In Ann’s Words

Excerpts from Leave Your Footprint

Daddy told us that if we were going to drink, then he was going to show us how to do it. He said it was important to know what you are drinking. Don’t drink vodka or any clear liquor. If we were going to drink, drink bourbon or Scotch, and with water – nothing else but water and maybe some ice. Daddy poured each of us a little glass of bourbon with water, and told us both to drink it. I’m telling you, we had a hard time swallowing that. “If you do something wrong, do it right,” he said. 

___________________

“Our first stop in China was Wuhan, in central China. Huge crowds came out to see us. After all, we were probably the first Americans most of them had ever seen. Gov. Wallace was in the car in front of me … He was leaning out the window yelling, ‘Vote for me! Vote for me!’”

___________________

Upon my arrival, both houses of the Legislature passed a resolution, which was presented to me, and which welcomed me as the “First Lady,” of the Senate. It read in part, “Whereas, to become the first woman ever to be so elected is a milestone in itself, but it is a bonus in the esthetic sense, translating into ‘lagniappe’ for the Senate Chamber now houses a beauty among its beasts.”

___________________

From the new telephone room, I saw the new Men’s Room. Naturally, I asked Johnny (Crawford) where the Women’s Room was. He told me that the leadership had thought I could just use the public Ladies Room down the hall and behind the elevators. He had the grace to look embarrassed when he said it and when he said what he said next: “We thought there wouldn’t be any others after you and Sister (Strong).”

___________________

Daddy knew that Oscar had worked hard and that there were people in Leroy who were backing Eisenhower, so when the results came in from Leroy showing no votes for Ike, Daddy called Mr. Johnson, the man who managed the Leroy box. He wanted to know how it was possible that Ike got totally shut out in Leroy. “Well, White, it was so close, we just decided to make it unanimous,” Mr. Johnson told him.

___________________

They say that if you stand still in Alabama, a pine tree will grow up under your foot. There’s timber everywhere there isn’t cement.

___________________

(Gov. Guy Hunt) didn’t like women getting out of their place, which to him was the home. One night he invited many of the senators and our spouses to a dinner meeting at the Mansion. Gov. Hunt started going around the room and asking each senator what they thought about a piece of legislation he wanted passed. “Ryan, what do you think? Gerald, what do you think?” When he came to me, he asked Palmer what he thought about the bill. Palmer said, “I have no earthly idea. You should ask my wife. She knows.”

___________________

Nobody in Mobile thought Mobile could do anything, and if anything was holding this city back, it was that mindset. You’d hear somebody say that a new restaurant was opening, and the response would be, ‘Oh, it won’t last.’ Everybody was pessimistic. When you suggested something that was big and bold, people were like, ‘No, not here.’” 

___________________

I think you’re finally grown when you stop taking your friends’ enemies as your enemies. Mary doesn’t like Jane, so you don’t like Jane, even though Jane could be a wonderful person. That kind of things.

___________________

The three Mobilians appointed to examine the conditions in prisons in the southwest part of the state were me, civil rights leader John LeFlore, and Mobile lawyer Billy Kimbrough, an old friend from Clarke County. When we toured the prisons, such as in Atmore, I would ride with Billy and John. If you ever want to get to know someone, take a long motor trip with them.