Lola Hendricks facts for kids

Lola Mae Haynes Hendricks (born Haynes) was a very important person in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. She was born on December 19, 1932, and passed away on May 17, 2013.

Lola Hendricks worked as the secretary for the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR) from 1956 to 1963. This group was led by Fred Shuttlesworth. She also helped Wyatt Tee Walker plan parts of the 1963 Birmingham campaign. This campaign was a major event in the fight for equal rights.

Early Life and Education

Lola Mae Haynes was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on December 19, 1932. She was the first of two daughters born to Buford and Addie Hanes. Her father drove a coal truck, and her mother worked as a cook.

Lola went to school in Birmingham. She attended Cameron Elementary School and then Ullman High School for two years. In 1949, she went to Parker High School and graduated in January 1951. After high school, she worked as an elevator operator at Hillman Hospital. She saved her money to go to beauty school in 1952.

In February 1953, Lola Mae Haynes married Joe Hendricks. She then studied for two years at the Booker T. Washington Business College. After college, Lola worked in the insurance business as a clerk-typist. In 1963, she started working for the Federal Government at the Social Security Administration. She was one of the first African Americans to work alongside white people in that office.

Fighting for Civil Rights

Lola and her husband were members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). When the state of Alabama made the NAACP illegal in 1956, Lola joined the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR). This group fought against Jim Crow laws, which were unfair laws that kept Black and white people separate.

Lola Hendricks was the ACMHR's corresponding secretary. She worked from Bethel Baptist Church. She and her husband were part of lawsuits to make Birmingham's city parks and public library open to everyone. In 1962, she traveled to New England. She told people there about the unfairness of segregation in the South. She also collected Christmas toys for children whose parents were boycotting stores in Birmingham.

In 1963, Lola Hendricks helped organize the Birmingham campaign. This was a big effort by the ACMHR and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Martin Luther King Jr. led the SCLC. Lola worked closely with Wyatt Tee Walker to plan marches and boycotts.

Lola Hendricks bravely asked the Public Safety Commissioner, Bull Connor, for a permit for a march. He refused and threatened to arrest her. Her leaders asked her not to march herself. This was because her work behind the scenes was so important to the movement.

However, Lola's nine-year-old daughter, Audrey Faye Hendricks, took part in the "Children's Crusade" on May 2, 1963. This event brought national attention to how harshly Bull Connor treated peaceful protesters. Audrey was arrested and spent five nights in jail. She was the youngest known child arrested during that protest. A children's book, The Youngest Marcher, tells Audrey's story. It even includes a recipe for Lola Hendricks’s "Hot Rolls Baptized in Butter"!

Later Life and Legacy

After the Civil Rights Movement, Lola Hendricks continued her important work. In 1963, she joined the newly integrated Birmingham office of the Social Security Administration. She started as a filer and was promoted to unit clerk. Later, she moved to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, where she became a supervisor.

She left her job in 1983 to care for her mother. In 1988, she returned to the Social Security Administration and worked there until she retired. Lola Hendricks also volunteered at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. In the 1990s, she helped research churches and landmarks important to the Civil Rights Movement. This research helped these places get recognized as historic sites.

Lola Hendricks had two daughters, Audrey Faye Hendricks and Jan Hendricks Fuller. She also had one grandson, Joel A. Fuller. Her dedication helped change America for the better.

See also

• List of civil rights leaders