Jean Graetz (December 24, 1929 – December 16, 2020), born Jean Ellis, was an American

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

activist. She and her clergyman husband

Robert Graetz Robert Sylvester Graetz Jr. (May 16, 1928 – September 20, 2020) was a Lutheran clergyman who, as the white pastor of a black congregation in Montgomery, Alabama, openly supported the Montgomery bus boycott, a landmark event of the civil rights m ...

were active white supporters of the

Montgomery bus boycott The Montgomery bus boycott was a political and social protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. It was a foundational event in the civil rights movement in the United States ...

in 1955.

Early life and education

Jean Ellis was born in

East Springfield, Pennsylvania Springfield Township is a township in Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,084 at the 2020 census, down from 3,425 at the 2010 census. Geography Springfield Township is at the western end of Erie County, bordered to the ...

, the daughter of Marshall Ellis and Marian Smith Ellis. Her parents were farmers. She attended

Capital University Capital University (Capital, Cap, or CU) is a private university in Bexley, Ohio. Capital was founded as the Theological Seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Ohio in 1830, and later was associated with that synod's successor, the Ame ...

Bexley, Ohio Bexley is a suburban city in Franklin County, Ohio, United States. The population was 13,928 at the 2020 census. Founded as a village, the city of Bexley is a suburb of Columbus, the Ohio state capital, situated on the banks of Alum Creek next ...

, but interrupted her studies to marry in 1951. She completed a bachelor's degree in education in 2015, at age 84, at

Alabama State University Alabama State University (ASU) is a public historically black university in Montgomery, Alabama. Founded in 1867, ASU is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. History Alabama State University was founded in 1867 as the Lin ...

Activism

Graetz moved to

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

in 1955, because her husband was called to the pulpit of the predominantly-black Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church. As a pastor's wife in the South, she held an unpaid but respected position of community leadership. Within months after arriving, they found themselves drawn into the tumult of Montgomery's civil rights activism. The local chapter of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

used a room in the church for meetings, and their neighbor

Rosa Parks Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as "the ...

was arrested for civil disobedience. The Graetzes joined in planning the Montgomery bus boycott, arranging safe childcare, parking, and meals for protesters, and raising funds for the boycott. An empty plot of land behind the Graetzes’ house was used for parking the cars lent to boycott. She was targeted by those opposed to the boycott, with vandalism, death threats, and at least two bombs detonated in the yard of the parsonage. Rev. Graetz was reassigned to a church in Ohio in 1958. The Graetzes returned to Montgomery in 1965 to join the march from Selma with

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

Jean Graetz and her husband remained active for political causes, including their first of several arrests in 2000 for blocking a parking garage during a

gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 3 ...

protest in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. The couple retired to Montgomery in 2007, where they were consultants for the National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African-American Culture at Alabama State University. A 2018 auction of a handwritten note by Mrs. Parks discussing her friendship with the Graetz family was bought by the Graetzes themselves for $9,375 and donated to the National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African-American Culture at Alabama State.

Personal life

Jean married

, a Lutheran minister, in 1951. They had seven children. Robert Graetz died in September 2020, and she died a few months later, from lung cancer, in their Montgomery home, aged 90.

References

External links

* Robert Graetz,
A White Preacher's Message on Race and Reconciliation: Based on His Experiences Beginning with the Montgomery Bus Boycott
' (NewSouth Books, 2006); her husband's memoirs. {{DEFAULTSORT:Graetz, Jean 1929 births 2020 deaths People from Erie County, Pennsylvania Alabama State University alumni Capital University alumni American civil rights activists Activists from Montgomery, Alabama Activists from Pennsylvania Deaths from cancer in Alabama Deaths from lung cancer