Anne Braden (1924-2006) Civil rights pioneer fought segregation.

Anne Braden (1924-2006) Civil rights pioneer fought segregation.

By Bruce Schreiner
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOUISVILLE - Anne Braden, a longtime civil rights activist best known for trying to dismantle segregation by purchasing a home for a black family in an all-white Jefferson County neighborhood in the 1950s, died yesterday at Jewish Hospital. She was 81.

Mrs. Braden, who was white, also was active in anti-war and women's liberation movements, but it was her efforts in civil rights that brought her the most attention.

Jewish Hospital spokesman Jeff Polson refused to disclose the cause of death, citing federal privacy laws. Mrs. Braden's biographer, Catherine Fosl, said she was admitted to the hospital over the weekend suffering from pneumonia and dehydration.

"We have truly lost an icon in this community," said Rep. Reginald Meeks, D-Louisville. "I think the influence that she and her husband had reverberated throughout the South."

In 1954, Mrs. Braden and her husband, Carl, bought a home in southwestern Jefferson County for a black World War II veteran and his family. The black family was spurned when attempting to purchase the home. The Bradens used the family's money to purchase the house, then deeded it over to them, Fosl said.

The house was bombed a few weeks later, but no one was injured.

The Bradens later were charged with sedition, and Carl Braden was convicted and given a 15-year prison sentence, Fosl said. He served seven months before his conviction was overturned.

Credit: Thanks to "O" for forwarding this article to me.

RIP, Annie.