Spectrum News: Marian Spencer’s legacy remembered amid Coney Island closure
As part of a Women’s History series Spectrum News produced a segment on UC alumna Marian Spencer ('42) and her instrumental role in desegregating Cincinnati’s Coney Island as well as Cincinnati Public Schools. The reported closing of Coney Island worried some Spencer supporters who feared her legacy would be lost to history.
“Each time that I met Mrs. Spencer, I remember thinking, ‘How could this kind, quiet voice be so powerful?’” explains Cindy Jones, director of the Marian Spencer Scholarship program at the University of Cincinnati.
Jones spoke to Spectrum News about Spencer, whose legacy lives on at UC through a residence hall and scholarship named after her. The Marian Spencer Scholarship program is designed to provide access to higher education to high-achieving graduates of Cincinnati Public Schools. The scholarship provides full tuition, room and board at UC.
Spencer was the first African American woman elected to Cincinnati City Council in 1983 and the first female president of the Cincinnati chapter of the NAACP (1983-85). A former board of trustees member at UC, Spencer later donated 80 years of Cincinnati civil rights history to the university in forms as diverse as music and official memoranda to comprise the Marian and Donald Spencer Collection.
UC alumna Marian Spencer is shown with UC President Neville Pinto. Photo/Joseph Fuqua II.
“We don’t want her memory to ever be forgotten,” Jones told Spectrum News. “We’re keeping it alive in these students, in everything that we do and everything that I say, reminding them of all of the traits of Marian Spencer, grit, determination, perseverance, all of those things.”
As a Black student in the late 1930s and early 1940s, Spencer wasn't permitted to live in a dorm on UC’s campus. Today, there is a residence hall that bears her name, opened in 2018. The Marian Spencer Scholars will form a living-learning community housed together in the residence hall.
Spectrum News also spoke to two Spencer Scholars, Muslim Khzir, a second-year student, and Djeneba Camara, a first-year student, about their thoughts on Marian Spencer.
“She was someone that broke many barriers,” Khzir told Spectrum News. “She was a powerful person. I always look up to her because without her I wouldn’t be here where I am today.”
Camara saw Spencer as a role model as well.
“I know she was a fighter,” Camara also told Spectrum News. “I know she was brave. I know she was confident because of the things she’s done.”
View the Spectrum News segment online.
Featured top image of the first cohort of Marian Spencer Scholarship winners on the UC campus. Photo/Joseph Fuqua II.
Latest UC News
- The Verge: The teens making friends with AI chatbotsKelly Merrill, an assistant professor of health communications and technology in the University of Cincinnati's College of Arts and Sciences, was cited in an article on teen use of AI chatbots for friendship and therapy purposes. Merrill, who studies the mental and social health benefits of communication technologies, told The Verge that extensive research has been conducted on AI chatbots that provide mental health support, and the results are largely positive.
- Scholarship success: Two UC grads shine at spring commencementIn a testament to the transformative power of education and financial support, Precious Randall and Corin Manning, recent graduates of the University of Cincinnati, have emerged as shining examples of success. Each graduated with bachelor's degrees from CECH in spring of 2024, but what sets them apart is not just their academic prowess; it's their remarkable journey made possible by scholarships that paved their paths to success.
- Patrick S. Portway receives A&S Distinguished Alumni AwardThe Distinguished Alumni Award is given to an established alumnus who is outstanding in their chosen field and whose significant contributions have benefited the community, state, nation, college or university.
- TVNewsCheck: A new documentary traces the popularity of local TV news to one man, Al PrimoA documentary by UC journalism professor Brian Calfano received kudos by the broadcasting trade publication TVNewsCheck. The documentary follows the career of Al Primo (1935-2022), an American television news executive who is credited with creating the Eyewitness News format.
- Local 12: UC investigates potential PFAS contamination in groundwaterLocal news media highlight UC project to study contamination in groundwater in southwest Ohio.
- Memphis, Tennessee news: UC researchers pioneering research to treat 'brain tsunamis'Memphis, Tennessee television station Action News 5 featured research from the University of Cincinnati's Laura Ngwenya and Jed Hartings that is testing the first treatments for spreading depolarizations, abnormal brain activity also called a "brain tsunami."