By Warren Dorsey
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— Excerpt —
In my youth, Sykesville was a location of strict racial segregation. Other than shopping in the local stores and the employer-employee encounters, there were only incidental contacts between the races.
Any contact in public accommodations, religious institutions, educational establishments or social gatherings was taboo. This code of conduct was absolute with one generally known, but conveniently ignored exception, the shared use of a swimming hole – The Rocks.
About a half mile up river from the bridge that crosses the Patapsco in Sykesville, there was an expanse about 30 feet wide and 200 feet long. At the deepest end, the water measured about five feet; at the most shallow it measured about three.
In my youth, about 80 to 90 years ago, this area of the river was known by locals as The Rocks.
The area was secluded by trees and bushes along both banks. On the north side was a huge rock that rose about five feet above water level and stretched about twenty feet along the river bank. The surface of the boulder was nearly flat, affording an ideal place to disrobe.
The customary preparation to entering the water was to strip nude, and only male youth frequented the swimming hole.
— End of Excerpt —
Rosie was born May 3, 1926. Warren was born November 17, 1920. As of May, 2022, they’re both still alive.
The story of the rocks appears in volume one, and it also appears in “In Carrie’s Footprints, the Long Walk of Warren Dorsey,” by Jack McBride White.
