DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — It was just a different era is all George Williams can say when he thinks about growing up in the 1950s and '60s as a kid. He said it's a period in his life marked by segregation.
"I guess that was kind of the law of the land back then at that time," he said. "Much was silent but things were happening and that you know they were trying to keep it separate at all times."
Williams went to what was Carver High School in Delray Beach. His sports were track and football. He said discrimination didn't allow Black athletes to play against or with their white counterparts.
"We played Pompano, then we played Belle Glade, the Glades, and many other schools, all Black," he said.
At the time, Delray Beach and the country were ensnarled in segregationist policies.
Presently, the Delray Beach Historical Society is exploring the '50s and the '60s with a new exhibit called the "Land of Sunshine & Dreams 1950s and 1960s Delray Beach."
"Tumultuous two decades, very complex, pivotal, fascinating, interesting just in terms of politics and civil rights," Executive Director Winnie Edwards said.
She said the display delves into civil rights, sports to popular culture at the time. Edwards said putting this exhibition together was emotional.
"Some of the things discovered in the archives and through our research were surprising and shocking," she said, "but it wasn't unlike what was happening in the rest of the south and the rest of the United States."
Williams said one of his most memorable times is when Carver won a championship in 1962. He said looking at sports nowadays brings him great joy, because you see growth in our society.
" I enjoy today's sports," he said, "just because the best is always there."