Legacies: A History Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas, Volume 3, Number 1, Spring, 1991 Page: 35
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the African American community, and there was
conflict over which faction should represent and
lead the African American electorate. Moreover, in
the 1960s African Americans in Dallas began to win
elective office, and the new officeholders enjoyed
more political influence than the leaders of the PVL.
Although the PVL survived the changed political
climate and remained a factor in Dallas politics, it
would never again have the power or the ability to
mobilize the black electorate as it did in the 1930s
and 1940s.'5
'The quote Is from the Ti \t Ri tci(l Sltatutc. Artile 3107 (1925) and cited n Darlene Clark Hine
'The Elusive Ballot The Black Struggle Against the Texas Democratic White Primary,
1932-1945," Southtwistcti n iHistort-( al Qiiartc-rl, 81 (April 1978) 373 See also Donald
Strong, "The Rise of NegroVoting in Texas." Anmerican Politii al S( ien( e Review, 42
(June 1948)51 1-12
'The white primary cases cited are Ni \on v Herndon, 273 U. S. 536 (1927), Nitxon
Iv Conlw, 286 U S 73(1932), and Grovecv i Townsend, 295 U S 45(1935) See also
Darlene Clark Hine, Blatr I ( to N 7The Rise anti Fall of the White Prima-r in Te-xav
(Millwood, New York 1979). Conrey Bryson, "Dr Lawrence A Nixon and the Whire
Primary," SouthwesteCin Studies 42 (El Paso- 1974): and Steven Lawson, Black
Ballots I otlng Rights ii the Souith. 1944-1969 (New York 1976)
'Donald Strong, "The Poll Tax The Case of Texas," Anmei-c an Politic al Sc ien e
Review, 38 (August 1944) 693-709, Dallas Express, October 6, 1928, Hine, "The
Elusive Ballot." p 372
4Dallas Ep ess, November 1. 1919, January 7, 1928, February 2, 1928, October
6, 1928.
'"Dallas Negro Chamber o Commerce History," n d ,six pages,n the Dallas Negro
Chamber of Commerce Manuscript Collection, Texas/Dallas History and Archives
Divsion, Dallas Public Library, Dallas Mointsl NewMs, July 17, 20, 21, 24, 1934,
Temple V Strange, "The Dallas Negro Chamber of Commerce A Study of a Negro
Institution" (M A Thesis, Southern Methodist University, 1945), Dallas Extpress, May
2. 1942
"Dallas Ex\lpess, February 25, 1928, March 30, 1935, May 11, 1935, Dallas
Mo/1 nsg News, January 4 1929 July 29, 1934, November 14, 1935, Robert Fairbanks,
"From Consensus to Controversy The Rise and Fall of Public Housing in Dallas,"
Legactes, I (Fall 1989), 2 37-43, Bruce A Glasrun. "Jim Crow's Emergence in
Texas," ,4nil e( an Situldies, 15 (Spring 1974) 47-60.
'Dallas Moi nn1g Ne s, February 24 and March 1, 1935, Dallas E.xpress, March
2, 9, 16, 23, 30, 1935, J Mason Brewer, Negro Legislators and Their Descendants A
History of the Negro in Texas Politics from Reconstruction to Disfranchisement
(Dallas 1935). pp 118-19. Dale Miller, "Should Negroes Vote in Democratic
Primaries." 7'eas iWeeklU, April 6, 1935, p 2 A sample ballot containing all sixty
names for the 50th District, Place 3, State Representative seat can be found in the
Minnie A Flanagan Papers, an uncatalogued manuscript collection at the Dallas
Historical Society Mrs Flanagan was a member of the PVL Executive Committee A
Maceo Smith's story about being approached by "an important Dallas banker" can be
found in two sources John D Boswell, "Negro Participation in the 1936 Texas
Centennial Exposition" (unpublished manuscript, 1969), 35 pages, in the A Maceo
Smith papers in the possession of his wife, Mrs Fannie Smith. and in an interview with
Smith by Dorothy Irwin, January 12, 1977, cassette tape, Texas/Dallas History &
Archives Division Dallas Public Library In both interviews, Smith refused to reveal
the name of the banker
hDallas E\pi (ess, March 23, 1935
"Ild . May I , 1935 Reverend Maynard H Jackson, Sr, is the father of Maynard
H Jackson, Jr, the Dallas native who has served two terms as mayor of Atlanta,
Georgia In an interview in the Dallas Tinime Herald, March 24, 1974, Mayor Jackson
discussed his father's involvement in Dallas politics in the 1930s and 1940s The
Jackson family moved from Dallas to Atlanta in 1945 See the tribute to Reverend
Jackson in the Dallas E\pcess, May 5, 1945
"'Dallas E\lp ess, September 14, 1935, November 23 and 30, 1935, January 4 and
'5, 1936, and February 1. 1'36
lihli, June 8, 1935, March 7, 1936, August 29, 1936, December 19, 1936. A
Maceo Smith discussed how he raised the funds for the Hall of Negro Life in interviews
with the Dallas Moiniln, Nws', May 3, 1973, and with Dorothy Irwin, January 12,
1977 Jesse O Thomas, Nei, o Pai ti( ipation in the Textas Centennlial E.tposition
(Boston 1938) pp 13-14, also discusses how funds were raised for African American
participation in the Centennial
"Note that even in 1936, "Negro Achievement Day" was also seen as "segregation
day" by some of the critics of the state's practice of designating only one day during
the State Fair when Atrican Americanscould attend See Boswell, "Negro Participation
in the Centennial," Maceo Smith interview with Dorothy Irwin; and Thomas, Negro
Pail tl patio in their Clentennial, Michael L Gillette, "The Rise of the NAACP in
Texas," Solthwvsteiln Histo( tia Qluaterl ., 81 (April 1978) 4. 393-4, W Marvin
Dulaney, "The Texas Negro Peace Officers' Association The Origins of Black PoliceUnionism," The Houston Review, 12 (1990), 66, "Negro Centennial" folder in the A
Maceo Smith papers, Dallas Express, October 17, 24, 31, 1936
'The origin of the PVL is explained in a letter from L Virgil Williams, Executive
Secretary of the Dallas Negro Chamber of Commerce, to Miss Mildred Montgomery
of Prairie View, Texas, April 20, 1942, Correspondence, Negro Chamber Collection,
Box 1, Dallas E.press, October 10 and 31, 1936, November 21, 1936, December 12,
1936, March 27, 1937, May 2, 1942. See also the Flanagan Papers for her canvassing
documents which include "PVL Membership and Subscriptions" cards, "Campaign
Workers Report" slips, and "Progressive Voters League Captain's Report," which
indicates her active role in the canvassing campaigns.
'Dallas Express, October 31, 1936, December 5, 1936, January 9, 1937. Mrs.
Marzel Hill became a PVL executive committee member. There were always at least
three women members on the executive committee, and African American women
participated in almost all of the civic and political affairs of the Dallas African
American community. For example, Temple Strange in her 1945 study of the Dallas
Negro Chamber found that six African American women were members of the
Chamber's forty-member Board of Directors, while the Dallas Chamber of Commerce,
with over 2,400 member, had only one white woman member Strange, "The Dallas
Negro Chamber," pp. 50-51
'Dallas Express, February 6 and 20, 1937, March 13, 1937, Strong, "The Rise of
Negro Voting," p 519, Dallas Morning News, April 1 - 7, 1937
t'Dallas Express, March 27, 1937, Dallas Morning News, April 3, 1937
' Dallas Expi ess, April 10 and 17,1937, May 1, 1937, Dallas Moti lg News, April
7, 21, and 25, 1937, May 3, 1937, Strong, "The Rise of Negro Voting," p 519
'Smith interview with Irwin, Dallas Morning News, July 13, 1937, September 23,
24, 25, 27, 29, 1937, October 3, 1937, City of Dallas Council, Minute Book 47,
September 10, 17, and 28, 1937, pp. 51-52,67, and 117 respectively, Strong, "The Rise
of Negro Voting," Dallas E.tpress, July 10 and 17, 1937, August 7, 1937, September
25, 1937, January 21, 1939
'"Forexamples see the Dallas Eipress, March 25, 1939, April 1 and 8, 1939, March
29, 1941, April 5, 1941, "Politics," in the Dallas Negro Chamber of Commerce, Negro
City Directory, 1941-1942 (Dallas 1942), xxviii, "Progressive Voters League,"
Applause Magazine, September, 1946, "Dallas Progressive Voters League. 12 Years
of Leadership, 1935-1947," in the Dallas Negro Chamber of Commerce, Negro City
Director y, 1947-1948 (Dallas 1948), p. 44; "Progressive Voters League Report to the
Dallas Council of Negro Organizations, December 4. 1944," John S Jones, President,
Negro ChamberCollection, Box 7, "The Progressive Voters League Annual Membership
Campaign," October 1946, brochure in the Flanagan Papers
'"According to the Expres s and information in her papers, Mrs. Flanagan served at
least twelve years on the PVL executive committee and board, the longest tenure of any
PVL member She was also one of the first African American Deputy Poll Tax
Collectors appointed in 1945. For examples of PVL activities in the 1940s, see the
Dallas E.tpress, April 12, 1941, January 30, 1943, February 10, 1945, October 27,
1945, March 16, 1946, April 3, 1948, July 10, 1948, and May 14, 1949
''Dallas Erpress, June 25, 1938, August 27, 1938 For an example of Jackson's
activities as president of the state PVL, see H M Morgan, President, Tyler Barber
College, to Maynard H. Jackson, President, Texas Voters League, May 23, 1940,
Correspondence, Negro Chamber Collection, Box 1 An analysis of the role of African
Americans in Dallas in the white primary case can be found in Gillette, "The Rise of
the NAACP in Texas," pp. 393-416, and Carter W. Wesley, "Texans Seek Right to
Vote," The Crisis, 47 (October 1940), pp 312-313, 322, and the Dallas E.press, April
8, 1944
2For the victory in the white primary case, see Smith v Allwright, 321 U S 640
(1944), Hine, Black Victory, 215-225, Gillette, "The Rise of the NAACP in Texas,"
pp 400-405, Dallas E.xpress, April 8, 1944 For the Democratic party's resistance to
the court decision in the case, see "Resolution of the Executive Committee of the
Democratic Party, Dallas County, Texas," in a letter that W. J Durham of Dallas sent
to Thurgood Marshall of the NAACP, May 19, 1944, Correspondence, Papers of the
NAACP, Part 4' The Voting Rights Campaign, Reel I 1, Dallas Morning Newvs, April
23, 1944 For African American participation in the Democratic primary In Dallas
County, see the Dallas Express, August 3 and 10, 1946.
'-Dallas E.xpress, October 21 and 28, 1944, November 4 and 11, 1944, April 27,
1946, May 11 and 25, 1946, June 8 and 22, 1946, July 6, 13, and 20, 1946, August 3,
1946, March 5 and 19, 1955
2'For the PVL's affiliation with the Democratic party, see the "Minutes of the
Annual Convention, State Democratic Progressive Voters League," Port Arthur,
Texas, April 27, 1948, Flanagan Papers, Dallas Mornring News, October 1, 1949. For
examples of other political organizations formed in the Dallas community among
African Americans, see the "By-Laws of the Dallas Voters League," adopted May 13,
1953, a document in the John and Ethelyn Chisum Collection, Texas/Dallas History &
Archives Division, Dallas Public Library, and reference to the South Dallas Civic and
Political League in the Dallas Express, February 26, 1955, March 19, 1955
'Dallas Motr ing Nenws, April26,1964, August 7,1966 An interesting perspective
on the decline of the "old political leadership" among African Americans is found in
a letter from John P Copeland of the consulting firm of Copeland, Dillard and Johnson
Enterprises, to Sidney G. Pietzsch, an aide to Congressman Earle Cabell, September 20,
1968 Copeland said that the "older Negro leadership" has lost its influence within the
community "through death and old age" and could no longer turn out the black vote as
he promised that his organization could Earle Cabell Papers, Box 7, DeGolyer Library,
Southern Methodist University.35
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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/m1/37/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dallas Historical Society.