Spencer C. Lancaster Sr. lived a life of firsts.
New London’s first Black elected official. First living man honored on the city’s Black Heritage Trail. First Black homeowner on his street.
And while Lancaster’s decades of trailblazing ended with his death on Tuesday at age 95, his legacy persists, said long-time friend Lonnie Braxton II, a retired state prosecutor and city historian.
“He was more than just a trailblazer; he was the light,” he said. “He has done so many things the rest of us would marvel at if he had written a memoir. He was a role model, a mentor, a companion ― he was everything.”
Lancaster made city history in 1960 when elected to the Board of Selectmen, the first Black resident elected to that body. In 1963, he and his wife, Pearlestine, were the first Black homeowners to purchase a residence on Rogers Street where a Black Heritage Trail plaque now stands to mark the historic date.
On the October day in 2021 when the plaque was unveiled, Lancaster spoke of growing up in New London and the first bitter taste of racism he experienced during his time in the military during World War II.
“I was taken aback when they separated me from the white people,’ he said. “I wanted to know why the Black soldiers are over here. That really got to me. Here I am carrying the same rifle, shooting the same bullets at the same people, yet I got to be separated. That got me interested in civil rights.”
That interest led to becoming a fierce advocate for the racial integration of public housing and an active member of the NAACP. But Lancaster led with a velvet touch, Braxton said.
“He didn’t tell people what to do, but rather served as an example,” he said. “He lived in a time when men of color were stigmatized for their work ethic and how they raised their families. If he had been born later…. well, let’s just say he was a top car salesman but couldn’t have his own dealership.”
Lancaster’s legendary sales skills led to a June 1990 Day feature article that traced the ups and downs of one of his work days at Linder Dodge & Jeep. He rose out of the service department garage to become “one of the top Dodge sellers in the country,” by 1989, the article stated, ranking first in New England and fifth nationwide.
“That was his best year,” said Lancaster’s son-in-law, Gerald Lee. “He was so charismatic and that allowed him to make connections throughout the city, to the Italians, the Irish, the Hispanic, Black and Jewish communities. He cared for people regardless of social and economic standing, race or ethnicity.”
Lee, who knew of and admired Lancaster before he met and married his daughter, said his father-in-law embodied three characteristics all true leaders possess: the ability to serve as a role model, a mentor and a community mainstay.
“He loved this city and he would want to be remembered as someone who made a difference,” Lee said. “He would ask, ‘What did you do today that will make a difference tomorrow?’ And tomorrow for him would mean next week or even five years later.”
Mayor Michael Passero called Lancaster a “pillar of the community” who was generous with both his time and experience.
“One of the greatest things for me after becoming mayor was being able to get to know Spencer and get the benefit of his wisdom, which he shared. He was a trailblazer.”
Laura Natusch, executive director of the New London Landmarks groups, wrote of Lancaster’s accomplishments as part of an overview of the city’s Black Heritage Trail and interviewed him again for a “focused oral history” of the city’s public housing history.
“As much as Spencer was known as a civil rights leader and icon, anyone that knew him saw him primarily as the kindest, warmest person they’d met,” she said.
Curtis Goodwin, a former City Council member who helped create the trail, said he met Lancaster as part of that endeavor.
“As a Black man growing up, I’d never met someone, an elder, so poised, so energetic” he said.
Goodwin recalled sitting with Lancaster and listening to him tell stories and offering words of advice delivered in a confident tone bursting with “pride, hope and belonging.”
“I didn’t have that growing up,” he said. “At the time, I was a Black city councilor and he got to see his legacy through me, saying I was a living, breathing example of his work. I was honored.”
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