fifteen white people and twenty-three Negroes
were killed and very many of both races were injured, you
appointed us as a Commission on Race Relations "to study and
report upon the broad question of the relations between the
two races." We have completed the investigations planned as
a basis for this study, and are now preparing a final report
of our findings, conclusions and recommendations. This report
will soon be ready.

The Commission began its work in October, 1919, and for eleven
months has had a staff of investigators assisting it in its
activities. While devoting much effort to the study of the
Chicago riot as presenting many phases of the race problem,
the Commission has placed greater emphasis upon the study of
the conditions of life of the Negro group in this community,
and of the broad questions of race relations. It therefore
organized itself into six committees on the following subjects:
Racial Clashes, Housing, Industry, Crime, Racial Contacts,
and Public Opinion.

In these fields the Commission's work has been done along two
main lines:

(_a_) a series of conferences, at which persons believed to
have special information and experience relating to these
subjects have been invited to give the Commission the benefit
of their knowledge and opinions;

(_b_) research and field work by a trained staff of
investigators, both white and Negro, to determine as accurately
as possible, from first-hand evidence, the actual conditions
in the above fields.

The series of conferences, numbering thirty, covered a wide
range of topics, such as: the race riot of 1919 as viewed by
the police, the militia, the grand jury, and state's attorney;
race friction and its remedies; contacts of whites and Negroes
in public schools and recreation places; special educational
problems of Negro children; Negro housing, its needs, type, and
financing, and its difficulties in mixed areas; Negro labor
in relation to employers, fellow-workers, and trade unions;
Negro women in industry; the Negro and social agencies; Negro
health; Negroes and whites in the courts and in correctional
institutions; and the Negro and white press in relation to
public opinion on race relations.

Of two hundred and sixty-three persons invited, one hundred
and seventy-five attended these conferences and presented
their information and views. They represented both races and
various groups and viewpoints; they included educators and
teachers, real estate men, bankers, managers of industrial
plants, housing experts, trades-union leaders, social workers,
physicians, park and playground directors, judges, clergymen,
superintendents of correctional and other institutions, police,
militia, and other public officials, and newspaper editors.

The research and field work done by the staff of investigators
covered in general the same broad range. The character is
indicated by a bare outline of the work in the six main fields:

Racial Clashes: 1919 Chicago riot, seventeen antecedent
clashes; three minor clashes in 1920; brief comparative study
of Springfield riot in 1908 and East St. Louis riot in 1917.

Racial Contacts: In schools, transportation lines, parks,
and other recreation places; contacts in mixed neighborhoods;
adjustment of southern Negro families coming to Chicago; survey
of Negro agencies and institutions.

Housing: Negro areas in Chicago and their expansion 1910-1920;
274 family histories showing housing experience, home life,
and social back-ground, including families from the South; 159
blocks covered in neighborhood survey; financing Negro housing;
depreciation in and near Negro areas; 52 house bombings,
1917-1920.

Industry: Data covering 22,448 Negroes in 192 plants; 101 plants
visited; quality of Negro labor; the widening opportunities and
chance for promotion studied; special study of trades unions
and the Negro worker.

Crime: Police statistics of arrests and convictions of Negroes
and selected nationalities compared and analyzed for six
years[3]; also juvenile court cases; 698 cases (one month) in
three police courts studied, including detailed social data on
Negro cases; also 249 sex cases (two years) in criminal court;
record of eleven penal institutions; environmental survey of
Negro areas.

Public Opinion: Files of white and Negro newspapers studied
to analyze handling of matters relating to race relations;
study of rumor and its effects, and of racial propaganda of
white and Negro organizations.

We believe that the large volume of information collected
will prove, when properly set forth, of great value not only
in Chicago but in other communities where public-spirited
citizens are endeavoring to establish right relations between
the two races. This end can be attained only through a more
intelligent appreciation by both races of the gravity of the
problem, and by their earnest efforts toward a better mutual
understanding and a more sympathetic co-operation.

Hoping that our appreciation of the trust you have reposed in
us may appear in some measure in the aid our report may give
toward working out better race relations, we are,

Very respectfully yours,

(Signed by members of the Commission and its Executive
Secretaries)

* * * * *

STATE OF ILLINOIS
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
SPRINGFIELD

January 3, 1921

MY DEAR MR. BANCROFT:

I have received and read with great interest your letter of
January 1st transmitting to me a detailed statement of the
work of the Chicago Commission on Race Relations appointed by
me after the race riot in Chicago in 1919, which is signed by
yourself as chairman and by the other members of the Commission.

I am greatly pleased to know that the Commission has been
able to accomplish so much through its investigations and
that there has been such hearty co-operation on the part of
many citizens to make the inquiry in this important field as
valuable as possible.

I shall look forward with more than ordinary interest to the
appearance of the completed report in printed form. I suggest
that the Commission arrange for its publication as soon as
possible in order that your findings and recommendations may
be made available to all students of race relations in our
country.

I desire to express to you and through you to the members
of the Commission my great appreciation of the service which
you have rendered to the people of Chicago and of Illinois in
connection with the Commission. I have been advised from time to
time of your continuing interest, your fidelity in attendance
upon the meetings of the Commission, and your earnest desire
to render as accurate a judgment as possible.

Yours very sincerely,

(Signed) FRANK O. LOWDEN

HON. EDGAR A. BANCROFT
_Chairman, Chicago Commission on Race Relations_

In accordance with Governor Lowden's suggestion the Commission herewith presents its report, with findings and recommendations, hoping that it may prove of service in the efforts to bring about better relations between the white and Negro races.

THE PROBLEM

The relation of whites and Negroes in the United States is our most grave and perplexing domestic problem. It involves not only a difference of race--which as to many immigrant races has been happily overcome--but wider and more manifest differences in color and physical features. These make an easy and natural basis for distinctions, discriminations, and antipathies arising from the instinct of each race to preserve its type. Many white Americans, while technically recognizing Negroes as citizens, cannot bring themselves to feel that they should participate in government as freely as other citizens.

Countless schemes have been proposed for solving or dismissing this problem, most of them impracticable or impossible. Of this class are such proposals as: (1) the deportation of 12,000,000 Negroes to Africa; (2) the establishment of a separate Negro state in the United States; (3) complete separation and segregation from the whites and the establishment of a caste system or peasant class; and (4) hope for a solution through the dying out of the Negro race. The only effect of such proposals is to confuse thinking on the vital issues involved and to foster impatience and intolerance.

Our race problem must be solved in harmony with the fundamental law of the nation and with its free institutions. These prevent any deportation of the Negro, as well as any restriction of his freedom of movement within the United States. The problem must not be regarded as sectional or political, and it should be studied and discussed seriously, frankly, and with an open mind.

It is important for our white citizens always to remember that the Negroes alone of all our immigrants came to America against their will by the special compelling invitation of the whites; that the institution of slavery was introduced, expanded, and maintained in the United States by the white people and for their own benefit; and that they likewise created the conditions that followed emancipation.

Our Negro problem, therefore, is not of the Negro's making. No group in our population is less responsible for its existence. But every group is responsible for its continuance; and every citizen, regardless of color or racial origin, is in honor and conscience bound to seek and forward its solution.

Centuries of the Negro slave trade and of slavery as an institution have created, and are often deemed to justify, the deep-seated prejudice against Negroes. They placed a stamp upon the relations of the two races which it will require many years to erase. The memory of these relations has profoundly affected and still affects the industrial, commercial, and social life of the southern states.

The great body of anti-Negro public opinion, preserved in the literature and traditions of the white race during the long, unhappy progress of the Negro from savagery through slavery to citizenship, has exercised a persistent and powerful effect, both conscious and unconscious, upon the thinking and the behavior of the white group generally. Racial misunderstanding has been fostered by the ignorance and indifference of many white citizens concerning the marvelous industry and courage shown by the Negroes and the success they have achieved in their fifty-nine years of freedom.

The Negro race must develop, as all races have developed, from lower to higher planes of living; and must base its progress upon industry, efficiency, and moral character. Training along these lines and general opportunities for education are the fundamental needs. As the problem is national in its scope and gravity, the solution must be national. And the nation must make sure that the Negro is educated for citizenship.

It is of the first importance that old prejudices against the Negroes, based upon their misfortunes and not on their faults, be supplanted with respect, encouragement, and co-operation, and with a recognition of their heroic struggles for self-improvement and of their worthy achievements as loyal American citizens.

Both races need to understand that their rights and duties are mutual and equal, and that their interests in the common good are identical; that relations of amity are the only protection against race clashes; that these relations cannot be forced, but will come naturally as the leaders of each race develop within their own ranks a realization of the gravity of this problem and a vital interest in its solution, and an attitude of confidence, respect, and friendliness toward the people of the other race.

All our citizens, regardless of color or racial origin, need to be taught by their leaders that there is a common standard of superiority for them all in self-respect, honesty, industry, fairness, forbearance, and above all, in generous helpfulness. There is no help or healing in appraising past responsibilities, or in present apportioning of praise or blame. The past is of value only as it aids in understanding the present; and an understanding of the facts of the problem--a magnanimous understanding by both races--is the first step toward its solution.