Sunday school services several weeks later. Shortly after coming to Champaign, Charles had joined Bethel AME Church continuing to practice his family's African Methodist faith. Frances and her immediate family were members of Salem Baptist Church which was one block east of Bethel. In time honored tradition, young people would gather after services in the block between these prominent pillars of the black community. A weekly ritual, the purpose was to see and be seen before parents whisked their sons and daughters away. On one of these occasions, Charles maneuvered his way over and managed an introduction to Frances, but by her account she did not find the meeting memorable. She was enamored with another young man, Welton "Ike" Taylor, who with her held the campus title for king and queen of jitterbug.
"She had her eye on Ike, so she didn't remember our first meeting."
Frances' family had standing in the Champaign-Urbana community. Her father, Franklin Joseph Nelson, had been a successful businessman and land owner, who left his widow Nellie Carter Nelson (Momma Nellie) and their two children, Leonard and Frances, well provided for after his death in 1935.
Among the land holdings he left his heirs was the large family home at 607 N. Hickory Street, which still had the attached general store Franklin operated for decades. The home served as a boarding house for permanent residents as well as transient visitors. Charles learned Frances was living at home while attending the University. Focusing on the business of being a student, he stayed in the background and waited for her jitterbug partner to fade from the scene.
Living in a relatively small and close knit community had its advantages. Before long their paths crossed again. Not all the Nelsons were Baptists. Frances had a older half brother, Cecil, who was born to Franklin and his first wife. Cecil Nelson and wife Carrie were members of Bethel AME, a circumstance which worked in Charles' favor when they invited Momma Nellie to attend a Sunday afternoon program and she brought Frances along. During the program, a Tom Thumb wedding was planned for the following Sunday afternoon. By a stroke of fate, Charles and Frances were chosen to play the bride and groom. Charles allowed himself the luxury of imagining he was the reason she agreed to participate. At that affair they became acquainted.
No one suspected the Tom Thumb Wedding was a harbinger of things to come.
Life at the U. of I. was a great adventure for Charles his first semester. The discipline that got him through high school was being challenged on a new level. It was a time to apply himself to his studies. No matter what lay ahead, Charles knew education was the path to personal growth and scholarly pursuits the key to professional success.
Another goal of his was to be a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and to do that he had to make good grades. The fact his dad and uncle were Alphas may have influenced him, but beyond that, Charles liked the things the fraternity stood for. The fraternity motto summarized it: "First of all, servants of all, we shall transcend all."
The "Big Brothers" on campus were a principled, studious bunch which also appealed to Charles. Some members like Dunbar McLaurin were graduate students, a rare occurrence for young black men of the era. The Alphas had a house near the campus which was another attraction. Living there would eliminate the long walk from the North End. Charles along with six other Alpha aspirants joined the line of pledges.
The road to brotherhood had its obstacles. They were set intentionally to test the mettle of Sphinxmen, the name given to Alpha pledges. Entry was the objective, pledging was the pathway, and hazing was the norm. No matter how smart and savvy Sphinxmen were in other settings, when "Big Brother" was around, there was no questioning his authority.
The inferior status of pledges subjected them to various demands they had to carry out on the spot.
"Recite Invictus."
"Recite If."
Being prepared to perform more "erudite" orders was essential, but not all commands were so scholarly.
"Count all the bricks in the north wall of Huff Gym!"
"Yes, Big Brother! No, Big Brother! And no excuse, Big Brother!" were replies expected from the pledges.
"Drop and give me twenty (push ups)" and "assume the position" (paddles were not merely ornamental) were frequent commands from the already inducted Alpha Men.
All and all, the hazing by Tau Chapter was not as vicious or extreme as some Greek organizations. The pledging was more directed toward discipline, bonding, and ultimately loyalty among brothers. The common objective was worthy. (Ironically, aspects of pledging were not unlike military training imposed for many of the same reasons.)
By second semester, Charles had ended his days as a pledge. He passed the tests, made the grades and "crossed the burning sands," becoming an Alpha Man.
Charles knew Frances loved to dance and despite the strict rules laid down by Momma Nellie, she managed to stop by the Kappa Alpha Psi House to indulge this passion as often as possible. Unlike the Alphas, the Kappas were known for their open parties and Charles envied them for no other reason than her visits. At the Kappa House, Frances was a regular in the "enter at your own risk" room reserved for the most daring and accomplished jitterbugs. Not in her league on the dance floor, he watched, stepped in on slow dances and bided his time.
When the draft started in 1940, Charles received his draft card from Gary, Indiana. At the time, college students weren't being called.
"I always remember I had a bicycle at Dad's place in Gary and I don't remember the number...might have been something like 1709, but the license of my bicycle and the draft card number were exactly the same."
He was struck by the coincidence.
Charles, working hard as an engineering major, was also enrolled in ROTC and a member of Pershing Riffles, an elite drill team. Academic rigors coupled with social distractions to take their toll, and second semester Charles' grades began to suffer. At the same time his funds were dwindling. Summer employment was essential for him to have enough cash to return to school the following year. The answer to his financial woes lay in the steel mills of Gary, Indiana.
On July 19,1941, as 21 year old Charles toiled in the mills, thirteen young Negro men gathered on the campus of Tuskegee Institute, Alabama, to form the first class of black pilot trainees for the Army Air Corps.
In the mills of the Carnegie Illinois Steel Company, Charles pulled the graveyard shift on a construction crew. Along with other blacks who were fortunate enough to find employment in the steel industry, his assignments were the menial, back breaking tasks of running concrete for the furnaces or mopping
up the foundry buildings, but the pay was more than most other jobs and therefore a necessary means to the desired end.
Occasionally, after a long evening on the job, Charles mustered the energy to go into Chicago to enjoy night life the city offered. The early morning bus ride back and precious few hours of sleep before his next shift were deterrents to keep him from making it a regular habit. When he let his mind wonder, it consistently settled on a young woman enjoying less arduous summer days in Champaign, but his budget permitted no more than daydreams. So he applied himself to work and hoped his absence would not provide an unfair advantage to rivals for Frances' affection. Short term sacrifice for long term gain! It was a principle already ingrained in his philosophy.
The war in Europe would not be fended off by aspirations of higher education or thoughts of budding love. In response to increasing concern about events overseas, the draft was reaching into the sanctuary of the college classroom. In the beginning it was easy to resist the notion he would become involved, especially before finishing school. That
