St. Louis Regional Chamber recognizes civil rights attorney with Right Arm award
At its 177th Annual Event on July 24, the St. Louis Regional Chamber recognized Frankie Muse Freeman, civil rights attorney and the first woman to be appointed to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, with the Right Arm of St. Louis Award.
The award, the Regional Chamber’s most prestigious annual award, has been presented to a leader who has made outstanding contributions to the St. Louis region for the past 39 years.
“We are delighted and honored to award Ms. Freeman with the 2014 Right Arm of St. Louis,” said Joe Reagan, president and CEO for the St. Louis Regional Chamber. “She’s an inspiration to many in St. Louis and across the country.”
After receiving her law degree from Howard University Law School in 1947, Freeman began her practice in St. Louis and became a dedicated advocate for social justice. In 1952, she was the lead attorney for the landmark case Davis et. al. v. the St. Louis Housing Authority, which successfully challenged racial segregation in public housing. She also served as legal counsel to the NAACP legal team that filed suit against the St. Louis Board of Education in 1954 for racial equality.
“Ms. Freeman has devoted her life to fighting for equality,” Reagan said. “She transformed St. Louis by ending segregation at St. Louis-area public schools and advancing civil rights.”
In 1964, she was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson as the first woman to serve on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. She was subsequently reappointed by presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, and held the position until 1979. She was also instrumental in creating the Citizen’s Commission on Civil Rights.
“The schools are critical in determining what kind of society this will be,” she told President Johnson in 1965. She said schools are fertile ground for preventing people from making decisions based on race, starting from when they are students. “They would be less likely to make decisions based on race or class if they get to know one another,” she said to the president. “The cycle must be broken in classrooms.”
Always striving to ensure equal opportunity, in 1999 she led a task force to oversee a landmark settlement that ended segregation in St. Louis-area public schools.
“When we talk about our right arm, we’re describing our most trusted friend and partner, someone we value above all others, someone who is good for us and powerful in ways that make us proud,” said Tom Brooks, executive vice president of professional services at Psychological Associates, leadership sponsor and presenter of the Right Arm award.
Past Right Arm awardees include Dr. William Danforth, Sen. John Danforth, Jack and Andy Taylor, Blanche Touhill, Jack Buck, Mark Wrighton, U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello and last year’s recipient John McDonnell.
Freeman herself has received many past awards and recognitions for her work, including honorary doctorate degrees from Hampton University, the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Saint Louis University, Washington University in St. Louis and Howard University. In 1990, she was inducted into the National Bar Association’s Hall of Fame.
In 2011, she received the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Spingarn Medal and was named St. Louis Citizen of the Year.
“Frankie Freeman exemplifies the true spirit of St. Louis,” said Brooks.
Now in her late 90s, she continues to serve the community by offering insight and leadership to various organizations, including the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, the ACLU and the Washington Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church.
Published in 2003, her memoir, “A Song of Faith and Hope: The Life of Frankie Muse Freeman,” still inspires readers all over the world.
