Daisy Lee Wade, 14, shows off a bike she won in a contest to name a bicycle. Her winning entry: A Master Chaser.

May 8, 1947: Tony Rice and Azelia Barthelmy (sometimes Berthlemy) were married by the Catholic Church of St. Charles Parish, La., on Jan. 8, 1914. They had seven children before he deserted her in 1931.

The couple bought a home in 1919 and Azelia remained there for 28 years.  On Feb. 28, 1937, she declared that the property on Lot 5 of the Gilbert Darensbourg’s Place at Killona, St. Charles Parish was “a family home.” But on Oct. 7, 1946, Tony sold the property to Helen Ryan.

Azelia charged that as Tony’s wife and the occupant of the property, she needed to agree to the sale of the house.  But according to Louisiana law, marriages between whites and blacks were illegal. Because Tony was white and Azelia was black the Louisiana courts ruled that they had never been married and ordered her to vacate the house.

“Asked by attorney A.F. Tureaud why he married a colored woman, Rice stated he did so as a young man and didn’t know he was violating state laws,” the Sentinel said.

The ruling was upheld by the Louisiana Court of Appeal, Nov. 3, 1947.