Light in the Morning

The Story

In 1950 two high school seniors, a white boy and a black girl, fall in love in the city of Homeport, Georgia during the time of strict and brutal segregation. They carry on a secret romance for a few months but then decide they have to break up because a mixed marriage would be impossible. The boy enlists in the Marines and is badly wounded in Korea. When he returns to Homeport after a couple of years of convalescence the girl is married to a charismatic minister and civil rights leader. The boy marries the nurse who cared for him in the hospital.

The story takes place in the early 1970s. The boy is now a deputy sheriff and the girl is still the minister's wife and co-leader of the local civil rights movement. Their youthful romance is still a secret. His son and her daughter are seniors about to graduate from the now integrated high school, and they are secretly in love.

Web version of synopsis and script with links to recordings of the songs (html).

Printable version of synopsis and script with lead sheets of the songs (pdf).