By Misty Maberry
Special Contributor
The Dallas Public Library is a proud partner with the Office of Arts & Culture in the Juanita Craft Civil Rights House, which will reopen this Saturday, May 20, at 11 a.m.
Civil rights activist Juanita Craft (1902-1985) was a remarkable woman. She spent her life fighting for equality, better living conditions, and integration. In 1935, she joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), where she was a dynamic force and held many roles for more than 50 years. She was appointed statewide Youth Council advisor of the NAACP in 1946, and her work with youth was a central hallmark of her life.
Her house on Warren Street in South Dallas was a safe space where neighborhood children were always welcome, and water, Kool-Aid, hotdogs, and hamburgers were always available. Ms. Craft organized cross-country trips with the youth council and would take kids out to eat at restaurants so they could learn etiquette. From 1950 until her death in 1985, her home served as the command center for pivotal civil rights movements in Dallas, across the state, and beyond.
The South Dallas NAACP Youth Council screen-printed protest signs, picketed segregated institutions like the State Fair of Texas, and cleaned up neighborhoods in what they called the Kids Kan Kampaign or ‘KKK.’ The name got attention, and in April 1969, the Dallas Morning News ran the headline “Woman Organizing ‘KKK’. The Dallas Times Herald reported that the City Council approved the project, although Councilman Charles Cullum expressed wonderment over the name.
“Couldn’t we call it ‘Craft Can Campaign’?” he asked.
“It’ll be the ‘Kids Kan Kampaign’,” Mrs. Craft insisted. “That’s KKK.”
The “Craft Kids,” as they became known, grew up with Ms. Craft, learning life skills and activism. Many of them have dedicated their lives to public service and social justice. You can hear some of the Craft Kids in this interview from last year, recorded at the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum.
The Dallas Public Library has a long history with Juanita Craft. She started depositing things with the library in 1973, and the Juanita Craft Collection was formalized in 1983 with the signature of Juanita Craft herself. The Dallas Public Library has worked closely with the Juanita Craft Foundation in the years since then, receiving more items from her records and personal belongings.
In late 2021 the foundation donated the remainder of her possessions to the library around the same time her house in the Wheatley Place Historic District near Fair Park was being re-imagined and prepared for renovation. We have worked for almost two years with the designers of the museum in preparation for collection items to be displayed in the house, and the big day is almost here!
Schedule a tour of the Juanita Craft House with the Office of Arts & Culture by calling 214-670-3687. For further research search the library catalog, look at the finding guide, or contact the Dallas History & Archives Division at 214-670-1435 or email [email protected] for more information.
Misty Maberry is a Certified Archivist managing the Dallas History & Archives Division and the Virginia Lazenby O’Hara Fine Books Collection at the Dallas Public Library.
