Document 30: Mary Day to Cordella A. Winn, 12 September 1922, unprocessed collection of YWCA of Greater Baltimore, 128 W. Franklin Street.
Introduction
The racial identities of the Baltimore YWCA leaders, Mary Day and Mrs. John Hitchens, become clear in this letter to Cordella Winn in the National Board office. Day is clearly a white member of "our Board," and Mrs. Hitchens, who "seems to have the confidence of her people," is undoubtedly a newly-recruited officer of the Colored Branch Y. From this letter, we see some of the communication difficulties across racial lines that appear to have undercut efforts to employ a new secretary in the Colored Branch Y to replace the departing Miss Carter mentioned in documents 27 and 28.
Sept. 12, 1922.
Mrs. Cordella A. Winn,
600 Lexington Ave.,
New York, N.Y.
My dear Mrs. Winn,--Your letter of August 18th was waiting for me upon my return from my vacation and I was very much surprised to learn that Miss Carter had left the Druid Hill Branch as I had not known that such was her intention.
I have not yet had time to get in touch with Mrs. Hitchins but hope to be able to have a conference with her very soon. She is a splendid woman and I believe can do fine work in putting that Branch on it's feet if we can just get her energies turned in the right direction. The chief difficulty that I have found is that she seems to have a very decided idea that Branch relationship means nothing except financial support and as we know, that is not the only reason for branch relationship by any means.
Our Board is not in a position to assume further financial obligation for that branch at the present time even if it were desirable, and I believe it is possible for the colored women to practically support the small work they are doing if they were so minded and could be persuaded to adopt good finance methods in place of the "hand to mouth" policy which they have always used.
Mrs. Hitchens seems to have the confidence of her people and is in many ways a very capable leader, and if she and her new committee will get under the work already started and support it, I think the time may come when our Board will be ready to help them do something bigger.
Mrs. Hitchens did not consider Mrs. Love's recommendation because it had been sent through me instead of directly to her and I could not make her understand that their committee always employed it's own secretaries. I returned the paper to the Personnel Division. I hope that by this time she has answered your letter and asked for suggestions for an executive secretary.
Please write me any suggestions you may have for carrying on the work of that Branch efficiently, and I will try to keep you informed of our progress.
Sincerely yours, Mary Day