Atlanta Daily World

Atlanta Will Long Remember
Greats Who Gathered Here

By GEORGE M. COLEMAN

The tables have been cleared away in the beautiful Walu Room of the Waluhaje Apartments .... The plates--those dishes touched by the hands of sports immortals are stored away for another rare moment..

The din that echoed the timely, dramatic challenge of Branch Rickey. and the sting of Jackie Robinson, has quieted down to the corner drug store, where they will talk about it for weeks to come ....

The man named the most courageous player of all time is back in New York, where he will be joined this afternoon in still another ovation with Mr. Rickey from B'nai B'rith ....Elston Howard. John Sample. Eddie Robinson and the others will depart this afternoon and tonight.

The 100 Per Cent Wrong Club's Twenty-First Jamboree and Banquet is just about a memory right now.

But what a memory!

EDITOR'S NOTE - Branch Rickey's message will be broadcast today over Radio Station WERD at 4 P. M. Mr. Rickey spoke Friday nite at the banquet where he explored the problems confronting America because of the race issue, and blasted segregationist forces.

WIDE INTEREST

They were out in the streets discussing it all day yesterday....And pretty soon word spread around that Branch Rickey, known for his bringing Negroes into the major league baseball world, had given a speech that told Atlanta of the merits of the Negro race. and the timely need for complete integration....

And the fiery speeches of both he and Mr. Robinson were heard by

Negro newspaper publishers from virtually all over the United States..

For three days these journalistic magnates and sports personalities had roamed the city, and a quiet excitement from a town that has shown a love for athletics was presented right up to the moment when the "Golden Era of Sports" was celebrated.

When the names of the popular and famous are gathered they will show the following attended:

Branch Rickey, Jackie Robinson, John Taylor Williams, president Maryland State College; Ted A. Wright, Savannah State, Dr. C. V. Troupe, Fort Valley, Joseph Brooks and Arthur Simmons, Alabama State: Howard Gentry, Tennessee State, Dr. Crump, Tennessee; Obie O'Neal, Albany State, Eddie Robinson, President Ralph Jones, Grambling; Collie J. Nicholson, Grambling.

Dr. H. M. Holmes, and his son Oliver and Alfred Holmes, who were the first to play golf on city courses, were at the banquet. And of course Dr. Benjamin E Mays and Dr. Rufus Clement were there. E. J. Clemens, Morris Brown attended.

There were many more, and the backers of the 100 Per Cent Wrong Club are realizing right now that next year's event will be a bigger, and far more impressive affair than ever before.

THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP FOOTBALL TROPHY is held by President Ralph Jones, (L) and Coach Eddie Robinson of Grambling College of Louisiana. The trophy ,given in memory of the late W. A. Scott, founder of the Atlanta Daily World, was presented by W. A. Scott, Ill, shown in the background of the photo. By winning two more legs on the trophy, the Grambling Tigers can gain its permanent possession.

BASEBAll STARS, Elston Howard, Brooks Lawrence and Tom Alston (L to R) who have gained baseball fame in recent years, listen to Branch Rickey review the struggle of Jackie'Robinson as the pioneer Negro to break the barriers of organized big league baseball. Howard is with the New York Yankees, while Lawrence and Alston are with the St. Louis Cardinals.

THE TWO FRIENDS AWARD - A citation to Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese for their display of interracial harmony in baseball, is presented by Dr. Benjamin E. Mays for the l00 Per Cent Wrong Club. Robinson, in accepting the citation, said that without Reese's friendship, his entry into the major league would not have been successful.