Legacies: A History Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas, Volume 3, Number 1, Spring, 1991 Page: 32
40 p. ; 26 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Mrs. Minnie Flanagan
Longtime Board member of the Progressive Voters League
leadership of the PVL developed a five-point platform
to present to the two major civic organizations,
the Citizens' Charter Association and the Forward
Dallas Association. On March 27, 1937, the Dallas
Express published the "Platform of the Voters
League:"
1. A crime reduction campaign which covers
all phases of law and order affecting life
and property of Dallas Negroes, to wit:
Negro policemen...
2. Adequate parks and recreational places
and facilities for the use and enjoyment of
Dallas Negroes.
3. Adequate proration of city work [i.e., a
fair share of city jobs for African Americans
in Dallas].
4. Adequate school facilities.
5. City cooperation on the promotion of
better housing and slum clearance units in
Negro districts.
On the same day the PVL published its
five-point platform, the executive committee also
announced its endorsement of the Forward Dallas
Association's slate of candidates for city council. By
endorsing the FDA, the PVL rejected the candidates
of the Citizens' Charter Association (CCA) and
stated that the organization had never been responsive
to the needs of African Americans in Dallas.
The executive committee stated that, in contrast to
the CCA, the FDA candidates who had served
previously on the city council had proven records
indicating their concern for all citizens of Dallas,
including African Americans. The PVL's endorsement
almost backfired on the FDA, whose opponents
accused its candidates of "making promises to
negroes" in return for their support. FDA candidate
Mike Rice defended the endorsement by stating that
his organization had made only one promise at a
March 16 meeting with the PVL: "that when they
32present matters to the council they will be met not by
deaf ears, but by intelligent, earnest and sympathetic
response."16In the April election the FDA won five of
the nine city council seats, but only after its candidates
faced an April 20 run-off with candidates from
the CCA. Only 14,200 people voted in the general
election, and African Americans made up at least a
third of the electorate that forced the run-off. With
only 14,000 voters participating in the run-off, African
American voters provided the margin of victory
in two key races. In Place 1 they helped FDA
candidate George Sprague defeat his CCA opponent
J. J. Collier, 8,366 to 6,032 votes, and garner a larger
number of votes than any other candidate, a victory
which may have aided Sprague's subsequent election
by the council as mayor. In Place 4, FDA
candidate D. R. Graham finished second in the
general election to his CCA opponent, John
Cullom, 4,796 to 4,852 votes. In the runoff, however,
he defeated Cullom 7,352 to 6,964 votes, and
his victory provided the FDA the fifth seat it needed
to control the city council. The PVL claimed victory
in the election because African Americans had
voted as a bloc for FDA candidates. The election
returns indicated that the black vote had been especially
helpful to the FDA in the April 20 run-off
election. The FDA acknowledged publicly its debt
to African American voters in Dallas.'7
The FDA rewarded the PVL for its support
by acting on several points in the PVL's platform.
During the summer of 1937 the city council began
plans for a new African American high school,
Lincoln High School, which was completed in 1939.
Under the leadership of Mayor Sprague and FDA
city council members, the city also developed Wahoo
Recreation Center for African Americans in
Dallas and increased the number of African Americans
employed in jobs with the city by 300%. In
September 1937 the city council voted to employ
African Americans as police officers in Dallas, al
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Dallas County Heritage Society. Legacies: A History Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas, Volume 3, Number 1, Spring, 1991, periodical, 1991; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth35118/m1/34/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dallas Historical Society.