Prince Hall Masons Give $100,000 to Legal Defense Fund

    a 

PRESS RELEASE ® ° 

NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND 
107 WEST 43 STREET »* NEW YORK 36, N. Y. ¢ JUdson 6-8397 

ARTHUR B. SPINGARN oa THURGOOD MARSHALL 
President Director and Counsel 

ROY WILKINS ROBERT L. CARTER 
Secretary Assistant Counsel 

ALLAN KNIGHT CHALMERS ARNOLD de MILLE 
Treasurer Press Relations 

May 29, 1956 

PRINCE HALL MASONS GIVE $100,000 
TO LEGAL DEFENSE FUND 

Amount Given Over 5-Year Period 
For Legal Research 

BOSTON, MASS.--The Prince Hall Masons have contributed more than 

$100,000 during the past five years to help the NAACP Legal Defense 

and Educational Fund, Inc., find the right formula in stamping out 

racial segregation and discrimination in American life and to con- 

serve the right of Negroes to enjoy the full benefits of first class 

citizenship. 

Thurgood Marshall, Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense 

Fund, revealed the total amount of contributions in a report made last 

week to the Grand Masters Conference, Prince Hall Affiliation, held 

here from May 2 through 2 . 

Mr. Marshall disclosed that the $100,000 in donations was made 

possible through a resolution passed by the Grand Masters Conference 

in Denver, Colo., May 1951. The resolution called for the establish- 

ment of the Prince Hall Masons Legal Research Department of the WAACP 

Legal Defense and Educational Fund. The Department was established 

the same year :nd since then has been supported by contributions from 

22 individual Prince Hall jurisdictions, Mr. Marshall said, Their 

1955 donations amounted to $21,000, 

All of the money contributed has been devoted exclusively to 

basic research in connection with current litigation, legal techniques 

and implementation projects, the Legal Defense head told the Grand 

Masters, 

"During the five year period it is evident thet the genercl pub- 

lic, as well as those of us who lebor in the field of civil risus, 

has become more and more aware of the importance of long legal rerear: 

and social planning," Mr. Marshall said, In recent months it has 



r @ r ) 
225 

become quite evident in many ways that research and planning are 

not only important in the fight to establish the principle of equal 

rights under the law, but an urgent need in translating this prin- 

ciple into practice, he added. 

"It seems quite clear that the urgency is even greater now in 

view of the recent rash of retaliatory laws, law suits and extra 

legal pressures which are being leveled against us by die-hards bent 

on nullifying the recent antisegregation rulings and prointegration 

community actions," Atty. Marshall asserted, 

He told the Grand Masters that the Legal Research Department 

has become increasingly indispensible. Since its establishment, a 

revolution has occurred in civil rights litigation, Research is 

now necessary in other sub-fields of law, such as contracts, corpora- 

tions and torts, as well as in special sub-areas of the socio-economic 

disciplines, Mr. Marshall said. 

The policy of the Legal Defense Fund is built "solidly on 

foundations embedded deeply in basic research," he added. Despite 

the determined efforts of “intransigent state authorities" and some 

46 private organizations to frustrate the Supreme Court anti-segrega- 

tion decisions, significant starts on desegregation have been made in 

7 states, Mr, Marshall pointed out. 

The states referred to are West Virginia, Missouri, Oklahoma, 

Texas, Kentucky, Maryland and Delaware, Breakthroughs have been made 

in Arkansas, Tennessee and Louisiana. 

Mr. Marshall reminded the Grand Masters that it was basic research 

and plenning that eventually brought victory in public education, rec-~ 

reation, public housing, interstate transportation and other rulings 

which have "sounded the death knell of segregation" in intrastate 

transportation and other areas of American life. 

The heed of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund praised the Prince Hall 

Masons for their foresight in establishing the Legal Research Depart- 

ment and urged other organizations to follow the example. 

He reminded the Prince Hall Masons of the new legislation enacted 

in many southern states to maintain segregation; some range from pro- 

visions to abolish the public school systems to laws penalizing member- 

ship in the NAACP. Only through continued aid of the Prince Hall Masons 

and other groups will the NAACT Legal Defense Fund be able to meet the 

new and increasing demands being made upon it, Mr. Marshall concluded. 
=30ce