278 300
491
●
JACKSON, GRETCHEN L.
Small but rich archive.
Includes: correspondence,
press-releases, photographs, flyers and news clippings.
SHOULD BE SEEN
.
Boston, 1950s-1960s.
[600/900]
Interesting group of material from local and national government which includes letters from John F.
Kennedy and his father Joseph Kennedy. Gretchen Jackson was active in New England politics, and
was the first black woman to have a radio show in Boston.
492
●
(POLITICS-RECONSTUC-
TION.)
The Dude Democrats, an epic
racist political poem, by a disaffected
and “disabled” Confederate veteran.
“Come now oh Muse and plume my
wing/ For t’is of the Democratic Dudes I now
will sing. . . .” 6 pages, small 8vo, stitching
gone.
[Elba Alabama?], circa 1888
[1,000/1,500]
The author of this attack on the hypocritical
Democrats, accuses them of being as bad as the
Republicans. He cites unfairness by imposing
taxes, on the “best crops of poor Whites and
‘Niggers’, [and] take all by simply raising
Figgers.” There is a great deal on the cheating of
both poor whites and blacks alike by taxation
and legislation. The writer sees little difference
in the candidates of the presidential campaign of
1888. “But now the people well understand/
They are the thieves that stole our Land/ Not
only stole the Land-but robbed the childhood
too/ In driving out Webster’s Speller, wrapped
in Blue.”
The author who must have been involved politically, claims to be from “Elba, Coffee County,
Alabama,” says that he was “drugged and hurled over a bluff at midnight, 14th January, 1888, left
arm broken, and right arm maimed for life March 30. . .all done in the shadow of the Court House,
no hopes of any legal redress. . .”
We could find no copies of this pamphlet anywhere.
493
●
SIMMONS, ROSCOE CONKLIN.
Small but rich archive.
Consisting of
dozens of programs for Simmons’ speeches and talks; photographs, flyers and broadsides;
also includes are a number of newspapers, their condition poor.
SHOULD BE SEEN
Vp, various dates
[1,000/1,500]
Roscoe Conklin Simmons (1881-1951), journalist, politician and political “mover and shaker” was
a man of considerable power within the world of African American politics. He was a great orator, and
while he was steeped in the political tradition of the Republican party of Lincoln, he was a friend to
three presidents: Harding, Hoover and Roosevelt, he was able to help deliver the colored vote in many
elections. He wrote for the Chicago Defender, the nation’s oldest and most widely read black newspa-
per. He also wrote for the Chicago Tribune.