I Came Out Of A Family Background

I Think Personally, I've Always Felt That The Association [naacp] Got Itself Hung-up In What I Call Its Legal Successes. Having Had So Many Outstanding Legal Successes, It Definitely Seemed To Have Oriented Its Thinking In The Direction That The Way To Achieve Was Through The Courts.

[walter White] Had Keep [people] Waiting While You Got The Impression That He Was Terribly Busy With Calls To Washington. I've Seen Such Exhibitions In That Direction As Having Someone Come Out Of His Office To The Switchboard Operator - Which At That Time Was Sort Of Located In The Center Of Wherever People Were Waiting - And Ask To Call Such-and-such A Place, Or A Call Through To Mr. So-and-so, Or Somebody Like This, You See.

His Name Was Michael R. Ross. I've Never Known What The "r" Was For. He Died, However, Before I Was 7. But He And I Seemed To Have Had Quite A Nice Relationship. He Always Called Me Grandlady, And He'd Always Talk To You As A Person Rather Than As A Child. So, I Would Go With Him For His Routes In His Horse And Buggy. So, My Memory Of Him Is Pretty Sharp, Plus It Has Been Accentuated By The Stories That Come Out Of The Family.

Strong People Do Not Need Strong Leaders.

After The '57 Initial Meeting - I Was Up This Way Working, Not As A Staff Person - There Became The Need For A Much More Definite Organized Office. What You'd Had Prior To That Time Were These Big Meetings In Different Places, And There Was Nobody To Pull Anything Together. Everything Was Left To [martin Luther] King And The Group That Was Around Him.