Main Cunningham and the Green Roach 1963

by Linda Sinclair

I lived in North Cunningham as a sophomore and main Cunningham as a junior. (Post Office was my freshman dorm-my roommate and I thought it was a mistake when we received our room assignment. Who lives in the Post Office??) When I lived in Main Cunningham, 3rd floor, most weekends were spent at U.Va where my fiancée was completing grad school. On one particular weekend, he was very sick with the flu and could not drive the Longwood girls back to Famville on Sunday. He gave me the car keys to his very old oldsmobile. (we called it the green roach) He told me to drive carefully and get everyone back on campus safely. Since we were not allowed to have cars on campus back then, a place to park it was a concern. We all agreed, after trying out several spots, that parking right behind Main Cunningham in the alley way would be a safe place. The next day, I went to the Dean’s office to discuss the circumstances surrounding the presence of the green roach on campus. To my relief, everyone understood and asked that I move the car to the visitor parking area at Wheeler because the alley was a fire lane. This is when I discovered that I had locked the keys in the car. However, Longwood ladies in Cunningham, class of ’64, had unique talents. One was very handy with a coat hanger and managed to slip it in at the top of the window and lift the door handle with the hook. The green roach was safely relocated until Friday when we all piled in and headed for Charlottesville.