I was born in Stuart, Virginia in the year nineteen twenty five. When I was six, my family moved to Pagetown, West Virginia, the heart of the coal mining industry in the state. During that time, segregation, overt racism, and extreme poverty were very much alive in America. As a person of color, particularly African American (referred to then as Colored or Negro), I went to a one-room school building with a pot belly stove in the middle of the room. I would never take off my jacket in the winter because I really never could get warm. It was tough times. But I still managed to concentrate and listen to the teacher, because I wanted so desperately to learn. I never allowed the circumstances to interfere with my desire to get my education. The books and supplies were limited, not in the best condition, but it did not matter to me. I read what I could and managed with what I was given.