Anna Johnson Dupree

Anna Johnson Dupree (November 27, 1891 - February 19, 1977) was a Houston businesswoman and philanthropist.

In 1952, she and her husband opened the Eliza Johnson Home for Aged Negros. She was the "great-grandchild of a slaveholder and the grandchild of former slaves," and stories she heard about life in slavery had a deep effect on her. Dupree grew up poor, living in a two-room house with her five siblings, her parents, Dupree's mother "never permitted her to complain" of their poverty and "reminded her there were other children 'worse off' than she." She was noticed for her sewing skills by a Mrs. Zula Kyle, who hired Dupree to work for her in Houston in 1911.

Dupree "startled not only the community, but the whole United States with a gift of $20,000 (equivalent to $283,000 in 2018) for the construction of a building for underprivileged Negro children" in March 1944. This was considered one of the largest gifts ever given by a Southern black person at the time. The place was named the Anna Dupree Cottage of the Negro Child Center and was located in the Fifth Ward.

In 1952, the Duprees opened the Eliza Johnson Home for Aged Negros. The home was named in memory of Dupree's mother. Anna Dupree donated property in Highland Heights for the Eliza Johnson Home. Dupree would make fruit cobblers and fruit and boiled dumplings for the "old timers."

Dupree and her husband gave money to the Houston College of Negroes (Now Texas Southern University) and the United Negro College Fund. The couple gave $11,000 in 1946 to the Houston College of Negroes so that the college could construct its first permanent building. They also raised money for Camp Robinhood, the first black Girl Scout camp, and sponsored the first Little League baseball team for blacks in Houston.

When her husband died in 1959, Dupree's health declined and eventually she moved into the Eliza Johnson Home. She died there on February 19, 1977, and her body was donated to medical research.