My family traveled in the south and I remember colored entrances to drive in theaters, etc.

In the early 1950s, on a trip from New York down to Richmond VA to visit relatives of my mother (who had grown up in Newport News) and friends of my parents (who had lived in Richmond when I was born), my parents warned my brother and me about what we would see. And I will never forget the impact of what we saw at highway gas stations, where the two worlds came together. Two water fountains, attached to the same plumbing but far enough apart to ensure no inadvertent touching, with one labeled "Colored Only" and the other labeled "White Only." And two bathrooms....."Colored" and "White."

My parents were clear about how wrong this way. But they obeyed those rules....at least in those public settings. But not in their private lives, when they had lived in the Richmond area (and then Tappahannock), nor during at least one of our visits.

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