Portraits of the women of the Arkansas Colored Auxiliary Council of Defense
Category: Colored Auxiliary Council of Defense
Portraits of the men of the Arkansas Colored Auxiliary Council of Defense
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.
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 to J.L. Bond, 1918 December 19
The Arkansas State Council of Defense wrote to tell John L. Bond that they would wait to make any decision on the recommendation made by P.L. Dorman. The black council members were not allowed to manage themselves, they were under the direct supervision of John Bond and Wallace Townsend.
Source: Arkansas State Council of Defense, MS.000490, ASA_CouncilDefense_MS490_08_20_21, 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.
“Colored Patriots of Arkansas, Attention!,” Arkansas Democrat
This article from the Arkansas Democrat, 1918 November 2, showcases the different black leaders who worked with the Council of Defense on the Colored Auxiliary Council. The leaders of the community were trying to raise a minimum of $400,000 dollars during the month of November. The Auxiliary Council had its first meeting on August 10, 1918 and by November the committee was working hard to rise money for the war effort.
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.
“Colored People and the War Work Campaign,” Arkansas Democrat
This article from the Arkansas Democrat, 1918 October 23, details the black communities’ work on the War Campaign for the Colored Auxiliary Council. The Council wanted to raise $400,00 on behalf of the African American population. Prior to the advent of the Colored Auxiliary Council, the work of the black community in Arkansas was counted with the rest of the Arkansas population, but after this point, the donations were to be keep separated.
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.
Scipio Africanus Jones (1863-1943)
Scipio Africanus Jones is celebrated as one of the most distinguished African American defense attorney and leading black citizens in Arkansas during the nineteenth and twentieth century. Scipio Jones was born to Jemmima Jones, a slave, in 1863 in Tulip, Dallas County, Arkansas. It is thought that he may be the son of Dr. Sanford Reamey, who was the owner of Jemmima, a prominent white citizen in Tulip. Jones attended Walden Seminary and later Bethel Institute. He taught public school at the same time studying to take the bar exam. Jones passed the bar on June 15, 1889, and in 1900 the Supreme Court of Arkansas accepted his credentials. He fought Jim Crow laws, did pro bono work for poor black defendants, worked with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a leading member of the Black and Tan fraction of the Republican Party, and the first black Judge elected to the Pulaski County Chancery Court. Scipio Jones was the State Chairman of the Colored Auxiliary Council of Defense for the state of Arkansas.
“Colored Patriots of Arkansas, Attention!”, (Little Rock: The Arkansas Democrat, November 2, 1918)
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.
Correspondence from J.L. Bond, to Wallace Townsend
The Director of the State Council of Defense, Wallace Townsend, was reporting the activity of P.L. Dorman and the Colored Auxiliary Council.
Source: Arkansas State Council of Defense, MS.000490, ASA_CouncilDefense_MS490_08_20_10, 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.
Correspondence to J.L. Bond, 1918 October 31
The director was asking about a woman reported to have taken money from the black community in the name of patriotism.
Source: Arkansas State Council of Defense, MS.000490, ASA_CouncilDefense_MS490_08_20_15, 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.
The Arkansas Colored Auxiliary Council: Black Activism during World War I, 1917-1918 