It was a time of fear, but more than that a time of uncertainty.
Three educators, now retired, vividly remember working in Roanoke's public schools at the height of integration which became mandatory in the early '70's.
"Some of the teachers were not cordial, a few were I don't care one way or the other, and there were a couple who were wonderful," says Delores Broady.
Maxine Hunt was a choir director reassigned from Booker T Washington.
"Some began dropping choir. The band instructor was also African American and they started turning in band uniforms," says Hunt.
Broady thought she'd get to keep teaching at the very school where she was a student. She was transferred as well. Forced to leave her beloved Lucy Addison for Jefferson High.
"I just felt like maybe (there would be) unrest among the students, resentment. I felt my daughter was resenting having to go. They would be resenting having us there. It was not as rough as I thought it was going to be," says Broady.
It wasn't until later when she went to Patrick Henry High School, her experienced changed.
"There was really situations that we would like to just forget," says Broady.
"One thing that disturbed me at Monroe is the fact that windows were broken night after night and they were saying that it was the people in this neighborhood doing that and for this neighborhood it was the black neighborhood. I became upset over that, but I said it was some of both," says Hunt.
"I remember there was some clashes between the white and black students at some of the high schools," says Beulah Dabney.
Dabney was also on the Jefferson staff. As a home counselor, her job was to get students who were "skipping", back in class. Many thought white parents would be less than receptive.
"I remember when one of the assistant principals called me into his office, he offered to accompany me to some of the homes in Southeast Roanoke because that was an area where it was known to be for prejudice and he was afraid I would have problems there, but I didn't anticipate any problems," says Dabney.
But while problems were inevitable, there were common loves that brought blacks and white together. Things like creating a yearbook, desegregating cheerleading squads, and yes Friday night games.
"We had some excellent black basketball players and I think that helped smooth the transition for them," says Dabney.
Scared, certainly, but for these educators it was only a matter of time until they realized their achievements outweighed their fears.
"I guess seeing a large number of students that I had worked with actually, make it to graduation blacks and whites," says Dabney.
