Maude Ballou

Maude Lerita Williams Ballou (September 13, 1925 – August 26, 2019) was an American civil rights activist. She and her husband were personal friends of Martin Luther King Jr. and she worked as King's secretary between 1955 and 1960.

Early life Maude Ballou was born in Fairhope, Alabama on September 13, 1925. Her mother was Mary Parker Williams and her father, a Baptist minister, was Reverend Hillary Parker Williams. She grew up in Mobile, Alabama and attended Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, graduating with a degree in business in 1947.

Maude married Leonard Ballou, a music instructor who was a friend and fraternity brother of Martin Luther King Jr. They moved to Montgomery, Alabama in 1952. She and her husband frequently visited and hosted the Kings.

David Garrow, a historian of the Civil Rights era, noted Ballou's pivotal role in King's work: "You look through the papers of the Montgomery period, and up to 85 percent of the signatures are in Maude’s hand. There’s no question that she’s running his life, that she’s the number one person he’s relying on to get the work done.”

Personal life Ballou and her husband had four children.

Later life Ballou later moved to North Carolina, where she worked for several decades as a middle and high school teacher and college administrator.