Reverend Gilbert and Grace Caldwell are frequent guest speakers at schools near their New Jersey home. At one such event last year, they told the fifth graders at Bear Tavern Elementary School in Titusville what happened to them on their honeymoon. It seems the couple was married in North Carolina, then drove eight hours north to honeymoon at Mount Airy Lodge in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. Despite showing a copy of their reservation, the couple was turned away at the door. It was 1957. The couple is black.
They spent their honeymoon at a black-owned hunting lodge.
When the fifth graders heard the story, they were understandably horrified. Unlike dozens, possibly hundreds of others who had heard the Caldwells' story, those kids decided to do something about it.
Their research showed that the old Mount Airy Lodge closed down decades ago. A newer Mount Airy Casino Resort, no connection to the old Lodge, is now nearby. The students wrote individual letters to the current Resort's administration sharing the story of the Caldwells experience. One student's letter landed on the desk of Matthew Magda, the Resort's Vice President of Operations. Magda wrote back to the students, giving an offer the Caldwells won't refuse. A car will pick them up from their home and take them to the Resort for an all-expenses paid second honeymoon. The resort is even throwing in some casino spending money.
Of course, nothing can truly right the wrongs of decades past. But these students have had two important lessons reinforced: speaking up against injustice is powerful, and it's never too late to treat people decently.
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