You want to talk more about civil rights?
Oh, a lot more. That was just the start.
Okay.
That just whetted my appetite for doing something more. But how, I wondered. Then I thought about how those youngsters with the NAACP were devoting themselves to the cause of desegregation. So maybe I could do something through the same organization.
The NAACP? But isn’t that for black people?
No. Anyone can join. And participate. If you believe in the cause. And I did.
So what did you do?
Well, I looked into it and found that Anne Arundel County had a local affiliate. They call it a branch. And checked out their leadership. A Dr. Theodore J. was president of the branch then. And later it was the Reverend Warner T. That’s when I joined. But when I really got involved was when Sam G. was elected president.
How did you get involved?
At first I just got to know the leaders.
And assured them I was legit. That I was interested in joining the movement and wanted to help.
In what way?
By writing press releases that helped spread the word. I wanted to start a newsletter, but we had limited resources. Finally, we were able to buy a mimeograph machine.
What’s that?
Well, you probably don’t see them around anymore, now that copy machines are the thing. But with a mimeo we typed without the ribbon and cut through a waxy layer to the porous base of a sheet. And the ink oozed out onto the blank sheet where you had typed.
At that time I had my trusty Smith-Corona and could type those pages.
You could also draw pictures with a stylus.
I did some of that. The plain metal tip would cut through the wax the same as the type did.
I see.
That’s how I started with the NAACP branch. And that’s enough for this session.
Okay.
