And it's no suprise these women spawned another generation just like them.

contrary to jim's assertions, this continued on up into the 50's and 60's. i know this for a fact, because, as a child, i witnessed it firsthand, while living in NC and VA. i saw the "whites only" and "coloreds only" signs, on bathrooms and water fountains, not in a museum, but in use.

there was a restaurant, in NVA, on Rt. 1, just north of dumfries, va, called "white's restaurant". named for the owner who, not surprisingly, was a caucasion man. mr. white was so adamantly opposed to integration that, rather than serve blacks, he closed down the place. not only did he close it down, he refused to sell the property to anyone else, lest they integrate it.

that building slowly deteriorated over the years, overgrown by weeds, vines, etc, most likely inhabited by wild animals, with mr. white paying the property taxes on it. it stayed that way, until both he and his wife died, when it passed into the hands of their children.

the heirs promptly sold it to developers (apparently, the only color that concerned them was green, my kind of folks.), who proceeded to build houses on it, sold to anyone with the means to purchase them.

She adammently did not believe that the white employers would build a bathroom for the maids in the garage because they didn't want to be contaminated by diseases black people got.

But it was also for the use of the sharecroppers and other tradespeople who came to do business. And although the possibility of disease was probably on their minds, remember that STD's were known to be transmitted by contact and the toilet seat was an object of shared contact, it was more of an issue of having people with dirt on their feet walking through the house.