Donzelle & Melvin Hutt

Melvin and Donzelle Hutt married in 1946, when they were both 25 years old.³ At the time of their marriage, Donzelle still resided in Clinton, SC. They eventually made Salisbury their permanent home in 1959.⁴ In the same year, Melvin bought a property on E. Church Street at a price of $8,000. After his death, the property’s appreciated value was $20,000.⁵

The couple had two daughters, Melynda and Marcia.

Melvin Hutt later married Florine Victoria Hall in 1966.⁶ The couple shared two other children, Michele and Johnathon. Mr. Hutt had another daughter, Gwendolyn, but her mother is unknown.

The renowned Franklin Hotel became one of the only Black-owned hotels of its time in Salisbury. Built in 1955, its name was derived from Donzelle’s father, Benjamin Franklin Fant.

Despite housing a majority of Black residents at a time when segregation was prevalent, the hotel opened with the goal of integration in mind.⁸ Melvin shared his sentiments, adding how “we worked together, lived together, played together, men who were black, brown, yellow, and white, and we soon found there need be no trouble if you make up your mind about it.”⁹ Donzelle and Melvin had a vision that saw a hotel where integration was possible, and the aesthetic of the hotel reinforced this vision.

As a couple living in a state divided by racial tensions, neither allowed their own race to stand in the way. Their entrepreneurial mindset paved the way for integration at the Franklin Hotel. Mrs. Hutt’s pursuit of higher education and teaching career encouraged her students and African Americans to pursue education and continue their learning journey beyond high school. Their legacy is one to remember, and this couple’s names shall remain firmly cemented as pioneers of change in Salisbury’s powerful history.