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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.

Source: Souls, vol. 20: Lauren N. Henley, Contested Commitment: Policing Black Female Juvenile Delinquency at Efland Home, 1919-1939

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Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 7 dated events in the chronology →

  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. 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
  5. 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
  6. 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
  7. 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

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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.

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.

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  • 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.
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