THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT

Alma Speed Fox

b. 1923

“The Civil Rights of Others is Very Important to Me.”

Former Executive Director of NAACP Pittsburgh branch; civil rights champion and community advocate. Revered as the mother of Pittsburgh’s Civil Rights Movement and one of the area’s first African American feminist leaders, Fox served on the city’s front lines for more than 60 years. Growing up in Cleveland, she joined the NAACP at the age of 13. After moving to Pittsburgh in 1949, Fox became involved with the NAACP’s Pittsburgh Branch, eventually serving as its executive director from 1966-1971 at the height of the nation’s Civil Rights Movement. A champion of human rights and an advocate for women, Fox held a seat on the Pittsburgh Human Relations Commission for three decades and served as a member of the board of directors for the National Organization for Women.

Photo 1. Alma Speed Fox. Photo 2. Alma in 1970.