[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 116 (Thursday, July 11, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S4802]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

                                 ______
                                 

                       REMEMBERING MARIAN SPENCER

 Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I rise today to honor a great Ohioan 
and transformational civil rights leader, Marian Spencer. Born in 
Gallipolis, OH, as the granddaughter of a slave, Spencer honored her 
grandfather by dedicating her life to fighting for a more equal and 
inclusive country. Spencer became a member of the NAACP at the young 
age of 13 and is best known for leading the fight to integrate Coney 
Island and its swimming pools in the 1950s.
  After graduating from high school, Spencer attended the University of 
Cincinnati, where she made Cincinnati her adopted home and campaigned 
to integrate the university's Whites-only college prom. From there, she 
chaired the education committee of her local NAACP branch and helped 
raise $30,000 to desegregate Cincinnati Public Schools, before becoming 
the chapter's first female president in 1981.
  Spencer believed in the power of activism as a means of social 
change, and her efforts led her to becoming the first African-American 
woman elected to Cincinnati City Council. Spencer gave a voice to the 
disenfranchised and underrepresented, and she will be remembered as 
trailblazer for civil rights, women's rights, LGBTQ rights, and the 
environment.
  We lost Marian Spencer this July, but her legacy will live on for 
generations. Her leadership and progressive ideas had a profound effect 
on our city, our State, and our Nation, and her work will remain a 
source of great pride for Ohioans. I am proud to honor Marian Spencer 
for her contributions to making our country a little freer and a little 
more just.

                          ____________________