Posted on Sunday, March 01, 2009 - 04:38 pm:

In 1944, the Adventist Washington Sanitarium refused to treat a black woman after she had fallen ill while visiting the capital. Lucy Byard, an Adventist from New York, was then rushed to the Howard University Hospital instead. But the delay was fatal, and she died of pneumonia before she could be properly treated. Ironically, at Howard she was attended by a black Adventist doctor, who would not have been allowed to work at the Washington Sanitarium either.

The final drive for Black conferences took place in the early 1940s. In the lead were the highly educated members of the Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Church in Washington, D.C. Located in close promimity to the denomination's world headquarters, the Washington members foundit difficult to ignore their racially discriminated-against status in the church. They could not enroll their children at Washington Missionary College, nor could they eat in the cafeteria connected with the General Conference.

The crisis came to a head in the fall of 1943 when the Washington Adventist Sanitarium ordered that Lucy Byard, a light-skinned Adventist Black, be transferred to another facility after the hospital learned her racial identity. Because of a series of delays in moving her to the Freedmen's Hospital, she died of pneumonia. An incensed Black Adventist community saw Byard's death as a martyrdom to a policy of racial exclusiveness.

Subsequent events led to emotional discussions among Adventist leaders on how best to meet the needs of Black Adventists. The ideal for most Blacks was full equality in existing conferences. But denominational leaders in what was still a largely segregated culture were not willing to grant that desire. As a result, more and more of the denominational leadership became convinced that Black conferences were the answer.

Through a series of events General Conference leader- ship was made keenly aware that Black Adventist laypeople were extremely dissatisfied with the church’s glacial progress in race relations. The volcano erupted when Lucy Byard, from New York City, was admitted to the Washington Sanitarium, but upon discovery that she was not White, hos- pital administrators had her transferred to Freedmen’s Hospital for African-Americans. She died in transit.

A group of laypersons, largely from the Ephesus church in Washington, D.C., formed the National Association for the Advancement for Worldwide Work Among Colored Seventh-day Adventists, to seek redress for the many indignities to which African-Americans were subjected.

The organization published an impressive pamphlet entitled “Shall the Four Freedoms Prevail?’ The record was clear and irrefutable-not one sanitarium in the denomination would accept African-Americans into their schools of nursing. It was extremely difficult even for the brightest and best qualified young African-Americans to enroll in any academy or senior college in North America, and those who were admitted were segregated in the dining halls and limited in their choice of roommates. In today’s language, there was a “glass ceiling” firmly fixed above the African-American constituency.

The General Conference leaders immediately dispatched the vice president for North America to visit the lay group. The GC representative was surprised at the quality of the committee and the depth of their resolve. Suddenly GC leadership was convinced that the “time had come for a change in the col- ored work.” That change was not full integration, but-to the glory of God-a school of preparation for African-Americans that would enrich the worldwide fellowship. (Regional conferences)

Posted on Sunday, March 01, 2009 - 08:37 pm:

In the fall of 1943 a spark ignited the already-smoldering flames of dissatisfaction.

Three sober women climbed out of the little black Model T Ford parked in front of Dodson’s bookstore. An onlooker would have supposed that the three teachers had come to the college store at 2610 Georgia Avenue to buy supplies for their students. When they entered they went beyond the shelves and the stacks of books and into a back room where ten others had already gathered. After a few minutes of conversation, tall Joe Dodson stood up, cleared his voice, had prayer, and began to present the main item of business for the evening.

His father, mother, and five brothers were always involved in some kind of political, social, intellectual, or religious discussion, and so his right to chair the discussion of this group had been earned, even in his childhood home.

He explained the problem. “Lucy Byard, a light-skinned mulatto from New York, was brought to the Washington Sanitarium during an illness. She was accepted by phone. They later informed her husband that the information he had placed on the admittance forms indicated that her racial identity was not white. Lucy Byard was wheeled into the hall while the sanitarium switchboard attempted to locate another hospital that would admit her. By the time she was finally taken to Freedman’s Hospital she died of pneumonia.”

Shocked by the news, the thirteen laypeople quickly organized themselves into the Committee for the Advancement of Worldwide Work Among Colored Seventh-day Adventists. Alma Scott served as its vice president.

Dodson continued to explain. “We are concerned that our children cannot enrol in Washington Missionary College, and we cannot eat in the Review and Herald cafeteria. The white members who had worshiped with the original members of First church have slowly moved away into their own churches, leaving First church an all-black church. First church and Ephesus often welcome visiting white ministers who pass by to deliver special messages on Sabbath, but they do not invite our ministers to their pulpits.

“Our aim is not segregation, but integration. None of us are militant. None of us are carrying banners or screaming. We are speaking our minds quietly, decently, intelligently. We are not threatening to leave the church, but we want to pull within the structure to see that all God’s children are integrated into the programs that the church offers.”

Smaller committees began to work. The group consisted of Willie Anna and Joseph T. Dodson, Alma J. Scott, Myrtle Murphy, Alan A. Anderson, J. Barnett, Dr. Eva B. Dykes, Dr. Valerie O. Justiss Montgomery, Addison Pinkney, and Helen Sugland.

Eva dykes and some of the other women known for their writing ability began to hone out an eight-page statement of the committee’s objectives. Others began to telephone across the country (pp. 63-65).