George Washington and the D. A. R. When the D.A.R. excluded the Negro girl from Constitution hall in Washington, it set a precedent exactly opposite to what a patriotic organization should maintain. If there was one organization which graciously could have recognized a most capable artist and given encouragement to her and others of her race, it should have been the Daughters of the American Revolution. There is a need in .these times for organizations founded on the ideals of those who formed our country, and there is a pressing need that those ideals be made a living force today. But if those ideals are to have a warm public reception, if they are to have strength and vigor, they must permeate into the souls of all, irrespective of personal ancestry, irrespective of creed or race. Without wide-spread acceptance, they will lack both vigor and value. Unless they are just, they will not have wide-spread acceptance. Refusal to allow a Negro singer to use their hall in the very capital of the nation was a shameful mistake on the part of the D.A.R. It amounted to broadcasting throughout the nation that the ideals of the American revolution were reserved only to a select few and specifically denied to the Negro race. Such an unfortunate, distinction makes the D.A.R. appear as a group of social snobs rather than as a vigorous and unselfish patriotic organization. Nor should it have been hard for the D.A.R. graciously and generously to have allowed and even encouraged the use of their hall by a Negro artist. The responsibile officials would have had only to reflect a minute "and asked themselves, "What would George Washington do in similar circumstances?" Would George Washington, if he were alive today, make such a blunt refusal and practice such unneeded discrimination?
