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Monthly Report, September 1918

This document is one of the Monthly Reports on the activities of the Colored Auxiliary Council by P.L. Dorman. Dorman is reporting on his travels to remote areas of Arkansas where many Black communities were isolated from the wider population of Arkansas. He points out that this isolation often limited their ability to get information about the war. Dorman states that the counties he visited had the highest number of deserters due to a lack of receiving the right information not from unpatriotic behavior.

Source: Arkansas State Council of Defense, MS.000490, ASA_CouncilDefense_MS490_08_20_11, Arkansas State Archives, Little Rock, Arkansas

Rights: Arkansas State Archives without prior written permission is prohibited. For information on reproducing images held by the Arkansas State Archives, please call 501-682-6900 or email at state.archives@arkansas.gov.ASA_CouncilDefense_MS490_08_20_11

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Josiah H. Blount

Josiah H. Blount was born a slave in Clinton, Jones County, Georgia on September 17,1860 to father Madison Blount and his mother owned by a family named Anderson. Since Blount’s parents were owned by different families they were separated during the Civil War after their white owners became refugees. By the time Josiah parents found each other they both had married different people. Blount’s mother married William Clark and moved to Arkansas in 1873. Clark moved his family to follow Reverend Isaac H. Anderson in the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church exodus from Georgia.   

 Josiah H. Blount became an educator and an active Republican in both St. Francis County and Phillips County. The State Council of Defense dissolved all groups under its control near the end of 1919 and by September of 1920 Blount had challenged Wallace Townsend, the man who oversaw the work of the Colored Council, and Thomas McRae, an Ex-confederate soldier, for the Governor’s seat as an Independent candidate. “For the first time in the history of the state, the name of a negro will be submitted to the voters of Arkansas for the governorship. The name of J.H. Blount, negro of Forrest City, will appear on the ballots as Independent candidate for chief executive.” Blount obtained 15,627 votes, Townsend gained 46,339 votes, and McRae won with 123,604 votes. 

Rights: “Fair Use” copyright law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code, Sections 107-118) which allows for the reproduction of the copyrighted material “for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship or research.” (17 U.S.C. Section 107) Any use of these materials for commercial purposes or in excess of Title 17 Section 107 will be subject to the law for copyright infringement.

                               JHBlount

Chairman of County Councils of Defense

County Council Members

Andrews, C.B.
Atkins, W.S.
Bevens, Edwin
Bloodworth, C.T.
Brown, W.W.
Browning, J.K.
Burke, F.N.
Burrow, P.L.
Carroll, J.W.
Carson, J.F.
Casey, S.M.,
Cole, W.D., Jr.
Compton, R.T.
Condray, C.E.
Cooley, H.M.
Curry, Jack,
Dillion, J.P.
DuLaney, A.D.
Duncan, S.K.
Dunlap, D. Ward
Eberts, H.F.H.
Elbert, Godwin
Elsken, Conrad
Emory, Houston
Fairfield, A.B.
Galloway, W.E.
Garrett, Lon
Garvin, F.M.
Gates, J.M.
Gillespie, C.E.
Guthrie, L.M.
Hampton, John R.
Hardage, Joe
Harville, R.T.
Henry, G.A., Dr.
Hudspeth, A.T.
Jernigan, A.W.
Johnson, Smith A.
Johnson, C.G.
Johnson, W.H.
Killgore, A.S.
Killough, O.N.
Ladd, E.P.
Langley, S.S.
Lewis, A.T.
Lindsey, J.H., Dr.
Longley, N.A.
Mahony, Joe
Mann, S.H.
Mason, J.E.
McKnight, J.S.
McMasters, T.E.
Meiser, Eli
Metcalf, J.R.
Milwee, R.F.
Moore, J.W.
Morley, K.G.
Norman, George
Parker, E.A.
Payne, W.B.
Pettigrew, T.A.
Ponder, H.L.
Rainwater, Loid
Rector, George L.
Reed, Howard
Rowell, A.H.
Russel, R.H.
Sain, J.G.
Scott, P.D.
St. John, V.W.
Stayton, Jos. M.
Stewart, W.D.
Streett, W.G.
Sullivan, Arthur
Thompson, R.R.
Thorn, H.B.
Ward, J.B.
Whyte, H.R.
Williams, C.X.
Wilson, J.R.
Winham, Allen
Womble, W.E.

Arkansas State Council of Defense Members

Brough, Charles H., Governor of Arkansas
Townsend, Wallace, Director

State Council Members

Bond, John L.
Brasher, Walter G.
Calvert, C.C.
Couch, Harvey C.
Dean, J.W.
England, Lloyd,
Frauenthal, Ida
Futrall, John C.
Futrall, Junius M.
Garrison, Charles W., Dr.
Gibbons, John R.
Hamp, Williams
Harper, Clio
Hemingway, John H.
Hemingway, W.L.
House, Joseph W., Jr.
Pace, Frank
Reaves, E.T.
Remmel, Harmon L.
Speed, J. Smith
Sprague, W.G.
Taylor, Chas. E.
Townsend, Wallace
Trieber, Jacob Judge
Vinsonhaler, Frank, Dr.
Vision, J.R.
Whipple, Durand Major
Wright, Hamp

Colored Auxiliary Council Members

Jones, Scipio A., State Chairman
Bush, A.E., Executive Secretary
McConico, J.H., Assistant Chairman

County Chairmen

Anderson, J.R.
Avant, Lee
Barrow, R.C.
Black, Picken W.
Blount, Josiah H.
Bobo, M.W.
Bond, Scott
Booker, J.A,
Boone, F.D.
Bowie, H.H.
Boyd, S.T.
Brock, S.P.
Brown, R.B.
Bush, A.E.
Campbell, J.N.
Carolina, H.E., Mrs.
Carry, E.H.
Clarke, A.T., Mrs.
Connor, J.M., Bishop
Crump, A.B.
Daniels, W.T.
Davis, E.F.
Dorman, Percy Lipton
Elliott, H.T., Mrs.
Erkelberger, J.W.
Ezell, E.L., Dr.
Ford, J.F., Dr.
Garrison, P.A.
Gilliam, Isaac
Grissom, R.
Hamilton, N.W.
Hampton, W.S.
Hildreth, S.D.
Hill, Jefferson
Holt, W.S.
Hoover, Sam
Hughes, D.W.
Jacko, W.B.
Johnson, C.S.
Johnson, R.T.
Johnson, C.S., Mrs.
Johnson, Ven., Reverend
Jones, G.V.
Jones, D.W.
Jones, C.H.
Jones, W.W.
Jordan, P.H.
King, C.H.
Lee, John B.
Lewis, Harrison
Lytes, F.T., Dr.
Marquess, A.A., Dr.
McCoaico, J.H.
McGee, A.
Money, E.J., Dr.
Moore, George H.
Morris, E.C.
Odom, E.B., Dr.
Price, P.H.
Pullman, J.W., Dr.
Robinson, J.P., Dr.
Rosco, Lewis
Sanefur, T.S.
Saxton, George P.
Scull, J.H., Reverend
Swayze, R.B.
Townsend, William
Wallace, D.C.
Walls, J.W.
Warren, J.T.
Waterford, A.W.
Woods, H.Y.
Yerger, Henry Clay

Correspondence from the Council of National Defense, 1918 October 8

The National Council of Defense sent a letter to the Southern State Division of the Woman’s Committee letting them know that the National Council did not want a separate organization for black women as was done for white women.  The National Council felt that if a separate organization were formed, that it would put an overemphasis on black people

Source: Arkansas State Council of Defense, MS.000490, ASA_CouncilDefense_MS490_08_20_08, Arkansas State Archives, Little Rock, Arkansas

Rights: Use and reproduction of images held by the Arkansas State Archives without prior written permission is prohibited. For information on reproducing images held by the Arkansas State Archives, please call 501-682-6900 or email at state.archives@arkansas.gov.

ASA_CouncilDefense_MS490_08_20_08

Correspondence to H.F.H. Eberts from the Arkansas Council of Defense, 1917 July 3

The Arkansas State Council of Defense is asking H.F.H. Eberts of Pulaski County Council of Defense to do something about the circulation of the “Chicago Defender.” The State Council believed that this publication was causing a change in the overall attitude of the black servants in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Source: Arkansas State Council of Defense, MS.000490, ASA_CouncilDefense_MS490_01_05_46, Arkansas State Archives, Little Rock, Arkansas

Rights: Use and reproduction of images held by the Arkansas State Archives without prior written permission is prohibited. For information on reproducing images held by the Arkansas State Archives, please call 501-682-6900 or email at state.archives@arkansas.gov.

ASA_CouncilDefense_MS490_01_05_46

Correspondence to Victor Olander, Illinois State Council of Defense, 1917 July 5

Victor Olander from the Illinois State Council of Defense suggested that the Arkansas State Council of Defense suppress the spread of the “Chicago Defender” in Arkansas. Olander states that this paper influenced the exodus of the black population from the south.

Source: Arkansas State Council of Defense, MS.000490, ASA_CouncilDefense_MS490_01_05_47, Arkansas State Archives, Little Rock, Arkansas

Rights: Use and reproduction of images held by the Arkansas State Archives without prior written permission is prohibited. For information on reproducing images held by the Arkansas State Archives, please call 501-682-6900 or email at state.archives@arkansas.gov.

ASA_CouncilDefense_MS490_01_05_47

Correspondence from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, 1918 October 10

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People wrote to the Arkansas Council of National Defense asking them to ban the showing of “The Birth of a Nation” in the interest of national morale.

Source: Arkansas State Council of Defense, MS.000490, ASA_CouncilDefense_MS490_03_11_27,  Arkansas State Archives, Little Rock, Arkansas

Rights: Use and reproduction of images held by the Arkansas State Archives without prior written permission is prohibited. For information on reproducing images held by the Arkansas State Archives, please call 501-682-6900 or email at state.archives@arkansas.gov.

ASA_MS000490_AR_State_Council_of_Defense_records_03_11_27