OBITUARY: Miriam Kellner Bazelon Knox

Miriam Kellner Bazelon Knox, 96, of Washington, D.C. and formerly of Longboat Key, died May 21.

Born Aug. 11, 1914, she was an energetic advocate for social-welfare causes. She founded the first nonsectarian interracial child guidance clinic in Washington, D.C. under the auspices of the Jewish Social Services Agency, of which she served as the first female president. She was a founding staff member of Head Start and also established one of the country’s first children’s reading festivals in Sarasota.

Mrs. Knox is survived by her husband, Robert; sons James and Richard Bazelon; stepdaughter, Ellen Knox; sister, Betty Cahn; four grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

A funeral took place Tuesday, May 24, at Washington Hebrew Congregation. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, bazelon.org.