At 13 years old, Spencer joined the NAACP with her parents, two brothers, and sister. She would become a lifelong member of the organization, helping to begin the desegregation of Cincinnati Public Schools in 1974 and serving as the first female president of the Cincinnati chapter in 1981—a goal she says her 13-year-old self expected to achieve. “Everywhere I saw [segregation] I questioned it,” says Spencer, who also helped integrate YWCA programs throughout the country in 1950. And while she’s known for being the first African-American woman elected to Cincinnati City Council in 1983, Spencer’s proudest achievement stems from her efforts to give children a voice.
“Children cannot fight for themselves,” says Spencer, who in 1952 enlisted the NAACP to sue Coney Island after learning the riverside park was closed to African-Americans. Spencer’s sons Edward and Donald Jr., whom she also taught to question injustice, were 8 and 10 when a radio advertisement sparked their interest in Coney Island. “The kids said to me, ‘Mother, can we go to Coney Island?’ I said, ‘I don’t know, but I’ll find out.’ So I called and asked.” Spencer’s unsatisfactory phone call compelled her to take action. “I got all the black lawyers together and told them that we had to do something about this, and that was when we filed suit.” Three years later, Spencer’s sons could finally enjoy the rides and picnic grounds at Coney Island that had been enjoyed by white children for more than 65 years. “Those normal recreational operations that were there for children should never be withheld from them, certainly not my children,” she says. The park’s Sunlite Pool and Moonlite Gardens weren’t desegregated until 1961.
West Campus home