POWERGRAMS

6 Retiree inspires many by earning degree at 78 Growing up in the close-knit Titusville community of Birmingham in the 1940s, Vivian Cunningham was an only child who had a happy life, surrounded by family and friends, playing children's games and enjoying her neighborhood. Early on, she was shielded from the inequalities faced by Blacks. Cunningham attended segregated Cameron-Lane Elementary, which a half-century earlier had been built as the city's first public primary school for Black students. Her school years preceded the major clashes over civil rights, including when Birmingham students marched in the historic children's crusade of 1963. But Cunningham had begun seeing racism creep into her life in the late 1940s and early 1950s, when she learned her hometown was divided into different realities for Blacks and whites. "I grew up when they had the 'colored' seats on the bus," Cunningham said. "Black people had to sit separately in the theaters. We had to drink out of different water fountains. We had to go to the back of restaurants to order food through a little window. We had a lot of heartache and pain going through all that back in the day." After graduating from segregated Ullman High School, she took sewing classes at Wenonah Vocational and Trade School (now Lawson State Community College), married and moved to Atlanta. While living in Georgia, she received the devastating news of the 16 th Street Baptist Church bombing that killed four little girls, including the sister of a former classmate. Cunningham and many other Blacks found themselves wary of even going to the haven provided in churches. Two months later, Cunningham was stunned to hear that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. His death on Nov. 22, 1963, was a blow to Black Americans, who thought the young president was their best hope since Abraham Lincoln for civil rights progress. Kennedy had appointed Blacks to federal offices, ordered an end to discrimination in employment and housing and, shortly before his death, launched an initiative for equal education access and protection of voting rights. "It was just hurtful when he was assassinated," she said. "It was hard for us to get over." Cunningham would enjoy living in Atlanta for five years before divorce brought her and the couple's two children back to Birmingham. While PHOTO COURTESY SAMFORD UNIVERSITY PHOTO COURTESY SAMFORD UNIVERSITY Cunningham receives diploma from Samford President Westmoreland.

• Cover