Other places of interest visited by the soldiers were the St. Bernard’s Pass, Mt. Revard, and the Church of the Black Madonna. The last place was the most interesting of all because of its unusual sight. Inside the church is a small figure of the Madonna with a black child in her arms. The robes are of gold studded with diamonds, and pictures, crutches, canes and other tokens of thanks have been left here by people who have been blessed and healed. Once when the town was destroyed by a mountain slide, only the church stood, and the presence of the Madonna was thought by the people to be responsible for the miraculous escape. Here the Negro soldiers were more than welcome and the keepers felt honored by their visits.
Altogether more than twenty thousand soldiers visited this leave area, coming from all parts of France. They were selected from the various organizations in the A. E. F. and sent for periods of from seven to fourteen days. Before they arrived some unpleasant propaganda was spread about them, but they made a highly favorable impression. The “Y” headquarters was a spacious building, splendidly equipped. There were band concerts, and on Sunday afternoons there were refreshments in the beautiful garden, with representative people of the vicinity assisting in the serving. Because of the good conduct of the men and the success of the secretaries in establishing such fine relations between citizens and soldiers, the Governor of Savoie gave a farewell reception, including a public meeting in a theatre and an entertainment in his own home afterwards; and letters were written by the mayors of all three towns and by leading citizens to praise the work and to express regret at its closing.
While thousands of soldiers visited the leave areas, tens of thousands went to see Paris the Beautiful. Naturally officers and welfare workers as well as the men in the ranks desired especially to see this great city before returning to America. Ordinarily three-day leaves were granted, and each day in the spring of 1919 brought hundreds of soldiers to the city. In order that the limited time might mean as much as possible to the men, the Y. M. C. A. organized wonderful sight-seeing programs, including all the famous places of historic interest. With every party there were efficient guides, and the Negro soldiers, like all the others, appreciated fully and thoroughly enjoyed the never-to-be-forgotten experience.
CRITICISM OF THE “Y”
The work of the Y. M. C. A. in American camps was so conducted that it met with comparatively little criticism. Headquarters could be easily reached for the adjustment of any question arising over the Negro, and during the war public sentiment was more decidedly against discrimination than in peace time. Such matters as arose generally grew out of the attitude or action of individual wearers of the red triangle. At Camp Greene, Charlotte, N. C., for instance, there were 10,000 Negro soldiers. Five “Y” buildings in the camp were located in areas allotted to these men, but in no case were they allowed to use the buildings except possibly for stamps and paper. A sign over one read “This building is for white men only,” and the secretary placed outside the building a table that colored men might use in writing letters. In Camp Lee, Petersburg, Va., a prayer meeting was conducted in an area where Negro soldiers were located, but a soldier with a rifle on his shoulder was doing guard duty, pacing in a circle around the group to see that no Negroes attended. The comments made by the Negro soldiers under the circumstances were interesting. In some camps the soldiers of both races used the same building, playing games together, attending the same picture shows, sometimes playing in the same orchestra, and even writing letters for one another. Such friendly contact was looked upon with disfavor by some secretaries, and they introduced discriminatory measures, which naturally led to friction.
It was from overseas, however, that the severest criticism of the organization came. During the spring of 1919, in every shipment of soldiers that landed on American shores there were those who denounced the “Y” for something it had or had not done. The Negro soldiers did their share of the criticising in spite of the fact that the organization had done much to help them. Why, then, did they criticise it?
First of all, the “Y” appeared to have no definite policy regarding Negro soldiers in France. Endeavor was left mainly in the hands of divisional or regional directors, and these men inaugurated such policies as they thought best, and a most careful investigation indicates that some secretaries resorted to discrimination and segregation more than the men in any other organization and even more than the army with its military caste. Sometimes such an attitude was assumed even by ministers of the gospel. The general situation was described, very accurately, by one regional secretary as follows: “About 25 per cent of the white secretaries served the colored soldiers gladly, about 25 per cent served them half-heartedly, and about 50 per cent either refused to serve them or made them feel they were not wanted.” When soldiers were building the Pershing Stadium for the allied games, the “Y” served for months all the men in the order in which they appeared for service. One day a young Southern woman was sent out as a canteen worker. The soldiers lined up as formerly. All went well until a colored soldier in the line was reached. The young woman asked him to get out of the line. He said he was an American soldier and would not get out of the line. Thereupon she closed the canteen. A noted divine from Atlanta, Ga., was for a time in charge of one of the three-day conferences for new secretaries in France. At the close of one of the sessions a colored canteen worker told him she had enjoyed the discussion. “I am glad you enjoyed it,” he said, “but we don’t mix in the States and you must not expect to here.” All such incidents could be multiplied hundreds of times, and because of them there grew up in the hearts of the Negro soldiers a contempt for the general organization that made such things possible.
An interesting sidelight was afforded by the fate of what was known as the “Honey Bee Club.” A Negro soldier who was sentenced to death, just a few days before his execution asked a “Y” secretary at Brest to come and pray with him. After four days of struggle with the soldier and himself, the secretary felt that he too was changed and should work in some large way for the good of the Negro men. He began with prayer meetings among small groups that had been somewhat neglected, and at one such meeting he told the story of the Honey Bee that was busy and successful and another about birds that preyed on the undesirable things of the world. Using with telling effect the lesson drawn from the experience of the soldier who paid with his life for the undesirable, he asked, “How many of you would like to be the Honey Bee?” All responded with raised hands. Soon afterwards he was given permission by the Paris office to devote all his time to the organization of Honey Bee clubs. When it became known, however, that membership was to be limited to Negro soldiers, opposition developed. The colored men felt that if the club was capable of doing so much for them, white soldiers in France should not be denied a share in its blessings. The original idea was undoubtedly to help the Negro soldier in France, but the method by which the idea was developed did not meet with approval, and accordingly, in most cases, it was either opposed or treated with indifference.
In spite of all the criticism, however, the fact remains that the Young Men’s Christian Association did more for the recreation, entertainment, and educational development of Negro soldiers than any other welfare organization in the course of the war. Through its agency thousands of men learned to read and write. Moreover, it is to be remembered that it was the “Y” that sent Negro welfare workers to France, including nineteen women for canteen work, while other organizations faltered. Such effort did not materialize without hard work on the part of the Negro people and their friends. However, it did materialize, and the Negro workers were a credit both to the organization and to their race. In a talk to a number of them at a banquet in Paris, E. C. Carter, head of the Y. M. C. A. overseas, said in summing up their work: “No group of secretaries has been more successful, nor has any work been on a higher level. I have been impressed most by your spirit. Sometimes you have met with difficulties and have been insulted by workers with the red triangle on their arms, but through it all you have shown the spirit of true greatness as did the Master.”