Les Bond Jr. remembers when his mother and civil rights activist Anita Lyons Bond took him to a Jefferson Bank demonstration in 1963. He was just six years old. It wasn’t the first time the entire family – including his father, the late Leslie Bond Sr., MD – went to a protest together, but this one had him particularly worried.
As they watched a family friend and future congressman Bill Clay get hauled off by police for the civil disobedience action, Les thought, “Mom, come back!”
She did not get arrested that day, but came close enough for her children to understand her unwavering courage, he said.
“It was this visual optic of our mother as a revolutionary that we all saw as kids and admired in our mother,” said Les, who is now the CEO of Attucks Asset Management in Chicago. “It wasn’t as if she was just talking about social justice. She was showing us what it took to achieve social justice and the courage you had to have to be out there on the frontlines pushing for civil rights.”
On May 16, Anita Lyons Bond, 84, received an honorary doctorate of humanities from Saint Louis University, where she was the first African-American student to graduate with honors.
When university trustee Martha Uhlhorn presented her with the doctorate, she recognized Anita’s “extraordinary determination, her exemplary character, her exceptional commitment to education, her concern for others, her fearless focus on social justice, and her desire to provide equal access to education for all students.”
Among her many roles of public service, Anita served on the President’s Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity in the 1960s, and on the committee that wrote the desegregation plan for the St. Louis Public Schools in the 1980s. As a member of the Missouri Citizens Advisory Committee, she was a delegate to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. She is also a nationally known teacher in techniques of speech correction for the culturally disadvantaged.
“Anita Lyons Bond is a St. Louis treasure and a civil rights icon who fulfilled her dream of being a force for change,” said SLU President Fred Pestello. “As a distinguished alumna of our university, she is truly an inspiration for SLU graduates everywhere.”
After graduating from Sumner High School with honors at 15, Anita enrolled at SLU in 1946. The university officially integrated in 1944. Despite integration, Anita still faced many hurdles while gaining her education, as she said in a 2014 SLU student interview.
“(African-American students) were not allowed to take gym,” Anita said. “When we got ready to get our teacher’s certificates, the State of Missouri requires physical education.”
The state told her she couldn’t be certified because she didn’t complete the necessary physical education credits. That was just one example of the constant pushback black students faced, she said.
“It shows you how far segregation goes,” she said.
In 1950, Anita earned her Bachelor of Science degree and became the first female African American at SLU admitted into two honor societies: Pi Lambda Theta and the national Jesuit honor society Gamma Phi Epsilon — now known as Alpha Sigma Nu.
Her daughter Candace Bond McKeever said the younger generations often don’t realize the sacrifices and oppression that their parents went through.
“I proudly stand on the shoulders of my parents,” she said. “She opened so many doors for so many of us of this generation – she and my father. I’m so proud that they honored her and recognized how much that she did on behalf of others.”
McKeever has always admired her mother’s adventurous spirit. While earning her master’s degree from Washington University, Anita studied in Norway and Mexico.
And McKeever has always tried to follow in her parents’ footsteps of serving the community. Her father was a well-known and highly respected surgeon and activist.
“Together it’s amazing how much work they did for the citizens of the city of St. Louis,” she said, “and how much they were able to impact health care, education and legislation for the state of Missouri.”
She also described her parents as an undeniable team.
“They were side by side,” she said. “One was not in front of the other. They talk about the woman behind the man, but that was not the case in my family. It was an absolute partnership.”
In 1965, Anita challenged the Missouri Board of Education’s elections. Her lawsuit, contending civil rights violations, went to the state Supreme Court and ultimately resulted in changes in election procedures. Later that year, the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis honored her with the Argus Distinguished Public Service Award for her service to the city as a leader in education and the community.
Anita established the Citizens Education Task Force, an organization funded through the Danforth Foundation that functioned as an independent critical body of the Board of Education.
In 1974, Anita became president of the St. Louis Board of Education. She served the board in various roles and was instrumental in the Board of Education and the Higher Educational Council establishing Harris-Stowe as a state college, rather than a secondary school.
In 1981, federal Judge James Meredith appointed her to serve on the committee that wrote the St. Louis public school desegregation plan. She also served on the boards of the YMCA, NAACP, Urban League, United Negro College Fund and others. The NAACP named her one of the “Most Outstanding St. Louisans.”
Still, Anita urges everyone to build on her legacy and continue to work for more equality.
“Start where you are,” Anita said. “Work where you are. If you see discrimination, if you see someone hurting, ask them what’s bothering them.”
Follow this reporter on Twitter @rebeccarivas.
