Anita Grace Lyons Bond, a trailblazer for racial equity in education, passed away on August 15. She was 95 years old.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Bond graduated from Sumner High School with honors at age 15. She then enrolled at Saint Louis University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree and became the first African American student to graduate with honors. Next, she studied in Mexico and Norway before earning her master’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis.
Throughout her career, Bond was a dedicated advocate for equal opportunity in education in St. Louis. In 1965, she challenged the Missouri Board of Education’s elections, suing them for civil rights violations. The lawsuit went to the Missouri Supreme Court and resulted in changes to election procedures. Less than a decade later, Bond was elected president of the St. Louis Board of Education, where she helped to establish what is now Harris-Stowe State University – a historically Black institution – as an official state college.
In addition to her pioneering contributions to St. Louis, Bond was also an active supporter of civil rights on the national level. Early in her career, she was appointed to the President’s Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity by then-Vice President Lyndon Johnson. She was a member of the Missouri Citizens Advisory Committee, serving as a delegate to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. In 1981, a federal judge appointed Bond to the committee that developed the desegregation plan for St. Louis Public Schools.
Alongside her public service work, Bond was a lecturer in Black studies at Saint Louis University, Fontbonne College, and Maryville College. She was also a board member for several professional and philanthropic organizations, including the NAACP, the Urban League, and the United Negro College Fund.
