In his 76 years of living, Lindsey McDaniel has seen firsthand the changes in our nation over the years.

Growing up in the segregated south, he has lived through the Korean Conflict, integration, the Civil Rights Movement and the election of the first African American president.

He sat through an uncomfort-able bus trip that included an African American woman who refused to give up her seat at the front of the bus (sound famil-iar?); he lost a job because he refused to drink after a white man who offered his a half empty bottle of soda; and he spent years in a dead in job even though he had a college degree.

McDaniel remembers his brushes with racism as well as his triumphs and through it all said he has learned many a lesson.

“I’ve had a few brushes with racism, but it was easier to ignore them rather that sacrifice my goals because of something foolish,” McDaniel said. “If there’s anything that I’ve learned in my life it’s to know when to be quiet and when to speak up.”

In his own way, McDaniel has made his mark in history albeit in a quiet and unassuming manner.

He has spent the last 7 years as a member of the Cartersville City Council, only the second African American to serve.

He hails from Calhoun but has spent nearly three decades in Cartersville, where the social and economic situation has been virtually untouched by condi-tions outside the county.

“Cartersville is a great city and I love living here,” McDan-iel said.

McDaniel and his wife of 52 years, Mary, raised two children in their ranch-style house on Wofford Street in the Summer Hill neighborhood in Carters-ville.

McDaniel, who retired from Lockheed-Martin in Marietta after 34 years of service, said he hopes to pass on his wisdom to younger generations.

“I urge young people to take a positive approach to life and find out what’s available both in Cartersville and beyond,” McDaniel said.