Elreta Narcissus Melton was born on March 21, 1919, in the small eastern North Carolina town of Smithfield. Her father, Joseph C. Melton, was a Baptist minister and teacher, and her mother, Alian A. Reynolds Melton, was a schoolteacher. Alexander's father strongly insisted that each of his children receive a college education, as he believed “education was essential to equip his family for life” and entrenched this belief in each of his family members. Along with her parents’ strong beliefs about the importance of education, Alexander's parents also refused to perpetuate racial injustice by prohibiting their children from riding segregated buses or otherwise partaking in segregation.
