Oswald Garrison Villard to William Cox Redfield
Title
Oswald Garrison Villard to William Cox Redfield
Creator
Villard, Oswald Garrison, 1872-1949
Identifier
CB041114a
Date
1914 April 11
Description
Villard asks that Redfield ensure the fair representation of blacks in the census report by appointing African American census officials.
Source
US National Archives and Records Administration 570/1/12/2 box# 96 file# 67001.42
Publisher
Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum
Subject
African-Americans--segregation
Contributor
Althea Cupo
Maria Matlock
Language
English
Provenance
Digital copy acquired from federal archives by previous WWPL Archivist, Heidi Hackford.
Text
Hon. William C. Redfield,
Department of Commerce,
Washington, D.C.
Dear Mr. Redfield:
Our colored friends are deeply perturbed because there does not seem to be an indication that the coming special report on negro population to be prepared by the Bureau of Census is going to associate any negro with it. The last time this work was taken up Dr. W. E. B. DuBois, the eminent negro scholar was associated with it. The colored people feel strongly that justice may not be done to them, and that some facts are liable to be misinterpreted if white men alone are employed. It seems to me only a matter of justice that the colored people should be represented, and I sincerely hope that you will feel so.
During your absence in the West I wrote a letter to you which brought the enclosed reply from Mr. Sweet. This reply is not satisfactory in that it does not state that the Director of the Census has selected colored men among those he has picked out. I attach also a comment from Dr. DuBois. Will you not, with your sense of fairplay and justice, help us in this matter?
Sincerely yours,
Oswald Garrison Villard
Department of Commerce,
Washington, D.C.
Dear Mr. Redfield:
Our colored friends are deeply perturbed because there does not seem to be an indication that the coming special report on negro population to be prepared by the Bureau of Census is going to associate any negro with it. The last time this work was taken up Dr. W. E. B. DuBois, the eminent negro scholar was associated with it. The colored people feel strongly that justice may not be done to them, and that some facts are liable to be misinterpreted if white men alone are employed. It seems to me only a matter of justice that the colored people should be represented, and I sincerely hope that you will feel so.
During your absence in the West I wrote a letter to you which brought the enclosed reply from Mr. Sweet. This reply is not satisfactory in that it does not state that the Director of the Census has selected colored men among those he has picked out. I attach also a comment from Dr. DuBois. Will you not, with your sense of fairplay and justice, help us in this matter?
Sincerely yours,
Oswald Garrison Villard
Original Format
Letter
To
Redfield, William Cox, 1858-1932
Files
Collection
Citation
Villard, Oswald Garrison, 1872-1949, “Oswald Garrison Villard to William Cox Redfield,” 1914 April 11, CB041114a, Race and Segregation Collection, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia.