April Fifteenth
1944
Dear Mr. Deutsch:
I want to thank you first for the flattering article you wrote on the Spingarn award--second, to commend you its method of presentation and third, to tell you how almost universally pleased with the article were all my associates and, in fact, every Negro I have had occasion to talk with.
It takes a rare kind of courage to do the type of job you have consistently done in your column and while undoubtedly on many occasions it has gotten you into hot water, it has at the same time earned for you the gratitude and blessings of countless thousands of people who need the kind of help that you and other men on your staff are constantly giving, not as martyrs to a cause, but as intelligent, civilized human beings simply doing a job of reporting the facts as they appear to you.
I thought the sketch was good. I should like to get the original if possible.
One bit of your observation caused some doubt in the minds of some of my closest friends as to whether you were truly a very accurate observer or not--the paragraph which you started by saying that "Doctor Drew was handsome, " etc.--. It has practically forced me to leave my present work in the Hospital and seek new fields of employment.
Your man, Mayor Schreiber, struck me as a fellow well-worth knowing and I hope that we shall meet again.
If I can ever be of any assistance to you in the line of your work, I shall be happy to do so. Sometime when you are in Washington, I should like very much to have you out to take a look at our set-up and perhaps to get a bite of lunch and meet a few people who are very interested in the job you are doing with P. M.
Sincerely,
Charles R. Drew, M.D.