Evening star., 1962-01-03
BY PAT BRYANT

cision knocking out the
States massive resistance
laws.
These difficult times often
found the lights burning late
in the mansion as the Al
monds sat talking perhaps
of the Governors speech on
January 20, a day after the
courts ruling, in which he
promised an unyielding fight
against racial integration in
public schools despite adverse
court decisions. They must
have talked, too, OF the
things which led him short
ly to call for a more mod
crate course that would per-
nit schools to be opened or
closed, depending on the To-
calities' wishes.
Mrs. Almond found this
period called on all her re-
sources to maintain her own
calm because of the vilifi-
cation hurled at Lindsay anG
the effort made to tear him
down and destroy him as an
individual as well as an Of
ficial."
Was she bitter?
Then Pity
"At first there was a little
stab of bitterness and re-
sentiment" she recalls, "and
then I felt pity because they
(the vilifiers) didn't know the
true story"
Josephine Minter Almond
has a deep inner faith plus
a warm sense of humor and
she's often calling on both
these days. The big concern
now is not so much how to
move from Governors Man.
sion to the new house they've
bought in Dorset Woods in
suburban Henrico County,
but whether occupancy Of
the house will be permanent.
IT just hope and pray we'll
be able to live in it. But
Lindsay doesn't have a job"
she said, referring to current
speculation about the Gov
ernor's post-inaugural plans.
The plans, she admittedly
hopes, will include a judge,
ship and one that will per-
NIT them to remain in Rich
mond.
Whatever it is that Gov.
Almond decides to do, his
wife believes "it should be
in keeping with his abilities
and service to the State and
Nation"
This service to State and
Nation began 80 years ago
with a brief term as Com
monwealth's Attorney, fol-
lowed by a judgeship in their
hometown of Roanoke; con-,
tinued through two terms in
the House of Representatives
and finally brought him to
Richmond as Attorney Cen
eral and then Governor.
In 1859 the school crisis
came to a head and some
persons, not content with
hurting harsh words at the
Governor, turned to more
drastic measures-a gunShot
assassination attempt as the
Governor walked from lunch
at the mansion back to his
office, the gathering of a
small group of men in front
of the mansion, yelling
threats to lynch the Cover
nor, and a telephone call
from the police one night at
11:45 as the Almonds were
preparing for bed.
Bomb Scare
We've had a report that
a bomb has been planted in
the mansion. You'll have to
get out" the police reported.
Night clothes were changed
hastily for street clothes but
the Almonds didn't get out
they Joined the search for
the bomb that wasn't there,
Incidents like these
brought police requests that
the Almonds have strict per-
sonal protection and take
particular safety measures
when they went out. Just
as quickly, the requests
brought a refusal from the
couple.
"I was not going to put
myself in a vacuum. After
all, what's the point of liv-
ing" said Mrs. Almond. Be
sides, they felt they couldn't
effectively serve the people if
they had to be guarded every
minute.
Mrs. Almond has felt a
keen sense of responsibility
for the mansion since she
first moved in nearly -four
years ago.
The mansion now boasts a
family breakfast room ada
cent to the formal dining
room, formerly the only place
to eat, and an upstairs IL
brary whose walls are lined
with bookshelves.
when we moved in there
was no place to put books