21 - July 1964

On July 5^th, 1960, at 4:15 a.m. in a Rochester, New York hospital, a healthy, eight-pound, two-ounce black baby boy named Byron Johnson was born.

Two loving parents were reluctant as they brought him into the world. Their reluctance wasn’t due to the possibility he might carry the Sickle Cell Trait, but by the world around him. The United States was at war both externally and internally.

The Vietnam Conflict quickly escalated into a full-blown War as more troops were being shipped overseas daily. Worse yet, the tragedy in Vietnam was being telecast on the nightly news. In addition to the stress of a foreign war, the civil rights struggle (and the race riots that accompanied it) inflicted great damage to the American conscious. Cities throughout the Deep South felt the tension on a daily basis. Those tensions would soon spill over into the streets of Rochester.

While the nation dealt with civil unrest, Major League Baseball’s World Series was a place of calm, comfortable predictability.  For five years straight from 1960-1964, the New York Yankees appeared in the October classic.

In 1960, the Yankees faced the Pittsburgh Pirates. Although the Pirates had Latin American slugger Roberto Clemente, it was the heroics of a seldom known utility player named Bill Mazeroski that propelled the Pirates over the Yankees. Even though New York lost they still held a place in America’s heart.

Meanwhile, students began participating in sit-in protests around the country. In February 1960, four black students approached the Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. Additional sit-in protests occurred throughout the year in Greensboro. Similar sit-ins occur in Nashville, Atlanta, and New Orleans. A young civil rights leader named Martin Luther King is simultaneously charged with tax evasion and jailed.

In 1961, the Yankees beat the Cincinnati Reds behind the slugging power of Mikey Mantle and Roger Maris. Earlier that year, Maris broke Babe Ruth’s single season home run record by belting 61. Riots erupted at the University of Georgia over the integration of two black students. The students are suspended as a result of the riots. Later, they are reinstated under court pressure..

In 1962, the Yankees lost to the Dodgers. In June of that year, the University of Virginia honors its first black graduate. That September, the University of Mississippi bans James Meredith from becoming its first black student.

In 1963, the Yankees beat the highly integrated San Francisco Giants, who field African-Americans Willie Mays and Willie McCovey as well as Latin Americans Juan Marichal and Orlando Cepeda. A month-long demonstration in April and May of that year occurs in Birmingham, Alabama, to oppose segregation and prejudice among white business owners.

. Finally, the Yankees lost to the Cardinals in ‘64. Although the Yankees faced five different teams with various outcomes, it was still business as usual on the baseball diamond.

The same could not be said for the rest of America, especially in the South.

To begin the sixties, student activists participated in several types of non-violent protests, including sit-ins, where they blockaded companies and stores by ‘sitting-in’ at lunch counters and department stores that didn’t extend equal service to everyone. These students also participated in marches in metropolitan cities and on college campuses to draw public awareness to civil rights.

1961 brought a group of activists called the Freedom Riders. They rode busses throughout the south to test the Supreme Court ruling in the Boynton vs. Virginia case, which stated that any interstate bus riders would not be segregated. The Freedom Riders disrupted seating patterns on busses, in terminals, and at restrooms and drinking fountains.

All of these places were previously ‘hot-button’ issues within the civil rights movement. Up to that time, there were two sets of restrooms and water fountains; one for the whites and one for the coloreds.

Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were speaking our more and more frequently against the injustices before them, especially in cities in the Deep South like Atlanta, Memphis, Birmingham, New Orleans, Montgomery, and Selma.

Byron’s little sister Erica was born in July 1963 and, just like her father and brother, she carried the Sickle Cell Trait. Her weak, underdeveloped body did not function properly. The air sacs within her lungs retained extra fluids and throughout her first year, doctors had to take invasive actions to clear the mucus and fibroids within her lungs. That included a mixture of intravenous cocktails and nasal intubation to clear any and all obstructions in the air chamber.

By the time she was one year old, the same social uneasiness that had afflicted the south would find its way to Rochester.

Mrs. Johnson, always outspoken when it came to civil rights and equality, had been one of the picketers outside a few of the stores that hadn’t allowed blacks to shop. She marched in the spring, while Mr. Johnson was at the Kodak building. She took two small children with her as she participated in these protests. In her mind, it was the least she could do.

Beyond these ‘minor’ protests, the whites felt Rochester was still a pleasant city in which to live. According to Mrs. Johnson, most of the northern whites made it a point to be ignorant of the problems in their community. The white’s point of view would be altered that summer.

July 24^th started as a typical hot summer night. A block party took place on Rochester’s near east side in the sixth ward. The sixth ward was predominantly black. The block party included a dance and several small vendor stalls near the intersections of Nassau Street and Joseph Avenue.

  The Rochester Police Department was called midway through the evening to oversee things as the party grew to approximately 200 people. As a K-9 Unit patrolled the area, the officers attempted to arrest a nineteen year old male for drunk and disorderly conduct. The K-9 attacked the boy during the arrest, biting him in the process.

Rumors of police brutality spread throughout the crowd. As word made its way through the community, the crowd swelled to one-thousand. A large group of black citizens protested from one side of Joseph Avenue while a group of Rochester Police stood at the opposite side. Tensions escalated and rioting ensued. Rioters threw rocks and taunted police. In the meantime, several buildings caught fire and authorities called for the Rochester Fire Department. As rioters taunted the Fire Department, the hoses were directed from the burning buildings to the angry mob. To this day, nobody knows who ordered the use of fire hoses as water cannons.

The riots spread through the other wards and into downtown. Windows were broken and fires were started as buildings were engulfed in flames. The riots lasted for three days, until New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller called in the National Guard.

In the aftermath, over two-hundred area stores were damaged or destroyed and over 1,000 arrests were made.

“Robert, we can’t continue living in Rochester,” said Victoria.

“If you give it time, it’ll all blow over.”

The City of Rochester finally took notice of its secret problem and began to address the underlying problems within the community as a whole. The healing process, however, would take quite a long time. Still, Mrs. Johnson wasn’t happy with her living situation.

“I don’t want to raise my kids here.”

“It wouldn’t be better anywhere else.”

“We’ll have to find something. Maybe we could return to Atlanta.”

“There’s no chance at a future for us in the south.”

At the same time, Erica’s sickle cell began acting up again. During the night, she broke out in a sweat and by the morning, her bed sheets were soaked.

“Whew! You’re burning up!” said Mrs. Johnson as she pressed her hand to Erica’s forehead. When she took Erica’s temperature, the results floored her.

“104?!?!”

Mrs. Johnson made two quick calls: the first to the Fire Department and the second to Robert.

“You called for the squad?”

“Of course I did, Robert.”

“How’s she doing?”

“Her temperature’s really high and her skin’s clammy.”

“Is there anything else?”

“She’s breathing weird.”

“Was it smooth or was it raspy?”

“It’s raspy and she’s wheezing.”

“Damn it, Victoria! How did you let this happen?”

“It happened overnight.”

“Victoria, you know she has very special needs. You really have to protect her.”

“Alright, Robert, let’s talk about this later. The ambulance just pulled up outside.”

The ambulance quickly sped them away. Victoria caressed Erica’s head as she sat beside her. Erica’s little lungs were working overtime to keep up with the smallest of tasks. Her moon-shaped red blood cells clogged the arteries inside the air sacs. For Erica, it felt like she was drowning. A host of pediatric heart and lung specialists surrounded the infant as her both writhed around on the operating table.

They poked and probed her as part of the routine diagnosis. In the meantime, Victoria sat in the waiting room until Robert arrived. It wasn’t long after that when a doctor came out to speak with the couple.

“She’s better now, but she’s suffering from Acute Chest Syndrome. We’ve got an I.V. started with penicillin and folic acid. Since she’s so fragile, she’ll have to be under supervision for quite some time.”

“How long?” asked Victoria.

“It could be a few weeks or it could be several months. To be honest, we’ve contacted specialists from other hospitals around the region. Once we get the vital signs stabilized, we strongly recommend transferring her someplace where they’re more equipped to handle this sort of situation.”

“I told you this was serious, Victoria. You should’ve paid more attention. You could’ve killed her.”

“I’m sorry, Robert. I’m so very sorry.”

“Sir,” interrupted the doctor, “If I’m not mistaken, you have Sickle Cell, too, correct?”

Mr. Johnson nodded.

“And your wife doesn’t?”

“I know what you’re getting at.”

“Sickle Cell is a complicated disease. You can’t expect her to know everything and you shouldn’t be so hard on her, either. These things sometimes present themselves without any warning signs.”

“You’re right,” said Mr. Johnson as he took a deep breath. Deep down, he knew the doctor was right. He shouldn’t have blamed Victoria, even if it cost him his pride.

He didn’t apologize, however. That hurt Mrs. Johnson the most. She remained silent as they sat in the waiting room. She remained silent as they headed home, too. Mr. Johnson didn’t say a thing to her, either. Mostly, he’d hang his head whenever she entered the room. He’d iron his shirts in the morning and clean his own dishes in the evening. Luckily, Mrs. Johnson did the cooking, because I’d had his ‘magnificent meatloaf’ and (beyond this very moment), it’s nothing to write home about.

It took him until Halloween to finally say something.

“Dear?”

She glanced over at him as she pursed her lips. She did not, however, say a word.

“I’m truly sorry, too. I didn’t mean to be like that, but it’s Sickle Cell.”

Mrs. Johnson shook her head.

“You think I don’t know it’s Sickle Cell? Of course, I know it’s Sickle Cell. Who do you think spent all those nights rubbing the little silver slivers out of your arms and legs? Me. Who’s the one spending hours and days at your bedside when you’re in the hospital? Me. Who’s the one donating blood when you or your oldest child need a transfusion? Me. Damn, Robert, I know Sickle Cell.”

Robert nodded softly as his head slumped between his shoulders. Victoria reached up and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.   

“I think it’s time we think seriously about moving.”

“We have a stable home here.”

“You heard the doctor, Robert. We should also consider Erica.”

“Where would you want to move?”

“New York might be nice.”

“Is it someplace you’d want to raise two children?”

“I guess not, but it’s got great facilities.”

“Let’s think on this before we make a decision we’d both regret.”

Mrs. Johnson spoke with friends in Rochester and back home and consulted with the family pediatrician.

“There are a few places I could recommend, especially on the east or west coasts.”

“I don’t know that I want to be that far from home.”

“They’re also doing some cutting edge research in some places in cities throughout the Midwest like Pittsburgh, Cleveland, or Cincinnati. They’re all pretty close.”

Victoria continued her research, checking out all three cities. After she’d looked them over thoroughly, there was a clear choice.

“What do you think about Cincinnati?”

“Why there?”

“It’s got some top-notch Sickle Cell research facilities, it’s in the north, and there’s a very strong black population, like Rochester, only there’s not the problems we have here.”

“I’ll think about it,” Robert responded matter-of-factly. His inability to accept the change frustrated Victoria.

“I don’t want to stay here any longer.”

“Let me see what I can do.”

As Erica healed at Rochester General, the city of Rochester healed as well. The city officials demolished several of the fire-damaged businesses and began repairing the downtown infrastructure. Meanwhile, social programs created new habitats for the displaced citizens of the inner city wards.

In November, the forces of nature acted upon Chick and Pauline’s lives. In turn, that affected the Johnsons.

“Hey, Robert,” I’ve been talking to some of our old friends in Detroit.”

“Yeah? What’s going on?”

“They’re offering me a coaching job there.”

“That’s great,” said Robert.

“That is great,” added Victoria.

That night, Victoria confronted Robert again.

“Have you given any thought to Cincinnati?”

Robert nodded.

“And?”

“I’ll go into work tomorrow and put in a one-month notice.”

“Why don’t you just give a two week notice?”

“We don’t have a lot of money saved.”

“Okay,” she said sadly.

Still, it was the best option, since they would be moving on a shoestring budget and neither Robert nor Victoria had a job secured in Cincinnati.

Chick and Pauline moved just before Thanksgiving. Robert and Victoria moved just two weeks before Christmas and just before the snowstorm hit Rochester in December 1964.

They traveled along the Erie shore and cut southwesterly across Ohio. By contrast, the forty-degree air was balmy compared to the lake effect sub-freezing air that often crept into the low teens.

Robert and Victoria could only imagine what grand new adventure a plain, old, Midwestern city as close as Cincinnati might bring.

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