![[Commemorative Pitcher Presented to W. Calvin Chase at a Celebration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Washington Bee]](https://rarebookinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/1532406714.0.l.jpg)
[Chase, W. Calvin]
Washington, D.C., 1905
Washington, D.C., 1905. Very good. Engraved silver-plated pitcher made by the F.B. Rogers Silver Co. and measuring 12" x 9½" at its tallest and widest with a 6" diameter base. Very good with no major defects.
This is a commemorative pitcher that was awarded to the editor of the Washington Bee, W. Calvin Chase, in honor of the paper's 25th anniversary. Best known as the owner and editor of the Bee, Chase was a D.C. native, Howard-educated lawyer, Republican party leader and owner of a publishing firm. Chase was forced to leave school before the age of 10 and began selling newspapers; he soon became known among the newspaper offices in Washington. As a student at Howard, Chase also worked as a clerk in the government printing office. When he was passed over for another position there because he was Black, he left the office and filed charges against the printer. Shortly after founding the Bee, Chase also clerked for Frederick Douglass in his role as United States Marshal. He was also a District of Columbia delegate to the Republican national conventions held in 1900 and 1912.
Although all the sources we checked list the founding of the paper as 1882, the 25th anniversary celebration took place on June 5, 1905, and this pitcher shows the paper as beginning in 1880. The Washington Bee was published weekly from 1882 through 1922, earning it the distinction as the oldest secular newspaper in continuous publication in the United States. It was known for the "superb" editing of Chase, with a motto of "Sting for Our Enemies - Honey for Our Friends."
This pitcher was presented to Chase at a banquet at the Odd Fellows Hall in Washington, D.C. The event was attended by prominent African Americans and involved a number of testimonials and speeches. One of the addresses was entitled "The Bee; the Bulwark of the Plain People Against Race Shams and Race Hypocrites." It was given by an attorney and the nationwide leader of the Black Elks, Armand W. Scott, where he said, "As lawyers and professional men our clients and customers are the poor people of the alleys, the oyster shuckers and push-car men, and if we are to amount to anything as a race then we must bring about . . . race solidarity whereby each ne*ro . . . patronizes those of his own race."
The Bee was read locally, nationally, and internationally. It ceased publication in 1922, unable to survive W. Calvin Chase's death in 1921.
A unique artifact memorializing the celebration of an important African American newspaper and its influential editor.
![[Photo Albums Compiled by African American Marine Who Fought at the Battle of Peleliu]](https://rarebookinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/1532406694.0.l.jpg)
Davis, Herbert
Mostly Richmond, Virginia and the South Pacific, 1940
Mostly Richmond, Virginia and the South Pacific, 1940. Good. Two albums measuring 10" x 13½" and 11" x 14½" respectively. Together they contain 71 leaves with 324 black and white and 14 color photographs; 134 are hinge mounted, the rest are inserted into corner mounts. Most photos measure from 3¼" x 4½" to 5 1/8" x 3¼" and approximately 160 are captioned. Albums good due to heavy wear and dust soiling as well as one album cover being fully detached; photos generally very good or better with around ten having significant damage; evidence that approximately 190 photos are missing.
This is a collection of photographs compiled by a Black marine who faced combat in the South Pacific during World War II, and whose company had the highest casualty rate of any company of Black marines during the war. The photographs were compiled by Herbert R. Davis of Richmond, Virginia and the images document his time overseas and provide an extraordinary window into African American life in early post-war Richmond.
Although African Americans served with whites in the Revolutionary War, when the marines were reinstituted in 1798, a rule barring Blacks and Native Americans from service was created. In June 1941, FDR issued an executive order that eliminated racial discrimination in the military, paving the way for African Americans to serve in the marines. Very few Black marines saw combat in World War II and Davis' unit was one of the exceptions. Davis was a member of the 11th Marine Depot Company, 16th Field Depot which fought at the Battle of Peleliu and had the highest casualty rate of any company of Black marines during the war. Major General William H. Rupertus issued a letter of commendation to the 11th's commanding officer in which he wrote, "the Ne*ro race can well be proud of the work performed by the 11th Marine Depot Company as they have demonstrated in every respect that they appreciate the privilege of wearing a Marine uniform and serving with Marines in combat." We sold another of Davis' albums in 2018 and did not know until recently that these were its companions. That album held hundreds of Marine Corps-issued photos accompanied by Davis' captions and included around 15 photos of fellow Black Marines taken in the South Pacific. It also contained Davis' handwritten statement regarding racism that he experienced as an African American marine which ended with, "I suffered overseas for two years and two invasions. Even without any praise, which I do not want for there is nothing to make me proud that I was in the Marine Corps."
These albums are different insofar as all of the images are vernacular, approximately 30 show Black marines in the South Pacific, and the rest of the photos are a celebration of African American communities in early post-war Richmond. The military photos are exceptional and include posed shots of fellow marines captioned with their names and hometowns as well as several of Davis himself. At least two of these are inscribed by Davis, showing he mailed them to his mother while serving overseas. One exceptional page shows Davis and fellow soldiers in the jungles of Guadalcanal, others show them in Guam, and a few are images of people he met including women in Guam and the Philippines.
There are many lovely posed shots in and around Richmond as well as some great studio and arcade portraits. The vast majority of these are post-war and include a series with Davis in stylish clothes playing a guitar, some showing friends and family in military uniforms, and a few stirring images of ramshackle living conditions situated within nicer neighborhoods. Some photos were taken in and around Davis' home and include a shot of his living room, with a wall displaying his framed military certificates along with two rifles.
The albums have at least ten street scenes with store frontage, with a few of these presumably from Black business districts as we see African Americans milling about outside of stores. There are also at least eleven images of Black parades including an exceptional shot of African American WACs. At least 16 photos depict sporting events, and crowds of fans at (presumably) Virginia Union University including a football game, baseball game and several shots of the cheer squad. There are several compelling photos showing African Americans at a trolley stop as well as at least two internal shots of an appliance store showing African American salesmen helping Black customers
Also important are the approximately 20 images depicting de jure segregation. Two show businesses or train stations with signs for "Col*reds" or "Whites." At least eight show a segregated beach, with a few of those in color. There are also three color and four black and white pictures of a Black amusement park at a beach which may depict Seaview Beach and Amusement Park.
An exceptional collection of images simultaneously documenting Black marines who fought in the South Pacific as well as their stateside lives after the war.
More photos may be found here: https://tinyurl.com/53w7m5fy.
Crogman, W[illiam] H[enry]
Cincinnati, O., 1896
Cincinnati, O.: Jennings & Pye, 1896. Second edition stated. Good. 7½" x 5½". Green cloth, title gilt. Pp. [author frontis], [i-ix], x-xiii, 9-330 + + 8 plates interspersed. Good: corners frayed with small losses to spine tips; vertical patch of staining at the outer edge of both boards; hinges cracked but holding; some soil spots and stains to endpapers and first and last few leaves. Inscribed by the author on front free endpaper to Addie Hunton.
This is a collection of speeches by W.H. Crogman, a noted African American educator and orator, many of which were addressed to white audiences. The book was inscribed to Black civil rights leader, suffragist, political organizer and author, Addie Waites Hunton.
William H. Crogman was born on the Caribbean island of St. Martin in 1841. Orphaned at the age of 12, Crogman was brought to the United States by a shipbuilder and worked as a seaman until his 20s. He graduated from Atlanta University in 1876, and gained immediate employment at Atlanta's Clark University - the two institutions later merged. In 1880 he was promoted to Professor of Classical Languages, a position he held for 40 years; he also served as university president from 1903 to 1910. Crogman fought for civil rights and equality in education, and was said to walk several miles to work rather than ride segregated streetcars.
This book contains fifteen speeches concerning African American education and uplift that Crogman delivered at important events, several of which were in honor of, or attended by, white people. In the book's preface, Crogman related that "All the subjects treated are such as relate to the race with which I am identified . . . I have endeavored . . . to use candor and moderation, to condemn the wrong where I have seen the wrong, and commend the right where I have seen the right."
The book begins with a biographical sketch of Crogman and also contains his address to the National Teachers Association meeting in 1884 which was the first time that an African American was ever invited to do so. Also included are his remarks at Frederick Douglass' memorial service in Atlanta. Crogman spoke on the "Ne*ro's Needs" at Henry Ward Beecher's church and on "The Importance of Correct Ideals" to students at Talladega College. The book also includes speeches he delivered at the memorial of Atlanta University president Edmund Asa Ware and at an anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation at the Georgia State Capitol.
This copy was inscribed "with compliments of the author" to Addie Waites Hunton, a leading suffragist and an organizer for the National Association of Col*red Women. Hunton worked for the NAACP, testifying to Congress on discrimination against Black female voters in 1920, and was an organizer of the 1927 Fourth Pan-African Congress in New York City. She wrote a book in 1938 to celebrate her husband William's life and work, along with the fiftieth anniversary of his founding the YMCA's department for African Americans. Addie also worked as a secretary for the YWCA and toured the United States recruiting other Black women. During World War I, she was one of three women assigned to work with the 200,000 segregated Black troops stationed in France. She and Kathryn M. Johnson wrote about their experiences in Two Col*red Women with the American Expeditionary Forces.
An impressive collection of speeches by a noted Black educator. Fairly well-represented in institutions, this a unique copy with an important association.
Bell, William K.
New York, N.Y., 1956
New York, N.Y.: William K. Bell Publications, 1956. Very good. 8 1/8" x 5 3/8". Bound, orange thin card wrappers. Pp. xi, 147. Very good: wrappers lightly worn with some dust soiling; faint evidence of water exposure to upper outer corner of around one third of the leaves. Inscribed by the author on the verso of the title page.
This is an energetic and informative work offering business advice and encouragement to African Americans. It was written by a Black New York businessman and author, William K. Bell, and inscribed by him as well.
The book conveyed various opportunities for financial success, while stressing that the onus of economic betterment was on the African American himself. The author wrote:
"Get it out of your head, Mr. Ne*ro, that your own people are going to spend their money with you because you are a Ne*ro. You must offer them for their money the same things and considerations that other people do. It has been found in a good many cases that the biggest enemy to Ne*ro business is the Ne*ro business man himself."
The text covered the role of the church and of fraternal organizations in Black commerce. It also provided guidance on leadership and "what it takes to build a business." There were statistics showing African American economic progress, advice and adages such as "don't let the customer get away" and "laziness is the enemy of human progress."
Reasonably well-represented in institutions, a fine advice book for aspiring African American business people inscribed by the author.
Barnwell, F[rederick] Rivers; Nichols, Pansy
Austin, Texas, 1935
Austin, Texas: Texas Tuberculosis Association, 1935. Very good. 12¼" x 9¼". Bifolium, printed all four sides. Pp. [4]. Very good: folded as issued; moderate vertical crease throughout; faintly toned.
This is a promotional urging the observance of National Ne*ro Health Week (NNHW) that was produced by the Texas Tuberculosis Association (TTA). It explains how communities could organize and implement NNHW activities and celebrates advances in Black healthcare in the state of Texas and nationwide. It was created by the African American director of the Ne*ro Health Service of the TTA, F. Rivers Barnwell, as well as TTA's female executive director, Pansy Nichols, who we believe may have been caucasian.
NNHW was initiated by Booker T. Washington in 1915 shortly before his death and continued by Tuskegee's next president, Robert Moton. By the 1920s NNHW had partnered with the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) in order to educate Black communities on the importance of sanitation, provide greater access to healthcare and increase the numbers of African American public health providers. In 1950, USPHS merged NNHW with programs intended for white citizens, beginning National Public Health Week, which continues to this day.
TTA was founded in 1908; its Ne*ro Health Service department was in place as early as 1919, led by director F. Rivers Barnwell. Pansy Nichols began work with TTA as an office assistant in 1918. She became child health education director in 1921, and when TTA's executive director died in 1932, she took over his role. At the time, tuberculosis was killing two to three times more African Americans than whites in Texas, with no state-supported treatment facility available for Black patients. Nichols and Barnwell successfully lobbied the Texas legislature to fund two hospitals to care for tubercular African Americans in 1935.
This promotional marks TTA's efforts to involve Texas communities in the observance of NNHW. It provides tips on community organizing and suggests activities for each day's focus, such as Home Hygiene Day and Community Sanitation Day. It contains the text of Barnwell's radio broadcast, relating the theme for 1935 ("The family and the home as the unit of community health") and the great strides made in African American healthcare over the last 20 years, both in Texas and nationwide. A "report sheet" is provided for participants to track achievements in cleaning and sanitation. There are also six photographic images showing Black families receiving medical care, children playing, pristine buildings, homes and yards.
A rare and thorough source of information on an important African American healthcare initiative. OCLC shows no holdings.
Boston, 1823
Boston: Cummings, Hilliard, & Co, 1823. Ninth Edition. Good. 9½" x 6¼". Thin card wrappers. Eight double-page maps hand-colored in outline. Good: wrappers heavily soiled and separated from text block but attached to each other; three maps with chipping to edges, outside map boundaries; map of Europe with a 3" split at fold; light to moderate dust soiling and offsetting throughout.
This is an uncommon book of maps, owned and notated by a Harriet Tousley or Towsley, a woman in her 20s in Ellisburg, New York in the 1820s.
The book consists of eight double-page maps including North America and the United States. It was published to accompany the textbook, Cummings' Ancient and Modern Geography, and Tousley noted in this copy that she had purchased both. Her other notes include a date (September 1827) and a fact: "Mississippi River is the largest in the United States of America." Tousley also made notes on geography inside the rear wrapper: "New York Philadelphia Boston Baltimore Charleston and New Orleans are the ships towns in the United States of America and Cincinnati the ship city of Ohio - Columbus the seat of government situated on the Scioto river."
We were unable to discover anything about Tousley beyond that she was born around 1801; we still don't know whether she was a student, a teacher, or teaching herself, but an American woman studying geography at this time period is certainly worthy of further research.
New Mexico, Arizona and Oklahoma, 1959
New Mexico, Arizona and Oklahoma, 1959. Very good. 102 color slide transparencies measuring 1 3/8" x 7/8", in cardboard mounts measuring 2" x 2"; all extensively captioned in typescript on labels adhered to mounts. Mounts generally very good plus or better with fine transparencies.
This is a captivating collection of well composed and captioned slides by an unknown photographer as he and his wife and young son traveled with a member of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Neal Jensen, visiting Native Americans in Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona in the late 1950s.
While we have not identified the photographer, Neal Jensen was a relocation officer at the United Pueblos Agency which was located in Albuquerque. The photographer, who was apparently Jensen's friend, managed to document the lives, activities and living conditions of at least eight different tribes in at least 14 different locations. Each mount has a later applied sticker with two to four lines of typescript recording the location, month, year and subject as well as occasionally identifying some of the people seen in the images.
The slides may be loosely grouped into three categories. The first relates to traditional dwellings. Approximately 22 images show the outside of traditional homes such as a Pawnee house in Anadarko, Oklahoma, an Apache Wickiup at White River Reservation, and a Wichita Indian dwelling in Indian City, Oklahoma. The second category includes at least 19 posed shots of Native Americans and/or their families, with most tribal affiliations identified. The last group includes around 31 images which depict events or gatherings. These include several of a rodeo, politicians addressing constituents, a barbeque and children putting on a school play at an Indian school.
We also see the BIA office at Window Rock, a wall painting inside a kiva at Coronado Pueblo, New Mexico and Hopi dancers near the Grand Canyon. The compiler recorded a fry bread contest at Zia Pueblo, a fiesta at Laguna Pueblo, and shots of Native Americans selling handmade goods in each location. There's also a great image of two men behind a table promoting the relocation office, several of BIA buildings, and several depicting desert scenery.
Spectacular imagery of mid-century Native American life in the Southwest.
More images may be seen here: https://tinyurl.com/2p9a9r6y.
Chicago, Illinois, 1933
Chicago, Illinois, 1933. Near fine. 2¼" x 5½". Admission ticket printed on card stock, recto only. Near fine with a bit of edge wear.
This is a ticket to the first of two annual events targeted to African Americans at Soldier Field as part of the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. The grand spectacle had approximately 4500 performers and singers and covered eleven different periods in Black history. Attendance at the event was poor and likely due to the fact that it was not supported by The Chicago Defender. A week before the show, the paper published a letter by influential African American politician Oscar DePriest which stated that he would not attend because the ticket did not allow admission to the fair (the ticket reads along its bottom "not good for admission to exposition grounds"). DePriest also voiced concerns as to where profits from the production might be used. Promotions for Ne*ro Day anticipated 200,000 attendees, but the number of people who actually attended that day dropped by 100,000 from the day before. The Defender also panned the performance, writing, "rather than depicting the progress of the race for the past hundred years, it seemed to show we have retrograded in that time."
When it was announced that the fair would be extended one year, Black community leaders planned another event, this one supported by the Defender. With legendary band leader Noble Sissle managing the performance, it was far more successful and well received.
Prunskis, Juozas
Chicago, Ill, 1944
Chicago, Ill: A.L.R.K. Federacijos Chicago Apskrities Spaudos Sekcijos, 1944. Stated First Edition. Very good. 8½" x 5¼". Stapled thin card wrappers. Pp. 51. Very good: wrappers toned at extremities and lightly soiled with a bit of corner wear; light dust-soiling throughout.
This is a strong and poetic appeal on behalf of Lithuania's fight for independence, relating current and former atrocities perpetrated by the Nazi and Soviet occupations of the nation. It was written by a noted Lithuanian American priest and author in Chicago and the text is entirely in Lithuanian.
Lithuania is a small European nation that was dominated by Russia's invasions throughout the 18th century and by a subsequent century of wars between Germany and Russia on its soil. Due to its long history of being governed by outside forces, it was a victory when it declared independence at the end of World War I. But from 1940 throughout World War II, Lithuania was occupied three more times - by the Soviet Union (1940-1941), by Nazi Germany (1941-1944), and at the time of this book's publication, once again by the Soviet Union.
We had portions of the book translated, and learned from them that it was published by the Chicago-based press section of the Lithuanian Roman Catholic Federation of America. We also learned the impetus for the book:
"Realizing the importance of the moment and wanting to contribute to the liberation of the Lithuanian nation, the Press section . . . seeks to mobilize the much-needed spiritual and material forces for the common assistance of the nation . . . to defend Lithuania's rights and restore its independence."
The text went on to discuss the various horrors and atrocities of the 1940-1941 Soviet and subsequent Nazi occupation, including the expulsion of Lithuanian farmers from their homesteads and the destruction of villages, libraries and schools. Lithuanians were imprisoned in forced labor camps, starved, and murdered. Seven photographic images in the book show dead Lithuanians and the text pointed out that:
"now the Soviet Union has re-occupied Lithuania, bringing our brothers the same cruel means of death that have already been tried. The disaster of the homeland causes deep pain, sadness and terrible fear in the hearts of the Lithuanians of this free country due to the fate of their enslaved compatriots."
The book also had a few Lithuanian poems, as well as a hopeful section which conveyed that: "We believe in the progress of humanity, we believe that there will come times when there will be no personal slavery nor the slavery of nations, when international imperialism . . . will be curbed."
The author, Juozas Prunskis, was a Lithuanian American priest, journalist, and scholar. He was deeply involved in the cultural and political life of the Lithuanian community in Chicago, writing and editing pieces for the Lithuanian daily newspaper, Draugas. He published several articles and books in both Lithuanian and English about atrocities perpetrated by Communists and Nazis. We were unable to discover much about the Lithuanian Roman Catholic Federation of America, save that it was established in Pennsylvania in 1906, and as of 2012 had an office in Chicago.
A plea for peace and liberation for the people of a repeatedly oppressed nation, produced by those sharing their heritage in the United States. OCLC shows eight holdings over three entries.
[Hostyn, Texas], 1900
[Hostyn, Texas]: [Katolická Jednotá Texaská], 1900. Very good. 6 1/8" x 3¼". Thin card printed both sides and folded to create four-page pamphlet. Very good with light wear and dust soiling.
This is a promotional pamphlet for the Katolická Jednotá Texaská (KJT), or Czech Catholic Union of Texas, printed exclusively in Czech. The KJT was founded as a fraternal benefit society in Hostyn, Fayette County, Texas, in 1889. Fayette County has the largest Czech population per capita and the most Czech communities of any county in the state. The KJT operates to this day, headquartered in La Grange, Texas, offering programs such as life insurance, financial aid to members, and educational scholarships.
The pamphlet (which we had translated) urged that "a practical Catholic belongs to the Catholic Union" and promised that the KJT "does only good and has earned itself an honorable place in the history of the Czech-Catholic people in America." It argued that "only Catholic organizations can face attacks on our faith, our schools, the press associations" and related that the KJT had been founded "solely to support widows and orphans and to preserve our mother tongue." There were tables of fees and payments for insurance coverage as well as information on the Youth Branch of the Union, for Catholic boys aged 2-16.
A rare piece of marketing material for a longstanding Czech union in Texas. OCLC shows no holdings.
![National Ne*ro Health Week. Twenty-First Annual Observance . . . [Cover title]](https://rarebookinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/1532406635.0.l.jpg)
![School Atlas to Cummings' Ancient & Modern Geography [Cover title]](https://rarebookinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/1532406597.0.l.jpg)
![[Color Slides Documenting a Trip to Numerous Reservations with a BIA Agent]](https://rarebookinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/1532406591.0.l.jpg)
![[Unused Ticket for] Epic of a Race](https://rarebookinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/1532406575.0.l.jpg)
![Lietuva Naciu ir Bolseviku Vergijoje [Lithuania in Nazi and Bolshevik Slavery]](https://rarebookinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/1531644499.0.l.jpg)
