A Ride to RememberA Ride to Remember

When Sharon Langley was born, amusement parks were segregated, and African American families were not allowed in. This picture book tells how a community came together--both black and white--to make a change. In the summer of 1963, because of demonstrations and public protests the Gwynn Oak Amusement Park in Maryland became desegregated and opened to all for the first time. Sharon and her parents were the first African American family to walk into the park, and Sharon was the first African American child to ride the merry-go-round. This was on the same day of Martin Luther King Jr.'s March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Sharon's ride to remember demonstrated the possibilities of King's dream ... The carrousel, fully functional, now resides on the National Mall, near the Air and Space Museum.