Bingham interviews two of his 1980 Festus High School classmates, Mrs. Julie Holland, and Mr. Jim Propst. Together they examine how their hometown Festus was and is a model for race relations. Festus and Crystal City, “twin cities,” have a combined population of about 16,000 people, is 95% white, 3% black and race relations is like none other. Holland and Propst talk about their experiences with people of color growing up in Festus. The three classmates discuss the significance of the 1943 Emma Jane Lee v. The Festus School Board federal pay equalization case. Emma Jane Lee was one of the five Douglass teachers represented by the great David Grant and the first African American Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall. Bingham, Holland and Propst also talk about the Douglass and Festus High School immediate integration in 1955 led by the white superintendent of schools, Ralph B. Tynes. Other than the Little Rock Nine in 1957, it was well into the 1960s before schools in the south experienced integration. In addition, 65 years later schools are still segregated in the south and black children are paying the price. Festus implemented the Nike slogan “Just Do It” before it was even thought about. Bingham’s grandfather was one of the first five Douglass graduates in 1940. These stories and a lot more are written about in his most recent book, The Douglass Connection.
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