Confronting the Veil: Abram Harris Jr., E. Franklin Frazier, and Ralph Bunche, 1919-1941

312 Pages·2002·1.33 MB·English

by  Jonathan Scott Holloway

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Confronting the Veil
n n n

jonathan scott holloway
Confronting the Veil
abram harris jr.,
e. franklin frazier, and
ralph bunche,
1919–1941
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The University of North Carolina Press
Chapel Hill and London
∫ 2002 The University of North Carolina Press
All rights reserved
Designed by Jacquline Johnson
Set in Minion
by Keystone Typesetting, Inc.
Manufactured in the United States of America
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence
and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines
for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Holloway, Jonathan Scott.
Confronting the veil : Abram Harris Jr., E. Franklin Frazier, and
Ralph Bunche, 1919–1941 / by Jonathan Scott Holloway.
p. cm.
Revision of the author’s dissertation
Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index.
isbn 0-8078-2678-2 (cloth: alk. paper)
isbn 0-8078-5343-7 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Harris, Abram Lincoln, 1899–1963. 2. Frazier, Edward
Franklin, 1894–1962. 3. Bunche, Ralph J. (Ralph Johnson),
1904–1971. 4. African American intellectuals—Biography.
5. Social scientists—Biography. 6. African Americans—Social
conditions—20th century. 7. African Americans—Economic
conditions—20th century. 8. United States—Race relations.
9. Social classes—United States—History—20th century.
10. Working class—United States—History—20th century.
I. Title.
e185.96 .h58 2002
973%.0496073%00922—dc21
[b] 2001037537
cloth 06 05 04 03 02 5 4 3 2 1
paper 06 05 04 03 02 5 4 3 2 1
written in honor of my past and
dedicated to my future.
To my grandparents,
Viola and William Trent Jr. and
Fannie and John Holloway.
For my wife and daughter,
Aisling and Emerson.

contents
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction
The Second Amenia Conference and
Black Intellectual Genealogy:
Changing Faiths in Labor Politics, Social
Science, and Race Leadership 1
Chapter 1
Secret Sites: Black Washington, D.C.,
and Howard University 35
Chapter 2
‘‘God-Damn the Negro and His Problems’’:
Abram Harris Jr., Objectivity, and Race Leadership 84
Chapter 3
Searching for Culture, Running from the Past: E. Franklin
Frazier, Academic Segregation, and Race Politics 123
Chapter 4
Recrafting the Amenia Ideal: Ralph Bunche, Race,
and the Responsibilities of the Public Intellectual 157
Conclusion
Constructing the Legacies of Black Intellectuals:
Invisible Ones, Lost Souls, and Prodigal Sons 195
Notes 219
Bibliography 259
Index 281

tables and illustrations
Tables
1. Composition of the Population of the District of Columbia, 1930 37
2. Composition of the Population of the District of
Columbia, by Tracts, 1930 39
Illustrations
Delegates to the Second Amenia Conference, 1933 5
Alexander Crummell 20
Kelly Miller 24
W. E. B. Du Bois 26
Anna Julia Cooper 28
United States Census tract map of Washington, D.C., 1930 38
U Street District, Howard Theater 42
U Street District, Republic Theater crowds 43
Mordecai Johnson at Founders Library, Howard University 46
Respectable citizens join the nna protest at Peoples Drug Store 53
Mary McLeod Bethune joins the picket line 54
nna handbill 57
Abram Harris Jr. 85
E. Franklin Frazier 125
Ralph Bunche 159