The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 95, July 1991 - April, 1992 Page: 17
598 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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New Deal zn Dallas
the 193os black efforts at contesting the Democratic party's exclusive
policies fell consistently short."
The inability to participate in Democratic primaries severely limited
the political role played by Texas blacks in the 1930s. The Dallas Pro-
gressive Voters League remained active, registering black voters and
endorsing the white candidates who seemed least objectionable. None-
theless, few blacks voted or even paid their poll taxes-only 3,400 in
Dallas and just 400 in Houston in 1935. Since neither city possessed a
political machine that relied on black patronage for continued electoral
success, local Democratic leaders had no reason to liberalize their voting
requirements. Few blacks bothered to seek elective office. In 1935 A. S.
Wells did in Dallas, in a special election to fill.a vacancy in the state legis-
lature. He placed fifth with 1,oo votes as many black registered voters
stayed home, allegedly in response to the Ku Klux Klan's campaign of
intimidation. In 1939 black businessman James B. Grigsby ran for elec-
tion to the Houston school board but received only 689 votes. In an
electorate dominated by whites, blacks' efforts consistently failed to al-
ter election outcomes."
Dallas had a black chamber of commerce, an NAACP chapter, and
other voluntary associations that sought to improve conditions of their
constituents. Generally, their impact was unremarkable, their achieve-
ments few. Limited local resources and the overwhelming bulwark of
custom, coupled with community demoralization, meant that any at-
tempt to improve conditions for blacks would be an uphill struggle.
Most blacks had only the New Deal's relief and recovery programs to
fall back on. Unfortunately, in the tradition-laden southern cities the
New Deal made few inroads. Nor did southern-based federal bureau-
crats launch unpopular reform campaigns. Southerners feared the
New Deal's reputation as liberal on the issue of race, even though
Roosevelt initiated few efforts designed specifically to aid blacks and his
administration's celebrity can best be attributed to the unofficial efforts
of a few activists such as Harold Ickes, Aubrey Williams, and Eleanor
Roosevelt. And as in politics, local administrators exercised consider-
able autonomy in the application of New Deal programs and policies.3
29Barr, Black Texamr, 136; SoRelle, "The Darker Side of 'Heaven,"' 203-205. Also see
Darlene Clark Hlne, Black Victory The Rise and Fall of the White Primary in Texas (Millwood, N.Y.:
KTO Press, 1979).
o Fairbanks, "The Good Government Machine," 130-133; Ralph J. Bunche, The Poltical
Status of the Negro in the Age of FDR, ed. Dewey W. Grantham (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1973), 95, 466, 557; SoRelle, "The Darker Side of 'Heaven,"' 302-303.
" Temple Virginia Strange, "The Dallas Negro Chamber of Commerce: A Study of a Negro
Institution" (M.A thesis, Southern Methodist University, 1945), Barr, Black Texans, 147,
Leedel W. Neyland, "The Negro in Louisiana Since 19oo An Economic and Social Study"
(Ph D diss., New York University, 1958), 66
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 95, July 1991 - April, 1992, periodical, 1992; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117153/m1/45/: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.