Dr. Jay Larkey (b. 1922) and his wife Hinda (1929-1998) were civil rights activists
in Milwaukee. They were active members of the Milwaukee United School Integration
Committee (MUSIC), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and the Milwaukee
Citizens for Equal Opportunity (MCEO), and were friends with major leaders of
Milwaukee's civil rights movement, including Fr. James Groppi and Lloyd Barbee.
During the 1960s the family was under police surveillance.
Dr. Larkey's work with civil rights grew out of his experiences with prejudice as a
young Jewish man in Milwaukee, when he became very aware of restrictive housing
covenants and society's discrimination against Jews. The Larkey's activism in
Milwaukee began during the de facto bussing era, when Jay and Hinda decided to
follow a school bus to the site of an "integrated" school. There they observed the
enforced separation between black and white students, and white students watching
the black students march by "as if they were at a zoo." This experience infuriated
the Larkeys to such an extent that they became active.
Dr. Larkey ran a medical clinic in St. Boniface Church during the 1967 fair housing
marches. During his tenure as chair of his department at Mt. Sinai Hospital, he led
the way for the first black resident on staff. Despite pressure from his partners at
his private practice on 25th and Lincoln to stop his family's activism, Dr. Larkey
refused to do so. Dr. Larkey received a B'nai B'rith Human Rights award in 1972. In
1987, he attended an event to rename the 16th Street Viaduct to James E. Groppi
Bridge at which time he took photos included in the collection.
Hinda Larkey was a Freedom School teacher during the 1960s. She was also arrested
during school bussing protests. Along with her husband, in 1968 she hosted a
"Freedom In" event at their home on Kenwood Avenue which raised $900 for MCEO.
