November 22, 2013
Hans and Ellie Spiegel have spent six decades advocating for social justice in the United States and abroad. Hans is a professor emeritus of Urban Affairs and Planning at Hunter College, City University of New York. He’s on the Leonia Retirement Housing Board and the Bergen County Community Development Committee (Southeast Area). Ellie is a past member of the Leonia Board of Education, a former chairman of the Board of Thomas A. Edison State College, and a member of the NJ Board of Higher Education. For 10 years, she was the director of Programs and Resident Life at International House in New York City. They have lived in Leonia for 47 years, have four grown children – all graduates of Leonia High School – and nine grandchildren. They recently celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary.
Q: Where are you from?
A: Ellie: I grew up in Ithaca, N.Y., where my father was a Methodist chaplain at Cornell University. We later moved to Evanston, Ill., when my father became chaplain at Northwestern. I graduated from Northwestern with degrees in anthropology and sociology.
A: Hans: I grew up in Switzerland. My family came to the United States in 1941. I studied economics and education at Antioch College in Ohio and completed my graduate studies in intergroup relations at Columbia.
Q: How did you two meet?
A: Hans: We met in 1947, in the back of a pickup truck, in Atlanta, Ga. I was an intern at a Georgia adult education center. We were exploring a suitable site where black and white people could meet. Ellie was traveling around the southeast with the World Student Service Fund raising money to rebuild universities overseas after World War II. We immediately connected over our shared interests: race relations in communities and social justice.
A: Ellie: After I met Hans, I spent a year in Europe working for the World Council of Churches. When I returned, we were married by my father at Northwestern.
Q: When did you first develop an interest in social justice?
A: Ellie: For me, it was growing up in the 40s at Cornell University where students of color weren’t allowed to live in the dorms. My family helped students find rooms to rent in private homes. It was no different at Northwestern. Sororities and fraternities were segregated as well. For that reason, I never joined one.
Q: Where did you live after you were married?
A: Hans: We lived in Queens while I completed my graduate studies at Columbia. I was then offered the position of director of the International Student Association of Greater Boston. Ellie and I worked as a team helping foreign students adjust to life in the United States. We met so many lifelong friends there. Henry Kissinger and “Ziggy” Brzezinski were both students during our tenure. We attended Brzezinski’s wedding. Another visitor was Coretta Scott King, an Antioch alum and friend, soon to be married to theology student, Martin Luther King. Later, when I was in Atlanta on business, Coretta gave me a ride around town and invited me to lunch with Martin and herself.
Q: Where did you live before Leonia?
A: Ellie: After Cambridge, we moved around quite a bit. Hans taught Urban Planning at UPenn, and then at Springfield College. We also lived in Washington, D.C. for three years when Hans served on the Presidential Task Force on the War Against Poverty, and was deputy assistant commissioner of the US Urban Renewal Administration during the Kennedy/Johnson administration. We moved to Leonia in 1966 when Hans took a position at Columbia.
Q: How did you choose to live in Leonia?
A: Ellie: We wanted to live in an ethnically diverse community, and looked at several houses in this area. We bought “the Daley House” on Leonia Avenue due to the proximity to Columbia. Daley was a chemistry professor at Columbia. Being so close to New York City, our house has been a gathering spot for both our family and friends we’ve met from all over the world. Choosing Leonia was a great decision!
Q: What issues were on the front burner when you served on the Leonia Board of Education?
A: Ellie: I served six years on board (1969 to 1975), during which time the Leonia Alternative High School was formed for self-motivated students. Sixty students participated. We hired four teachers. Several Leonia professors taught classes in their homes, as well as Leonia architect Donald Mallow, who was a mentor to our daughter Karen. Due to his influence, Karen is now an architect. It was a tumultuous time. We went through three superintendents. The alternative high school ended after three years with a lawsuit.
Q: How did you get involved in the formation of Thomas A. Edison State College?
A: Ellie: From my experience with the Alternative High School, I learned much about self-directed learning, which is the principle on which the college was formed – that students can apply work experience and volunteer work toward their degree. In 1972, the State Board of Higher Education appointed me to the board of the newly formed Edison State College. The college recently celebrated its fortieth anniversary and now offers associate, bachelor, and master degrees in a wide variety of subjects.
Q: Where have you traveled abroad?
A: Hans: Our travel abroad has been academic-related, as one of the many benefits of academic life is the sabbatical. In the 70s, our family spent a year in Kenya at the Kenya Institute of Administration. We also spent six months in South Korea at Yonsel University, six months in the Philippines at DeLaSalle University, and a year working on the Batangas Port development in the Philippines. Ellie taught English everywhere we visited. I also spent time in India as a Fulbright Scholar.
Q: What was your primary responsibility at International House?
A: Ellie: International House provide services to 700 plus graduate students from 100 countries. We brought in speakers (Bishop Desmond Tutu was one) and international singing groups, held dances, and sponsored trips. I also developed programs such as the Women’s International Leadership Program and an East/West Leadership Program for students from Central and Eastern Europe. I secured grants to fund the programs from the Kellogg Foundation. During that time I was also a member of the National Association of International Student Advisors, and served as their liaison to the United Nations. My 10 years there were a wonderful experience.
Q: How did you celebrate your 65th wedding anniversary?
A: Hans: We had a barbecue at the pavilion at the Alpine Boat Basin. All our kids and grandkids came, as well as many friends. One of our Leonia friends, Jim Guyot, walked from Leonia to the boat basin with a bottle of champagne!
Q: What social causes are front and center in your lives these days?
A: Hans: The same causes we’ve been passionate about for six decades: International education, immigrants’ rights, peace initiatives, and intercultural understanding. We’ve participated in the Sunday Peace Vigil Group since 2001 to remind ourselves and others that war is not the answer. We help organize the International Peace Day with the LHS high school students every year. We visit inmates in jails and detention centers as part of the Methodist Church’s Outreach Committee. Ellie is active with Community of Friends in Action (CoFiA) which helps provide social services and meals for the day workers in this area, primarily Guatemalans.
A: Ellie: We are currently planning a fundraiser at the American Legion Hall on Sunday, Nov. 24 from 4 to 8 p.m. “LaFiesta” will feature a band, marimba and Latin dancing music as well as lots of food and drink. The monies raised will go to provide winter lunches for the men and to support COFIA’s work in wage collection. We’re always looking for clothes and work for them. You can learn more at COFiA-NJ.org
Q: What do you most appreciate about Leonia?
A: Both: The people. Leonians are part of our support system. We feel a sense of purpose here. So many people contribute to our community to make it very special: those attending to the flowers on the street, people organizing concerts and art shows, volunteers in the schools, the volunteer fire department, coaches, and perhaps most of all, the many people who care for their neighbors.
Leonia Lives 