Timeline
1940 to 1950
By JEANNIE EOM and TINA HUANG
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.
Published May 4, 1949.
“The primary reasons for including in the faculty men of religions other than Protestant, men of races other than white, and men of different parts of the country, are good: to broaden the school by bringing in new viewpoints, and to make it as far as possible a really national school,” The Exonian wrote in a May 4, 1949 editorial entitled “Towards a National School.”
Throughout the 1940s, the Academy identified a need to instill in students a greater awareness of race. World War II connected an increasingly global world, marked by musicians, speakers and symposiums reported in The Exonian.
However, The Exonian identified two critical cracks in the Academy’s foundation. The first was a provision in the original Deed of Gift, written by John Phillips. “Protestants only shall ever be concerned in the trust of instruction of this Seminary,” Phillips wrote. According to The Exonian’s editors, this clause established a “tradition of exclusion… Naturally very few Catholic and Jewish teachers apply.” The second was that few “N-gro teachers would apply, fearing intolerance and uncongeniality in a small town in the heart of New England.”
To this end, The Exonian called for Exeter to “become broader, more democratic, more national, and a better school… Exeter must be actively tolerant.” “It is true that the process is, and should be, a slow one, but not such a slow one that no perceptible change occurs in 177 years,” the paper wrote. “The question is not whether Exeter is more or less tolerant than other schools, or than the country as a whole. The question is, how can it improve?”
Such criticisms of the Academy recurred in The Exonian across the 1940s. According to an article published in the Feb. 4, 1948 issue, there was a “glaring fault” in Exeter’s admissions history: only two Black students had been admitted in the past thirteen years.
Coverage
Entertainment
As referenced previously in the Since 1878 series, the Christian Fraternity of Exeter, which eventually merged with the Student Council, sent annual contributions to the Hampton Institute, a historically Black college, throughout the 1940s. In response to the donations, the college regularly sent a quartet of student singers to perform on Exeter’s campus, as it had done since 1917.
The Exonian reported that Academy students mentioned that the new “N-gro spirituals” were not the same as the old quartet’s but that “all rang more or less familiar because most N-gro music is essentially the same type.”
Minstrel shows made a resurgence in the Exeter community during the 1940s. Presented by the town’s indigenous Wehanownowit tribe and white members of the Exeter community, the “Red Men’s Minstrel Show” was held at Exeter’s Town Hall on April 21 and 22, 1948. The Exonian reported, “The man in mid-stage resembled the Rockingham County clerk of court; two of the sun-burned gentlemen to the right and left seemed to be selectmen of the town; three of the others on stage distinctly resembled men of a local printing establishment, dressed to kill in the best black-face minstrel show manner.” Two of those men were, according to the article, “masters of the African dialect.”
The Exonian described the performance as “bringing back memories of the Golden Twenties to an enthusiastic and well-packed audience.”
Debates About Race
Later, on Nov. 7, 1943, the PEA Senate, a Mock Congress club, debated what they called “The N-gro Liberty Bill.” This bill, proposed by Harvey Lyon ’45, included anti-poll-tax and anti-lynching elements. Lyon had stated that the “N-gro race” is in no way inferior to the white race, except insofar that environment is a factor.
Rob Everett ’44, in opposition, said “that the federal government would be unable to enforce an anti-lynching law, and denounced the whole business as an unconstitutional invasion of states’ rights.” The N-gro Liberty Bill was defeated, 19-14.
Along similar lines, in the fall term of 1944, the Academy’s Junior Debating Society held a debate with the resolution: “An amendment to the Constitution should be made stating that there should be no segregation of races.” The affirmative side based their argument in the history of the mistreatment of Black people, while the negative “took on the argument saying that the blacks must be segregated in order to bring out self-development within the community.” This time, the affirmative side won, with a 3-0 vote.
However, the arguments for equality were not always victorious. In 1946, the G. L. Soule Debating Society, a precursor to the Daniel Webster Debate Society, discussed educational equality—especially for Jews and Black people: “Resolved: That no one be barred from any private school or college because of race, creed, or color.”
The debate was described as a “merry game… of ‘ring-around-the-rosy,’” where both sides “failed completely to advocate proper civil rights for the N-gro.” Debater Francois Lachelier of the negative team “attempted to show (a) that it was unwise for schools to admit N-gro students and hire N-gro teachers; (b) that white and N-gro do not mix.”
The Exonian reported, “He proved neither.”
Guest Lecturers
During and after World War II, The Exonian covered visiting speakers who spoke on the status of Black people in America. In its Nov. 8, 1944 issue, The Exonian covered Howard University professor William Henry Hastie’s lecture on “Acute Racial Issues in Post War America.”
The Exonian reported Hastie arguing that “N-gro soldiers returning from war where they have been accorded many privileges will no longer be content with the restrictions put on them [...], and will refuse to be segregated and denied jobs.”
The same weekend, on the day of the Exeter-Andover football game in Nov. 1944, Hastie, along with other speakers, gave continuous lectures on “Racial Toleration.” “Race relations in our opinion are a very important topic for discussion and serious consideration,” The Exonian reported. “The speakers [of the event] presented were intelligent and well qualified to talk on white and N-gro problems.”
“[The speakers] viewed a dangerous situation without bias or panic, advocating sensible and tolerant reforms. They emphasized the need for both races to meet each other halfway,” The Exonian reflected. “We must recognize the place that the N-gro demands in the future America. The facts have been placed before us by three eminent and intelligent men. It is up to us to do something about them.”
In Jan. 16, 1946, The Exonian reported Black anthropologist Eslanda Goode Robeson’s lecture about “The N-gro in World Affairs.” Goode Robeson, wife of actor and musician Paul Robeson, detailed the experiences of Black Americans during World War II.
In response to Robeson’s visit, The Exonian published an article calling for students’ engagement in racial justice. “The question of the N-gro and other minority groups in America is probably the most vital domestic question facing us if the past and future are to be taken into consideration,” The Exonian reported. “The average student here walls himself off into a world which revolves about himself and his own personal affairs. The war caused some consciousness of outside affairs to seep in through this protective covering; with the war finished, the few manifestations of interest in domestic and foreign affairs are fast dying out. We here at Exeter are the lucky ones; we are given the time and the opportunity to obtain an education and choose a profession. We must face such questions as the N-gro problem squarely. Let us take a cue from Mrs. Robeson and do a little thinking on our own.”
Following Robeson’s visit, The Exonian reported white anthropologist Margaret Mead’s lecture on January 29. Mead spoke of how racial tensions in the United States could improve by disregarding race. “We should strive towards the point where we can totally disregard race and look upon the N-gro or the Chinese as ‘just another fellow,’ for we shall have great need of being able to do this in the post-war world,” she said.
The Exonian later interviewed Mead, asking for her thoughts on Robeson’s lecture—specifically, when Robeson remarked “that the average N-gro thought a white person to be the lowest creature on the face of the earth.” In response, Mead said that Robeson’s statement was not “entirely correct” as “most members of the N-gro group will view a white person with very mingled feelings in which fear, hostility, envy are all important.” Though incredibly influential to the field of anthropology, Mead, a White woman, remains controversial even today.
On April 17, 1946, Austen West, a native South African born to English parents, gave a lecture on racial problems in South Africa. “Education, vocational training and health programs are blocked by those who fear the economic and political equality of the N-gro will push his social rights until the black rules South Africa,” West said.
West later talked about the “Indian question,” referring to then-Indian government breaking diplomatic ties with South Africa due to “alleged mistreatments of its nationals.” “The 250,000 Indians demand equal rights with the Europeans, who do not wish to accept them in society,” West said. “The Europeans feel their cultured groups will be ruined by rich Indian immigrants. The voluble Indian groups deny their inferiority and seize every opportunity to assert their rights.”
World War II
The 1940s hailed America’s entry into World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan. Soon after came tides of anti-Japanese sentiment and propaganda, culminating in the forced relocation and internment of some 120,000 Japanese-American citizens from 1942-1946.
On Jan. 14, 1942, The Exonian called to destroy Japan. “We may call [Pearl Harbor] a ‘dastardly attack’ and curse the treachery of our little yellow brothers, but, after all, the J-ps only acted according to the regular rules of Axis warfare,” The Exonian wrote, noting their expectations for “deceitful” behavior from Japan.
In Oct. of 1942, The Exonian reported the experiences of veteran Murray Day ’36 as a prisoner of war held by Japan. “It won’t take any time before we run these J-ps off into the ocean, and I mean that literally,” Day said. “The little J-p brother has spread himself over too much territory and I expect before you get this that the picture will change very greatly.” “J-p,” now considered a derogatory slur, was widely used in reference to Japanese people at the time—an accompaniment to growing anti-Japanese sentiments post-Pearl Harbor.
On Feb. 25, 1945, the PEA Senate argued over a bill that called for “all Japanese now in relocation centers, not designated by the F.B.I. as dangerous to the country, [to] be released immediately.” Arguing for the negative, Philip Barnhard ’47 claimed, “As to the possible benefits of having [freed internees] in war plants… the Japanese would impede rather than help the war effort.”
“Internees are indeed satisfied with the living conditions in these camps and, consequently, have no desire to leave them,” Barnhard pushed. Conditions in these internment camps was often harsh, providing far worse conditions to internees than the ones they had before. The bill was defeated, 12-7.
On April 25, 1945, The Exonian invited District Court judge Charles E. Wyzanski ’23 to speak at Chapel (now Assembly) on the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. A prize, still existing today, is named after Wyzanski. Wyzanski condemned “the unconstitutionality of the internment of Japanese-Americans, removed from the West Coast… [O]pen justice prevents despotism. It is better to be governed by persuasion rather than by coercion.”
The G. L. Soule Society debated the resolution: “That the Use of the Atomic Bomb was Unjustified” the following October; the negative, arguing that the use of the atomic bomb was just, won by a margin of 4-1.
Several years later, the Academy invited Dr. Frederick L. Schumann, a professor of history at Williams College, to discuss the ethics of the atomic bomb. Schumann condemned the American obsession for “the submission of Japan.” “We found it in our power at that time to excuse the vaporization, incineration and mass cremation of whole communities,” Schumann said.
Zionism and Jewish People
Since 1878 found little to no information in The Exonian’s archives about the Holocaust. However, the Academy engaged in critical discourse on Zionism throughout the 1940s. Zionism was a movement to create a Jewish state; it began in the late 1800s, after an increase of anti-Semitic rhetoric. This effort culminated in the formation of Israel in 1948.
The PEA Senate unanimously voted in favor of the “ESTABLISHMENT OF JEWISH HOMELAND”, according to a headline from the Oct. 14, 1944 edition of The Exonian. The Senate argued that “the persecution of the Jewish race had created their desire to return to the traditional Promised Land” and was thus just.
The Senate continued their debate of a Jewish state in 1946. The Oct. 16, 1946, issue of The Exonian reported the Senate favoring a “separate Jewish state in a partitioned Palestine with a free immigration policy.” The affirmative speaker argued that “a crime has been committed against the Jewish race, and continued by saying that the Jews should be admitted on the grounds of their meritorious achievements in the past in building up the Holy Land.” This crime referred to the Holocaust: the genocide of Jewish people by Nazi Germany.
According to the article, however, the speaker finished their argument “by stating that he thought the only reason the uncivilized Arabs did not want the Jews was that they were smarter and would eventually take over the control of Palestine.”
The negative argued that the entrance of Jewish immigrants into Palestine would create “greater friction by attempting to obtain as much power as possible to avoid further persecution.” “I would like it known that I’m not condemning the Jewish race or any race,” the negative speaker said.
In its May 26, 1948 edition, The Exonian published an interview with Rabbi Joshua Loth Liebman. Liebman said that “the reasons for the Arab attacks upon the Holy Land are (1) that the few rich land-owning Arab leaders are afraid that any Jewish democracy in the Near East would compete with their feudal type of government. (2) That the British oil and commercial magnates feel that a democracy in Palestine would hurt their commercial interests.”
Liebman also said that “the Arabs aren't fighting as spiritedly as the Jews because the Arabs are 'Hessians' controlled by the British.” He also said that the quick recognition of Israel by the United States should be compared with the American War of Independence of 1776, in that the “American recognizance [sic] of liberty is as strong today as it was 172 years ago.”
On Jan. 12, 1949, the Golden Branch argued over the question, “Resolved: That the establishment of a national Jewish state in Palestine is to be deplored.” The side opposing Zionism claimed that “the Jews were a minority trying to drive out the native Arabs by armed force, and that the Jews have no right to Palestine. They declared that the Jews are preparing to wage a ‘fascistic’ war of expansion,” The Exonian reported.
On the other hand, the negative argued that “Palestine [was] the only refuge for Europe’s Jewish [displaced persons],” The Exonian wrote. “They declared that the Jews had been promised Palestine, and deserved it, and that the only way to bring real prosperity to the Middle East was through Jewish-Arab cooperation.” The affirmative was judged to have presented the better argument, 3-0, though on the merits of the question the negative won, 5-1.