Civil rights activist and pioneer Marian Spencer is receiving the honor of having a Cincinnati street named for her.
On April 11, Cincinnati changed the name of a portion of Walnut Street between Second Street at The Banks and Theodore Berry Way to ‘Marian Spencer Way’.
Spencer has been a fighter for equality for seven decades. In 1981, she became the first woman president of the Cincinnati chapter of the NAACP, a distinction she still holds. Spencer was the first African-American to be elected president of the Women's City Club, and served on the Board of Trustees of the University of Cincinnati. In 1983, she became the first female African-American to be elected to the Cincinnati City Council, and served as Vice Mayor for one term.
Spencer has won a number of awards throughout her career, which include the Brotherhood Award given by the National Conference of Christians and Jews; the Woman of the Year Award, given by the Cincinnati Enquirer; the Humanitarian Award bestowed by the Freedom Heritage Foundation of Columbus; and the YWCA Career Woman of Achievement Award.
In 2006, the University of Cincinnati awarded her an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, and in 2010, an elementary school in the Walnut Hills area of Cincinnati was renamed the Donald A. and Marian Spencer Education Center.
Cincinnati officials could celebrate further by creating Banners to hang along the renamed street in Spencer's honor.
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