A Historic Civil Rights Home Reopens its Doors in Fair Park

For more than 30 years, Juanita J. Craft was a trailblazing leader and passionate advocate for the Black community in Dallas. Until her death in 1985, she was a vocal fighter for civil rights and led the charge to desegregate the Texas State Fair. She did much of her work from a home she purchased in 1950 on a corner near Fair Park in the Wheatley Place Historic District.

Craft willed her house to the city of Dallas upon her death, and since 1994, it has operated as a public historical site. In 2018 a sprinkler pipe burst in the house, causing serious damage. After a lengthy restoration that cost more than $1.4 million, the site is once again open to the public.

A press release from the city said Craft wanted her bungalow-style house to be used “for civic use as a place where people of all backgrounds could visit and learn how to become a change-maker.” Craft’s Warren Avenue home is designated both as a Dallas City Landmark Commission site and a Texas Historic Landmark property and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“Dallas is a better city because of Juanita J. Craft’s extraordinary contributions to racial and social justice,” Dallas Mayor Eric L. Johnson said in the city’s statement. “Ms. Craft was a remarkable civil rights icon, and it is an honor to reopen her historic home to the public. Dallas residents now and for generations to come will benefit from this restoration project.”

In 2021, Texas Monthly profiled Craft in its “Texans You Should Know” series and discussed her house, which over the years hosted an array of notable civil rights figures including Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King Jr. and former President Lyndon Johnson. The article outlined just how proactive and productive Craft was in mobilizing a segment of the population that was still developing a voice, one that was constantly being stifled.

“She was a high-ranking figure in the local NAACP, joining in 1935 and remaining an active member until her death 50 years later. She helped establish 182 NAACP chapters across the state," the article read. “Craft also spearheaded a boycott against the State Fair — which since 1936 had allowed Black Dallasites to attend only on what was called ‘Negro Achievement Day’ — via the Dallas Youth Council, which she had helped organize and which would become the model for youth organizations in NAACP chapters around the country.”

On the page dedicated to the house and museum, the National Park Service noted that Craft, who also served on the Dallas City Council at the age of 73, "consistently sat in 'whites only' sections, refusing to move" on train trips around the state and that she "joined demonstrations against the segregated University of Texas Law School and North Texas State University, each resulting in successful lawsuits in 1950 and 1955."

With the restoration out of the way, Candace Thompson, director of the Friends of Juanita Craft Civil Rights House and Museum, takes a cue from Craft by forging ahead with a tremendous amount of hope.

“We look forward to sustaining this house with viable programming inspiring new community leaders for positive change and ultimately establishing the house as a stop on the Civil Rights Trail,” Thompson said in the release. “We exist to make Ms. Craft’s request a reality when she spoke these words, ‘It is my hope that after I am gone, people of all backgrounds will visit my house and come to understand that individuals can make a difference, and to appreciate the importance of service to the community and nation.’”

The Juanita J. Craft Civil Rights House & Museum, 2618 Warren Ave., is available for public tours by appointment only. To schedule a tour or for more information, call the city of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs at 214-670-3687 or visit the website.