Out of Sight, Out of Mind 

In 1957 I applied for the job of short order cook at the coffee shop that was a part of the largest hotel in a city in Ohio.  I was told the job had been filled.

A week later I saw that the sign for the position was still in the window.

The hotel manager was silent when I reminded him of what he had previously told me.

I said that I would not waste my time nor his if he told me honestly that it was because I was Colored.

He sounded defeated when he answered, “The customers have never seen a Colored person handling the food before, and you’d be in front of them”

As I got up to leave I said, “Are the customers in your exclusive dining room not aware that your entire kitchen staff is Colored?”

He said, “Yes, I’m sure they are, but they don’t have to watch them handle the food.”

Lora Harrington Pride  8/23/26