A Part of Family History

I have been holding onto the issue of the Princeton Alumni Weekly where the article "Across Nassau Street" appeared. The article was quite interesting to me because both my mother and father grew up in Princeton, NJ. My paternal grandfather worked in one of the eating clubs, and a maternal uncle was part of the custodial staff, even when I was a student at Princeton. Apparently my parent knew Paul Robeson as one of the kids in the neighborhood.

Part of the article talks about African Americans being able to work at the University, but not being able to attend. I guess that accounts for why it was so important for my parents to see me attend and graduate from Princeton University. My paternal grandparents and several aunts lived on Clay Street and attended Mount Pisgah A.M.E. church before, during, and after the time I attended Princeton. In true family form, it only became obvious to me how important my graduation from Princeton was to the family after I had accomplished it. A family get-together on Clay Street on the day of my graduation was when I found out -- a typical no-pressure, but high-aspirations attitude.

This response is a bit late in coming, but thanks for writing part of my family history for everyone to read.