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Charlie and LaVaughn Edwards married quietly on March 22, 1930, beginning a 41-year partnership shaped by love, hard work and sharply different personalities.

LaVaughn was a shy, inexperienced 20-year-old. Charlie, 30 and previously married, appeared worldly by comparison. They had met after he became a boarder in the home of LaVaughn’s widowed mother, and their attraction quickly developed into a relationship.

The couple concealed their wedding because LaVaughn was a teacher, and married women faced immediate dismissal. The prevailing argument was that teaching jobs should go to men supporting families. To avoid attention, Charlie and LaVaughn traveled to a nearby town and married with only her mother as a witness.

A photograph from an Easter before the wedding captures LaVaughn smiling bashfully and showing off flowers Charlie had given her.

After her mother sent formal wedding announcements, all three moved into the newlyweds’ home. In another photograph, LaVaughn wears her wedding dress while standing with Charlie on the front steps. A receipt dated May 10, 1930, shows that they paid Scheid Furniture $654 in cash for the home’s contents.

With school out, the couple took a honeymoon to Washington, D.C.—and brought LaVaughn’s mother along. A photograph shows the trio standing solemnly in front of the U.S. Capitol, with LaVaughn holding her mother’s hand rather than her new husband’s.

Despite their 10-year age difference, Charlie and LaVaughn shared important qualities. Childhood poverty had made both of them frugal, and they were tireless workers with similar political views.

Their contrasting strengths helped support the family. LaVaughn handled details, including business records, taxes and the many demands of home life. Charlie was confident, brash and focused on the larger picture. A natural salesman, he built a livelihood from little more than determination and nerve.

Those same differences also created friction. LaVaughn was patient, calm and cautious, while Charlie was impatient, quick-tempered and willing to take risks. He charged ahead like a jackrabbit; she moved carefully like a tortoise.

Their marriage was not always smooth, but the balance between them endured. For 41 years, they remained together through their differences, held by love and mutual respect.