During the ’50s, marriage between a black and a white person was simply crazy. No one even dared to dream about it. Two simple workers from Virginia changed the course of history. They changed the law together. Meet the Lovings. All photos Grey Villet.

In June 1958, Mildred and Richard Loving went to Washington DC to get married. At the time, the Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act of 1924 was still on – so any interracial marriage was forbidden. In their case, it would’ve been a crime punished accordingly. A month later, the police found out about their intentions, the Lovings’ marriage certificate was declared invalid and they pled guilty to living together.

The Lovings were sentenced to one year in prison and they could not return to Virginia for at least 25 years. However, they remained together and moved to Washington DC.

The family spent 5 years in internal exile raising their 3 children: Peggy, Sidney and Donald.

The Lovings were frustrated because they couldn’t visit their families in Virginia anymore. Mildred wrote a letter to Robert F. Kennedy, who then referred her to the American Civil Liberties Union. Here, the two are seen discussing their case with an attorney.

Their case became so popular that it ended in the US Supreme Court of Washington. The Lovings didn’t attend the hearing. However, Richard sent the court a message: ‘Tell the court I love my wife and it is just unfair that I can’t live with her.’
The Supreme Court overturned the couple’s convictions and decided that the ban on interracial marriage was unconstituional. They changed the world.