Betty Hill ( civil rights leader ) Betty Hill ( 1876 – 1960 ) was an early 20th - century civil rights and women ’ s rights leader . Her efforts were significant in making certain that segregation and racial discrimination were unable to gain a foothold in Southern California as it did in the South . Early life . Betty Hill was born Rebecca Jane Lapsley around 1876 in Nashville , Tennessee . Her father built the first school for African Americans in Davidson County , Tennessee . It is believed that her grandfather purchased his wife out of slavery . She attended her father ’ s school and later attended public school in Nashville . She studied religion at Roger Williams University , an all - black institution in Nashville that was founded in 1866 . It originally opened as a college for ex - slaves , and one of its founders was her ( probable ) uncle Daniel L . Lapsley , an attorney and justice of the peace who was forced to leave the state due to racial persecution . Roger Williams University was closed in 1905 , reopened in 1909 , and merged with LeMoyne - Owen College in Memphis in 1927 . By 1898 she was married to a Buffalo soldier , also from Nashville , named Abraham Houston Hill , a sergeant in Company B of the 24th Infantry Regiment . At that time he was stationed in Oklahoma , but soon took part in the Spanish - American War . After a brief return to the United States he took part in the Philippine – American War of 1902 . His wife , Betty went with him . In 1905 , Sgt . Hill was noted as a distinguished marksman and expert rifleman who made the top score at the infantrymen ’ s competition for the United States Army , and his skill was reported in newspapers across the country . Later , after the retirement of their mutual friend Lt . Col . Allen Allensworth , the chaplain of the 24th Infantry , she reportedly briefly took over chaplain duties until a new chaplain was assigned for duty . If so , it is uncertain when exactly this was . Lt . Col . Allensworth retired from the Army on April 7 , 1906 , and his replacement , Rev . Washington E . Gladden of Denver , took over chaplain duties in early May , but Allensworth was reported to have been relieved from duty with his regiment and forced to retire on July 1 , 1905 . According to Claude Hudson , a long - time president of the Los Angeles NAACP , she held this role for a period of about nine months . In 1908 the couple was living at Madison Barracks , in Jefferson County , New York . Sgt . Hill retired from the Army in 1913 and the couple moved to Los Angeles , where Lt . Col . Allensworth retired to in 1905 . The Hills chose a modest home at 1655 W . 37th Place in Los Angeles , near the intersection of Exposition Blvd . and Western Ave . , in the West Jefferson District . It is less than a mile and half from the University of Southern California ( USC ) and Exposition Park . ( Today the house and homesite are listed as a Los Angeles Cultural Monument . ) Meanwhile Col . Allensworth participated in the formation of the historically black town of Allensworth in Tulare County , in central California . Many of the earliest residents of the town of Allensworth were retired members of the 24th Infantry . The Hills were among those who purchased land in Allensworth . Today the land is used for growing crops . Life in Los Angeles . After moving to Los Angeles , Mrs . Hill quickly became involved in a local church and taught Sunday school . She also became a political activist . Although she greatly respected Booker T . Washington and his emphasis on self - reliance , she also supported the move to political action promoted by W . E . B . Du Bois . In 1913 , Dr . John Somerville ( who , along with his wife Vada , were the first two black graduates of the University of Southern California [ USC ] School of Dentistry ) wrote a letter to the headquarters of the NAACP in New York saying that there was great interest in starting a chapter in Los Angeles . One of those mentioned was Rebecca Hill . The Los Angeles branch was founded in the home of the Somervilles the following year . The founders were the Somervilles , E . Burton Ceruti , Charles Alexander , John Shackelford , Betty Hill , Rev . Joseph Johnson , W . T . Cleghorn , and Dr . Charles Edward Block . Dr . Block became its first president and Ceruti , its legal advisor . On September 14 , 1928 , the Somervilles opened the Hotel Somerville on 4225 S . Central Ave . It was built to accept black visitors since other hotels in Los Angeles did not . Abraham Hill served on the advisory board when stock was issued on the hotel . Betty Hill was in attendance at its grand opening , which attracted about 5000 people . After the 1929 stock market crash it was sold and renamed the Dunbar Hotel ( after poet Paul L . Dunbar ) . It was the site for the first NAACP convention in the western United States . Next to the Dunbar Hotel laid the famous Club Alabam , originally the Club Apex and founded by musician Curtis Mosby . Performers , which not only included world famous musicians but actors and sports figures , stayed at the Dunbar while they visited the Club Alabam . In 1920 , Betty Hill helped form the Westside Homeowner ’ s Association to fight acts of bigotry and self - protection . Later she would use her position in this association to create a major victory in her battle for equal rights in Los Angeles . After the Los Angeles Playground Commission initiated a policy of discriminating against African Americans , Hill went into action . The Playground Commission created a policy where African Americans could only use the new city swimming pool in Exposition Park on " colored " days . Determined to win through persistence , she went to court and in 1931 Judge Walter S . Gates ruled against the racist policy . When the City Council was on the verge of appealing Judge Gates ’ decision , Betty Hill lobbied each city councilperson individually until the time for an appeal ran out . This became known as the infamous " swimming pool case . " On November 28 , 1929 , Hill founded the Women ’ s Republican Study Club . Political study clubs were fairly common for middle and upper class white women during the early 20th century , but this was the first of its kind for black women in California . Political study clubs existed since the late 19th century , growing in prominence as the passage of the twentieth amendment neared . Mrs . George Bass began Democratic study clubs in 1919 , and the Republicans quickly followed suite . Jeanette Carter ( 1886 – 1964 ) , a Washington DC attorney , founded the first Republican study club for women , called the Women ’ s Republican National Political Study Club in 1923 . Carter published two magazines in support of the club ’ s positions , The Political Recorder in 1925 , which was supplanted by her The Women ’ s Voice in 1939 . Carter ’ s club faltered by 1940 . Betty Hill ’ s Women ’ s Republican Study Club was , as Catherine Rymph writes , " one of the more vocal clubs . " It not only sought to promote African Americans and fight racial discrimination , it also fought against the New Deal and policies that were seen as collectivist and advanced the cause of the Republican Party . Being a realist , however , after the mass migration of African Americans from the Republican to the Democratic Party in the 1930s , she changed the name to the Women ’ s Political Study Club . During her 1945 visit to Washington , D . C . , she was appalled by the racial conditions that existed in the capital city of the United States . This was toward the end of World War II , after her friend Charlotta Bass and others had led the Double V campaign to end racial segregation in the military and at home . In response to what she saw , she composed a bill to end racial discrimination in the nation ’ s capital . Bill 5629 was sent to Congressman Gordon McDonough on February 28 , 1946 , who submitted it . It never made it to a committee and died . However , through Mrs . Hill ’ s Women ’ s Political Study Club , she was selected to go to Washington in person as an envoy to present President Harry S . Truman with a resolution condemning bias in the Capital . The resolution , signed by whites and African Americans , not only called for an end to bias in Washington but pointed out that many foreign diplomats leave the country with an impression that discrimination is government policy . Seeking support from what she believed were allies in the same cause , in September 1946 Hill sent a copy of the resolution to the president of the California Council of Republican Women , Barbara Whittiker . Unsure what to do , she consulted an advisor who said , " Leave it to Betty Hill to bring up with some headache . " Hill ’ s resolution was never brought up for discussion and the matter was dropped . Many of her efforts are responsible for the elimination of the Jim Crow dining room at Los Angeles General Hospital , securing the placement of the first Black Intern there , the first Black in the Department of History , and the first resident physician of internal medicine at Los Angeles General Hospital ; the first Black instructor in the Riverside public school system ; and the first Black in the Los Angeles County Department of Charities , Collection Department , the first black deputy sheriff , and the first black on the County Board of Morticians . Although officially President Franklin D . Roosevelt ended racial discrimination in the military , it still existed at that time . When the military refused to bring back World War II fighter pilot Captain William R . Melton to active duty , Betty Hill , the WPSC , and California Congressman Gordon L . McDonough went to work and got results . On February 6 , 1949 , Captain Melton received his orders to report to duty . Mrs . Hill encouraged furthering the education of young people . Afternoon tea parties raised money and facilitated funding scholarships for students to further their education . Some of these tea parties were given by the WPSC . However , a number of these scholarships were given through her active participation and as a supporter in Zeta Phi Beta sorority . Betty Hill was a founding member of the Los Angeles branch of the , National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP ) which was formed in 1913 . She served as a Vice President for over 12 years . Beyond her activities with the NAACP and the WPSC , she helped initiate the Urban League ' s Los Angeles chapter ; was a Republican State Central Committeewoman of Southern California , 63rd District ; was active with the Eastside Settlement House , and the National Council of Women ; was the first chairperson of Girls Reserve of the YWCA , 12th Street Branch ; the Vice - President of the Organization of National Defense , West Coast ; and was also a delegate to the 1940 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia , ( the first African American female west of the Rockies to serve as a delegate ) . Mrs . Hill was probably the first African American to run a political campaign . In 1932 Senator Samuel M . Shortridge , the state ' s junior senator ( the senior senator was Hiram Johnson ) , ran an uphill battle for re - election . After he supported a federal judgeship for a judge unpopular in Black America , Senator Shortridge lost a great deal of support among California ' s African American community . In a desperate move he asked Hill to manage his bid for re - election . She was never able to find sufficient support and he lost his seat in the Republican primary . Despite his loss , the fact that Shortridge chose Betty Hill is an indication of her power and influence . Additionally , it was a huge risk for a white senator to ask an African American woman to run a campaign while America was still in the throes of Jim Crow . ( The next African American woman to manage the campaign of a major white politician was not until 2000 , when Donna Brazile became Vice President Al Gore ' s campaign manager . ) Legacy . On May 16 , 1980 , with the support of Councilman Robert Farrell , the Denker Building at the Denker Senior Citizen Center was renamed the Betty Hill building in her honor . Then on June 6 , 1980 , the Denker Senior Citizen Center was renamed the Betty Hill Senior Citizen Center . Located at 3570 S . Denker Ave . , Los Angeles , it is less than a mile from her house on 37th Place . On April 13 , 2005 , after a vote of 12 - 0 before the Los Angeles City Council , and through the efforts of her great - grandniece , Betty Hill ’ s home at 1655 West 37th Place was designated Los Angeles Cultural Monument number 791 ( see List of Los Angeles Historic - Cultural Monuments in South Los Angeles ) .