The Atlanta Inquirer

D. C. Diary
By Pat Johnson

Tuesday, January 17, 1961--Arrived in D. C. around 11 a.m. We move into the cocktail lounge and lunchroom of the terminal not unmindful of being unable to exercise our God-given right to choose seats without being regulated by evil signs of our times, i.e., "white" or "colored."

9:30 p.m. We arrived at the Arthur Chapins for a cocktail party. The guest list is impressive, sounds like a page from Who's Who. Congressman Diggs from Detroit; Atty. and Mrs. Frank D. Reeves (Frank now serves as vice-chairman of the 1961 Inaugural Committee); Paul Butler, Edith Sampson, Verdis Welcome, member of the Maryland Legislature.

Wednesday, January 18 - 9:00 a.m. Breakfast very early. Leroy is going to the JFK headquarters. Mrs. Joan Mayes Gillison, D. C. Social Worker and one of my dearest friends, is accompanying Mike and me on a shopping spree. We leave at 10 and shop for two hours. Our guide book refers us to events, sights, etc., of special interest to young guests. Mike chooses the Smithsonian Institute and the Washington Monument. In the Arts and Industries Building is a display of gowns of President's wives. The Museum of Natural History fascinated the young and the old. Many children touring this building. Mike amazed over the reconstructed skeletons of dinosaurs. Stuffed animals--elephants, deer, buffalo, etc.; birds of the world; people of America and their culture (featuring Indians and Eskimo groups) and real live mountain men from Arizona!

Washington Monument afforded us an aerial view of D. C. and a good spot for taking home movies. (It is now 1:00 o'clock and I have a luncheon engagement and a reception to make at 3:00). We meet some students from the Georgia Military Academy in College Park. One student changed the film in my movie camera for me. How well mannered and friendly they are! Everyone comments on their un-Southern behavior.

9:30 - Reception and dinner dance in honor of young Democrats began promptly at 6 at the Mayflower Hotel. It is still early enough to attend but we give up on this one in order to attend a party given especially for us by Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Hough (the former Johnnie Brittain of Atlanta).

We arrived on the 11th floor of the Hotel Woodmere where Congressman Dawson's cocktail party was in full swing. Atlanta was well represented. Esther Scott Carter, formerly of Atlanta, now living in Ohio (wife of Judge Carter) sent greetings to relatives and friends in Atlanta.

Thursday, January 19--Alas! A white world greets us! We dress warmly and venture out to see what the weather is like. It's like bitter cold! Like freezing! Leroy left early for an appointment with Atty. Frank Reeves at the Dupont-Plaza. I will meet him at the Sheraton Park at the reception for Governors and special guests from 3 to 6 p.m.

3:45--Finally secured transportation but 12 inches of snow and thousands of abandoned autos allowed us to go ahead about 6 blocks an hour and a half. I give up. Home please, driver. And I do so wish to shake hands with some Southern Governors, especially Alabama's John Patterson, Arkansas' Orval Faubus, and Louisiana's Jimmie Davis.

Later Leroy told me that I had missed meeting Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt and Marian Anderson.

The reception was dignified, well attended in spite of inclement weather.

Friday, January 20--"Official Inaugural Ceremony. Time: Noon. Place: The Capitol. Dress: Formal Day dress or street dress. By Invitation Only." We arrived at the Capitol before 11. It was 12:20 before President John F. Kennedy appeared on the stand. He had been president for 51 minutes before he took the oath of office. The 20th amendment shows that the incumbent's terms were ended at 12 noon. The terms of their successors began that instant.

Eloquence and pageantry marked the historic transfer of our nation's leadership. We were very fortunate to witness the beginning of the "New Frontier."

A little later, an estimated one million well-wishers braved the biting winds and numbing cold to cheer J.F.K. along his inaugural Parade Route to the White House. The parade lasted for 4 hours, a great tribute to a great man.

Mike and Leroy braved the cold for several hours after I left.

The Crowning Experience. Inaugural Ball. Shoreham Hotel. Ten o'clock. Formal Dress. Although we were to share this event with 35,000 others, we were proud and elated and filled with expectancy.

The ball, held at the Shoreham for some 3,000 invited guests, was colorful with red, white, and blue carnations. A stage on one side of the room was for the President's party. Music was by the Glen Miller Band, led by Ray McKinley, a Latin combo, and a group of musicians from Meyer Davis's band.

Around 10 o'clock there was an air of expectancy as the crowd waited for the President's arrival. We crowded closer to the stage and all dancing stopped. The suspense ended when what we had thought was a window opened completely and Lady Bird and Vice-President Johnson entered. The house went wild! Seconds later another ovation arose as the President of the United States walked in. Absolutely the thrill of my life! He is much more handsome than he appears on TV. Looks only 35 or 36. He is very tan. He looks like a person you could talk to for hours.

He apologized for his wife's absence. "You dance much better than any of the other balls," he kidded. "With all you people out there, I can't think of a better place to be."

Leroy was separated from me in the crowd and when I saw him next, he was shaking the President's hand. My only hope was to lift my long dress and stand up on a nearby chair. As I stood, the President looked at me, so close, but not close enough to shake hands. I waved and he waved back. I was ready to come home, to Georgia, dear prejudiced Georgia, where this could not happen in 1961. But in the future? Who knows what the "New Frontier" holds for us colored Americans?