[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 120 (Tuesday, July 28, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1149-E1150]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO ANITA LYONS BOND, PH.D.

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. WM. LACY CLAY

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 28, 2015

  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a remarkable 
woman and long-time civic icon in St. Louis, Missouri, who has set a 
standard of excellence in academics, educational reform, social 
justice, community leadership and personal courage, Dr. Anita Lyons 
Bond.
  Anita Lyons Bond has been making history for decades. As the first 
African American student to graduate with Latin Honors from Saint Louis 
University in 1949, she has devoted her life to opening up the doors of 
equal educational opportunity to all, especially those students in 
urban areas who are still striving to overcome difficult circumstances 
and persistent academic disparities.
  In May of this year, as she presented an honorary doctorate to Mrs. 
Bond, Saint Louis University trustee Martha Uhlhorn recognized her 
``extraordinary determination, her exemplary character, her exceptional 
commitment to education, her concerns for others, her fearless focus on 
social justice and her desire to provide equal access to education for 
all students.''
  In 1965, Mrs. Bond challenged the Missouri Board of Education's 
elections. Her lawsuit, contending civil rights violations, went to the 
Missouri Supreme Court and ultimately resulted in changes in election 
procedures. Later that year, the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis 
honored her with the Argus Distinguished Public Service Award for her 
service to the city as a leader in education and in the community.
  Mrs. Bond established the Citizens Education Task Force, an 
organization funded through the Danforth Foundation that functioned as 
an independent critical body of the Board of Education.
  In 1974, she became president of the St. Louis Board of Education. 
She served the board in various roles and was instrumental in the Board 
of Education and the Higher Educational Council establishing Harris-
Stowe as a state college, rather than a secondary school.
  In 1981, U.S. District Judge James Meredith appointed her to serve on 
the committee that wrote the St. Louis public school desegregation 
plan. She also served on the boards of the YMCA, NAACP, Urban League, 
United Negro College Fund and others. The NAACP named her one of the 
``Most Outstanding St. Louisans.''

[[Page E1150]]

  Mrs. Bond has also served as a delegate to the U.S. Civil Rights 
Commission and is a nationally recognized educational expert in special 
techniques of speech correction for the culturally disadvantaged.
  I have known Mrs. Bond, her late husband (the remarkable Dr. Leslie 
Bond), and her wonderful family since my earliest days growing up in 
St. Louis. Both she and her husband stood shoulder-to-shoulder with my 
father, former Congressman Bill Clay, as he led the historic Jefferson 
Bank protests which broke down the walls of segregation in our city.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge Members of Congress to join me in honoring this 
great American who has helped so many and continues to inspire us to 
have courage, to work towards transformative change, and to confront 
injustice and inequality wherever it exists.

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