"God's Fools"

I was born in 1932 right after Roosevelt took office. The great depression was still being felt throughout the land. I was the 5^th child out of six born to James and Ellen Shanton Roman. My town of birth was Martinsburg, WVA, its the county seat of Berkeley county. The section of town where I lived was known as the "Hill". It was located at the center of town,this is the section where most of the town's Blacks lived.

The hill consisted of only about four blocks, almost rectangular in shape. In these four blocks one could find three churches, a school housing grades one to twelve, a dance hall, two grocery stores, a pool hall, barber shop, Elk lodge, Masonic Hall and a restaurant. The first 18 years of my life were mostly confined to this area. There were two large woolen plants but Blacks weren't allowed employment. In spite of racism and job discrimination the races got along fairly well. All the stores and restaurants were opened to us ,we just couldn't sit down in any of them. We could attend two of the four movie theaters being seated in the balcony.

My mother died when I was five years old ,she was just 36 years of age. I don't remember her much but I do know she was a beautiful woman. She had a twin sister and my aunt Azlee was a beautiful lady. I never knew the circumstances surrounding my mother's death because Black people hardly ever talked about them things.

My father was a handsome man, six feet tall with a body frame of over two hundred pounds. He was the valedictorian of his graduation class. He left home early and got married to my mother so college was out of the question. My grandparent couldn't have sent him to college anyway. His first job was working along side of his father in the stone quarry. Later on he found employment in a White Elks Club as a bartender and an all around handyman. He was a gentle man, loved his children and was a good provider. He was a disciplinarian but rarely ever resorted to corporal punishment. He was active in the democratic party. At election time the party would make him the head man in the Black community to get out the vote.

Seeing my father behind a desk with phones ringing all over the place made me feel ten feet high. He always wore a necktie no matter what he was doing. Cutting grass or working on a car he would have that tie on. I picked up the habit from my father and until this day you won't find me without a necktie. Very few Black owned a car in those days but my father was never without one. Some of my fondest memories are the times my brother and I spent driving around with our father.

After my mother died my father vowed he would never marry again. Said he didn't anyone mis-treating his children. Left with six children to raise my father's parent took my younger brother and I to raise. My grandparent were considered of the pillar of the community. Grandfather, James Roman,Sr, was a steward in the Methodist Church(now The United Methodist) and my grandmother was a stewardess and missionary. I am not just saying this because they were my grandparent but they were two of the most Godly people I ever have known.

My grandfather didn't have much education but he was a hard worker. He managed even in the 1920 to buy a two row house and convert it into one house. He installed central heating and inside running water. These were considered luxury items for most Blacks living in that area. Most Blacks living on the hill lived in four rooms home. By community standards we were considered well off. I loved my grandfather as much as I loved my own Father. In the winter time before the WPA paved all the roads in the Black community he would hitch his brother's horse up to a sleigh during the Christmas holidays.