Sellers was born in 1911 and grew up in Charlottesville and nearby Esmont, Virginia. For a time he attended Esmont High School and in 1930, was a member of the first class of African American students to graduate from an accredited high school in the Charlottesville area, the Jefferson School. Remembering his school experience in a 1977 editorial in The New York Times, Sellers described the racist environment in which the small, all-female faculty of Jefferson High School taught him.P, Young, Jr. "University of Virginia Yields to Court Order." New Journal and Guide (1916-2003) Sep 09 1950: 2. ProQuest. 10 Apr. 2018 . Sellers' wife, Eleanor, later became an English teacher at Jefferson High School. The couple were prominent members of Charlottesville's African American community until they moved north in the early 1950s."Mrs. Eleanor B. Sellers Dead." New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993) Nov 04 1967: 4. ProQuest. Retrieved 2018-4-10. They had a daughter, Thomasine, in 1942."First Birthday" New Journal and Guide (1916-2003) Sep 04 1943: 1. ProQuest. 10 Apr. 2018 . In the 1940s, Sellers was employed as the Charlottesville superintendent of the Richmond Beneficial Insurance Company."Charlottesville Council Candidate Boosted by Sellers in Radio Talk." New Journal and Guide (1916-2003) Mar 30 1946: 3. ProQuest. Retrieved 2018-4-10 .
