Halena Wilson

Halena Wilson (1897 – April 16, 1975) was an American activist, educator, and cooperative movement leader based in Chicago. She served as president of the Ladies Auxiliary to the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters from 1930 to 1956.

Biography Wilson was born in Denver, Colorado and educated in Denver public schools. As an adult, she described her childhood self as “a troubled young girl who wanted to do good”. Wilson felt “aimless and unproductive” Before her political/activist career, Wilson “became active in a number of social and civic movements and served as a Worthy Matron of the Order of the Eastern Star, a group with which she remained actively affiliated for a number of years.” The ethos of the Economic Council was to play a supporting role in the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP), founded by A Phillip Randolph in 1925, though there was an "open membership policy that allowed the women to address non-union matters."