Spectrum News: Marian Spencer’s legacy remembered amid Coney Island closure
As part of a Women’s History series Spectrum News produced a segment on UC alumna Marian Spencer ('42) and her instrumental role in desegregating Cincinnati’s Coney Island as well as Cincinnati Public Schools. The reported closing of Coney Island worried some Spencer supporters who feared her legacy would be lost to history.
“Each time that I met Mrs. Spencer, I remember thinking, ‘How could this kind, quiet voice be so powerful?’” explains Cindy Jones, director of the Marian Spencer Scholarship program at the University of Cincinnati.
Jones spoke to Spectrum News about Spencer, whose legacy lives on at UC through a residence hall and scholarship named after her. The Marian Spencer Scholarship program is designed to provide access to higher education to high-achieving graduates of Cincinnati Public Schools. The scholarship provides full tuition, room and board at UC.
Spencer was the first African American woman elected to Cincinnati City Council in 1983 and the first female president of the Cincinnati chapter of the NAACP (1983-85). A former board of trustees member at UC, Spencer later donated 80 years of Cincinnati civil rights history to the university in forms as diverse as music and official memoranda to comprise the Marian and Donald Spencer Collection.
UC alumna Marian Spencer is shown with UC President Neville Pinto. Photo/Joseph Fuqua II.
“We don’t want her memory to ever be forgotten,” Jones told Spectrum News. “We’re keeping it alive in these students, in everything that we do and everything that I say, reminding them of all of the traits of Marian Spencer, grit, determination, perseverance, all of those things.”
As a Black student in the late 1930s and early 1940s, Spencer wasn't permitted to live in a dorm on UC’s campus. Today, there is a residence hall that bears her name, opened in 2018. The Marian Spencer Scholars will form a living-learning community housed together in the residence hall.
Spectrum News also spoke to two Spencer Scholars, Muslim Khzir, a second-year student, and Djeneba Camara, a first-year student, about their thoughts on Marian Spencer.
“She was someone that broke many barriers,” Khzir told Spectrum News. “She was a powerful person. I always look up to her because without her I wouldn’t be here where I am today.”
Camara saw Spencer as a role model as well.
“I know she was a fighter,” Camara also told Spectrum News. “I know she was brave. I know she was confident because of the things she’s done.”
View the Spectrum News segment online.
Featured top image of the first cohort of Marian Spencer Scholarship winners on the UC campus. Photo/Joseph Fuqua II.
Latest UC News
- Enquirer: After overturned convictions, Hamilton County prosecutor launches integrity unitProfessor Mark Godsey discusses problems with proposed Hamilton County Conviction Integrity Unit.
- Local 12: Brothers donate organs to their motherLocal 12 highlighted the story of Lynnette Knott, who received organ donations from sons Mark and Matt performed by University of Cincinnati physicians.
- UC has sent out financial aid to 94% of first-year students who applied for itThe University of Cincinnati started sending financial aid package letters out on April 26 and by the first week of May had offered information to 94% of first-year students who applied for it. Jack Miner, vice provost for enrollment management, spoke with WCPO TV about the Free Application For Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
- UC 1819 Innovation Hub takes center stage in Microsoft video documentaryMicrosoft’s Cloud Cultures series focuses on how technology and tradition in global markets combine to form cloud cultures, shows the impact of the UC 1819 Innovation Hub and the fast-growing innovation market.
- UC College of Allied Health programs rise in latest US News and World Report rankingsThe University of Cincinnati's College of Allied Health has reason to celebrate as the latest graduate program rankings from the US News and World Report reveal remarkable advancements in several CAHS graduate programs.
- UC Bearcat Bands en route to EgyptThrough strategic partner Future University in Egypt, portion of the UC marching band has the opportunity to represent UC in Cairo, Egypt.