Fighter against racism, discrimination, injustice in Pittsburgh
Alma Speed Fox was an agent of change.
For more than seven decades, she fought discrimination, racism and injustice wherever she found it.
“She was an extremely giving person who was never afraid to fight for equality and justice for everyone,” said Johnnie Miott, president of the Pittsburgh branch of the NAACP, for which Mrs. Fox served as executive director from 1966 to 1970. “The Black community has lost a true matriarch.”
Mrs. Fox, of Stanton Heights, died Monday in her sleep. She was 98.
“I called her my civil rights mother,” said Tim Stevens, who followed her as NAACP executive director, serving from 1970 to 1974, and was president of the organization from 1994 to 2004. “It’s appropriate that Alma Speed Fox was born during Black history month, because she made Black history in Pittsburgh.”
She was born in Cleveland, where, as a teenager, her ailing mother sent Mrs. Fox to live with foster parents who were family friends.
“Her mother died when she was about 20, but prior to that she was very sick,” said Mrs. Fox’s daughter, Muriel Fox Alim, of Forest Hills.
Even as teenager, Mrs. Fox felt the urge to shake up the status quo.
“She always told me the story about walking in the front door of her high school, then walking right out the back door,” her daughter said. “She would go to the movies because she wasn’t challenged enough. She said, ‘I wanted to take economics and all they wanted me to do was take sewing and home economics.’ She was bored.”
When a friend was denied a role in a high school play due to the color of her skin, Mrs. Fox leapt into action and earned her first civil rights victory.
“Mommy spoke up for her and she ended up getting the role,” her daughter said.
Mrs. Fox met Larimer native Gerald W. Fox when she waited on him at the diner where she worked.
Shortly after they wed in 1949, the couple moved to Pittsburgh to live with Mr. Fox’s family before they bought a home on Apple Avenue in Homewood. Mr. Fox died in 2013.
Mrs. Fox accepted a job with the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, where she began her career in 1956 as a file clerk.
She left the job in 1966 to raise her children and returned 10 years later to assume the position of Equal Opportunity manager of the Eastern Area office, a job she kept until her retirement in 1993.
She became active with the local NAACP in the late 1950s, when she began joining civil rights demonstrations throughout the city.
During a particularly contentious protest in 1963, Mrs. Fox crawled between the legs of a police officer after a group of officers formed a human barricade.
She described the events that would lead to her arrest that day as part of the WQED-TV “Pittsburgh Freedom Fighter” video interview series.
“We’re trying to push through … and I look down, and there’s this great big space between the legs, and I scooted under there and I got over,” Mrs. Fox said — with a chuckle — in the recording, available on YouTube. “I said to everybody, ‘ Come on, come on, I could make it.’ So then everybody started to push, and they threw me in the paddy wagon, four police officers, one for each limb.”
Mrs. Fox’s devotion to the NAACP and its mission were evident by her personal motto, “God, Family, NAACP!” her daughter said.
Mrs. Fox also served for 33 years with the Pittsburgh Human Relations Commission and was among the founders of Freedom Unlimited Inc., an organization that works to promote the self-sufficiency of low-income residents. She served as president emeritus of both organizations.
The building on Wylie Avenue in the Hill District that housed Freedom Unlimited, the NAACP branch office and the Black Political Empowerment Project was renamed in Mrs. Fox’s honor in recent years.
But she didn’t just fight for civil rights. Mrs. Fox was also at the forefront in the struggle for women’s rights.
“Alma was probably the first Black feminist in Pittsburgh. She was a feminist before the word came in. Alma was there. She lived that,” said Mr. Stevens, who heads the Black Political Empowerment Project. “We often hear the word ‘intersectionality.’ Alma lived in that crossover between civil rights and women’s rights.”
Mrs. Fox served as president of the East End National Organization for Women and was a member of the national NOW board of directors.
Even in recent days, her endorsement remained an important seal of approval for political candidates throughout the city.
“People sought out her opinion, even right before she died,” her daughter said. “She was still being sought out for guidance and support.”
Her accomplishments meant so much to new Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey that he mentioned Mrs. Fox’s contributions in his inaugural address Jan. 20 — just days before she died.
“Being the first Black mayor to hold this seat is not a responsibility I take lightly,” Mr. Gainey said in his first speech as mayor. “I understand; I realize I stand on the shoulders of greats such as … Alma Speed Fox,” and other civil rights leaders.
In a statement after her passing, Mr. Gainey called her a “civil rights icon who helped to transform the city of Pittsburgh.”
“She is a trailblazer in our city, not only because of her fight, but also because of her victories,” the mayor said in the statement. “She was one of the pioneers of civil rights in this city, because she planted the seed of change and watched it grow. I will always be indebted to her for how she helped us to overcome inequities that she faced personally. This city owes her a great deal of appreciation and we thank her for everything that she did. May she rest in power.”
In October 2018, Mrs. Fox became the only woman to be given a key to the city — its highest civilian honor — by the administration of former Mayor Bill Peduto.
“Alma, thank you for ever-changing our city for the better. Thank you for representing people whose voices would not be represented without you,” Mr. Peduto said during the ceremony.
“I’m going to use my key to open wide whatever door there is to help me get voters to the polls on Tuesday,” Mrs. Fox responded.
Although she was speaking specifically about the upcoming general election that year, Mrs. Fox also offered a particularly poignant and timeless piece of advice before she stepped away from the podium that day.
“It’s not hard. Just do it!” she proclaimed to a standing ovation in the mayor’s packed conference room.
“Today, Pittsburgh lost a leader, a true freedom fighter, who trailblazed a path of civil rights & social justice throughout our region for over 50 years,” Mr. Peduto said in a tweet last week. “Alma Speed Fox was a mentor & friend. An adviser w/a warm smile & compassionate heart, she not only knew history, she made it.”
Along with her daughter, Mrs. Fox is survived by other children Marlene McKnight, of Cleveland, Carl Fox, of Penn Hills, Wesley Fox McCloud, of Stanton Heights, and Vicki L. Fox, of Morningside; 21 grandchildren, 32 great grandchildren, and 12 great-great grandchildren.
Along with her husband, Mrs. Fox was preceded in death by sons Gerald H. Fox Sr. and Richard C. Fox, and a grandson, Richard B. Fox.
The funeral is at 11 a.m. Thursday at Calvary Episcopal Church, 315 Shady Ave. A livestream of the service will be available at calvarypgh.
Donations in her name can be made to Freedom Unlimited Inc., 2201 Wylie Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15219.