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THINK YOU'RE REALLY A 'SOLID CITIZEN'?
^[[S.F. CALL BULLETIN MONDAY OCT 1, 1956]]
By DOLORES WALDORF
Call-Bulletin Women's Club Editor
It's one thing to have an inalienable birthright and something else again to act on it.
So that a great many San Franciscans will act on their inalienable birthrights come election day November 6 [[underlined] the National Council of Negro Women [[/underlined]] and the National Urban League are co-sponsoring a citizenship education project here. San Francisco is one of four cities in the United States in which something is being done to alert, educate and give conviction to people who for one reason or another have seldom if ever exercised the right of franchise.
[[underlined]] In charge of the headquarters at 1914 Fillmore street are Mrs. Floyd Green Allen, co-ordinator of the project; Mrs. Frances Albrier, president of the local chapter of the National Council of Negro Women, and Mrs. Joseph D. March, past president. [[/underlined]]
"We began by getting people to registration centers," Mrs. Allen explained. "We stopped people on the street, canvassed block after block, rang doorbells. Our 60 members interviewed more than 1,750 people most of whom registered as a result of our efforts. Many did not understand about registration laws, did not realize that by failing to vote since the last presidential election they had forfeited the right to vote without registering again."
Mrs. Allen estimated that complacency tops the lists of reasons for failing to vote. Others are:
"What's the use?" "What do you gain?" "It's all poppycock." "They won't miss my vote."
As Mrs. Allen put it, "we used our magic touch. We got about 200 shy 21 year olds to register. Now that we have done all we could about registration we are concentrating on educating the potential votes on issues and candidates. We are completely non-partisan. We are going to have speakers on both sides of any question. All we want to do is put things before the voters, then let them decide how they want to vote."
One education project of the committee, that of learning the intricacies of a voting machine, starts today. A.W. Kelleher of the registrar's office has provided the group with a voting machine on which anyone calling at the committee may practice.
"We also plan to have professors from Stanford, San Francisco State and the University of California discuss issues. At any one meeting we will have both the political scientist and the politician. Programs are planned for October 12, when Mrs. Gratia Jones and Mrs. Marjorie Stitt from the League of Women Voters will speak and on October 24, United Nations Day."
Speakers at a forum planned by Council and the Sun-Reporter for Sunday afternoon October 14 in Nourse auditorium will include Charles Diggs of Chicago, member of Congress, and J. Ernest Wilkins, assistant secretary of labor.
Besides the senior Council of more than 100 active members, the local group has organized juniors, from 16 years to 22. There are now 17 members of this latter organization.
"On election day we will have a number of playpens set up here at headquarters, where mothers may leave their children while they [[underlined]] vote," said Mrs. Albrier. And Mrs. March [[/underlined]] added, "we're working on the theory if you can't get the voters to come to you, go to them...take the mountain to Mahomet."

^[[2010.60.1.22]]