25 Facts About Marian Spencer

Marian Spencer was the first African American woman to be elected to the Council.

Marian Spencer served on the University of Cincinnati board of trustees.

Marian Spencer's family, including her parents, her twin sister, Mildred, and two brothers, Harry and Vernon, lived in a home that had been built by her grandfather, a freed slave.

Marian Spencer graduated from Gallia Academy High School in 1938 as co-valedictorian with her sister.

Marian Spencer was a member of the National Honor Society.

Marian Spencer moved to Cincinnati to attend the University of Cincinnati as a scholarship student with her sister and fellow scholarship student, Mildred Malcolm.

Marian Spencer earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Cincinnati in 1942.

Marian Spencer phoned to check and was told the invitation was for all children, but when she said, "We are Negroes," was told that Blacks were not allowed into the park.

Marian Spencer was refused entry into the park on July 4,1952.

Marian Spencer filed a suit with the NAACP and won the case, which desegregated the park.

Marian Spencer spent her entire life as a community servant and civil rights activist, working especially hard to desegregate public schools.

Marian Spencer became a life member of the NAACP, and served on the Executive Board, as chairman of both the Legal Redress and Education committees.

In 1981 Marian Spencer became the first female president of the Cincinnati branch of the NAACP.

Marian Spencer remains the only female president in the history of the Cincinnati branch of the NAACP.

Marian Spencer served as chairperson of the Community Steering Committee for Indigent Defense, as chairperson of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, and as the first African American elected president of the Woman's City Club.

Marian Spencer was an active member of the Board of Trustees of the Planned Parenthood of Cincinnati in the 1990s and subsequently served on the Planned Parenthood Foundation Board.

Marian Spencer served as a member of the University of Cincinnati's Board of Trustees.

Marian Spencer was a delegate to the 1988 Democratic National Convention in Atlanta supporting Jesse Jackson for President.

Marian Spencer's career included numerous achievements and many awards and honors for her contributions to human service organizations and civic volunteer work.

In 1998 Marian Spencer was named a "Great Living Cincinnatian" by the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber.

Marian Spencer was the first person to receive this award to have been married to a previous recipient.

On June 27,2021 a statue of Marian Spencer was unveiled in the Women's Garden in the southeast corner of Smale Riverfront Park in Cincinnati.

Marian and Donald Spencer resided in Avondale, Cincinnati, a predominantly African-American neighborhood.

The Spencers were legally registered African American voters who voted in ward 13, precinct H Marian Spencer estimated that one hundred percent of the voters in her precinct were African American.

Marian Spencer died at the age of 99 on July 9,2019.