Holly Adrienne Hogrobrooks (September 8, 1940 – January 22, 2016) was an American civil rights activist and journalist in Houston, Texas. She was a leader of the Progressive Youth Association, active in student protests against racial segregation in 1960 and 1961.

Holly Hogrobrooks
BornSeptember 8, 1940
Houston, Texas, USA
DiedJanuary 22, 2016
Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Occupation(s)Activist, journalist

Early life

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Houston Sit-in Historical Marker

Holly Hogrobrooks was born in Houston, the daughter of Theodore Marcus Hogrobrooks and Euneida Mae Goens Hogrobrooks.[1][2] She attended the Mather School in South Carolina.[3] As a student at Texas Southern University, she was a founding member of the Progressive Youth Association, and its successor, the Sit-In Foundation.[4][5]

Career

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In 1960, while she was a college student, Hogrobrooks organized the first sit-in protest against racial segregation at a Houston lunch counter,[6][7][8] and worked with Freedom Riders in 1961, to desegregate train stations.[9][10] She was jailed at least twice for her civil rights activism. She was later a journalist at the Houston Informer and the Houston Forward Times, worked in public relations,[11] and taught at her alma mater, Texas Southern University, until she retired in 2000.[4][12]

Personal life

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Hogrobrooks married Joseph D. Brown in 1969. They divorced in 1979. She was survived by a daughter when she died in 2016, aged 75 years, in Memphis, Tennessee.[4]

References

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  1. ^ "Obituary for Euneida Goens Hogrobrooks (Aged 87)". Tyler Morning Telegraph. 1997-05-07. p. 26. Retrieved 2021-02-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Texas Southern University | Houston Civil Rights Movement pioneer and TSU alumna Holly Hogrobrooks passes". Texas Southern University. Retrieved 2021-02-02.
  3. ^ Gloster, Norma (1953-12-26). "By the Bayous". The Pittsburgh Courier. p. 9. Retrieved 2021-02-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b c Causey, Lenzi (2016-02-03). "Houston civil rights pioneer Holly Hogrobrooks dies at 75". Chron. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
  5. ^ Cole, Thomas R. (2012-04-09). No Color Is My Kind: The Life of Eldrewey Stearns and the Integration of Houston. University of Texas Press. pp. 89–90. ISBN 978-0-292-74367-0.
  6. ^ Lazard, Chandrelle (July 27, 2020). "Texas Southern University Icon Remembers 60th Anniversary of the first Houston Sit-In". KTSU2. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
  7. ^ Beeth, Howard; Wintz, Cary D. (1992). Black Dixie: Afro-Texan History and Culture in Houston. Texas A&M University Press. pp. 214–215. ISBN 978-0-89096-494-1.
  8. ^ Gaines, Edwene (March 3, 1960). "Religious Students Rumored Aiding TSU Strike Group". Houston Cougar. p. 25. Retrieved February 2, 2021 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  9. ^ Anderson, Michael (May 2017). "Eldrew Stearns and Houston's Civil Rights Movement" (PDF). Houston History Magazine. 14: 23–27.
  10. ^ McArthur, Judith N.; Smith, Harold L. (2010-08-25). Texas Through Women's Eyes: The Twentieth-Century Experience. University of Texas Press. p. 155. ISBN 978-0-292-77835-1.
  11. ^ Burkins, Glenn (1988-03-30). "Art Gallery Proves to be a Real Eye-Opener". Tampa Bay Times. p. 142. Retrieved 2021-02-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Nelson-McNaulty, Demetria (2016-02-08). "In Memoriam: Holly Adrienne Hogrobrooks, 1940-2016". The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
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