the "Separate but Equal" doctrine that had been established in the 19th century by Plessy v. Ferguson. Clark and Shagaloff Alexander also found no evidence that gradual desegregation offered advantages over quick action, which led to the NAACP's position that desegregation must be implemented quickly to be effective. Also in preparation for arguments in the Brown case, she researched congressional hearings on the Fourteenth Amendment to discern the extent to which drafters intended equality to include education, working with historian John Hope Franklin. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the NAACP, ending legal segregation, on May 17, 1954. After the Brown decision, she continued her work at the Legal Defense Fund on education issues and school desegregation. In 1961, she became the first Education Director of the national NAACP, then headed by Roy Wilkins. Her work organizing local communities together with local chapters of the NAACP, fighting for desegregation, and mobilizing parents brought her to many towns and cities across the United States. Shagaloff led and directed the new national NAACP school desegregation program in the North and West, in scores of communities from Boston to San Francisco, which led to the desegregation and integration of public schools across the United States. On occasions, she worked with various civil rights leaders, such as Martin Luther King Jr., tried to influence political leaders, such as Robert F. Kennedy, together with James Baldwin (Baldwin–Kennedy meeting), gave speeches, and wrote articles. Shagaloff Alexander retired from the NAACP in 1972. In recent years, her work has been recognized in historical accounts of the civil rights movement, and she received awards honoring her work and its impact. Later Activities June Shagaloff married Michael Alexander in 1970, and they have a son named David. In 1972, they moved to Israel, living in Ashkelon until 1983. Alexander helped found the Ashkelon chapter of Peace Now and taught English to elementary school students. In 1983, she moved with her family to Amityville, NY, where she was active with the local NAACP chapter and then, in 1984, to West Nyack, New York. She has been active in the Clarkstown PTA and was a member of the Board of Directors of West Street Child Care Learning Center. She lived in Tel Aviv, Israel. References External links Photos in San Francisco 1928 births 2022 deaths Activists from New York City American civil rights activists American people of Russian-Jewish descent American