<--PREV Doc #1808  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #1810 Document #1809; March 24, 1956 To Arthur Ellsworth Summerfield Series: EM, AWF, Administration Series The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XVI - The Presidency: The Middle Way Part IX: "Concerning my political intentions"; December 1955 to April 1956 Chapter 19: The goal: A "durable peace"   Dear Arthur: I have just read with the greatest interest your letter of March twenty-first.1 Your record of solid accomplishment in placing Negroes in executive positions on the basis of merit and ability is another firm step forward.2 Congratulations!3 With warm regard, As ever 1 Postmaster General Summerfield had written Eisenhower in order to report progress made on the President's promise to promote African American postal workers to positions where "Negroes could be assured that their own interests were never forgotten" (AWF/A; see also Galambos, NATO and the Campaign of 1952, no. 998). Summerfield said that he had increased the number of African American employees in high-level positions at the Department headquarters in Washington from two to four. He also described the upgrading of "more than 300 colored employees to supervisory positions in post offices throughout the country" in 1955. 2 Summerfield had assured the President that "these were well-merited promotions and were based upon ability to perform effectively in executive positions." The Eisenhower Administration had been criticized for moving slowly on appointing African Americans to executive positions. E. Frederick Morrow had been, for example, promised a White House position for his work on Eisenhower's campaign, but his appointment as Advisor on Business Affairs in the Department of Commerce had been long delayed. Early in 1955 Secretary of Commerce Sinclair Weeks had sent Eisenhower a letter (Jan. 5, 1955, WHCF/OF 2-P) reminding the President of Morrow, "who accompanied you on your campaign train in 1952." Weeks forwarded a copy of a speech made by Morrow on "the cooperation which he has received as one of the first Negro appointees to a policy level position within the Federal Government." In his speech Morrow said that he was accustomed to being a "guinea pig." On January 10 Eisenhower had written to Morrow (ibid.) to compliment him for his "sincerity and high sense of dedication to the service of all the people of our country." Eisenhower said, "We are proud of you--and I assure you that never for one minute did any one of us consider you a `guinea pig.' From the beginning you have merited and won our respect and admiration." For Morrow's evaluation of Eisenhower's civil rights record see Morrow, Black Man in the White House, pp. 11-13, 298-301. 3 On May 22 Summerfield would write Eisenhower that the recognition given the Post Office Department by the African American press was evidence of the "real progress" the Administration was making in carrying out the "program for minority groups." The Postmaster General would suggest that the political climate was such that "we should move more aggressively toward activating minority groups immediately, particularly in the northern cities where they can well be the balance of power in the coming campaign" (AWF/A). Eisenhower would respond on the same date that he was "proud of the record of the Post Office Department in appointing to all positions qualified individuals regardless of race" (AWF/A). See also Burk, The Eisenhower Administration and Black Civil Rights, pp. 68-74. Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Arthur Ellsworth Summerfield, 24 March 1956. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 1809. World Wide Web facsimile by The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission of the print edition; Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/first-term/documents/1809.cfm <--PREV Doc #1808  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #1810

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