They could have been separated by race. Instead, they were united by mutual respect.
Lillian Stokes is gone now. Henry Petrilli, almost 95, eventually moved from Illinois to Wellesley and then to North Hill in Needham.
Time and distance didn t change Petrilli s admiration for the woman he thought of as the sister I never had. The two met on the job, while working for the Illinois Department of Welfare. It was wartime, and Lillian took over her husband s job while he was in the service.
Lillian was Black. Petrilli, 19 at the time, is white, and Lillian was the first black person he really got to know. As the two co-workers became friends over the the next three years, Petrilli gained insight into what it meant to be part of a society where skin color defined one s place.
Wellesley launches Civil Discourse Initiative
Community Content
After witnessing a decline in civility, members of the Wellesley community are launching an initiative to give residents a new way to come together to talk about important issues facing the town.
The Wellesley Civil Discourse Initiative aims to address the increasingly divisive and fractious tone in public conversations by organizing carefully planned dialogues with trained facilitators.
Organizers of the initiative are working with town leaders, local nonprofits and community volunteers to help shape the initiative.
Describing the goals of the project, planning team member Lise Olney said, “We want to train people in our community to facilitate conversations so when we face difficult issues, we are ready to have discussions that will help us understand each other’s perspectives even when we disagree.”