Lulu Craig facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lulu Mae Sadler Craig
|
|
|---|---|
| Born | August 12, 1868 |
| Died | September 25, 1972 (aged 104) |
| Occupation | Homesteader, historian and educator |
| Spouse(s) |
Sanford Gustave Craig
(m. 1886; died 1941) |
Lulu Mae Sadler Craig (1868–1972), sometimes called Lula, was an amazing woman who helped settle southern Colorado. She was a historian, a teacher, and a community leader. Her writings about Black settlements in Kansas and Colorado are very important for understanding the history of homesteaders.
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Biography of Lulu Mae Sadler Craig
Lulu Sadler was born on August 12, 1868, in Platte County, Missouri. Her parents, Meridee George Sadler and Harriet Ellen Samuels, were formerly enslaved people. Lulu had seven brothers and sisters.
Moving to Kansas
In 1872, when Lulu was just four years old, her family moved from Missouri to Kansas in a covered wagon. They arrived in a town called Nicodemus, Kansas in 1879. Nicodemus was a special place because it was an all-Black settlement. It was started by "exodusters" – formerly enslaved people who left the southern states after the Civil War to find new lives and freedom in Kansas.
Lulu wrote a lot about her experiences and the early history of Nicodemus. Her writings are super important because they helped record and save the history of this unique community. People were told that Nicodemus offered free land and freedom from racism. However, when Lulu's family arrived, they found that many residents lived in simple dugouts built into the ground.
Lulu's Education and Teaching Career
When Lulu Craig was 15, she went to one of the first schools in Kansas. A famous scientist named George Washington Carver was one of her classmates! Lulu later graduated from State Teachers College in Emporia, Kansas.
She became a teacher, teaching grades 1 through 8, often with very little help. She earned her teaching certificate in rural eastern Colorado before going back to Nicodemus. In 1914, Lulu also served on the Nicodemus election board. This was quite rare for a woman at that time!
Settling in Colorado
In April 1915, Lulu's family and the Craig family moved even further west to Colorado. Conditions in Nicodemus had become difficult.
Her family was among the first 100 African Americans to settle in an area of southern Colorado known as "The Dry," near Manzanola, Colorado. This was another all-Black community, and Lulu's family helped establish it.
Lulu taught at the Prairie Valley School, a one-room schoolhouse, from 1916 until it closed in 1933. This school was more than just a place to learn; it also served as a church and a community center. Lulu started a literary society there, where people could meet and discuss books. She also led Sunday School services.
Community Involvement and Later Life
Lulu was a founding member and the first deaconess of the Hubbard Chapel, which was built in La Junta in 1921. Her daughter, Mae Crowell, continued her mother's work, becoming an ordained minister and assistant pastor at the chapel years later.
During and after the Great Depression, many people moved away from "The Dry." Lulu and her family were some of the last original settlers to stay in the area, remaining until the 1970s. Sadly, her home burned down in 1998.
Lulu was also a member of the Colorado Writer's Club. She wrote a book that was never published called "A History of Nicodemus: Graham County, Kansas." This important document is kept safe at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas.
On August 12, 1970, when Lulu turned 102 years old, her large family traveled to Manzanola, Colorado, to celebrate her birthday. This celebration was even filmed by Harry Belafonte Enterprises! A documentary called Happy Birthday Mrs. Craig was made, featuring interviews with Lulu and her family. It offers a living history of the American West.
Personal Life
Lulu Mae Sadler married Sanford Gustave Craig in 1886 in Nicodemus. They were married for many years until his death in 1941.
Lulu and Sanford had several children:
- Hattie Ellen Craig Burney
- Harvey James Craig
- Viola Margaret Craig Mitchell
- Theophilus Nelson Craig
- Mae Drusella Craig Crowell
- Lucille Craig
- Lenetta Craig Stark
- Merido Sanford Craig
- Terracitia Craig
Death and Legacy
Lulu Mae Sadler Craig passed away on September 25, 1972, at the amazing age of 104. She is buried in Manzanola Mountainview Cemetery.
Lulu Craig was one of the first people to be honored in the Blacks in Colorado Hall of Fame in 1973. The documentary Happy Birthday Mrs. Craig is still an important film for understanding Black history and is often shown to students today.
Some scholars, like Justin Hosbey, believe that Lulu Craig's work is sometimes overlooked by historians. This is because the stories told by Black women, and their way of sharing Nicodemus's history, didn't always fit with the official ways history was recorded, which often focused more on men's roles in politics, money, and war. Hosbey found that some historians didn't include Lulu's writings and other spoken histories because they couldn't be checked against "concrete" historical sources. However, these personal stories are very important for understanding the full picture of history!
Published works
- L.S. Craig. A History of Nicodemus: Graham County, Kansas, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas.
See also
