Local figure
Lula B. Henderson
Lula B. Henderson was hired in April 1935 as matron of the Efland Home, the reformatory for Black girls in rural Orange County, and by the summer of 1937 was the only adult left in charge. Reports to state welfare officials described her whipping and beating girls and locking them in small rooms as punishment.
Orange County Indexed has not yet linked an indexed work directly to Lula B. Henderson. The biography and the dated events on this page provide sources about Lula B. Henderson’s life and work. Suggest a source.
Life and Orange County connections
Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 7 dated events in the chronology →
- Hilda C. Allen becomes superintendent of the Efland Home after a poor state report Following a critical June 1935 state inspection and complaints about the home's management, the board's executive committee met in Durham in July and soon hired Hilda C. Allen as superintendent, keeping Lula Henderson as matron. People: Lula B. Henderson, Hilda C. Allen Place: North Carolina Industrial Home for Colored Girls (Efland Home), 201 Redman Crossing, EflandSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: North Carolina Industrial Home for Colored Girls (Efland Home), National Register nomination (OR2815), p. 19
- Matron Lula B. Henderson and farm manager Lewis Walker are hired at the Efland Home After J. A. Lassiter's husband was let go in March 1935, the home hired Lula B. Henderson as matron and Lewis Walker to run the farm in April. Henderson's husband, a retired minister living in Chapel Hill, taught the girls under the Emergency Relief Administration's adult education program. People: Lula B. Henderson Place: North Carolina Industrial Home for Colored Girls (Efland Home), 201 Redman Crossing, Efland · Also named: Lewis Walker, J. A. LassiterSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: North Carolina Industrial Home for Colored Girls (Efland Home), National Register nomination (OR2815), p. 19
- A runaway tells a Greensboro official that the new Efland Home matron whipped her with a board During a wave of runaways in May 1935, a month after Lula B. Henderson was hired as matron, Corinne Cannady of Greensboro returned a twelve-year-old girl who said the matron had whipped her with a board and that girls were locked in small rooms on bread and water for days. Cannady asked the state welfare commissioner, Mrs. W. T. Bost, for an investigation at once. Place: Efland · Also named: Corinne Cannady, Mrs. W. T. BostSearch the index · Souls, vol. 20: Lauren N. Henley, Contested Commitment: Policing Black Female Juvenile Delinquency at Efland Home, 1919-1939
- Hilda Allen resigns as superintendent, leaving Lula Henderson in charge of the Efland Home Saying she could not handle all her duties, Hilda C. Allen resigned in early May 1937 after making real gains in the home's conditions, and matron Lula Henderson took charge. People: Lula B. Henderson, Hilda C. Allen Place: North Carolina Industrial Home for Colored Girls (Efland Home), 201 Redman Crossing, EflandSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: North Carolina Industrial Home for Colored Girls (Efland Home), National Register nomination (OR2815), p. 19
- A state welfare agent records the Efland Home matron's account of beating a girl In a report of June 16, 1937, state welfare agent William R. Johnson wrote that matron Lula Henderson, by then the only adult in charge, told him and two other visitors that she had choked and beaten a girl who snatched her whip from her. He also found a girl locked in a room as punishment. Place: Efland · Also named: William R. JohnsonSearch the index · Souls, vol. 20: Lauren N. Henley, Contested Commitment: Policing Black Female Juvenile Delinquency at Efland Home, 1919-1939
- State inspectors find the Efland Home failing and tell its board to fund it or close it State welfare agents W. C. Ezell and T. L. Grier visited on July 2, 1937, and found the heat, plumbing and building in poor repair, about twenty acres in crops, the only cow dead and the mules unfit. Grier judged the home was not rehabilitating its girls and told the federation's board to raise enough money to fix it or shut it down. People: Lula B. Henderson Place: North Carolina Industrial Home for Colored Girls (Efland Home), 201 Redman Crossing, Efland · Also named: W. C. Ezell, T. L. GrierSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: North Carolina Industrial Home for Colored Girls (Efland Home), National Register nomination (OR2815), p. 19
- Lula Henderson reports jobs found for former Efland Home girls In January 1938 Lula Henderson reported that former residents of the Efland Home had been placed in work in Mebane, Greensboro, Washington, D.C., and Seneca, South Carolina. Churches and patrons gave clothing, food and supplies, but not enough to keep up the home. Place: Efland · Also mentions: Efland HomeSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: North Carolina Industrial Home for Colored Girls (Efland Home), National Register nomination (OR2815), p. 20
Places in this person’s story
Buildings, schools, churches and other sites named in the dated events on this page, the most often named first. The map shows them all.
Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS, OpenStreetMap and a few other published sources named on each site’s page; town and community pins show approximate locations.
- North Carolina Industrial Home for Colored Girls (Efland Home) Schools and academies · Efland · 7 events here
People named in the same events
People named in the same dated entries as Lula B. Henderson, those sharing the most entries first. Each line links one of the shared entries in the chronology, where its source is cited. A shared entry shows these people in the same event, not how well they knew each other.
- Hilda C. Allen 2 entries, including Hilda C. Allen becomes superintendent of the Efland Home after a poor state report (1935)
Research sources
Sources and research tools for this person. For ready-made searches of other catalogs, see Search further. Research guide: Trace a family through historical records.
National Register files
Collections and databases
- NC LIVE: prepared search for Lula B. Henderson Library card Search NC LIVE for this subject and Orange County. You can change the search terms. Sign in through your North Carolina library to access the materials.
- Ancestry Library Edition In the libraryOrange County Public Library Census, birth, death and marriage records, and more, free on the public computers at OCPL libraries
Local help
- Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection, Orange County Public Library The county library’s local-history room at the Main Library in Hillsborough: books, journals, maps, and microfilm of county records from 1752
- Local History Help Hours and request formOCPL Local History Liaison Meet with the Local History Liaison at the Main Library, usually Mondays from noon to 3 p.m., or send a question using the online request form
Search further
Search other catalogs and collections for this name. Results may include other people with the same name and have not been reviewed by the Friends.
Books about Lula B. Henderson
- WorldCat (opens in a new tab) Library catalogs worldwide
- OCPL (opens in a new tab) Orange County Public Library
Find copies at other libraries
- Chapel Hill Public Library (opens in a new tab) Public library in Chapel Hill
- Durham County Library (opens in a new tab) Public library next door in Durham
- UNC Libraries (opens in a new tab) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Duke Libraries (opens in a new tab) Duke University, Durham
- NC Cardinal (opens in a new tab) The State Library of North Carolina and public libraries across the state
Photographs, papers, and newspapers
- DigitalNC (opens in a new tab) North Carolina newspapers, yearbooks, and photographs
- DPLA (opens in a new tab) Digital collections from libraries, archives, and museums across the country
Historical records and collections
- Chronicling America (opens in a new tab) Historical newspapers from across the country, through 1963
- Internet Archive (opens in a new tab) Digitized books, directories, and local histories
- HathiTrust (opens in a new tab) Full text of digitized books
- ArchiveGrid (opens in a new tab) Papers held by archives across the country
These searches use Lula B. Henderson’s name without birth or death dates, so results may include namesakes. Links open in a new tab.
Found a book OCPL doesn’t own? You can often borrow it through interlibrary loan at OCPL.
More to discover
Keep Reading Local
The Friends connect people with new library materials, local writers and publishers, and resources documenting Orange County.