Statement by the National Committee for Justice in Columbia, Tennessee

26 June 1946 [New York City]

the national committee for justice in columbia tennessee protested to president truman and attorney general tom clark against the outrageous whitewash of mob leaders and state militia who devastated the negro community in columbia tennessee. the report refusing to fix responsibility was made by a federal grand jury. the attorneys charged with the duty of presenting all the evidence to the grand jury were on the staff of attorney general tom clark.²federal government is responsible for this breakdown in federal law enforcement. we ask that your organization protest to attorney general clark and president truman the shameful grand jury report.³

                                      national committee for justice in columbia tennessee

                                      mrs. eleanor roosevelt

                                      dr. channing tobias

                                      co-chairmen

TStmt FJHH, DLC

1. "Report of Grand Jury in the Matter of the Racial Disturbance at Columbia, Tennessee," AERP, FDRL; O'Brien, 36-39; Mailing list, NAACP Papers, DLC. See Document 105 for background on the Columbia case.

2. John M. Kelley, Jr., Arthur B. Caldwell, and Eleanor Bontecou, lawyers from the Justice Department's Civil Rights Section, joined local assistant district attorneys A. Otis Denning and Z. Thomas "Day" Osborn, Jr., in presenting the case to the grand jury (O'Brien, 36).

3. For Attorney General Clark's response to the NCJCT's protest of the grand jury report, see Document 148 and Document 149.

On Invoking FDR's Name

June 24, the journalist Steven Feeley wrote ER from the National Press Club in Washington on behalf of his "old friend" Senator James Mead (D-NY), who would soon announce his candidacy to become governor of New York. Feeley relayed a conversation he had with Mead the previous Sunday in which the senator said he "believed President Roosevelt endorsed him as a candidate for this year and that the presidential endorsement came as early as 1942." Feeley, knowing how this endorsement could help his friend's campaign, asked ER, if she was "free to do so," to tell him "whether President Roosevelt told you that he favored Senator Mead for nomination and election this year" and, if so, to give Feeley "permission to publish it in New York State newspapers and radio stations." The journalist then revealed that Senator Robert Wagner (D-NY) and Interior Secretary Harold Ickes recalled FDR's endorsement and that in addition to seeking ER's recollections he had asked Henry Wallace and Frances Perkins if FDR had shared his opinions with them.¹

ER responded promptly to Feeley; however, she did not offer the assurance he sought.