In the spring of my senior year, my class was planning a trip to Washington D.C. It was to be the first on to do so. We held plays and bake sells to raise the money to get a private railroad car to take us there. Then we got word that the hotel we were to stay in would not accept Blacks. Now I was about to graduate with the highest marks in the history of Somerville High. But I could not go. My classmates protested. But they went ahead with out me.

I had also learned of some competitive examinations for New Jersey residents to earn four scholarships to Rutgers University. My family had always figured I would be going to Lincoln University like my father and brother Bill. But this scholarship to Rutgers would relieve Pop of his financial strain from his limited income. So I decided to go for it.