Lola Hendricks
Encyclopedia
Lola Mae Hendricks (born December 1932) was corresponding secretary for Fred Shuttlesworth's
Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights
from 1956 to 1963. She assisted Wyatt Walker in planning the early portions of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's
involvement in the 1963 Birmingham Campaign
during the African-American Civil Rights Movement. She has two sisters (one deceased), two daughters Audrey Faye Hendricks(1952–2009) and Jan Hendricks Fuller, and one grandson Joel A. Fuller.
. Her parents were a coal-truck driver from LaGrange, Georgia
and a domestic cook from adjacent Chambers County, Alabama
. She and her sister both attended Ullman High School but Lola graduated from A. H. Parker High School
in Birmingham. Lola then went on to study for two years at the Booker T. Washington Business College. She then took a job in a black-owned insurance company, married Joe Hendricks, and moved to the middle-class African-American neighborhood of Titusville
in the segregated city.
(NAACP). When the group was outlawed by the State of Alabama
in 1956 she became one of the early members of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights
, joining at a mass meeting at Nelson Smith's New Pilgrim Baptist Church where she was a member. The ACMHR, led by Shuttlesworth, organized local boycotts and demonstrations as well as coordinating legal challenges to Birmingham's segregation laws
in the 1950s and 60s. Hendricks and her husband were the named parties in ACMHR-backed lawsuits to force integration of Birmingham city parks and to desegregate the Birmingham Public Library
. She also served as the organization's correspondence secretary, working from Shuttleworth's office at Bethel Baptist Church
from 1956 until the culmination of the Birmingham Campaign
. In December 1962 she traveled to New England as a field director for the Southern Conference Education Fund, raising awareness among Northerners about the realities of Southern segregation and soliciting donations of Christmas toys for movement members boycott
ing Birmingham's department stores.
In the Spring of 1963, Hendricks coordinated the practical office requirements and cultivated local contacts for the combined efforts of the ACMHR and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
(SCLC), which Shuttlesworth had co-founded and which was chaired by Martin Luther King, Jr.
. She worked directly with the SCLC's Wyatt Walker during the campaign, helping organize support and logistics for marches and department store boycotts.
It was Hendricks who applied directly to Public Safety Commissioner Eugene "Bull" Connor
for a parade permit for the first day of marches and was told "You will not get a permit in Birmingham, Alabama to picket. I'll picket you over to the jail." At Walker's urging she did not actively demonstrate and risk jailing, protecting her behind-the-scenes importance to the movement. Hendricks' nine-year-old daughter, Audrey Hendricks (1952–2009), however, was the only child in her class to participate in the May 2, 1963 "Children's Crusade
" that brought national attention to Connor's brutal tactics against demonstrators. She spent five nights in jail as minders got word out to her parents that she was safe.
. She was hired originally as a filer, but was promoted to unit clerk before moving to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
where she became a supervisor. She left in 1983 to care for her mother. In 1988 she rejoined the Social Security Administration where she worked until reaching retirement. She continued to volunteer at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
and in the mid 1990s she assisted the Birmingham Historical Society in researching movement churches and landmarks for National Register of Historic Places
status.
Fred Shuttlesworth
Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, born Freddie Lee Robinson, was a U.S. civil rights activist who led the fight against segregation and other forms of racism as a minister in Birmingham, Alabama...
Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights
Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights
The Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights was a Civil Rights organization in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, which coordinated boycotts and sponsored federal lawsuits aimed at dismantling segregation in Birmingham and Alabama through the 1950s and 60s...
from 1956 to 1963. She assisted Wyatt Walker in planning the early portions of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is an African-American civil rights organization. SCLC was closely associated with its first president, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr...
involvement in the 1963 Birmingham Campaign
Birmingham campaign
The Birmingham campaign was a strategic movement organized by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to bring attention to the unequal treatment that black Americans endured in Birmingham, Alabama...
during the African-American Civil Rights Movement. She has two sisters (one deceased), two daughters Audrey Faye Hendricks(1952–2009) and Jan Hendricks Fuller, and one grandson Joel A. Fuller.
Early life
Hendricks' was born in Birmingham, AlabamaBirmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
. Her parents were a coal-truck driver from LaGrange, Georgia
LaGrange, Georgia
LaGrange is a city in Troup County, Georgia, United States. It is named after the country estate near Paris of the Marquis de La Fayette, who visited the area in 1825. The population was 24,998 at the 2000 census...
and a domestic cook from adjacent Chambers County, Alabama
Chambers County, Alabama
Chambers County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. Its name is in honor of Henry H. Chambers, who served as a United States Senator from Alabama. As of 2010 the population was 34,215. Its county seat is Lafayette...
. She and her sister both attended Ullman High School but Lola graduated from A. H. Parker High School
A. H. Parker High School
A.H. Parker High School is a public high school located in Birmingham, Alabama. The school educates over 1,000 students in grades 9 to 12 in the Birmingham City Schools district.As of 2010 the principal is Cedric Tatum.- History :A.H...
in Birmingham. Lola then went on to study for two years at the Booker T. Washington Business College. She then took a job in a black-owned insurance company, married Joe Hendricks, and moved to the middle-class African-American neighborhood of Titusville
Titusville, Birmingham, Alabama
Titusville is a historic neighborhood in Birmingham, Alabama, United States southeast of Ensley near UAB's campus. It is centered on 6th Avenue South between downtown Birmingham and Elmwood Cemetery....
in the segregated city.
Civil Rights Movement
The Hendrickses were members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored PeopleNational Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to...
(NAACP). When the group was outlawed by the State of Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
in 1956 she became one of the early members of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights
Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights
The Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights was a Civil Rights organization in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, which coordinated boycotts and sponsored federal lawsuits aimed at dismantling segregation in Birmingham and Alabama through the 1950s and 60s...
, joining at a mass meeting at Nelson Smith's New Pilgrim Baptist Church where she was a member. The ACMHR, led by Shuttlesworth, organized local boycotts and demonstrations as well as coordinating legal challenges to Birmingham's segregation laws
Jim Crow laws
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for black Americans...
in the 1950s and 60s. Hendricks and her husband were the named parties in ACMHR-backed lawsuits to force integration of Birmingham city parks and to desegregate the Birmingham Public Library
Birmingham Public Library
For the main library in Birmingham, England see, Birmingham Central Library.The Birmingham Public Library, a well-respected and one of the largest library systems in the southeastern United States, consists of 19 branches and a main or central library located in downtown Birmingham, Alabama...
. She also served as the organization's correspondence secretary, working from Shuttleworth's office at Bethel Baptist Church
Bethel Baptist Church (Birmingham, Alabama)
Bethel Baptist Church in Collegeville, a neighborhood in Birmingham, Alabama, served as headquarters from 1956 to 1961 for the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights , which was led by Fred Shuttlesworth and active in the Birmingham Civil Rights Movement...
from 1956 until the culmination of the Birmingham Campaign
Birmingham campaign
The Birmingham campaign was a strategic movement organized by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to bring attention to the unequal treatment that black Americans endured in Birmingham, Alabama...
. In December 1962 she traveled to New England as a field director for the Southern Conference Education Fund, raising awareness among Northerners about the realities of Southern segregation and soliciting donations of Christmas toys for movement members boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
ing Birmingham's department stores.
In the Spring of 1963, Hendricks coordinated the practical office requirements and cultivated local contacts for the combined efforts of the ACMHR and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is an African-American civil rights organization. SCLC was closely associated with its first president, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr...
(SCLC), which Shuttlesworth had co-founded and which was chaired by Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
. She worked directly with the SCLC's Wyatt Walker during the campaign, helping organize support and logistics for marches and department store boycotts.
It was Hendricks who applied directly to Public Safety Commissioner Eugene "Bull" Connor
Bull Connor
Theophilus Eugene "Bull" Connor was the Commissioner of Public Safety for the city of Birmingham, Alabama, during the American Civil Rights Movement...
for a parade permit for the first day of marches and was told "You will not get a permit in Birmingham, Alabama to picket. I'll picket you over to the jail." At Walker's urging she did not actively demonstrate and risk jailing, protecting her behind-the-scenes importance to the movement. Hendricks' nine-year-old daughter, Audrey Hendricks (1952–2009), however, was the only child in her class to participate in the May 2, 1963 "Children's Crusade
Children's Crusade (civil rights)
The Children's Crusade was the name bestowed upon a march by hundreds of school students in Birmingham, Alabama, on May 2, May 3, and May 4, 1963, during the American Civil Rights Movement's Birmingham Campaign. Initiated and organized by Rev. James Bevel, the purpose of the march was to walk...
" that brought national attention to Connor's brutal tactics against demonstrators. She spent five nights in jail as minders got word out to her parents that she was safe.
Later life
Hendricks left her insurance company job in 1963 to join the newly-integrated Birmingham office of the Social Security AdministrationSocial Security Administration
The United States Social Security Administration is an independent agency of the United States federal government that administers Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability, and survivors' benefits...
. She was hired originally as a filer, but was promoted to unit clerk before moving to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is an independent federal law enforcement agency that enforces laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination complaints based on an individual's race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, perceived intelligence,...
where she became a supervisor. She left in 1983 to care for her mother. In 1988 she rejoined the Social Security Administration where she worked until reaching retirement. She continued to volunteer at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is a large interpretive museum and research center in Birmingham, Alabama that depicts the struggles of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s...
and in the mid 1990s she assisted the Birmingham Historical Society in researching movement churches and landmarks for National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
status.