English: Biography: Juanita Jewel Craft was a self-described "professional volunteer" who devoted her life to the civil rights movement in Texas, initiating and participating in demonstrations to bring to public attention the issue of equal access to universities, theaters, restaurants, and housing. Born in Texas, she was educated at Prairie View and Samuel Houston Colleges, and taught for one year before turning her energies to volunteer activities. She was involved in successfully opening the University of Texas to Blacks, a confrontation which culminated in the case of Sweatt vs. Painter, and was later instrumental in filing a similar suit against North Texas State University. Equally concerned with the plight of Native Americans and Mexican Americans, Mrs. Craft sought to improve training opportunities in the city of Dallas. Her work with young people included implementing a drop-out prevention program and an ecology and litter plan, which eventually grew into a large city-wide organization. She was elected, at age 73, to a seat on the Dallas City Council.

Description: The Black Women Oral History Project interviewed 72 African American women between 1976 and 1981. With support from the Schlesinger Library, the project recorded a cross section of women who had made significant contributions to American society during the first half of the 20th century. Photograph taken by Judith Sedwick
Repository: Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America.
Collection: Black Women Oral History Project
Research Guide: http://guides.library.harvard.edu/schlesinger_bwohp

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