Enolia McMillan

Enolia Pettigen McMillan (October 20, 1904 – October 24, 2006) was an American educator, civil rights activist, and community leader. She was the first female national president of the NAACP.

Early life Born Enolia Virginia Pettigen in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, she was the daughter of Elizabeth Fortune Pettigen and John Pettigen, the latter a former slave. When she was eight years old, the family moved to Maryland in search of improved educational opportunities. Enolia Pettigen attended Frederick Douglass High School in Baltimore, Maryland and later Howard University in Washington, D.C., with the help of a scholarship from Alpha Kappa Alpha. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in education in 1926.

She retired from teaching in 1968. In 1969, she defeated Juanita Mitchell to become president of the Baltimore branch of the NAACP. During her presidency, the National Office was threatened with bankruptcy in 1976 due to legal proceedings against it in connection with a 1966 boycott of white merchants in Port Gibson, Mississippi. She launched a fundraising drive to help defray expenses, and her efforts resulted in the Baltimore branch raising the largest local contribution of $150,000. During her tenure, she also helped black businesses to receive federal contracts, and, in 1985, led a protest in Washington against South Africa's apartheid system. In 1975, she was named the first female chair of the board of regents at Morgan State University.

Awards and honors She was inducted into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame in 1990. She was awarded an Honorary Degree in Public Service from The University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 1991. In 2000, the street near the NAACP's Baltimore branch was renamed Enolia P. McMillan Way.