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Title
Response from J. Hall Pleasants to William L. Marbury
Description
In this letter, J. Hall Pleasants, a member of the Peabody Institute Board of Trustees and the Conservatory Committee, responds to William L. Marbury with his opinion on the admission of Paul A. Brent to the Conservatory.
Dear Bill
I vote reluctantly to admit Brent as a student in the advanced department of the Peabody Conservatory of course subject to Mr. Stewart finding him to be “extremely talented”. That Mayor Jackson backs him counts nothing with me. I have talked the matter over with Mrs. Cooper who is here at York Harbor, and also with Gilman Paul before I left, and as you and they feel that he should be admitted, I acquiesce. I do not think however, that a public announcement of a policy to admit negroes should be made until there has been a full discussion of the subject at a board meeting.
I feel that there is an hysterical element in the way the negro question, especially in its racial aspects, is being rushed at the present time, and that under the guise of racial equality, things are going too fast. Had public opinion been allowed to develop more slowly there would be less friction in a community like Baltimore. You and I both know, that apart from the negroes themselves, where most of the pressure now comes from.
Yours sincerely,
J. Hall Pleasants
Dear Bill
I vote reluctantly to admit Brent as a student in the advanced department of the Peabody Conservatory of course subject to Mr. Stewart finding him to be “extremely talented”. That Mayor Jackson backs him counts nothing with me. I have talked the matter over with Mrs. Cooper who is here at York Harbor, and also with Gilman Paul before I left, and as you and they feel that he should be admitted, I acquiesce. I do not think however, that a public announcement of a policy to admit negroes should be made until there has been a full discussion of the subject at a board meeting.
I feel that there is an hysterical element in the way the negro question, especially in its racial aspects, is being rushed at the present time, and that under the guise of racial equality, things are going too fast. Had public opinion been allowed to develop more slowly there would be less friction in a community like Baltimore. You and I both know, that apart from the negroes themselves, where most of the pressure now comes from.
Yours sincerely,
J. Hall Pleasants
Creator
J. Hall Pleasants
Source
Response from J. Hall Pleasants to William L. Marbury, 1949 July 27, Wm. L. Marbury 1949 July-Dec Folder 1, Box 27, Peabody Institute Board of Trustees records, PIRG.02 Series C: Officers, Arthur Friedheim Library, Peabody Institute, The Johns Hopkins University.
Date
1949 July 27