Lulu Craig

Lulu Mae Sadler Craig (1868–1972), sometimes called Lula, was an early homesteader of southern Colorado. She was a historian, educator, and civic leader. Her records of the Black settlements in Kansas and Colorado have been valuable documents in recording the history of homesteaders.

Biography Lulu Sadler was born on August 12, 1868, in Platte County, Missouri.

Her parents were Meridee or Merriday George Sadler and Harriet Ellen Samuels, who were former slaves. She had 7 siblings. Her family moved from Missouri to Kansas in 1872, traveling in a covered wagon. Nicodemus was settled by "exodusters", former slaves who left the south and migrated to Kansas. The settlement was advertised with promises of free land and freedom from racism, but the family only found dugouts dug into the ground where the residents stayed.

She also served on the Nicodemus election board in 1914, which was rare for a woman.

Craig taught at the one room schoolhouse, called Prairie Valley School, from 1916 until it closed in 1933. The school also served as a church and a community center, where Craig started a literary society that met there.

Happy Birthday Mrs. Craig is still an important film in Black history, and is still shown to students.

Scholar Justin Hosbey argues that Craig's work is often overlooked by ethno-historians and official NPR historians "because Black women's narratives and their construction of Nicodemus's heritage resists the masculinist prerogatives of the [National Park Service]'s historiographical frameworks, which privilege political, economic, and military spheres that were dominated by men." In conversation with the Nicodemus Historical Society, Hosbey found that scholars did not include Craig's work and other oral histories because they could not corroborate with "concrete" historical sources. A top officer of the National Park Service described the descendant narratives as "myths" rather than important local folklore that explored relationships between the Black community and Native Americans.

Published works L.S. Craig. A History of Nicodemus: Graham County, Kansas, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas. Happy Birthday Mrs. Craig