Memorandum on Information on Charles L. Horn

ROUGH DRAFT

MEMORANDUM

I first knew of Mr. Horn while living in St. Paul, Minnesota.¹ At that time, a mutual friend suggested that I should urge Mr. Horn to employ some Negroes at his plant in Anoka, Minnesota, which is the Federal Cartridge Company. In 1938, or thereabout, I raised this question with Mr. Horn. He indicated that his plant did not discriminate against Negroes, and none were at that time because there were not many Negroes living in the City of Anoka. From my knowledge of Anoka, I knew this to be a fact.

When Mr. Horn began operating the Twin Cities Ordnance Plant, Mr. Cecil E. Newman, Editor of the Minneapolis Spokesman and St. Paul Recorder (two Negro newspapers) told me that Mr. Horn expected to hire a number of Negroes. Mr. Newman and Mr. Horn have been friends for a number of years and very shortly Mr. Horn kept his commitment. At first, some difficulties arose in the employment of colored persons, and the whole program was threatened. In order to prevent any retarding of the program, Mr. Horn urged Mr. Newman to come on the staff as a personnel representative. Mr. Newman did this and is still so engaged. There are approximately 1,200 Negroes who have been or are employed at the company. There have been some recent curtailments in cartridge production which have resulted in some lay-offs. Mr. Horn has not only committed himself to the full employment of Negroes without discrimination in his own plant, but he has been most vigorous in attempting to persuade other employers to follow his example. I should judge that he is a man in his fifties, who would do an excellent job if appointed to the Committee. He is very popular, personally, in the Twin City area among Negroes.