Sept. 6, 1963 - Walter Stovall (right), a white Georgian who married Charlayne Hunter (left), the first Negro woman to graduate from the University of Georgia, said today the couple had been married twice on the advice of counsel. He said they were married in March of this year in a place he declined to identify. “On advice of counsel concerning the effect of racial laws in the place of marriage,” Mr. Stovall said, “we had another ceremony performed in Detroit on June 8.” “We have not wanted to embarrass, humiliate, or disturb our families or anyone else,” he continued. “We are two young people who found ourselves in love and did what we feel is required of people when they are in love and want to spend their lives together — we got married. Our understanding is that the institution of marriage is one which is blessed from above, and we feel that race can play no part in that sanction, though some areas of our country seem to try to make it so. Our wish is only to be left alone so that we can live normal lives hereafter.”
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