I’d like to acknowledge Town & Country magazine, in particular former editor in chief Pamela Fiori, the late editor at large Michael Cannon, and former special correspondent William Norwich—the most wonderful bosses I could ever have. Several years ago when I worked there, as an editor covering social and philanthropic events, I was out on the town representing the magazine several nights a week. I had to talk to different people all the time at events that I usually attended alone—cocktail parties, black-tie galas. It didn’t matter how anxious I felt that night, it didn’t matter how unfriendly or obnoxious my dinner companions were—and thankfully that rarely happened—I had to talk and observe, because that was my job. That experience helped me manage any trepidation I had interviewing people for this book.

And I don’t know if I could have done that job as effectively if it hadn’t been for the four glorious years I spent at my alma mater, Spelman College, where women are taught to be fearless. I received a stellar education there and made wonderful friends, including my sorority sisters of Delta Sigma Theta, Eta Kappa chapter, who are my cheerleaders, therapists, and advisers whenever I need them.

As mentioned above, Enemies in Love required years of research. Given the subject matter, I experienced a range of emotions while writing this book. I started watching documentaries on Hitler; I felt it would help me better understand the world in which Frederick grew up. Night after night, I stared at my television in horror, looking at archival videos of a monster. My stomach knotted up at footage of the Holocaust and I remember my own sadness walking around the grounds of Dachau Concentration Camp during one of my trips to Munich.

I also felt a heaviness reading the oral histories of black nurses and soldiers who honorably served this country during the war while facing habitual humiliation. I am forever grateful for their patriotism and courage.

When I think about Elinor and Frederick falling in love against a backdrop of racism, I admire them even more. I thank them for following their hearts. It was an honor to write their story.

Notes

Notes

1. Elinor

1. “Harlem 1900–1940,” New York Public Library, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, digital exhibition, 2002, exhibitions.nypl.org/harlem.

2. U.S. Census Data, Milton, Massachusetts, 1940.

3. Ella Wade and William Powell marriage license, Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, ancestrylibrary.com; Alethea Felton interview, April 7, 2013.

4. Alethea Felton interview, April 7, 2013.

5. Milton Historical Society, Massachusetts Historical Commission, drawing and history of 114 Granite Place.

6. Milton Record, May 24, 1924, 3.

7. Albert Kendall Teele, The History of Milton, Mass., 1640 to 1887 (Boston: Rockwell and Churchill, 1887), 31–40; “Town of Milton,” www.townofmilton.org/about/pages/history.

9. Suffolk Resolves, 1774.

10. U.S. Census Data, Boston, 1880.

11. “Population Trends in Boston: 1640–1990,” Boston History and Architecture, www.iboston.org/mcp.php?pid=popFig.; Mark R. Schneider, Boston Confronts Jim Crow 1890–1920 (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1997), 4.