Evelyn Rossler Stroder highlights how honest dialogue can help between races
Evelyn Rossler Stroder marks her publishing debut with the release of “The Wall That Failed” (published by iUniverse), an exploration of the history of a wall that separated blacks and whites, and how sports helped the two communities come together.
“A wall that was five feet high and built of concrete, rock and mortar split off a corner of Crane more than a half century ago – with blacks on one side and whites on the other,” Stroder narrates. “This book chronicles in a very personal way the breakthrough in the peculiarly American phenomenon of segregation. Not statistical accounts, neither editorials nor news stories, these tales come from the heart – never have been and never will be in the history books or the newspapers.”
In this history, Stroder explores the origins of the wall, the community’s recollection of it and how it symbolized the ugliness of racial segregation. She also examines the consequences of separating the school systems, swimming pools, movie theaters and most every facet of life in the small oil field community.
“The Wall That Failed” also celebrates how sports brought the two communities together, beginning with the Bethune basketball team, which had won three state championships in their conference of all-black schools, coming together with their new, white classmates in 1965. The integrated team brought Crane all the way to the state finals.
“I want young people know how it really was a couple of generations ago. And, to show other communities they could do what we’ve done: record their personal stories so that after the tellers are gone, their young people will know the whole story beyond the history books,” Stroder imparts to readers.
“The Wall That Failed”
By Evelyn Rossler Stroder
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
