Just a week before she died on July 6, 1957, Lulu Belle Madison White was honored with the establishment of the Lulu White Freedom Fund by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). She made significant contributions to help balance equal rights for American people of color during her lifetime.
She was born in little Elmo, Texas, between Terrell and Wills Point on August 31, 1907. She was educated at the former Butler College in Tyler and became an early civil rights advocate and long-time leader of the NAACP first in Houston (1939) and then statewide as president (1949).
Best known for her role in challenging and ending caucasian-only primaries, White also trained black Americans how to vote, fought for integration of the University of Texas (1945), worked for equal pay for teachers regardless of race (she was an ex-school teacher), and led many other efforts. The Houston NAACP chapter became the largest in the South under her leadership.
