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NAACP newsletters, Fort Madison Branch, Fort Madison, Iowa, 1968
Page 002
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-2- area. In 1893, Dr. Daniel Hale Williams won international acclaim because he was the first surgeon to successfully operate on a living, human heart. He performed his surgery at Chicago's Provident Hospital. He was responsible for the founding of the hospital so that Negro medical men might have someplace to get training. Then, there was the famed Dr. Charles Drew of Freadmen's Hospital in Washington, D.C., who pioneered in the separation and storage of blood plasma which is an essential part of heart surgery. Ironic, in the case of the South African heart transplant operation, that the heart chosen to be used iin the surgery should have come from the body of a human being who was classified as a "colored". In a country where apartheid makes certain color lines are not crossed, (that is, there is only movement in that particular classification in which you have been placed, by the government), a man chose to take a chance on living with a colored heart rather than face certain death with his own heart. If both men were living, they could not have stood in the same line in the Post Office, watched a sports event from the same section of the stadium eaten or taken a drink in the same place, shared the same section of a bus or train. They could not have gone swimming at the same beach or shared the same bench in a public park. Even though his heart was placed in the body of a white man, this South African ‘colored’ could never have been buried any place other than a cemetery which has been designated for use in the internment of non-whites. Iowa schools have been urged to use multi-racial texts and teach Negro history, by Cecil A. Reed, a member of the Iowa State Employment Security Commission. Mr. Reed stated, “Lily-white textbooks which omit the contributions of Negroes in American history are psychologically harmful to Negro children. In order to learn a child must be able to associate himself with what is in the textbook. They should be taught his sweat and blood is in the soil of America. He hewed the timber, built the mills and boats and the beautiful mansions of the South. Without black faces in the books, the Negro child feels completely out of the picture. He doesn’t know where he fits in. I’m proud of my black heritage.” It must be recognized that this is a multi-racial and ethnic country, and we, in turn, are part of a multi-racial and multi-ethnic world. Members of all minority groups who have lived in this country have a place in its history and ignoring the facts will not make it cease to exist. Elimination of the facts does, however, deprive the citizens of this country. The inclusion of America’s minorities in the text books, and their subsequent use in the schools of this country will have much to do with the ultimate change in the American Way of life. This is a problem which has been given much attention in other parts of the country and it will have to be taken to task here, also. Never undervalue any person - the workman loves not to have his work despised in his presence. Now God is present everywhere, and every person is His work. JOIN THE NAACP. . . Remember. . . . Freedom IS NOT FREE . . . and the money which comes from the memberships helps in the fight for equality. It has been brought to our attention that many persons who read the newsletter and find a statement such as the one above, in it feel that we are directing it to them, even if their memberships are paid to date. This is not the case. We are always trying to enlist new members and encourage those who have become civil rights drop-outs to become active, again. The membership Committee has a special form which is attached to the newsletters which are sent to persons whose University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa Women’s Archives
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-2- area. In 1893, Dr. Daniel Hale Williams won international acclaim because he was the first surgeon to successfully operate on a living, human heart. He performed his surgery at Chicago's Provident Hospital. He was responsible for the founding of the hospital so that Negro medical men might have someplace to get training. Then, there was the famed Dr. Charles Drew of Freadmen's Hospital in Washington, D.C., who pioneered in the separation and storage of blood plasma which is an essential part of heart surgery. Ironic, in the case of the South African heart transplant operation, that the heart chosen to be used iin the surgery should have come from the body of a human being who was classified as a "colored". In a country where apartheid makes certain color lines are not crossed, (that is, there is only movement in that particular classification in which you have been placed, by the government), a man chose to take a chance on living with a colored heart rather than face certain death with his own heart. If both men were living, they could not have stood in the same line in the Post Office, watched a sports event from the same section of the stadium eaten or taken a drink in the same place, shared the same section of a bus or train. They could not have gone swimming at the same beach or shared the same bench in a public park. Even though his heart was placed in the body of a white man, this South African ‘colored’ could never have been buried any place other than a cemetery which has been designated for use in the internment of non-whites. Iowa schools have been urged to use multi-racial texts and teach Negro history, by Cecil A. Reed, a member of the Iowa State Employment Security Commission. Mr. Reed stated, “Lily-white textbooks which omit the contributions of Negroes in American history are psychologically harmful to Negro children. In order to learn a child must be able to associate himself with what is in the textbook. They should be taught his sweat and blood is in the soil of America. He hewed the timber, built the mills and boats and the beautiful mansions of the South. Without black faces in the books, the Negro child feels completely out of the picture. He doesn’t know where he fits in. I’m proud of my black heritage.” It must be recognized that this is a multi-racial and ethnic country, and we, in turn, are part of a multi-racial and multi-ethnic world. Members of all minority groups who have lived in this country have a place in its history and ignoring the facts will not make it cease to exist. Elimination of the facts does, however, deprive the citizens of this country. The inclusion of America’s minorities in the text books, and their subsequent use in the schools of this country will have much to do with the ultimate change in the American Way of life. This is a problem which has been given much attention in other parts of the country and it will have to be taken to task here, also. Never undervalue any person - the workman loves not to have his work despised in his presence. Now God is present everywhere, and every person is His work. JOIN THE NAACP. . . Remember. . . . Freedom IS NOT FREE . . . and the money which comes from the memberships helps in the fight for equality. It has been brought to our attention that many persons who read the newsletter and find a statement such as the one above, in it feel that we are directing it to them, even if their memberships are paid to date. This is not the case. We are always trying to enlist new members and encourage those who have become civil rights drop-outs to become active, again. The membership Committee has a special form which is attached to the newsletters which are sent to persons whose University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa Women’s Archives
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