Donald Andrew Spencer Sr.

He was also the charter member of the Beta Eta chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi, a predominantly African American fraternity, at the University of Cincinnati.

[1] The grandson of a slave, he grew up in Cincinnati with his mother, Josephine; his father, Charles; his brother, Joseph; and his sister, Valerie.

While at the University of Cincinnati, Donald Spencer founded Quadres, a campus organization that promoted equal opportunities for African American students.

He was the first African American broker to join the Cincinnati Board of Realtors in 1986, and was later elected president of the organization.

A lifelong supporter of Cincinnati Public Schools, Spencer chaired the 2001 campaign, successfully passing the November tax levy.

[3] Donald Spencer helped his wife, Marian, integrate Coney Island, Cincinnati, Ohio in 1952 through a lawsuit in which she was the plaintiff.

In 2004, Donald Spencer and his wife, Marian Spencer, initiated litigation seeking to restrain Defendants J. Kenneth Blackwell, in his official capacity as the Secretary of State of Ohio, Intervenor Defendant State of Ohio, the Hamilton County Board of Elections and its Chair Timothy Burke and members Michael Barrett, Todd Ward, Daniel Radford and Director John Williams in their official capacities from discriminating against black voters in Hamilton County, Ohio on the basis of race.

Donald and Marian Spencer resided in Avondale, Cincinnati, a predominantly African American neighborhood.

[7] US District Court Judge Susan J. Dlott, appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1995, ruled against the Republican plan, noting that there is no need to have voter challengers since Ohio already requires the presence of election judges at precincts in order to avoid voter fraud.

Dlott warned in her decision that the Republican plan, if permitted, could cause "chaos, delay, intimidation and pandemonium inside the polls and in the lines outside the door.

[7] Donald Spencer was a respected friend of prominent Black Cincinnatians Cincinnati Mayor Theodore M. Berry and Judge Nathaniel R. Jones, who was among those who eulogized him at his funeral.