Suzy Post facts for kids
Suzanne Post (born March 19, 1933, died January 2, 2019) was an important civil rights activist. She worked hard against discrimination and for fairness in Kentucky.
While studying at Indiana University, she joined a student group of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). This group works to make sure all people have equal rights. She earned a degree in English literature in 1955 from the University of California, Berkeley. Later, in her late 20s, she moved back to Louisville, Kentucky, to be close to her family.
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Fighting for Civil Rights
Suzanne Post was a leader in the fight for social justice starting in the 1950s. This was when the Civil Rights Movement began in Louisville. People held peaceful protests called Sit-ins at businesses that kept people separated by race.
After sit-ins, the "open housing" movement started. This movement challenged old rules that stopped people of different races or religions from living in certain neighborhoods.
In 1969, Suzanne Post became the President of the Kentucky Civil Liberties Union (KCLU). This group later became the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Kentucky. The KCLU helped people who were arrested during open housing marches. Post worked to raise money for bail until a fair housing law was finally passed.
Women's Rights and Equal Pay
While leading the KCLU, Post also organized the first statewide meeting for women's rights. She was also in charge of the Kentucky group that supported the Equal Rights Amendment. This amendment aimed to make sure women had the same rights as men.
Leaders from different social justice groups in Louisville attended the conference. After this, Mayor Harvey I. Sloane gave money to the Louisville-Jefferson County Human Relations Commission. This allowed them to hire people to watch out for discrimination against women. Post worked for this local Commission for eight years.
School Desegregation
By 1972, the KCLU and the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights worked together. They filed a lawsuit about school desegregation against the Louisville-Jefferson County Board of Education. This led to a plan in 1975 to mix students of all races in schools. This plan included busing students to different schools.
Suzanne Post had five children in public schools at that time. Because of this, a group advised by Robert Sedler, a lawyer for the KCLU, asked her to be the main person in the lawsuit. By 1975, the court-ordered desegregation plan for Jefferson County Public Schools was one of the first in the country.
Post also made sure that schools followed Title IX. This law stops schools from treating students differently because of their gender. When she joined the national American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Board of Directors, she started a women's group. This group worked to improve the role of women on the national board. In 1972, she helped plan the strategy that made women's rights a top goal for the national ACLU.
Anti-War Efforts
During the 1960s and 70s, there was a big movement against the Vietnam War. This movement was famous in Louisville because of Muhammad Ali. Suzy Post helped and supported soldiers who opposed the war. She also helped young people who were against the war in Vietnam.
As the head of the KCLU, she worked to protect the rights of protesters. She also helped soldiers who were trying to avoid military service in Vietnam. She and others provided places for meetings and access to printing machines. They created a kind of "Underground Railroad" for Kentuckians who wanted to avoid the war.
Later Work and Recognition
After leaving the Human Relations Commission in 1982, Post became the director of the KCLU. She stayed there until 1990. Then, she became the first director of the Metropolitan Housing Coalition (MHC). There, she created a Fair Housing Committee. This committee made sure that local areas followed fair housing laws. She left the MHC in 2006 but remained its director emeritus.
Suzanne Post received many awards from different groups in Kentucky. She was inducted into the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights Hall of Fame in 2007. She remained a member of the NAACP, the ACLU of Kentucky, and the Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.
She was known as a "connector" by the Leadership Louisville Center's Connector Project. This recognized her past successes and her ability to make positive changes in the Louisville area.
Suzy Post passed away on January 2, 2019, at her home.
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