Letter from Elizabeth Elton to President Truman
8/2/1948
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Mrs. Elizabeth L. Elton, of Roanoke, Virginia, sent this letter to President Truman. She claimed that Truman's Civil Rights Program was arranged by people who didn't know or care how life in the South really was for Black Americans, and wrote that "We, of the South, love our respectable colored citizens."
Elton enclosed an article called "The Viewpoint of a Negro" published in The Roanoke Times that was written by Davis Lee, the publisher of The Telegram, a Black newspaper in Newark, NJ. Lee perceived that there was greater opportunity for Black Americans in the southern segregated states, where "whites...stay with their own and the Negroes do likewise." Lee also wrote that "Negroes and whites get along much better together in the South than Northern agitators would have you believe." He said:
This document uses the term "negro" to refer to Black people, which was commonly accepted in that era, but is outdated and inappropriate today.
Elton enclosed an article called "The Viewpoint of a Negro" published in The Roanoke Times that was written by Davis Lee, the publisher of The Telegram, a Black newspaper in Newark, NJ. Lee perceived that there was greater opportunity for Black Americans in the southern segregated states, where "whites...stay with their own and the Negroes do likewise." Lee also wrote that "Negroes and whites get along much better together in the South than Northern agitators would have you believe." He said:
No section of the country has made more progress in finding a workable solution to the Negro problem than the South. Naturally Southerners are resentful when the North attempts to ram a civil right program down their throats.
This document uses the term "negro" to refer to Black people, which was commonly accepted in that era, but is outdated and inappropriate today.
This primary source comes from the Collection HST-WHPOMF: White House Public Opinion Mail Files (Truman Administration).
National Archives Identifier: 145807629
Full Citation: Letter from Elizabeth Elton to President Truman; 8/2/1948; Civil Rights [1 of 3]; Public Opinion Mail Files, 1945 - 1953; Collection HST-WHPOMF: White House Public Opinion Mail Files (Truman Administration); Harry S. Truman Library, Independence, MO. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/elton-truman, May 10, 2024]Rights: Copyright Not Evaluated Learn more on our privacy and legal page.