Mr. SALERT. It may be but I do not think so.

Senator ELLENDER. That is all.

Senator DONNELL. Are there any other questions?

Senator IVES. No questions.

Senator DONNELL. Just a very few questions, Mr. Salert.

You referred to the situation existing in the Eastman Kodak Co. I am not familiar with that situation but I wanted to know just how much you personally know about it. Are you just taking it on hearsay or did you go into Rochester and make an investigation there?

Mr. SALERT. I spent about 5 months in the city of Rochester and Buffalo and spoke at approximately 40 different union local meetings. Senator DONNELL. Yes.

Mr. SALERT. And these talks were almost all on human relations and improved race relations and in almost every instance I was told by someone in the audience about the practices of this particular concern. Senator DONNELL. Eastman Kodak Co. ?

Mr. SALERT. That is right.

Senator DONNELL. Did you make any inquiry of the officials of the Eastman Kodak Co. to find out what their side of it was?

Mr. SALERT. There was not that possibility. The Eastman plant was unorganized. They had absolutely no contact with organized labor in the city of Rochester; there was no possibility of contacting or getting the information. I did see an employment form which had race, creed, color, and national origin on the employment form. Senator DONNELL. On the employment form.

Mr. SALERT. That is right; that is, they called for that information. Senator DONNELL. But you did not inquire of any official of the Eastman Kodak Co. to find out whether or not it is true that that company did discriminate against Negroes, Catholics, and so on? Mr. SALERT. I never applied for employment.

Senator DONNELL. I did not ask you that; I asked whether you made inquiry of any official of that company.

Mr. SALERT. I never did.

Senator DONNELL. And your information was derived solely from what people would say who were in these various audiences to which you referred; is that right?

Mr. SALERT. Yes, sir.

Senator DONNELL. Now, the telephone company and other public utilities, did you personally conduct an investigation there to ascertain whether or not there was the discrimination to which you refer? Mr. SALERT. I did not, sir.

Senator DONNELL. You did not make any inquiry of the officials of either of those companies or any one of those companies to find out what if any admission they might make in regard to that matter; that is correct, is it not?

Mr. SALERT. Yes.

Senator DONNELL. That is all, Mr. Salert.

Senator ELLENDER. Did you participate in the hearings that led to the enactment of the Ives bill in New York?

Mr. SALERT. I did, sir.

Senator ELLENDER. Well, on the basis of the testimony adduced at these hearings and then the passage of the bill, and then its administration for the past 2 years, are you not a little surprised at the few

cases that have come before the commission? We have testimony here that only 500-some-odd were actually filed, or 600, and there were less than half of those actually adjusted.

Mr. SALERT. Just because there is an Ives-Quinn bill.

Senator ELLENDER. I am asking the question, Are you not surprised at the small number?

Mr. SALERT. No, I am not; and I will tell you why, sir; because we have a law in the State of New York which states that there shall be no discrimination in employment. We have no discrimination in employment. And if we have a Federal law, I am sure we will have few cases because of the strength that that law would have on the thinking of individuals.

Senator IVES. You want to add one more thing in that connection, and that is the broad educational program that is being carried out constantly in that connection.

Mr. SALERT. We participate; our agency participates as an advisory agency to the commission together with scores of other interfaith agencies in this particular field, and I am sure that the educational features of S. 984 would also have a worth-while effect on the thinking of our people in the United States of America.

Senator DONNELL. Anything further, gentlemen?

(No response.)

Mr. Salert, we are much obliged to you for your testimony and for appearing here.

Our next witness is E. Pauline Myers, national legislative representative, civil liberties department, Improved, Benevolent, Protective Order of Elks of the World.

STATEMENT OF E. PAULINE MYERS, NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE
REPRESENTATIVE, CIVIL LIBERTIES DEPARTMENT, IMPROVED,
BENEVOLENT, PROTECTIVE ORDER OF ELKS OF THE WORLD

Senator DONNELL. You are Miss Myers-E. Pauline Myers?
Miss MYERS. Yes.

Senator DONNELL. You are the legislative representative of the Elks department of civil liberties?

Miss MYERS. Yes, sir.

Senator DONNELL. Where is your home, Miss Myers?

Miss MYERS. My home is in Washington, D. C.

Senator DONNELL. You are employed by the Elks department of civil liberties as its representative?

Miss MYERS. Yes, and I reside in Philadelphia, at the headquarters of the civil liberties department.

Senator DONNELL. I see. I am not clear; I thought you resided in Washington.

Miss MYERS. No, sir; I do not; I reside in Philadelphia.
Senator DONNELL. You reside in Philadelphia?

Miss MYERS. Yes, sir.

Senator DONNELL. What about Washington?

Miss MYERS. I come in and out of Washington.

Senator DONNELL. You come in and out of Washington, but you reside in Philadelphia?

Miss MYERS. Yes, sir.

Senator DONNELL. Where were you born?

Miss MYERS. Bowling Green, Va.

Senator DONNELL. And what was your education, Miss Myers? Miss MYERS. I am a graduate of Hampton Institute, of Howard University, and I have taken graduate courses at Temple University and the University of Chicago.

Senator DONNELL. What degree, if any, do you hold?

Miss MYERS. I hold the A. B. degree in education.

Senator DONNELL. And what is the Elks department of civil liberties? Is that a department of the Elks order?

Miss MYERS. Yes, sir; of the Elks organization.

Senator DONNELL. Is that the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks?

Miss MYERS. Yes, sir.

Senator DONNELL. Or is it the colored branch of that organization? Miss MYERS. Sir, it is an independent organization.

Senator DONNELL. I see; it is composed exclusively of persons of the Negro race?

Miss MYERS. Not exactly; we have in our lodge in Philadelphia: members of the Jewish religion that are affiliated, but generally the membership is Negro.

Senator DONNELL. Now, the department of civil liberties I understand to be a department, then, of this larger organization. Miss MYERS. Of the grand organization; yes, sir.

Senator DONNELL. And the grand organization, what is the official: name of it?

Miss MYERS. It is the Improved Benevolent Protective Order, Elks of the World.

Senator DONNELL. How large a membership does it have?

Miss MYERS. We have 500,000 members. We have 613 lodges and 593 temples in the United States and in the Canal Zone.

Senator DONNELL. Are those lodges and temples scattered pretty much throughout the entire United States?

Miss MYERS. Throughout the entire United States and in all of our large cities.

Some cities have seven; our city of Philadelphia has seven.

Senator DONNELL. Your membership does extend below Mason and Dixon's line as well as north of it?

Miss MYERS. Yes.

Senator DONNELL. Very well; proceed, Miss Myers.

Senator ELLENDER. You stated that the lodge could-or rather consisted of colored and Jews; would you be able to state in what proportion?

Miss MYERS. No, sir; I would not. The organization has no restrictions as to race and it happens as we go in and out of cities that we find where persons of the Jewish group become affiliated and are working.

Senator ELLENDER. You do not know to what extent?

Miss MYERS. No, sir.

Senator ELLENDER. Do you know of any particular lodge in the country-or let me put it this way; do you know how many colored: and Jews belong to the lodge in Philadelphia?

Miss MYERS. No; I do not have the membership of the individual lodge, sir.

Senator DONNELL. Miss Myers, you referred to, in the copy which I have before me, and I am anticipating slightly your testimony, to Dr. J. Finley Wilson as grand exalted ruler; where is Dr. Wilson? Miss MYERS. In Washington.

Senator DONNELL. And Elizabeth Ross Gordon, grand daughter ruler and magistrate?

Miss MYERS. She is in Washington.

Senator DONNELL. And Hobson R. Reynolds, I take it, is of Philadelphia-grand director of civil liberties?

Miss MYERS. Yes, sir.

Senator DONNELL. And Mrs. Therese L. Robinson, assistant grand directress?

Miss MYERS. She is present today.

Senator DONNELL. Does she live here in Washington?

Miss MYERS. She does.

Senator DONNELL. All of these, beginning with Dr. Wilson that I mentioned, are members of the Negro race?

Miss MYERS. Yes; they are.

Senator DONNELL. One other question, too. I understand you are appearing on behalf of this committee, that is, the Department of Civil Liberties, I should say.

Miss MYERS. Yes; but I am appearing in behalf of the entire organization.

Senator DONNELL. Of the entire organization.
Miss MYERS. Of the entire organization.

Senator DONNELL. Has the entire organization-that is, the Grand Lodge of the Improved, Benevolent, Protective Order of Elks of the World-had any convention at which it has expressed itself by resolution on this matter of discrimination in employment?

Miss MYERS. Yes; it has, sie; I do not have the resolutions with me, but from the very inception of the fight for fair employment practices, the Elks organization has been among those that have urged enactment of antidiscrimination legislation. I would say, since 1940. Senator DONNELL. You may proceed with your testimony.

Miss MYERS. I am by these authorized to appear here before you today to offer testimony in support of bipartisan bill S. 984 "to prohibit discrimination in employment because of race, religion, national origin, or ancestry."

The distinctions between the wartime struggle and the peacetime. struggle of minority groups for equal job opportunities are sharp. This shift was made comparatively easy by the forced relaxation of governmental controls which followed closely in the wake of the war. Of these, none had the disintegrating effect of that which followed the shut-down of FEPC and the closing of its offices. The promise of security for minorities, comfort, respectability, and the chance to be accepted as equals stopped short upon the announcement that funds would no longer be appropriated by the Congress for the administration of the antidiscrimination agency. Ever since that time insecurity and uncertainty have dogged the steps of the entire Negro community, so that nobody feels secure in his job. Strong, clear, competent legislative action is needed at once if the

public is to have confidence in the processes of democratic policy making and if the social gains made by minority groups are to be preserved as a part of our culture.

The all-time high in wartime employment swept the Negro into new jobs. Banks, insurance companies, utilities, and other big corporations began during the war to hire Negroes for occupations hitherto reserved for white personnel only. Retail merchandising outfits added Negroes to their sales forces, and small establishments began using them as receptionists, bookkeepers, accountants, secretaries, and so on. This policy was accompanied by equal pay for equal work and gradual upgrading.

Negroes were found in firms employing chemists, physicists, electronics, engineers, draftsmen, mathematicians, analysts, personnel executives, pharmacists, designers, and photographers. The removal of the "For White Only" sign from many jobs during this period opened new horizons and vast new possibilities to the Negro.

A survey of Federal employment issued by the President's Committee on FEPC, December 1943, indicated that "as of July 21, 1943, Negroes were roughly 12 percent of all persons in Federal employment as compared with 9.8 percent in 1938 and that they were 18 percent of all persons in department service." The study also indicated that Negroes were gaining significant employment for the first time in clerical-administrative-fiscal categories.

The survey also indicated a remarkable improvement in Negro employment qualitatively as well as quantitatively.

In departmental service, chiefly in the District of Columbia, 49 percent of all Negro employees were classified as clerical, administrative, and fiscal, 9.9 percent as clerical-mechanical, and 1.1 percent as professional and subprofessional, while 39.6 percent were crafts, protective, and custodial. In 1938 it was reported that 90 percent of all Negro Federal workers in the District of Columbia were custodial, 9.5 percent CAF or CM, and 0.5 percent SP or P.

According to the United States Department of Labor Statistics, January 1945:

The defense and wartime civilian employment of Negroes increased by approximately 1,000,000 jobs between April 1940 and April 1944.

The employment of Negro men rose from 2,900,000 to 3,200,000 during the 4-year period. The number of employed Negro women increased from 1,500,000 to 2,100,000 during the same period.

The proportion of the employed male Negro labor force on farms. declined from 47 percent in April 1944, or by 19 points.

The proportion in industry increased by the same amount. The number of Negroes employed as skilled craftsmen and foremen or engaged as operatives performing basic semiskilled factory operations rose from about 500,000 in both categories to a total of about 1,000,000 during the 4 years.

Slightly over 7 of every 10 employed Negro women were in some service activity in April 1940, and the majority of these were domestic

servants.

After 4 years, the proportion working as domestic servants showed a marked decrease, while those engaged in the personal services as beauticians, cooks, waitresses, et cetera, showed a corresponding increase.