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In the summer of 1957 the Ward family moved from Brooklyn, New York to Lee, New Hampshire to escape gang violence. It was an era when racial tensions were high and they were the first colored family in the area. Needless to say, over the years they encountered many interesting experiences and created a storied life.
They also became respected members of the community, led by parents, Harold and Virginia Ward, a couple with strong convictions and compassion. Harold, Michael Cameron Ward’s 94-year-old father, was hospitalized in the beginning of May 2015 with only weeks to live. On the 20th he made a request of his son: Michael, I want you to write the stories of our existence. I want my great grandchildren to know where they came from. Then, as Michael sat beside his father’s bed on the 4th floor at Exeter Hospital, his father recounted stories of his life that had never been told before. If not captured, they would be lost forever. On June 9th, 2015 Harold died, and Michael has been fulfilling his father’s request ever since.
The Sketches of Lee collection is not just the tale of a family’s relocation in the summer of 1957 from Brooklyn, N.Y. to Lee, N.H. Rather, it’s a chronicle of family life as the Index of Integration for Lee and other New Hampshire towns. This first volume, A Colored Man in Exeter , recounts some of Harold’s experiences in the Exeter, NH area from 1959 until 1975. During this time, he often worked with people who had never spoken to or seen a colored person before.
He became an ambassador for his race in an era where people were known for their deeds and not their bluster. Sometimes the challenge was overwhelming. But he and Virginia, were equally relentless in disproving the existing stereotypes of the era. They succeeded.
Throughout their lives Harold and Virginia taught their children five basic tenets:
- We are equal and will not stand to be treated any other way.
- Racists are either ignorant or stupid. Ignorant people can be taught. Stupid people can’t, so don’t waste your time on them.
- Any commitment you make is total; there is no excuse for not fulfilling one.
- Do not spend time doing what everybody else does. Do what’s right for you as well as you possibly can.
- When you are in the right, you do not quit. No one ever successfully countered those positions.
