Frances Dudley Alleman-Luce

Who is Frances Dudley Alleman-Luce?

Frances Dudley Alleman-Luce was a civil rights organizer, an educator, and a member of numerous community and philanthropic groups. Born in 1924 in Hingham, Massachusetts, she graduated from Hingham High School and Wheelock College. After World War II, she married Stanford Luce and the family moved to New Haven, Connecticut until 1952, when they again moved to Oxford, Ohio. In 1964, the family moved to Paris, returning to Ohio the next year.

Alleman-Luce played an active role in the American Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s, training the Freedom Riders as they gathered in Oxford, Ohio before driving down to Mississippi. Her role in civil rights was interesting because her maternal grandfather, Wallis Simpson, had owned slaves in Fredericks County, Maryland.

In 1969, Ms. Alleman-Luce completed her masters' degree in Educational Psychology at Miami University in Oxford. In 1972, following her divorce, she begin a career as a child psychologist.

Following her retirement, Alleman-Luce moved back to Brookline, Massachusetts, where she became involved with the P.E.O. Sisterhood, an organization for women that stresses the value of educational achievements and philanthropic community service.