By James Martone | Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON -- Prayer and patience helped octogenarian Edward Monroe through difficult times of racism and steered him to success at his city's most prominent newspaper, the native Washingtonian reminisced.

Monroe graduated in 1949 from Washington's Armstrong Technical High School, one of the city's two segregated manual training schools for African-American youth. He started as a substitute compositor at The Washington Post and, by 1953, he had worked his way into a permanent position in the composing room, where typesetting and related operations were performed.

It was a job he loved, but it "wasn't easy," he said, in part because he was one of very few blacks in what was then a predominantly white and often racist workplace.

He cited an example from an evening in 1954, when a fistfight broke out among white co-workers over whether their black colleagues should be allowed in the Columbia Typographical Union, which represented compositors.

Monroe had already been part of that same union for a year.

"The union hall at that time was on Ninth Street and, on this particular Sunday evening, two white fellows got in a fight. They went across the street and fought in the park … over the fact that another white man had signed for a black man to come into the union," he recalled.

There were also times Monroe did not get the promotion he claimed he'd deserved, due to white decision makers who were "prejudiced."

"I knew I wouldn't get it … and I didn't get it," he said.

Monroe spoke of other instances as well, like the time in 1969 when he was asked to talk about printing and formatting techniques at a work seminar, to the annoyance of a white colleague in attendance.

"We broke for lunchtime … and one white fellow said to me 'I hate to hear niggers talk,'" he remembered.

"That got to me. I never ate my lunch," he added.

Following such incidents, Monroe said he let his Catholic faith guide him in discerning appropriate responses.

"I was a strong Catholic and I had a lot of faith. I would count to 10 and ask the Lord how to handle it, and it would come to me how to handle it," he said.

Through such supplication he was sometimes inspired to simply "be patient," a trait he'd inherited from his mother, Monroe continued.

"I had a pretty level attitude I took from my mother, and I always figured if I lay back, I'll beat you at your own game. You have to be patient; it ain't going to be easy. But I will trap you in the end," he laughed.

At other times, like when his colleague made the racial slur, Monroe was moved to take more immediate action.

"We went back to the seminar and the production manager asked any if anyone had any questions. I raised my hand and I said I was sorry to hear that one man among us doesn't like 'to hear niggers talk,'" Monroe reported telling the seminar. He said he then pointed out the offending colleague for everyone present to see, telling them all "I feel sorry for this man."

Still, good memories seemed to far outweigh the bad: Monroe spoke of white colleagues helping him and other blacks to get into the union, of black colleagues teaching one another new formatting and setting techniques to keep themselves competitive in what was then a mostly white field, and of the late Katharine Graham, who ran the Washington Post for more than two decades.

"Mrs. Graham was a wonderful, wonderful lady to work for, because as time went on, I went up the ladder to become supervisor … and she would come in with another lady or a gentleman and would ask you to explain to them the operation that is going on, and she would get to know you by your name," he said, smiling.

Monroe, who retired from the Post in 1993, noted that the civil rights legislation of the 1960s had led to improvements in education and job opportunities for African Americans.

"In areas where we could not work we are (now) employed, in schools we couldn't attend, we can now attend," he said.

But "we still have a long ways to go," he said, encouraging African Americans who are just starting out to "have confidence," study diligently, work hard, and "give back" to society.

"If you got an idea and you think it will work, keep pushing it, it will work, but you got to put a lot of work into it. And you got to give back, give of your time and talent. The good Lord blesses you in so many ways," he said.

Since retiring from the Washington Post, Monroe said he'd been busy, most recently as the volunteer head of the finance committee for Washington Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, where he can also be seen every Sunday morning in a corner pew, praising and thanking God for a life of realized dreams and "longevity."

"I thank him so much I think he gets tired," he chuckled.