Above is a copy of a Letter to the Editor of the News and Observer by Augustus Washington Graham sent on March 6, 1920. Graham was an attorney in North Carolina, and later became the president of the American Cotton and Grain Exchange, Inc. (from 1919-1922). He was deeply involved in North Carolina politics, serving as both a state congressman and state senator. His time as the President of the American Cotton and Grain Exchange, Inc. as well as his connections to the Internal Revenue Service helped to put him on a national level, spending time in both New York and Washington, D.C.
This letter describes Graham’s opposition to Hoover, and also his trust in the Democratic Party of North Carolina. He cites the fact that some may think that the party lines no longer mean much on a National level, however, within the state of North Carolina those lines are still strictly drawn in the sand.
Graham says, “We must not forget the problems that confront us in the South. As a matter of self-preservation, our fortunes rest with the Democratic Party, and we can solve our problems in no other.”
For Graham, and other elite whites in the South, the Democratic Party represents white supremacy, and the need to put down the potential for a biracial alliance. The Republican Party, and in the past Fusionist and Populist groups that courted the poor whites and the now disenfranchised blacks threatened this supremacy, and in turn have caused Southern White Democrats to be suspicious. To Graham, party affiliations mean much more than national issues. Not only that, but the “Solid South” holds a balance of power over the rest of the United States if they maintain their position as a solid monolithic Democratic Party supporter.
Images thanks to Manuscripts Department at Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Augustus Washington Graham Papers, 1805-1936 (Collection #955).
