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RAYFORD W . LOGAN Rayford Whittingham Logan, a butler's son, was born on 7 January 1897 in Washington, D.C., where he attended the Thaddeus Stevens School and the renowned M Street (late r Dunbar) Hig h School. A t Williams College he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and received a B.A. in 1917 and an MA. in 1929. Durin g World Wa r I he was a first lieutenan t i n the all-black 93rd Division, and remained abroad for several years to assist W.E.B. Du Bois in the work of the Pan-African Congress. A t Harvard he earned a second M.A in 193 2 an d a Ph.D . i n histor y i n 1936 , profitin g particularl y fro m th e guidance of professors Arthur Schlesinger Sr. and James Phinney Baxter III, as Du Bois had from tha t of AB. Hart. After teaching briefly at Dunbar High School, Logan headed the history departments of Virginia Union University (1925-30) and Atlanta University (1933-38). I n 1938 he joined the faculty of Howard University, chairing its history department fro m 194 2 until hi s retirement i n 1965 . H e published many books on black history, and wrote the centennial history of Howard University. H e receive d honorar y doctorate s fro m William s (1965 ) an d Howard (1972) , was made a Commander of the National Orde r o f Hono r and Meri t b y Hait i (1941) , an d wa s th e 198 0 recipien t o f th e Spingar n Medal. Wit h a young colleague, he finished editing the invaluable Dictionary of American Negro Biography just before succumbing to a heart ailment in Washington on 4 November 1982. The Confession s o f a n Unwillin g Nordi c Negroes ca n attai n onl y t o a fixe d leve l of education , acquir e onl y a limited amount of wealth, travel only in certain degrees of latitude and longitude. I f an individual is found out of these circumscribed milieux, he i s not a Negro. H e i s an Eas t India n o r a Brazilian, a Senegales e 272 RayfordW. Logan or a Tahitian, but not a Negro, and most certainly not an American Negro. The following stories will strain the credulity of the readers of The World Tomorrow who, of course, have no preconceived ideas concerning Negroes. Remember , however, that an American Negro is the author, an d tha t whil e h e ca n imitate , h e ca n no t create . (Se e Lothrop Stoddard, Madison Grant, Imperial Wizard Evans, and other authorities.) When I say that I am a Negro, I mean one of those who should not be able to "pass." Otherwise, there would be no point to this tale. My hai r i s wha t Frenc h peopl e cal l frises; my color, yellow . M y features betraymy African ancestry. I n a southern citymy brother, who can pass for a Nordic, was afraid to let me accompany him into a white restaurant . Bu t i t seem s tha t I do no t confor m t o som e arbitrary conceptio n o f a Negro' s speech , behavior , an d dress . Through no fault ofmy own I have acquired an education superior to that of many ofmy lords and masters. I am agraduate of an old New England college—no , i t i s no t Amherst—whic h pride s itsel f o n th e number of high government officials, men of letters, and in the earlier days, soldiers of Christ that it has contributed to society. B y osmosis, perhaps, I imbibed some of the learning and culture of this institution. As a result I have found myself in some very amusing, embarrassing, and edifying predicaments. It was one ofmy favorite professors who first suggested what a dangerous anomal y I had become. A t th e close o f a conversation concerningmy future, he concluded: "Upon whatever career you embark, always be colored." "Why—," I looked atmy hands and feltmy hair."Why , that should not be very difficult," I concluded with a puzzled laugh. But it was. I had the first proof ofmy professor's perspicacity a few days after our conversation. Whil e on the way to Washington to spend th e...

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