Ed, I grew up in Omaha and still live there. I am a few years younger than Bob Gibson but my brother played against him in high school.
Bob's father died a couple of months before he was born and he was raised by his mother in what we called the "projects". They were built during the depression to provide low income housing and by the 50's they were deteriorating. High density 3 story buildings with very little parking and small rooms. Roofs leaked, the water mains were not buried deep enough and would freeze leaving whole building without water until spring. The place was a dump. It was surrounded by 6 ft. chain link fence with three strands of barb wire on top. That was to keep "those people" away from the neighborhoods to their west. I think they were called the "Logan Fontanelle project" When I was in high school it was where you went to get girls, guns or drugs. When I came back after college it was called "Little Vietnam" and gang violence was rampant. It was torn down in the 90's.
Bob went to Tech High and it was predominantly African American. They would start 4 black kids in basketball and have one token white. If they got behind they would go to 5 black kids at home. On the road they would go 3 blacks and and 2 whites. I remember going to a game at what was then a white school, and the crowd called out the "N" word whenever a black player was shooting a free throw.
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