User:Mejensen/sandboxalmaspeedfox

For more than 50 years, Alma Speed Fox has been an effective human rights advocate in Southwestern Pennsylvania, focusing on civil rights, women's rights, gay and lesbian rights, as well as equal opportunity in employment.(Two Shots: Alma Speed Fox, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Interactive, www.newsinteractive.psot-gazette.com; The SHYNE Awards 2011, Lifetime Achievement Winner, www.youtube.com).

Born in Cleveland, OH in 1923, she moved to Pittsburgh, PA in 1949 and married Gerald Fox. In 1955, Alma joined the NAACP, Pittsburgh Branch, serving as Executive Director from 1966 - 1971 and on the Board of Directors for 50 years. During the 1960's, she was instrumental in working to eliminate racial barriers to employment by planning and leading demonstrations against the employment practices of United States Steel, Mine Safety Appliances, the University of Pittsburgh, local utility companies and the Pittsburgh and major department stores. (Courier Legacy Honoree Alma Speed Fox Front-line Fighter for Civil Rights,12/12/2014, newpittsburghcourieronline.com). In 1968, she also joined the East Hills Branch of NOW (the National Organization for Women),where she also became a leader, serving as local Vice President and eventually a member of the National Board of Directors of NOW. She reflected,". . . it didn't take long for me to see that Black women needed help because all throughout the Civil Rights Movement, you thought about men getting jobs but not many people thought about how Black women were being treated." (IBID Courier) She also was appointed to the Pennsylvania Commission on the Status of Women, again serving in a leadership position as co-chair. She became a convener of the Allegheny County Women's Political Caucus.(Courier on-line IBID).

During her professional life, Alma was employed by the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Mines and was the Equal Opportunity Manager for the Eastern Region. She retired in 1994. She was a founding member and served as Vice President of the Council of Black Employees. She also became an active member of the Pittsburgh Commission on Human Rights, serving for 32 years including two terms as president. She became a leading advocate to add sexual orientation to the categories of people protected from discrimination by the Pittsburgh City Code, an effort that was successful. (IBID Courier on-line).

Alma is a founder of Freedom Unlimited, Inc. which operates an annual food drive with the objective of promoting self-sufficiency. For more than three decades, Alma and her committee raised more than $500,000 in in-kind contributions and cash during the holiday drive. More than 12,000 food packages are distributed to families in the Pittsburgh area for Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday celebrations.(IBID Courier on-line).