Presidential Papers, Doc#566 To Samuel Spencer, 30 November 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower
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Document #566; November 30, 1953
To Samuel Spencer
Series: EM, AWF, DDE Diaries Series
The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XIV - The Presidency: The Middle Way
Part III: The Space Age Begins; October 1957 to January 1958
Chapter 7: Beef and Budgets

 

Dear Mr. Spencer:1 When I returned to my office this morning, I found your letter of November twenty-fifth.2 I had, of course, previously seen the newspaper accounts of the progress you have made toward ending racial discrimination in the District of Columbia. Because the District is an area of exclusive Federal jurisdiction, I deem this progress to be of special significance. My congratulations!

With warm personal regard, Sincerely

1 Spencer (LL.B. Harvard 1935) was president of the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia.

2 Eisenhower had been on Thanksgiving holiday (see no. 500). Spencer had written to inform the President that the Washington, D.C., Board of Commissioners, in a new policy of nondiscrimination, had directed that all city agencies hire and discharge employees without regard to race, creed, or color, thus bringing District of Columbia civil-rights policy in line with federal policy. Further, the order directed that there was to be no discrimination in the use of government institutions, facilities, and services. Along with his letter Spencer had enclosed a copy of the "Policy Order of the District of Columbia Government Regarding Non-Discrimination," also dated November 25 (both documents in WHCF/OF 71-U). Spencer said that the move constituted an "important milestone" in reaching an objective set forth in the President's State of the Union message--to "end segregation in the District of Columbia, including the Federal Government, and . . . in the Armed Forces" (Public Papers of the Presidents: Eisenhower, 1953, pp. 30-31).

In recent months there had been progress on the civil rights front in Washington, D.C. The city's restaurants and movie theaters had begun to admit blacks without incident, and integration in public housing had been completed, except for three projects. By mid-November all capital city contracts bore a clause banning racial discrimination, the result of the work of the President's Committee on Government Contracts (see nos. 382 and 401; New York Times, Oct. 27, 1953). For Eisenhower's growing concerns regarding racial discrimination and segregation see no. 574.

Bibliographic reference to this document:
Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Samuel Spencer, 30 November 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 566. 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/566.cfm

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