1930 to 1940

By LINA HUANG and HANSI ZHU

Staff Writers

Content Warning: Articles in this series depict specific instances of racial violence and aggression against Black and other non-white people. Racial epithets, though censored, are included.

This article is part of the multi-part series Since 1878, a project undertaken by the 142nd Board of The Exonian. The principal objective of this series is to examine the paper’s coverage of racism at the Academy and, by extension, in the country as a whole. This series will not provide a complete overview of racist events over the years in question. Additionally, research draws heavily from The Exonian’s archives, which present a biased depiction of racial dynamics at the Academy. Instead, the articles will offer a portrait of The Exonian, the Academy and the nation, decade by decade, by highlighting pieces published in the paper.

In Since 1878, The Exonian will follow the National Association for Black Journalists’ recommendations, referring to the n-word as [n-word], censoring n-gro in most contexts and capitalizing Black, in line with our updated style guide.

Regarding privacy, there are individuals named in these articles who are still alive today. Their statements represent their views as minors in the middle of their education. Most high schoolers do not write for publications like The Exonian, which archives every issue. The editors of the paper understand this unique situation and that views often change over time, particularly those held during high school. Additionally, every article represents more than its writer. Pieces in The Exonian go through editors and advisers, reflecting an institutional history.

However, Since 1878 uses their names to ground itself in the tangible and proximate. In Since 1878, the editors choose full transparency over perpetuating ambiguity and obscuring our history of racism.

Though over half a century had passed since the Civil War, the Exeter community of the 1930s remained stuck in the past. The students in G. L. Soule Literary Society, a precursor to the Daniel Webster Debate Society, voted that “the South should have won the Civil War” by one vote after a debate. “The constitutional soundness of succession” and “the benefits derived from slavery in keeping the more primitive N-gro race in check” were enough to convince the New Hampshire audience of the affirmative. 

W. T. Orr, who argued for the affirmative, “believed that a nationwide prosperity [sic] would have resulted if the Confederates had won the war.” The prosperity he referenced would unspokenly have come from slavery.

The Academy made efforts to acknowledge race in the 1930s, hosting performances from Black musicians and lectures on Africa by white academics. Though progressive for their time, many of these activities illustrated the sharp divide between the predominantly white Academy and the diverse, global world its community attempted to include. 

Coverage

Guest Lecturers

In this decade, scholars of race began to lecture at the Academy. Non-scholars also continued discussing racial dynamics. Many of these lecturers sent then-progressive messages that othered or degraded Black and African people. 

Among them was Vachel Lindsay, who spoke at Chapel and a tea party. He performed his poem “Congo,” which The Exonian described as “a study of the N-gro race as a whole. The first part depicts the basic savagery of the N-gro, and the third part the hope of their religion. This poem created a great impression on the audience and was the best received.”

John Vandercook, the author of “Black Majesty,” a book on the life of a Haitian king, also lectured on “The Bushmen of South America.” 

Captain Carl von Hoffman delivered a Merrill Lecture covering Africans, which “clear[ed] up the mysteries of ‘Darkest Africa’ in the minds of the audience,” The Exonian reported. The Merrill Lecture Course of 1930 was said to be the “most interesting in years.”

In 1933, Miss M. K. N. Knight, a frequent white traveler to Native American communities, addressed Exeter about “Florida and the Seminoles”. She was attired in an “Indian costume” and opened the lecture with a greeting song she learned from a member of the Penobscot, a federally recognized tribe in Maine. 

The Lantern Club, which hosted informal discussions and talks by guest speakers on literary opportunities, brought theatre critic and author Walter Pritchard Eaton to the Academy. In his talk, Eaton discussed plays such as “Green Pastures.” The Exonian reported that, in the play, “the childish mind of the N-gro is substituted for the unintelligent English layman of former times. The whole production is filled with delightful little touches.”

The decade also welcomed some of the first Black lecturers to the Academy. Alain Locke was among the speakers at Exeter’s 150th anniversary, on June 6, 1931. Locke, a professor at Howard University and the first Black Rhodes Scholar, covered “The Mind of N-gro Youth.” He outlined how “N-gro youths were everywhere overcoming their disadvantages and developing them into opportunities.” 

“What the N-gro needs is simply an open-minded attitude toward him as an individual,” Locke said to the Exeter community, according to The Exonian.

In 1936, Col. Hubert Fauntleroy Julian, the former commander of the Ethiopian Air Force known as “Black Eagle of Harlem,” visited the Academy. He expressed his disapproval of all Ethiopian tribesmen, classifying them as “the crudest people in the world.” “I am neither pro-Italian nor anti-Ethiopian, but I may say at this time that the invasion of Ethiopia by the Italians is God’s answer to the prayers of the great God Jehovah!” he said in The Exonian. 

He also compared Ethiopian fighter planes to those from Italy, remarking that the “ancient” Ethiopian Air Force was only capable of flying half the speed of the Italian fighters. When asked how he would make his own plane, he responded, “I don’t quite remember what make I have decided upon, but just say that it is American. I want an American plane because America is, I have decided, the land which offers the N-gro the greatest opportunity and should be aided and supported by all good N-groes.” 

On this matter, The Exonian wrote, “Somewhat taken aback by this statement, since Julian speaks with a refined English accent with only a trace of Lenox Avenue, we asked the ‘Black Eagle’ if he was born in this country. His answer left us bewildered, for he declared: ‘I did not have the good fortune to be born in this country, but I am remedying that situation as rapidly as possible.’”

Hitler and Jewish People

In the leadup to World War II and the Holocaust, Adolf Hitler became a subject of discussion at several meetings of the G. L. Soule Debating Society, the successor to the G. L. Soule Literary Society and a precursor to the Daniel Webster Debate Society. On April 15, 1933, The Exonian reported on the debate “Resolved, Germany is fortunate in having Adolph Hitler for Chancellor.” Though the negative won resoundingly, with one audience member giving a floor speech condemning Hitler, “two members of the audience stated they agreed with Hitler’s principles.” 

Robert Allen, who spoke for the affirmative, said that “their argument would hinge on the fact that the question was whether the Germans, not the Jews, were fortunate; for the Jews make up only about one per cent. of the German population,” The Exonian reported. “He further stated that this action of Hitler’s seems all right to the German, and that is as far as the debate was to go… Allen concluded by stating that in spite of Hitler’s apparently radical methods, his purposes are very conservative[.]” At this point, Hitler had not begun the Holocaust, but his hateful, anti-Jewish memoir Mein Kampf had already become a bestseller.

In Nov. of that year, a student, J. Lazrus, “spoke against Hitler’s conduct towards the Jews in Germany” at a Golden Branch Debating Society meeting. The Golden Branch was another predecessor to the Daniel Webster Debate Society. “In the speaker’s opinion, civilization decrees that no race should dominate another,” The Exonian reported. “Not only is Germany forfeiting the good will of the world but is losing commercial and intellectual prestige in its efforts to suppress the Jews.”

Anti-Jewish sentiment was also expressed in a 1934 lecture by the internationally recognized author G. S. Vierech. “The present attitude of the Jewish race as manifested by the anti-German boycott confirms the German impression that the Jews are Jews first before they are Americans or Germans,” he said. “I do believe that a concordat between Jews and Germans or a grant to the Jews of certain clearly defined minority rights could be arranged.”

Race as Entertainment

In the 1930s, Exeter regularly hosted Black musicians at social events and in Chapel, what is now called Assembly. In most cases, The Exonian praised these performances. While minstrel shows decreased in number (Since 1878 found only historical accounts of minstrelsy in this decade), the Academy regularly offered performances of “N-gro spirituals,” Christian music originating from enslaved people. “N-gro spirituals” were performed by the Glee Club, the orchestra and visiting musicians such as Sophie Braslau, a famous contralto, and Royal Dadmun, a well-known baritone. The now-iconic Billie Holiday also performed at Exeter.

Sessions were typically held in the Chapel. The Exonian reported on one session in which contralto Radiana Pazmor sang “Winter’s Approach” by Paul L. Dunbar. The paper described her performance as a “delightful song in N-gro dialect.” Another performance held by the Glee Club and orchestra featured “Ol’ Man River” from “Show Boat” by Jerome Kerns, describing “the life of the N-gro slaves on the Mississippi.” Academy students and faculty enjoyed these performances, the paper reported. 

In 1934, The Exonian evoked racist stereotypes while reporting the performance of Sam Wooding and his band. Wooding, The Exonia wrote, was a “black, burly, N-gro orchestra leader… with a gleam of white teeth.” The orchestra performed late, and rumors stated that they “had become engaged in a drunken brawl with the bus driver in Worcester.” This description had no basis; the performance was ultimately well-received.

In Dec. of 1937, internationally-recognized jazz singer Billie Holiday, accompanied by the Count Basie Orchestra, performed at the Academy. “Billy [sic] Holiday was one of the finest N-gro singers we have ever seen, and her male compatriots were just as good,” The Exonian reported. “So, orchids to Count Basie and his band.” The event was relegated to the second page of the paper.

Blackface and derogatory depictions of African Americans also continued on Exeter’s campus. In April of the same year, The Exonian reported the cast of the spring play, “Petrified Forest.” “Pyles, a stupid looking N-gro, is [played by] Joseph R. Seacrest,” The Exonian inappropriately wrote.

The Hampton Institute

The Academy continued its relationship with the Hampton Quartet, a singing group from the historically-Black Hampton Institute, whose programs consisted entirely of “N-gro spirituals” and plantation songs from the old South. In 1933, Hampton Quartet performed “N-gro spirituals” for an enthusiastic audience in a concert sponsored by the Music Department and Christian Fraternity, an organization that merged twenty years later with Student Council. Over the years, Christian Fraternity had been a consistent donor to the Hampton Quarter.

Robert Pope, a Hampton graduate, gave a speech about the success of Black businesses following emancipation. The Exonian reported Pope “added that he could not rely upon racial sentiment to help him in his aims, but that he would have to succeed only through his own efforts and ability.”

In Oct. 1939, the Hampton Quartet returned to Exeter. Following their performance, L. C. White, described by The Exonian as “well-educated,” spoke on behalf of the Hampton Institute. According to The Exonian, White said that the primary aim of the Hampton Institute was “to educate the N-gro masses, give them knowledge of trades, and send them out into the world as leaders... to put them between the great masses of the poor and the few highest minds.” 

Asia in The Exonian

The Exonian featured the international relations column “Time Marches On” throughout the 1930s, which was often written with a pro-interventionism slant. In March of 1938, “Time Marches On” read, “When the sun first shone upon the blackhaired, yellow-complexioned Japanese, Father Time, ever watchful, must have shuddered at the mechanism of a government which censures and controls its press. Little is known of the J-ps, their plans for the future, either by themselves or by outsiders… Father Time must have felt once more a lump in his throat, as he looked upon a broad expanse of land whose people are no longer their own masters, who read what and only what their government wishes.” 

The column concluded, “Freedom of the press is the privilege of the people whose forefathers he saw found a nation over a century and a half ago. For he realizes that, in their privilege, Americans are almost alone among the nations of the world.”

The Exonian also wrote about Chinese people. In June 1937, The Exonian ran a human interest spotlight on a local Chinese laundry man named Charlie Lew. The spotlight extensively emphasized his Chinese heritage and cultural topics. 

In particular, one section read,“Before leaving, we asked Charlie why the Chinese become laundrymen so often. He wasn’t sure, but guessed that it must be habit.” This coverage highlighted the racism still endemic in The Exonian and the Academy. Efforts at inclusion, though made, were wholly insufficient.

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