political agenda.
Winifred was positioned at the table where she could see most of the dining hall. As she began to eat, she saw two men emerge from the elevator and march into the dining hall. They were the young men who had been standing in front of the counselor’s suite on third floor when Winifred and Angie went to wash their hands. Walking between them was Vivian Malone.
Martha Parham Hall
September 15, 1963
Winifred survived her first week of classes. She was taking more fashion merchandising courses this semester and looked forward to getting involved in classes she was actually interested in. She was taking Fashion Retailing, Clothing and Textiles, and Apparel in International Trade, but her favorite class was History of Costume. That first week of fall semester, she’d learned about fashion in ancient Egypt, including what the pharaoh’s wore and the portrayal of clothing worn by the Egyptian goddess Isis.
That weekend she and Angie had attended the football rally for the upcoming game with University of Georgia on September 21st. Alabama had claimed the national championship in 1961 and nothing was more important on campus than football. Bear Bryant was already nationally known for his coaching ability and Joe Namath was the football hero on campus. A pep rally was held on Friday night and Saturday the cheerleaders held a fundraising dance at Foster Auditorium. Winifred and Angie were present at both events. Winifred enjoyed these football social events more than the actual games. Angie seemed preoccupied at both events, scanning the environment continually as if she were an anthropologist or a visitor from another planet.
On Sunday afternoon, Winifred went to McLure Library to check out books for her History of Costume class. Winifred arrived late at the dining hall that evening and suddenly realized the presence of the National Guard throughout the University, including Martha Parham Hall, had not diminished at all. In fact, if anything, there was even more security patrolling the campus. When she sat down at her table, Angie, Matty, and Cupcake were having dinner and deep into conversation. When Winifred sat down, Matty turned to her and asked, “So you’re from Birmingham, right?”
“Homewood, but it’s the same thing. Why?”
“You haven’t heard?” Cupcake chimed in.
“Heard what?”
“A Colored church was bombed in Birmingham today,” said Matty. “Serves them right. They were all involved in that stupid Civil Rights movement and quite frankly, they had it comin’.”
Winifred was stunned. She had a puzzled look when she asked, “Had what comin’?”
“The bombin’, girl! What else?” quipped Matty.
“Was anybody hurt?” Winifred inquired.
“Do you care? It was a Colored church run by agitators!” Matty explained in defiance.
Winifred looked over at Angie and noticed her body language. At that point the oddest thought came to Winifred’s head. She thought, “Oh God! I must be psychic. Angie is telling me with her body to keep my mouth shut. Don’t discuss this with Matty. She is already belligerent enough!” Matty’s boisterous, booming voice carried all over the dining hall. Winifred glanced across the room where two guard were standing over the table where Vivian Malone was seated. At that moment, Vivian looked across the hall and stared directly into Winifred’s eyes. Winifred blushed and looked away.
Matilda “Matty” Manasco
Matilda Manasco was Winifred’s new suite mate. By some people’s standards, she was as beautiful as Winifred, but there were significant differences. Winifred had her father’s creamy olive skin, was petite, had slender legs, inherited small but perky breasts, and was often compared with Elizabeth Taylor, although she had a Marilyn Monroe mole or beauty mark on her right cheek. Matty was a tall, exceptionally buxom, strawberry blonde with an hour glass figure who was regularly referred to as a Jane Mansfield type. As different as their looks were, their personalities were practically polar opposites. Winifred was frightened by new things, easily intimidated, and hated the fact that she always felt compelled to follow the herd. Because of her fearful nature, she avoided conflict at all costs. In her favor was the fact she could hide her timidity from others rather convincingly. She was a good actor and to those who did not know her well, she exuded an air of confidence. She had a kind heart, an inquisitive nature, and despite her shyness, was open occasionally to trying new things. Mattie was none of these. Matty was confident, arrogant, and made sure she was always the center of attention. She loved conflict and her greatest joy was embarrassing one of her girl friends and even more pleasurable, flirting with men and intentionally castrating them. She had been called a haughty, narrow minded bitch so often that she used it as her mantra. She would laugh and say, “You better believe it. I’m a bitch!”
Matty developed many of these traits because she was the archetype of “daddy’s little girl.” Her parents were Ronald and Ida Louise Manasco from Melba, Alabama, the county seat of Sawgrass County in southeast Alabama. Many years ago, Mattie’s maternal grandfather, Beauregard Jackson had become one of the richest men in Alabama. He was certainly the wealthiest in the southern part of the state, having earned his fortune as a peanut mogul. But truth be told, there were more than a few skeletons in the family closet. Two of those in the family closet were her grandfather and her father.
When Ronald Manasco was a child, his father was an unemployed alcoholic and his mother worked as a maid for the Jackson family. Ronald’s mother was a hard worker and the only bread winner for the family. She insisted that Ronald complete high school, but had no money to send him to college. So after high school, Ronald took a job as one of the Beauregard’s hired hands on his peanut plantation. Ronald was handsome, muscular, and loved showing off his physique. In the summers, he was always shirtless and well tanned from working on the farm. He hadn’t worked long before Beauregard took a liking to him. To make a long story short, Ronald became Beauregard’s lover. While Beauregard’s behavior was unconscionable due to Ronald’s age, Ronald was not an innocent victim. In fact, Ronald, being an opportunist, had intentionally lured Beauregard.
Beauregard sent Ronald to Troy State College and after two years, Ronald returned to Melba, Alabama to marry Beauregard’s daughter, Ida Lou. Eventually Ronald took over the farm and went into politics. He was a fundamentalist, yellow dog democrat whose campaigns were partially financed by the Ku Klux Klan. Ronald loved telling his friends and most trusted constituents that there were two things he hated worse than an egg sucking dog and those were negras and queers. Ronald’s role model for getting elected was former governor of Alabama, Big Jim Folsom. During Folsom’s campaign he hired the Strawberry Pickers, a country band to serenade the people. Folsom carried a mop and bucket during his campaign to show the people that he meant business. He was going to clean up the government. Jim Folsom’s politics were far more liberal and progressive than Ronald Manasco’s. Nevertheless, Manasco liked Folsom’s theatrics and emulated his style. Ronald Manasco was not as charismatic as Big Jim, but he always got enough votes to be elected to the state legislature.
Ronald and Ida Lou Manasco’s only child was their spoiled rotten daughter, Matilda Manasco. Her parents wanted her to go to Troy State College where her father and mother had attended but Matty wouldn’t have it. No sir ree! She was going to the University of Alabama and she was going to be a member of the finest sorority. The compromise reached was that she could go to Alabama, but she would not be allowed to join a sorority. Behind this stipulation was the fact her mother had been blackballed from a sorority at Troy State and did not want her daughter becoming one of those snoody sorority girls. It was actually too late to prevent “snoody” but not the added haughtiness of a sorority.
Matty’s
