Juanita Craft: Oral History Interviews (5)

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Call Number OH-12DateMarch 29, 1979SubjectOral historiesInterviewerDavid Stricklin and Gail TomlinsonIntervieweeJuanita Jewel CraftDescriptionBorn on February 9, 1902, in Round Rock, Texas, Juanita Craft attended Prairie View College and Samuel Huston College in Austin, Texas, and taught kindergarten before moving to Dallas in March 1925. Her first job in Dallas was as a bell maid at the Adolphus Hotel in downtown. In 1935, Juanita Craft joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and held many roles, serving more than 50 years with the NAACP including organizing 182 regional branches. In 1944 she became the first Black woman in Dallas County to vote in the Democratic primary. In 1946 she was the first Black woman deputized in the state to collect the poll tax, a fee required to receive a ballot to vote which disenfranchised poor voters who could not afford the cost. That same year, she was appointed statewide Youth Council advisor of the NAACP. In 1955 she attempted to enroll the first Black student at North Texas State College, thus precipitating a battle for integration that was eventually won through litigation. Her NAACP youth group spearheaded the picketing of the State Fair of Texas to protest its segregation policy, as well as picketing lunch counters, restaurants, theaters, and public transportation for integration. She was elected to the Dallas City Council in 1975, and re-elected in 1977. She received many awards for her civil rights work, including the Linz Award in 1968, the NAACP Golden Heritage Life Membership Award in 1972, and she was recognized for her lifetime of service at the NAACP 76th Annual Convention in June 1985. Juanita Craft died at the age of 83 on August 6, 1985.Oral HistoryJuanita Craft: Oral History Interviews

PersonJuanita Craft

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Juanita Craft: Oral History Interviews (5)