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St. Louis, Mo.
July 24th, 1919.

To His Honor,
Woodrow Wilson,
President of the U.S.

We, members of the Grand Court of Calanthe of the State of Missouri,
assembled in the city of St.Louis in their twenty-second annual session.

We hereby wish to express how greatly we are shocked and how deeply
humiliated we, as wives, mothers, sisters and sweethearts of the loyal
black defenders of Democracy, to learn of the heinous crime perpetrated
upon liberty, loving folks in the very shadow of our national capitol.

That this, should occur at the foot of the Flag pole on which Old
Glory whips out in the breeze her siren song of liberty, makes it the
more detestable in our eyes.

We should feel ourselves derelict to duty, if we fail to let you
who, so often speak the heart throb of the American people, know, that
our hearts have been rended almost to the breaking in our contemplation
of the weakness of America.

Therefore, feeling as we do in this stench of misrule and disregard
of law, we do hereby enter our solemn protest and urge a strict congres-
sional investigation with the view of punishing all offenders of Democracy.

In conclusion, Mr. President, we beg your earnest consideration in
this most vital question upon which hangs our future.

Grand Court of Calanthe,
State of Missouri.

Bertha T. Backner
G. W. C.
#4031 Cook Ave

84311