“And I’m not sure UVa got what they expected,” said John Edwin Mason, an associate professor of history, referencing Gaston’s quick entrance into desegregation protests and his effort to bring Martin Luther King Jr. to Grounds. “At the time, it was brave and it was bold and it was controversial.”

Gaston turned down a job at Swarthmore, his undergraduate alma mater, to work in Charlottesville, according to his children.

“At Swarthmore, he saw a sign that told people to sign up to go to the March on Washington,” said Gareth Gaston. “And he thought, they don’t need me. The South needs me.”

Paul and Mary Gaston petitioned for their older children to attend Venable, then the only integrated school, even though it was out of their district. They were kicked out of the beach club after Gaston was arrested, and then hopped pools for a while until they found one that welcomed Jewish and African American friends. Chinta recalled days when her mother and her friends would attend court hearings for protesters.