"Asa highschoolstudent, Vel entered a national speaking contest and won." "Her performance got her a scholarship to the university of her choice." "She chose Howard University, the historically black college in Washington, D.C." "Wehadalwayslived in neighborhoods where there weren't many blacks and I was kind of proud of my heritage and I figured that they would all be blacks and all these wonderful, outstanding people." "Well, I was just enamored with everything about college." "I felt like I owned the world." "Butin1943,WashingtonD.C." "was still racially segregated." "Afriendof minesaid, let's go to the Cherry Blossoms." "So we went on this Sunday and it's just, oh, if you never been there, there's nothing to compare." "And you just feel ethereal, just magical, and close to God." "And so we said, "Well, let's go to church."" "The two of us went into this church and I'll never forget the minister stopped mid-sentence and asked the ushers to usher us out of the church." "Andthenthey're escorted out, which is crushing to her." "That's a white church." "Here in the nation's capital?" "The betrayal of those core American values that every kid gets instilled in them growing up in America, black or white." "Ijustthought, this is not as it should be." "And that just sort of lit a fire, you know?" "AftergraduatingfromHoward, Vel returned home to Milwaukee and began volunteering at the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of" "Colored People, the NAACP." "One night at a party, she met a World War II veteran named Dale Phillips." "Iwasveryattractedtohim, because he seemed to be a little streetwise, and I didn't know much." "Mydaddywasarunaroundguy." "He had a lot of buddies and they loved to party." "Andhecameuptome and said, "Gee, what's your name?"" "I told him right away." "And so he brought out a big thing of liquor." "Velrememberedhermother's three rules." "AndI thoughtrightthen, uh oh!" "What should I do?" "I don't want to be naive and stuff." "I just said no thank you." "Then he took out his cigarettes." "I thought, oh God!" "I had to refuse again." "He'll never see me." "When I refused the liquor and the cigarettes," "I guess he decided, "This is it; this is the woman who I'm going to marry."" "Ithinkwhenhesawmymom  he saw "the one."" "So he reigned in all of his rascalness." "WhenI camehomeafterjust  seeing him for the first time and said, "I met a young man, Mom, at the party, and I was just drawn to him." "If I got to know him, and he asked me to marry him," "I'd marry him."" "She sat right up, she was fanning, "What do you mean?" "You just saw him one time!" "Oh, Lord Jesus help me."" "Theyhadaverybrief courtship." "I think after three or four dates that he popped the question." "OnSeptember12 ,1948, Dale and Vel were married at St. Mark's AME church in Milwaukee."