U.S. and state lawmakers, past and present NAACP leaders and university administrators all sung praises for Enolia McMillan, the first female president of the NAACP, at her funeral Monday in Baltimore City.

“Without her voice and cajoling, this community has gone through a great loss,” said Kweisi Mfume, former president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

“She always said, ‘We believe colored people come in all colors’ … so now I begin every speech that way.”

The daughter of a former slave, McMillan, 102, died Tuesday after a half-century of teaching and fighting for racial equality.

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Called “Ms. Mac” by admirers, McMillan fought for equal pay for teachers and better school conditions and transportation for black students.

She became the first black female principal in 1928 and the first black administrator of a former all-white school, Baltimore’s Clifton Park Junior High, in 1956.

Her efforts selling NAACP buttons raised more than $200,000 for the organization.

All the while, she remained steadfastly thrifty — she wore the same blue dress for 30 years — and humble, family and friends said.

Even as NAACP president, she refused complimentary tickets to conventions and lectures, always insisting on paying for admittance.

“But grandmommy, you’re the president. You don’t have to pay,” Tiffany McMillan, her oldest granddaughter, would tell her. “ ‘But I want to.’ ”

Her 1933 master’s thesis at Columbia University was titled “The Factors Affecting Secondary Education for Negroes in Maryland Counties.”

“Mayor [Martin] O’Malley, Gov. [Robert] Ehrlich, maybe we ought to take [her thesis] out and take another look at that again,” U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski said, prompting the packed Calvary Baptist Church in Baltimore to erupt with applause.

“But for her, my law school class wouldn’t have been 50 percent women,” Maryland first lady Kendel Ehrlich said.

Local leaders, including Ehrlich, O’Malley, U.S. Sen. Paul Sarbanes, U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, state Sen. Nathanial McFadden, current NAACP President Bruce Gordon and Baltimore NAACP President Marvin Cheatham Sr., also paid tribute.

She is survived by her son, Betha McMillan Jr., daughter-in-law, Lois McMillan, and grandchildren, Angela Howell and Tiffany, David and Sally McMillan.

In her own words

“Do something that shows you care. Display an attitude of tolerance and understanding. Be a role model of sincerity and dependability.”

Source: “Strong Black Women Keep Coming On,” 1990

kvolkmann@baltimoreexaminer.com