"I am so glad you are here" said Civil Rights icon Frankie Muse Freeman, who visits with Dr. William Danforth at ceremony unveiling a statue of Freeman on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2017, at Kiener Plaza. Freeman and Danforth worked together to end legal racial discrimination both locally and nationally. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated take photos around the newly unveiled stature of Civil Rights Icon Frankie Muse Freeman after the unveiling ceremony on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2017, at Kiener Plaza. Freeman is a member of the sorority. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
William Danforth congratulates St. Louis Public Schools Superintendent Kelvin Adams following a news conference announcing the full accreditation of the school system on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017. Danforth and Frankie Freeman were instrumental in recommending ways to get the failing schools back on track ten years ago. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com
Civil rights attorney Frankie Muse Freeman (second from right) greets Missouri Supreme Court judge Richard B. Teitelman (left) and 22nd Circuit Court judge Jimmie Edwards as her daughter Shelbe Freeman Bullock watches during a reception preceding a dinner honoring Freeman's 100th birthday hosted by the St. Louis City NAACP at the St. Louis Marriott Grand Hotel in downtown St. Louis Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016. Freeman, the first woman appointed to the US Commission on Civil Rights, was the lead attorney for the landmark case "Davis et al. v. the St. Louis Housing Authority," which resulted in the end of legal racial discrimination in the city's public housing. Freeman's birthday is Nov. 24. Photo by Sid Hastings
Civil rights attorney Frankie Muse Freeman is interviewed before a dinner honoring her 100th birthday hosted by the St. Louis City NAACP at the St. Louis Marriott Grand Hotel in downtown St. Louis Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016. Freeman, the first woman appointed to the US Commission on Civil Rights, was the lead attorney for the landmark case "Davis et al. v. the St. Louis Housing Authority," which resulted in the end of legal racial discrimination in the city's public housing. Freeman's birthday is Nov. 24. Photo by Sid Hastings
Audience members stand to offer applause for civil rights attorney Frankie Muse Freeman (center) as Dr. William Danforth (left), Chancellor Emeritus of Washington University in St. Louis, and Freeman's daughter Shelbe Freeman Bullock join during a reception preceding a dinner honoring Freeman's 100th birthday hosted by the St. Louis City NAACP at the St. Louis Marriott Grand Hotel in downtown St. Louis Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016. Freeman, the first woman appointed to the US Commission on Civil Rights, was the lead attorney for the landmark case "Davis et al. v. the St. Louis Housing Authority," which resulted in the end of legal racial discrimination in the city's public housing. Freeman's birthday is Nov. 24. Photo by Sid Hastings
Civil rights attorney Frankie Muse Freeman (left) greets Ronald Thompson during a reception preceding a dinner honoring Freeman's 100th birthday hosted by the St. Louis City NAACP at the St. Louis Marriott Grand Hotel in downtown St. Louis Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016. Freeman, the first woman appointed to the US Commission on Civil Rights, was the lead attorney for the landmark case "Davis et al. v. the St. Louis Housing Authority," which resulted in the end of legal racial discrimination in the city's public housing. Freeman's birthday is Nov. 24. Photo by Sid Hastings
Civil rights attorney Frankie M. Freeman on Tuesday, January 10, 2012, at her office in St. Louis. Photo by Erik M. Lunsford elunsford@post-dispatch.com
Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski III (left), president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and keynote speaker at the 2015 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Statewide Celebration Commission Kick-off Program for Missouri, talks with civil rights attorney Frankie Muse Freeman, the first woman appointed to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, during a reception preceding the event at Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis Saturday, Jan. 10, 2014. Photo by Sid Hastings
Longtime civil rights leader, lawyer and activist Frankie Muse Freeman died Friday (Jan. 12, 2018). She was 101.
Her death was confirmed Friday night by her daughter, Shelbe Patricia Bullock.
“She went peacefully with her family beside her,” Bullock said. “We ask for privacy until Sunday so we can plan services. She was a marvelous, warm woman, and we want to send her off in a good way.”
Mrs. Freeman, raised in a segregated town in Virginia, once said she wanted to become a lawyer to change the world she lived in.
She did.
The woman whom some would later call “Frankie Freedom” became a civil rights attorney who fought to end segregated housing and promoted equal rights in St. Louis and nationwide during the civil rights movement.
“My commitment was to work for elimination of discrimination,” Mrs. Freeman told the Post-Dispatch in 1988. “I could not accept the segregation that existed while I was growing up,” she said. “I really do believe in the Declaration of Independence. I really believe that all men, all women are created equally.’”
Frankie Muse Freeman has a look at her star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame as she is helped back to her seat by Joe Edwards in the Delmar Loop on Thursday, April 16, 2015. The civil rights attorney is one of three new inductees, including Lee Falk and Christine Brewer who will have their stars unveiled at a later date. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com
When Mrs. Freeman spoke at De La Salle Middle School in the Ville neighborhood in 2006, De La Salle president and founder Bob Sweeny told students, “You guys are standing in the presence of a giant.”
Mrs. Freeman was the lead attorney in the landmark court case Davis v. St. Louis Housing Authority, filed in federal court in 1952, that led to the end of racial segregation in public housing in St. Louis.
Mrs. Freeman was an assistant attorney general of Missouri and staff attorney for the St. Louis Land Clearance and Housing Authorities from 1956 to 1970.
In 1964, Mrs. Freeman became the first woman on the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, which investigates discrimination complaints, collects data on discrimination and advises the president and lawmakers on issues of discrimination and equal protection. Her first trip was to Mississippi to investigate the bombing of four black churches.
She would eventually serve for 16 years on the commission.
Mrs. Freeman also was a longtime board member of the United Way and active in the leadership of the Girl Scouts. She co-wrote her memoir, “A Song of Faith and Hope: The Life of Frankie Muse Freeman,” which was published in 2003 by The Missouri Historical Society Press.
Mrs. Freeman continued to be active in the legal and civil rights arenas into her 90s.
Civil rights icon Frankie Muse Freeman stands to address the crowd that attended the dedication of statue of Freeman at Kiener Plaza on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2017. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," she said. "I love you, I love you, you have done so much for me... may God continue to help us." The statue shows Freeman walking away from the courthouse after winning a landmark NAACP case that ended legal racial discrimination in public housing. Freeman is flanked by Adolphus M. Pruitt (left), president of the St. Louis City NAACP chapter, and her daughter, Shelbe Freeman Bullock. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Her local honors included being named St. Louis’ Citizen of the Year in 2011 and, in November, having a statue of herself dedicated in the northeast corner of Kiener Plaza while hundreds applauded.
In 1999, Mrs. Freeman and former Washington University Chancellor William Danforth were appointed to head a committee to oversee a landmark settlement that ended a St. Louis area desegregation case involving the St. Louis School Board, the NAACP, parents, the state and federal governments and the school districts in St. Louis County that were participating in an interdistrict busing plan.
In 2006, Mrs. Freeman and Danforth led a state advisory committee that analyzed — and criticized — the operation of the St. Louis school district, and eventually led to a state takeover.
In November 2009, she and Danforth were again asked to serve on a re-constituted advisory committee.
In 2007, her footsteps were added to the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.
That same month, Mrs. Freeman was one of four new members named to the Academy of Missouri Squires, a nonprofit that honors the accomplishments of Missourians. The Academy is limited to 100 living members, who must have achieved “true greatness” and who select the newest members.
Mrs. Freeman joined the likes of Harry Truman, sitting and former Missouri governors and Stan Musial; she was named at the same time as former Cardinal and longtime radio broadcaster Mike Shannon.
St. Louis civil rights attorney Frankie Freeman celebrates her 100th birthday
Frankie Muse Freeman, who turns 100 years old on November 24, was celebrated with a dinner and dance Saturday, Oct. 22, hosted by the St. Louis NAACP at the St. Louis Marriott Grand Hotel. Freeman was the first woman appointed to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and the lead attorney for the landmark case "Davis et al. v. the St. Louis Housing Authority," which resulted in the end of legal racial discrimination in the city's public housing.
Civil rights attorney Frankie Muse Freeman is interviewed before a dinner honoring her 100th birthday hosted by the St. Louis City NAACP at the St. Louis Marriott Grand Hotel in downtown St. Louis Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016. Freeman, the first woman appointed to the US Commission on Civil Rights, was the lead attorney for the landmark case "Davis et al. v. the St. Louis Housing Authority," which resulted in the end of legal racial discrimination in the city's public housing. Freeman's birthday is Nov. 24. Photo by Sid Hastings
Civil rights attorney Frankie Muse Freeman (right) is interviewed before a dinner honoring her 100th birthday hosted by the St. Louis City NAACP Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016, at the St. Louis Marriott Grand Hotel in downtown St. Louis. Freeman, the first woman appointed to the US Commission on Civil Rights, was the lead attorney for the landmark case "Davis et al. v. the St. Louis Housing Authority," which resulted in the end of legal racial discrimination in the city's public housing. Freeman's birthday is Nov. 24. Photo by Sid Hastings
Audience members stand to offer applause for civil rights attorney Frankie Muse Freeman (center) as Dr. William Danforth (left), Chancellor Emeritus of Washington University in St. Louis, and Freeman's daughter Shelbe Freeman Bullock join during a reception preceding a dinner honoring Freeman's 100th birthday hosted by the St. Louis City NAACP at the St. Louis Marriott Grand Hotel in downtown St. Louis Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016. Freeman, the first woman appointed to the US Commission on Civil Rights, was the lead attorney for the landmark case "Davis et al. v. the St. Louis Housing Authority," which resulted in the end of legal racial discrimination in the city's public housing. Freeman's birthday is Nov. 24. Photo by Sid Hastings
Civil rights attorney Frankie Muse Freeman (left) greets Ronald Thompson during a reception preceding a dinner honoring Freeman's 100th birthday hosted by the St. Louis City NAACP at the St. Louis Marriott Grand Hotel in downtown St. Louis Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016. Freeman, the first woman appointed to the US Commission on Civil Rights, was the lead attorney for the landmark case "Davis et al. v. the St. Louis Housing Authority," which resulted in the end of legal racial discrimination in the city's public housing. Freeman's birthday is Nov. 24. Photo by Sid Hastings
Civil rights attorney Frankie Muse Freeman (second from right) greets Missouri Supreme Court judge Richard B. Teitelman (left) and 22nd Circuit Court judge Jimmie Edwards as her daughter Shelbe Freeman Bullock watches during a reception preceding a dinner honoring Freeman's 100th birthday hosted by the St. Louis City NAACP at the St. Louis Marriott Grand Hotel in downtown St. Louis Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016. Freeman, the first woman appointed to the US Commission on Civil Rights, was the lead attorney for the landmark case "Davis et al. v. the St. Louis Housing Authority," which resulted in the end of legal racial discrimination in the city's public housing. Freeman's birthday is Nov. 24. Photo by Sid Hastings
Civil rights attorney Frankie Muse Freeman (right) visits with Nicole Fordson (left) and Ralonda Jasper during a reception preceding a dinner honoring Freeman's 100th birthday hosted by the St. Louis City NAACP at the St. Louis Marriott Grand Hotel in downtown St. Louis Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016. Freeman, the first woman appointed to the US Commission on Civil Rights, was the lead attorney for the landmark case "Davis et al. v. the St. Louis Housing Authority," which resulted in the end of legal racial discrimination in the city's public housing. Freeman's birthday is Nov. 24. Photo by Sid Hastings
Civil rights attorney Frankie Muse Freeman (right) visits with Dr. William Danforth, Chancellor Emeritus of Washington University in St. Louis, during a reception preceding a dinner honoring Freeman's 100th birthday hosted by the St. Louis City NAACP at the St. Louis Marriott Grand Hotel in downtown St. Louis Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016. Freeman, the first woman appointed to the US Commission on Civil Rights, was the lead attorney for the landmark case "Davis et al. v. the St. Louis Housing Authority," which resulted in the end of legal racial discrimination in the city's public housing. Freeman's birthday is Nov. 24. Photo by Sid Hastings
Civil rights attorney Frankie Muse Freeman (left) greets Wilhelmina Goff of Washington, DC, during a reception preceding a dinner honoring Freeman's 100th birthday hosted by the St. Louis City NAACP at the St. Louis Marriott Grand Hotel in downtown St. Louis Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016. Freeman, the first woman appointed to the US Commission on Civil Rights, was the lead attorney for the landmark case "Davis et al. v. the St. Louis Housing Authority," which resulted in the end of legal racial discrimination in the city's public housing. Freeman's birthday is Nov. 24. Photo by Sid Hastings
Civil rights attorney Frankie Muse Freeman (center) joins Build-A-Bear founder Maxine Clark for a photograph during a reception preceding a dinner honoring Freeman's 100th birthday hosted by the St. Louis City NAACP at the St. Louis Marriott Grand Hotel in downtown St. Louis Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016. Freeman, the first woman appointed to the US Commission on Civil Rights, was the lead attorney for the landmark case "Davis et al. v. the St. Louis Housing Authority," which resulted in the end of legal racial discrimination in the city's public housing. Freeman's birthday is Nov. 24. Photo by Sid Hastings
Civil rights attorney Frankie Muse Freeman (right) visits with Dr. William Danforth, Chancellor Emeritus of Washington University in St. Louis, during a reception preceding a dinner honoring Freeman's 100th birthday hosted by the St. Louis City NAACP at the St. Louis Marriott Grand Hotel in downtown St. Louis Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016. Freeman, the first woman appointed to the US Commission on Civil Rights, was the lead attorney for the landmark case "Davis et al. v. the St. Louis Housing Authority," which resulted in the end of legal racial discrimination in the city's public housing. Freeman's birthday is Nov. 24. Photo by Sid Hastings
Mrs. Freeman was born in Danville, Va., one of eight children. Her father was a railway clerk, her mother a housewife and teacher. She graduated from what is now Hampton University with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, then moved to New York, where she hoped to enter law school.
The school balked at her undergraduate credits, however.
In the meantime, she met her future husband, Shelby T. Freeman Jr., of Tupelo, Miss., who was in New York to take graduate courses at Columbia Teachers College. He had graduated from Lincoln University in Jefferson City but couldn’t continue his education at the all-white University of Missouri.
The couple moved to Washington during World War II, and Mrs. Freeman went on to attend Howard University School of Law, where she graduated second in her class. The couple and their two children moved to St. Louis, and Mrs. Freeman opened her own practice in 1949.
One of her cases that year, Brewton v. Board of Education, involved students at the all-black Booker T. Washington Technical School who were barred from taking an aero-mechanics course at the all-white Hadley Technical School. The Brewtons won, but Hadley responded by discontinuing the class.
Mrs. Freeman was married for 52 years to her husband, who died in 1991. He taught computer programming at Illinois Community College in East St. Louis for 17 years, worked for the Mobility Command Department of the Army in St. Louis and once owned a photography studio. They had two children, but Shelby “Butch” Freeman III died at age 11 from pneumonia.
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