The Resilient Shellmans

McNortons in Montana — Part Two

Greg Martin
Nov 5 · 16 min read

“We kind of figured out that because there were so few of us, we were tolerated better than if there’d been more”

Marie Shellman Hart (top row, third from the left) with the Missoula Merchant women’s softball team. Missoulian, Sept. 16, 1953

By 1950, the Black population in Missoula hit a record low. What had once been a small but not insignificant population in the early 20th Century had…

Keep the story going. Sign up for an extra free read.

You've completed your member preview for this month, but when you sign up for a free Medium account, you get one more story.
Already have an account? Sign in

Greg Martin

Written by

Exploring Montana’s Black History

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade