Enolia Pettigen McMillan (October 20, 1904 – October 24, 2006) was the first female national president of the NAACP

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to...

.

Born Enolia Virginia Pettigen in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania

Willow Grove, Pennsylvania

Willow Grove is a census-designated place in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. A community in Philadelphia's northern suburbs, the population was 15,726 at the 2010 census. It is located in Abington Township and Upper Moreland Township...

, the daughter of Elizabeth Fortune Pettigen and John Pettigen, Enolia Pettigen attended Frederick Douglass High School

Frederick Douglass Senior High School (Baltimore, Maryland)

Frederick Douglass High School known locally as Douglass is a public high school located in Baltimore, Maryland, US. Established in 1883 as the Colored High and Training School, Douglass is the second oldest historically integrated public high school in the United States...

 and later Howard University

Howard University

Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...

 with the help of a scholarship from Alpha Kappa Alpha

Alpha Kappa Alpha

Alpha Kappa Alpha is the first Greek-lettered sorority established and incorporated by African American college women. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of nine students, led by Ethel Hedgeman Lyle...

 and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in education in 1926.

She became a teacher in 1927 in Caroline County, Maryland

Caroline County, Maryland

Caroline County is a wholly rural county located in the U.S. state of Maryland on its Eastern Shore. It is bordered by Queen Anne's County to the north, Talbot County to the west, Dorchester County to the south, Kent County, Delaware, to the east, and Sussex County, Delaware, to the southeast. As...

. McMillan received a master's degree

Master's degree

A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...

 in 1933 from Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

. Her thesis was entitled Some Factors Affecting Secondary Education for Negroes in Maryland Counties (Excluding Baltimore).

She married Betha D. McMillan, Sr. in 1936. After retiring from teaching in 1968, she became president of the NAACP from 1984 to 1990.

Pettigen McMillan died October 24, 2006, in Stevenson, Maryland

Stevenson, Maryland

Stevenson is an unincorporated community located in the northern section of Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It serves as the location of the central campus of Stevenson University . It is also home to St. Timothy's School, an all-girls boarding and day high school...

 from heart failure just four days after celebrating her 102nd birthday.

Sources

• Frances N. Beckles. "Enolia Pettigen McMillan" in 20 Black Women: A Profile of Contemporary Black Maryland Women. Baltimore, MD: Gateway Press, 1978. pp. 92–99
• Adam Bernstein. "Enolia McMillan; First Woman to Lead NAACP". The Washington Post, October 26, 2006 p. B7
• "Enolia Pettigen McMillan" in Notable Black American Women, Gale Research, 1992. ISBN 978-0787664947
• Nicole Fuller and Kelly Brewington. "‘Matriarch of NAACP’ dies at 102". The Baltimore Sun
  The Baltimore Sun
  The Baltimore Sun is the U.S. state of Maryland’s largest general circulation daily newspaper and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries....
  
  , October 25, 2006 p. 1A, 9A
• Carolyn B. Stegman. "Enolia Pettigen McMillan" in Women of Achievement in Maryland History. Forestville, MD, 2002. p. 37-38.