By Kevin Aldridge
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The fight for justice and equality comes full circle tonight for the Cincinnati branch of the NAACP as it opens its 47th annual Freedom Fund Dinner at Coney Island.

The civil rights organization conducted massive demonstrations at the Anderson Township amusement park 50 years ago because African-Americans were barred from entering. The protests led to blacks gaining access to the park and later the swimming pool.

Ironically, protests this year by local groups urging a boycott of downtown prompted the NAACP to relocate its major fund-raiser from the Hyatt Regency Hotel to the Moonlite Pavilion at Coney Island.

NAACP officials said Thursday they expect one of their largest crowds, more than 1,000 guests at the 7 p.m. dinner. Keynote speaker is Donald Coleman, chairman and CEO of Globalhue, a minority-owned marketing and communications agency.

NAACP President Norma Holt Davis said the fact that the NAACP can hold its dinner in a place that once prohibited black patrons is a testament to why the struggle to end discrimination is so important.

"Many of the people in tonight's audience will have bittersweet memories about their experiences at Coney Island," said Mrs. Davis, adding the decision to move there generated controversy among members. "For some folks in the African-American community just the words `Coney Island' conjure up some bad memories."

One of those people is former city councilwoman and civil rights activist Marian Spencer. Mrs. Spencer, the first woman president of the local NAACP, purchased her $60 ticket for the banquet weeks ago, but she will not be in attendance. The memories and bitter feelings of her decades-old experience at Coney Island are still too fresh in her mind.

Mrs. Spencer organized and led the initial protests there in 1952.

Now 82, she said she still remembers vividly how hundreds of African-Americans were turned away at the front gate - sometimes by force - while white patrons were allowed in without question.

The legal barriers officially came down on May 29, 1961 when then-president of Coney Island Edward L. Schott announced that blacks would be admitted to the park.

Charlie Ross, 81, of Silverton, was on the front lines with Mrs. Spencer and recalls the dozens of African-Americans who were arrested for trespassing and disorderly conduct during the protests. Not a day goes by, he said, that he doesn't think about their struggle.

"It's a sort of forgive and forget situation for me," said Mr. Ross. . "I don't really think we should hold past practices against the current owners, but a lot of people still have very strong feelings about that place."

E-mail kaldridge@enquirer.com