Naomi Drake

Naomi Ruth (née Mason Drake; 12 February 1907 – 22 February 1987) was an American who became notable in mid-20th century Louisiana as the Registrar of the Bureau of Vital Statistics for the City of New Orleans (1949–1965), where she imposed strict racial classifications on people under a binary system that recognized only "white" and "black" (or all other). She unilaterally changed records to classify mixed-race individuals as black if she found they had any black (or African) ancestry, an application of hypodescent rules, and did not notify people of her actions.

In other cases, if people would not accept her racial classification, she refused to release the requested birth or death certificate. Her insistence on changing records to classify persons of any suspected African descent was similar to the racial zealotry demonstrated by Dr. Walter Plecker, state registrar of Virginia's Vital Statistics, and a major lobbyist for its Racial Integrity Act of 1924.

Career In 1938, in Sunseri v, Cassagne (191 La. 209, 185 So. 1 - affirmed on rehearing in 1940, 195 La. 19, 196 So. 7) - the Louisiana Supreme Court proclaimed traceability of African ancestry to be the only requirement for definition of colored.

Not everyone accepted Drake's actions, and people filed thousands of court cases against the office to have racial classifications changed and to protest her withholding legal documents of vital records. This caused much embarrassment and disruption, finally causing the city to fire her.

Drake was fired in 1965. In her hearing before the Civil Service Commission, she justified her office's changing records because they "knew" families were Negro. The practices did not cease with her exit.