LDF Attorneys Challenge Private "Clubs" Which Seek to Bar Negroes
Press Release
December 13, 1968

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Press Releases, Loose Pages. Stassen to Give Keynote Address at May 17 Celebration Dinner, 1955. 097e0209-bc92-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/c2f3e13f-3a92-4347-b36a-33169c61124d/stassen-to-give-keynote-address-at-may-17-celebration-dinner. Accessed August 19, 2025.
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“PRESS RELEASE® ¢ NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND 107 WEST 43 STREET «© NEW YORK 36, N. Y. © JUdson 6-8397 ARTHUR B. SPINGARN oS THURGOOD MARSHALL President Director and Counsel WALTER WHITE ROBERT L. CARTER Secretary Assistant Counsel ALLAN KNIGHT CHALMERS ARNOLD De MILLE Treasurer Press Relations FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE STASSEN TO GIVE KEYNOTE ADDRESS AT MAY 17 CELEBRATION DINNER May 4, 1955 NEW YORK.--Harold E, Stassen, Director of Foreign Operations Administration will deliver the keynote address at a dinner on May 17 at the Hotel Plaza given in honor of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. and in observance of the Supreme Court May 17, 1954 decision outlawing racial segregation in public schools. The dinner is being sponsored by a group of outstanding Americans, headed by Dr, Ralph J. Bunche, who is Under Secretary of the UN and Nobel Peace Prize winner and Dr, Buell G, Gallagher, President of the City College of New York, The affair is in celebration of the first anniversary of the Supreme Court's unanimous decision which declared that the separate but equal doctrine has no place in American education, The decision was delivered by Chief Justice Earl Warren as a result of 5 cases brought before the high tribunal from South Carolina, Kansas, Virginia, Delaware and the District of Columbia, Argument on the implementation of the decision was heard last month. Thurgood Marshall, Director-Counsel of NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, who directed the legal attack in the school segrega- tion cases will also be honored. He will report on the progress now being made toward the elimination of the dual public school system. Dr. Channing H, Tobias, Chairman of the Board of the NAACP and Roy Wilkins, newly elected executive secretary, will report on the activi- ties of the NAACP and the course the organization will take in its continued fight to erase segregation and discrimination from the American way of life. Mr, Stassen who will be the principle speaker was recently appointed to the Cabinet by President Eisenhower as Special Assistant on Disarmament Problems and is expected to take over his new post before July 1. =30< WE ARE MOVING AHEAD MARSHALL TELLS PRINCE HALL MASONS ae ATLANTA, GA., May 2.--We are moving ahead in the fight against segregation in housing, transportation, and other fields such as recre- ational and health facilities, Thurgood Marshall, Director-Counsel of NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund told the Grand Masters Confer- ence of the Prince Hall Masons here today, The advancement of the economic well being of Negroes must be accomplished through a more intensive legal attack on employment and housing, he said, This is essential for any meaningful enjoyment of our recent legal victories. "The important thing to bear in mind in all of this, is that we must continue to push ahead in the courts." Mr. Marshall spoke at the annual Conference of the Masonic govern- ing body being held here May 2 - , He thanked the Grand Masters Conference and the Prince Hall Masons throughout the nation for the vital part they played in the 5 school segregation cases and other legal attacks on racial discrimination and segregation. The group contributes annually some $25,000.00 to the maintenance of the Prince Hall Masons Legal Research Department which works in con- junction with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund at 107 West h3rd Street, New York City. The Department was established in May 1951 at the Conference in Denver, Colo. exclusively to do research essential to secure full citizenship rights and privileges for Negro Americans, Much of the basic legal research on the briefs filed in the school segregation cases was done by the Masons Research Department. Last year the group contributed $2),953.6l, to the Department. In giving a progress report on the work of the Department, Mr. Marshall told the Grand Masters that more and more requests are com- ing in for research material from all parts of the country. In addition to the work done on the briefs in the school segrega- tion cases, the Department has "assumed the responsibility of develop- ing the necessary legal theories to protect Negro teachers during the transition to integrated school systems," Mr. Marshall advised the group. Two new divisions have been set up this year to give Negro teachera in southern states the maximum protection against the discrimination during this transition period, Mr. Marshall advised the body, One is the Department of Teacher Information and Security headed by Dr. John W. - “a © ’) ee Davis, eminent educator and former president of West Virginia State College; the other is the Committee of Social Scientists, headed by Dr. Alfred McClung Lee with June Shagaloff as executive secretary. Dr, Davis' Department is set up primarily to work with teacher organi- zations, school officials and other recognized groups. He is assisted by Daniel E. Byrd of New Orleans. This Department is maintained by Prince Hall Masons. Both Divisions will lean heavily on the Masons Research Department for the necessary legal research to give the teachers material guidance and protection needed, "Continued success in the courtroom as well as in other places comes about only as a result of careful planning, teamwork operation and the necessary financial support," Mr, Marshall told the group. He asked the group for their continued aid. =90