In his retirement Whitelow became known as the man who greeted school buses and passing motorists every morning on Bridgewater’s Main Street. |
Carlyle Whitelow, a lifelong resident of Bridgewater, Va., died just over a year ago at age 89. He and his brother Alfred were the first black students to graduate from Bridgewater College, and Carlyle was the first black athlete in the South to compete in a predominantly white college. He later became a beloved professor and distinguished coach at his alma mater for 28 years.
I never got to personally know Mr. Whitelow but in going through some old papers during our move a year ago I ran across a letter he wrote to me in 2013 as a total stranger. It is one I will always cherish, especially since learning more about this good man in the years since then.
In his handwritten post he graciously commended me for a letter to the editor I had written in response to a July 30, 2013, edition of the Daily News-Record commemorating the life and legacy of the late Harry F. Byrd, Jr., under the heading DN-R's Coverage Of Byrd Incomplete:
Here is Professor Whitelow's kind response, mistakenly addressing me as "Dr. Yoder":
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