The First Ladies

In Daytona Beach, Florida in 1933, Mary listens to President Roosevelt, newly elected, on the radio. She turns the radio off, thinking of Eleanor and all the promises politicians make but don’t keep. She looks out her window at her campus, watching students study and the black roses bloom. Mary has started calling her students Black Roses, and she gives them a fully bloomed rose at graduation.

Her grandson, Albert Jr., now 12 years old, runs, crying, into her house. He explains he and his friends snuck onto the beach nearby that is reserved for white people only and were accosted by white men who harassed them with vicious racist epithets (114). Mary calms Albert Jr. down, assuring him he’s not dirty and that he should never have to endure such language. She tells him about Grandma Sophie, who was a princess in Africa, and that they should honor their royal blood while ignoring others’ hatred. Albert likes the idea of being royalty. Mary vows to make changes in Daytona Beach, starting with allowing Black people to go to the beach.