Hartford History Center

TRUDE MERO (1927- 2013)

Mero was active in Hartford politics and was a founder of Project Concern in 1966, one of the first voluntary school integration programs. She was a longtime employee of the Connecticut Department of Human Resources and served as executive administrative liaison to three administrations, including Gov. William A. O’Neill. She was chairwoman of Connecticut’s African-American Affairs Commission and was a member of Greater Hartford Progressive Democratic Women’s Club. She served as a commissioner on the Metropolitan District Commission. She ran Nutmeg Planners to help minority contractors with compliance issues. She also helped develop Voices of Women of Color, a social justice firm. She was born in South Carolina, went to segregated schools in New Jersey, and moved to Hartford in 1948. She outlived two husbands. Wilfred X. “Spike” Johnson, was one of the first African Americans to be elected as a Democrat in the state General Assembly in 1958. Her second husband, Robert V. Mero, was an executive director of the West Hartford Housing Authority and a supervisor with the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development. Trude was a member of Faith Congregational Church.

PORTRAIT BY CHRISTINE CHAISE GREENWOOD
(CHRISTINECHAISEGREENWOOD.WEEBLY.COM)