Enolia P. McMillan - First Female President . . .

[Professor]

ASSOCIATION ‘ROYALTY’ PASSES, LEAVING LEGACY OF

SERVICE & ACHIEVEMENT

Enolia Pettigen McMillan, a long-time NAACP national leader and civil rights matriarch, died of natural causes yesterday, exactly one year after the death of Rosa Parks. McMillan was the NAACP’s first female national president, the Baltimore City branch’s president for 15 years and was active in causes for more than 50 years. At 102, she joined friends and family in celebrating her birthday just last Friday.

A 1927 graduate of Howard University , McMillan received a degree in education and began fighting for equal pay for black teachers and better schools for black students while working in Caroline County, MD. Shortly thereafter she would become a high school principal in Charles County, MD.

By 1935 she had earned a master’s degree from Columbia University and was teaching in Baltimore where she reactivated the city’s NAACP branch. In 1954 she was among the first black teachers assigned to a formally all-white school when segregation was outlawed.

An avid fundraiser for the Association, McMillan developed the much coveted ‘I gave’ buttons still worn by some members today. She sold the lapel pins for $1, raising $150,000 to help finance the Association’s move from New York to Baltimore in 1986. And she personally sold hundreds, if not thousands, of NAACP memberships.

“If there is such thing as NAACP royalty, Enolia McMillan would be it,” NAACP President & CEO Bruce S. Gordon. “Her great contributions will be missed but they live on. We have love and appreciation for her work and legacy and pledge to continue the fighting spirit she possessed.”

In 1984 she was voted NAACP National President and chosen President Emeritus by the Board of Directors in October 2005.

“She demonstrated that civil rights activism could be a lifetime’s pre-occupation,” said NAACP Board of Directors Chairman Julian Bond . “She was a gracious lady and will be sorely missed.”

McMillan, listed in the Maryland State Archives’ Women's Hall of Fame, stayed active in civil rights well into her life, leading a protest against South Africa 's apartheid system in front of the country's embassy in Washington in 1985.

“In the course of her 102 years she was a shining link in the chain of character and integrity expressed by countless black women,” said NAACP Board of Directors Vice Chair Roslyn M. Brock (AKA). “As a member of the first generation of her family to be born free, she was determined to make a difference and her unceasing fight for freedom and equality is a graphic testament to that fact.”

‘Mrs. Mac’ as she was affectionately known was the 7th President of the NAACP holding office from 1984 to 1989. Prior to her election she had been a member of the NAACP National Board of Directors since 1976 while concurrently serving as President of the Baltimore City Branch.

Flags at the NAACP headquarters are flying at half staff in McMillan’s honor. In lieu of flowers the family has asked that contributions be made to the Enolia P. McMillan Endowed Scholarship Fund at Morgan State University .

Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, conducting voter mobilization and monitoring equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.