June Shagaloff Alexander facts for kids

June Shagaloff Alexander (June 14, 1928 – March 29, 2022) was an American activist who worked for civil rights. She played a very important role in ending segregation in schools across the United States.

Early Life and Influences

June Shagaloff Alexander was born in New York City in 1928. Her parents, Samuel Shagaloff and Gertrude Bellinson, came to the United States from Russia in 1905. Her family believed in fairness and helping others.

Her father was a pharmacist who owned a drugstore. As a child, June spent time at his store and at Jones Beach. Sometimes, people thought she was African-American. Because of this, she experienced unfair treatment, also known as racial discrimination, at a young age. These experiences deeply affected her. They made her want to fight for civil rights when she grew up.

In 1946, she started college at the University of Cincinnati. She later graduated from New York University in 1950 with a degree in Sociology.

Working for Civil Rights

Joining the NAACP Legal Defense Fund

In 1950, June Shagaloff joined the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. This group worked to fight for civil rights through the law. It was led by Thurgood Marshall, who later became a Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States.

Marshall believed that to win legal cases, they needed to understand how segregation affected families. He also wanted families to be ready to demand desegregation. So, he hired June, even though she wasn't a lawyer. Her job was to do social research and help communities organize to end school segregation.

Fighting Segregation in Schools

One of June's first jobs was in 1952 in Cairo, Illinois. She went there to help the NAACP branch end school segregation. While she was there, she was arrested for helping children attend integrated schools. Thurgood Marshall quickly came to Cairo and helped get her released.

June also helped with important research for the famous 1954 Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education. This case ended legal segregation in America. She worked with psychologist Kenneth Clark. They studied how segregation affected children. They found that even if segregated schools had similar supplies, being separated still hurt children. It made them feel less confident and less motivated.

This research helped the Supreme Court decide that "Separate but Equal" was not fair. The "Separate but Equal" idea had been allowed since the 1800s by a case called Plessy v. Ferguson. June and Kenneth Clark also found that ending segregation quickly was better than doing it slowly. This helped the NAACP argue for fast action.

June also researched old government meetings about the Fourteenth Amendment. This was to see if the people who wrote it meant for education to be equal. She worked with historian John Hope Franklin on this. On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the NAACP. This decision legally ended segregation in schools. After this big win, June kept working on education and school desegregation.

Leading the National NAACP Program

In 1961, June became the first Education Director for the national NAACP. At that time, Roy Wilkins led the NAACP. June traveled all over the United States, from Boston to San Francisco. She helped local NAACP groups and parents organize to fight for desegregation.

She led the new national NAACP program to end school segregation in the North and West. Her work helped public schools across the country become desegregated and integrated. Sometimes, she worked with other civil rights leaders, like Martin Luther King Jr.. She also tried to influence political leaders, such as Robert F. Kennedy. She gave speeches and wrote articles. June Shagaloff Alexander retired from the NAACP in 1972. In recent years, her important work has been recognized in books and she has received awards.

Later Life and Activities

June Shagaloff married Michael Alexander in 1970. They had a son named David. In 1972, they moved to Israel and lived in Ashkelon until 1983. While there, June helped start the Ashkelon chapter of Peace Now. She also taught English to young students.

In 1983, she moved back to the United States with her family. They lived in Amityville, New York, where she was active with the local NAACP chapter. Later, they moved to West Nyack, New York. She was involved with parent-teacher groups and served on the board of a child care center. June Shagaloff Alexander lived in Tel Aviv, Israel, until her passing in 2022.