Hazel Nell Dukes facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Hazel Dukes
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Dukes in 2024
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| President of the NAACP | |
| In office 1990–1992 |
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| Preceded by | Enolia McMillan |
| Succeeded by | Rupert Richardson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 17, 1932 Montgomery, Alabama, U.S. |
| Died | March 1, 2025 (aged 92) New York City, U.S. |
| Children | Ronald Dukes |
| Parents |
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| Education | Alabama State University Nassau Community College Adelphi University |
Hazel Nell Dukes (March 17, 1932 – March 1, 2025) was an American activist. She served as national president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and president of the organization’s New York State chapter.
Early life and education
Dukes was born in Montgomery, Alabama, on March 17, 1932. She was the only child of Alice and Edward Dukes. Her father was a Pullman porter. She enrolled at Alabama State Teachers College in 1949 hoping to become a teacher. However, after moving to New York City with her parents in 1955, she started school at Nassau Community College majoring in Business Administration.
In 1978, Dukes received a bachelor's degree in business administration from Adelphi University. She also completed post-graduate work at Queens College.
She held three honorary doctorate degrees from the City University of New York Law School at Queens College, City University of New York’s Medgar Evers College, and Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Career
While living in Roslyn, on Long Island, she worked to combat discrimination in housing. She worked for President Lyndon B. Johnson's "Head Start" program in the 1960s. In 1966, she took a position at the Nassau County Attorney's Office, becoming the first black American to do so. She eventually worked as a community organizer for the Economic Opportunity Commission of Nassau County and taught children who were living in poverty.
She remained consistently outspoken throughout the Reagan and Bush presidencies during the 1980s and into the 1990s. Dukes' main concerns were education reform and advancement of civil rights.
From 1989 to 1992, Dukes served as the national president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Dukes was appointed president of the New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation (NYCOTB) in 1990, twenty-five years after she had been doing social work there.
In 1997, she pleaded guilty to attempted grand larceny. She admitted to stealing $13,000.00 from a disabled NYCOTB worker who had allowed her to manage the worker's credit union account while Dukes was a manager of that organization.
Dukes was appointed head of NYCOTB by New York City Mayor David Dinkins. Rudy Giuliani, who defeated Dinkins in the 1993 New York City mayoral election, publicly condemned Dukes' management of NYCOTB, saying that the organization lost money under her leadership.
Death
Dukes died in Harlem, New York City on March 1, 2025, at the age of 92.
