Overview

Scope and Content

Collection contains materials related to the dedication and renaming of the park and recreation center.  Juanita Jewel Craft was a civil rights advocate and politician, and November 8, 1973, the Dallas Park and Recreation Board renamed Wahoo Park in honor of Craft for her contributions to  the City of Dallas.

Craft was born Juanita Jewel Shanks in Round Rock, Texas, on February 9, 1902.  After graduating from high school and attending both Prairie View A&M University and Samuel Houston College, where she obtained her teaching certificate, by 1925, Craft had moved to Dallas and worked as a maid and seamstress at the Adolphus Hotel.

In 1935, Craft joined the NAACP.  She became the Dallas membership chairman in 1942 and the Texas field organizer in 1946.  Over 11 years, Craft organized 182 branches of the NAACP.  She was the first African American woman to vote in Dallas County in a public election, and between 1975 and 1979, she served on the Dallas City Council for two terms.

In 1954, Craft assisted with campaigns and pickets over segregation.  In 1955, she coordinated a protest of the State Fair of Texas against its policy of admitting blacks only on “Negro Achievement Day.”  Following the Brown et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, et al decision, Craft worked to integrate the University of Texas Law School and the Dallas Independent School District.  She later fought and won to help enroll the first black student at North Texas State College (now the University of North Texas).

Craft received multiple awards during her life, including the Linz Award (1969), the NAACP Golden Heritage Life Membership Award (1978), and the Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award (1984).

Juanita Jewel Craft passed away on August 6, 1985.  Her legacy to the city of Dallas was celebrated with the Juanita Jewel Craft Park and Recreation Center.

Organization

NA

Access

Permission to publish, reproduce, distribute, or use by any and all other current or future developed methods or procedures must be obtained in writing from the Dallas Municipal Archives.  All rights are reserved and retained regardless of current or future development or laws that may apply to fair use standards.

Citation

Juanita Jewel Craft Recreation Center Dedication, 1974 (Box 1, Folder 1), Dallas Municipal Archives

Related Materials

1995-023 Dallas Department of Park and Recreation General Subject Files, 1911-Current

Index Terms

African Americans -- Texas -- Dallas
Civil rights -- Texas -- Dallas
Craft, Juanita Jewel, 1902-1985
Dallas -- Texas -- History

Container List​