Bloneva Bond, Community Leader and Activist

Bloneva Althea Pride Bond was born in Daytona Beach, Florida in 1918. She attended a private high school founded by civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune and historically black Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. She married Harwood Bond and moved to Niagara Falls in 1943. 

The Bonds were teachers, but the city school district didn’t hire them because they were black. This experience “motivated [Bond] to use her talent in other areas—igniting her career as a community activist.”

From 1943 to 1951, Bond’s leadership ability grew through the Niagara Community Center where she served as the girls’ work director. She then attended the Dora Beauty School in Buffalo and opened a beauty parlor in Niagara Falls. 

Bond attended New Hope Baptist Church, led by Reverend H. Edward Whitaker. Whitaker headed the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Bond became its secretary in 1963 and a three-term president from 1970 to 1976. 

In 1963, Bond was part of a delegation from Niagara Falls who attended the March on Washington. “This experience deepened [her] reverence for Dr. King but also helped to motivate her further to participate in local civil rights activities.” Later that year, she worked with the local CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) chapter and those protesting the racist hiring practices at a local store.

In the 1970s, Bond and the NAACP fought against urban renewal projects designed to revitalize Niagara Falls at the expense of racial and class minorities who would lose their homes. She also worked with the Niagara Falls Board of Education to improve school integration. She was the first African American woman elected to the city’s board of education, serving from 1979 to 1984. 

In September 1971, Bond was part of a team of outside negotiators requested by inmates during the Attica Prison Riot—a major historical event. Afterwards, she continued to help get justice for the inmates and their families.

“Bond was awarded a Doctor of Humanities Degree from Niagara University in 1988, and she was twice the recipient of the Levy Brothers Award for Community Service.” Throughout her life, she held leadership roles in numerous civic organizations in Niagara Falls. She was also appointed by Governor Nelson Rockefeller to the New York State Health Council and the Health Planning Commission.

Bond passed away in 2004. Bloneva Bond Street (aka 9th Street) and Dr. Bloneva Bond Primary School in Niagara Falls are named in her honor. As a longtime community leader and activist, she is one of the most important people in the urban history of Niagara Falls.

Hope L. Russell, Ph.D.