"Lu lu Belle White (August 6,1900-July 6,1957)

Civil rights activists,was born Lu lu Belle Madison, in Elmo,Texas, to Henry Madison, a farmer, and Eastern Norwood, a domestic worker.Lulu,who had five brothers,and six sisters, received her early education in the public schools of Elmo and Terrell, Texas.Following her high school graduation she attended Butler College,an African American school in Tyler, Texas, for one year before transferring to Prairie View College (later Prairie View A&M University), an African American land-grant institution,from which she received a BA in English in 1928.

On June 28 Lu married Julius White,a businessman, nightclub owner,and promoter of public entertainment.After teaching school for nine years Lulu resigned her post to devote herself fully to the NAACP.In 1939 she became acting president she became acting president of the Houston branch of the NAACP,and just a few years later,in 1943,she was elevated to the post of full-time executive secretary of the Houston branch,making her the first woman in the south to hold that position.

In her role as executive secretary Lulu traveled to towns throughout most of the state to garner contributions,organize new branches, and reactivate old ones.Her job entailed managing the office,conducting branch activities,and helping to organize other branches,most especially she directed membership and fund-raising drives.Members' dues were essential in keeping the NAACP viable,providing the basic revenue not only for local branches but also for state and national operations,the salaries for all the organization's workers,publicity, cost of publications,travel expense,and other miscellaneous expenditures.In Texas she seemed the right person for the job.

Under her guidance the Houston grew from 5,674 members in 1943 to 12,700 in 1948, an increase that reflected Lulu's aggressive fieldwork in recruiting new members as well as the extent of her appeal to African-American Texans and African American Houstonians, This work would earn her the title of director of state branches in 1946.

By taking the helm of Texas's NAACP in 1943 she placed herself squarely in the beginning with the elimination of the state statute that held only whites were eligible to vote in the Democratic primary.Sharp-tongued and unafraid of speaking her mind to both whites and African-Americans,Lulu boldly created a movement for the elimination of the all-white primary.The success of the movement would require courage,passion,spontaneity,and leader who had the time,resources,and a leader 
who had the time,resources,and energy to encourage people to join the NAACP and to fight for civil rights.The movement found these qualities in Lulu.Since she Lulu was already familiar with African-American Texan's struggle to retrieve the ballot,she needed no briefing on this issue.Not only did she become directly involved in Smith v.Allwright (1944),last of the U.S. Supreme Court's so-called White Primary cases and the one that at last brought an end to the state's all-white primary,but she also was in daily contact with NAACP  national headquarters and served as liaison between the national office,the local chapter,and the African American press.In anticipation of a favorable court decision she mounted  a "pay your poll tax" When in April of 1944 the U.S. Supreme Court declared the all-white Democratic primary statute unconstitutional,Lulu hailed the decision a " second emancipation" (Houston Informer, April 10 1944).

The success of the NAACP in overturning the primary law launched a new era in both African-American politics and Democratic Party elections.Throughout the 1940s & 1950s Lulu argued that a strong black voice was needed to shape governmental policies at both the local and state levels.She urged African-Americans to assume greater roles in the political lives of their communities,to learn about political organizations,and to prepare for future leadership positions.She argued convincingly that those who understand the movement for social change must identify with it fully and must interpret it to others.Not only did Lulu urge African-American to vote and seek office she also conducted voter registration seminars,helped select candidates,aided in drafting platforms,and used African-American churches to address public issues-all without actually campaigning for specific candidates.
In part as a result of her efforts African-American voter registration increased and 
several African-Americans became candidates for office in the 1940s.

Just she viewed the vote as a nenessary ingredient to full citizenship,she believed
that if African-Americans were to enter the mainstrain of American life,it was necessary to expand equality through economics.To this end she encouraged her
allies to seek employment at white establishments,a task she was willing to personally undertake.Her energetic pursuit of equal opportunities often took her on a stormy path; some white managers refused to see her,while others slammed doors in her face or were simply evasive.Ever persistent,she staged solo as well as group 
demonstrations,one of which resulted in having "colored" and "white" signs removed from the soda fountain at one of Houston's department stores in 1946.

As a tactic for achieving economic justice Lulu advocated that African-American work with organized labor,without whom,she argued, African-American workers possessed little bargaining power in disputes with employers.Through Lulu's advocacy for a colition with labor caused many to label her a communist,she did nothing to discourage the label,and indeed in 1948 she worked to get Henry Wallace's Progressive Party on the Presidential ballot in Texas.

When in June 1945 the NAACP  announced that it would challenge segregated public 
professional education in Texas,Lulu was the forefront of the movement to integrate 
the University of Texas Law School.It was Lulu who found the plaintiff, Heman Sweatt, who represented by the NAACP  legal team,pursued the case Sweatt v.Painter  to the U.S. Supreme Court.Heman won the case and later credited Lulu's 
leadership for maintaining his own resolve.

Lulu stepped down as executive secretary of the Houston chapter of the Houston 
chapter of the NAACP on June 19 1949,after after a long-standing feud with Carter Wesley,editor  of the Houston Informer,over the issue of integration.Lulu's resignation did not signal the end of her political activism.In her work as director of state branches for the Texas NAACP  continued to fight for political and economic 
opportunities demanding that the Houston city council pass ordinance to allow city 
hospitals to employ African-American doctors,staging demonstrations against the 
prohibition of African-American women from trying on clothing in department stores,
and working toward the integration of yellow cab companies, Lulu's friendship with 
Walter White,Daisy Lampkin, Thurgood Marshall,and Roy Wilkins enabled her to 
exert influence in the NAACP  nationally.As such she went on to become a field-worker for the national office of the NAACP  established the Lulu White Freedom Fund in her honor.She is buried Paradise South in Houston,Texas.