Charles A. Glatt was 46 when he was shot to death while working in his office at the Federal Building in Dayton, Ohio, on September 19, 1975. A prominent school desegregation expert and professor at Ohio State University, Glatt had been appointed by the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals to formulate a desegregation plan for Dayton’s public schools.

Authorities identified Neal Bradley Long, 48, a service station attendant with a history of mental illness, as the suspect. Investigators linked Long to the shotgun slayings of at least six Black victims in Dayton over the previous four years. The FBI handled the case because the killing occurred on federal property, and the ACLU in Columbus requested federal protection for other officials working on desegregation plans.

Glatt’s death was broadly mourned; Ohio State University’s president Harold L. Enarson urged that desegregation work continue.