Hazel Nell Dukes

Dukes was born on March 17, 1932, in Montgomery, Alabama. She was the only child of Edward and Alice Dukes. She enrolled at Alabama State Teachers College in 1949 hoping to become a teacher. However, after moving to New York City with her parents in 1955, she started school at Nassau Community College majoring in Business Administration.

While living in Roslyn, on Long Island, she worked to combat discrimination in housing.[1] She worked for President Lyndon B. Johnson's "Head Start" program in the 1960s. In 1966, she took a position at the Nassau County Attorney's Office, becoming the first black American to do so. She eventually worked as a community organizer for the Nassau County Economic Opportunity Commission (EOC) and taught children who were living in poverty.

Dukes graduated from Adelphi University in 1978 with a bachelor's degree. She remained consistently outspoken throughout the Reagan and Bush presidencies during the 1980s and into the 1990s. Dukes' main concerns were education reform and advancement of civil rights.

From 1989 to 1992, Dukes served as the national president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).[2][3] Dukes was also made president of the New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation (NYCOTB) in 1990, twenty-five years after she had been doing social work there.[4]

In 1997, she pleaded guilty to attempted grand larceny. She admitted to stealing $13,000.00 from a disabled NYCOTB worker who had allowed her to manage the worker's credit union account while Dukes was a manager of that organization.[5][6]

Dukes has been recognized for her many years of commitment to justice and activism. She received a Candace Award for Community Service from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women in 1990.[7] In 2017, the Women's Black Agenda presented her with its Economic and Business Award, as part of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's annual conference.[8] She was awarded the Empire State and Nation Builder Award by the New York State Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislators, and was recognized by the New York State Senate in 2018.[9] In 2019, a plaque honoring Dukes was placed on 137th Street and Adam Clayton Boulevard in Harlem.[10][11]

In January of 2023, Dr. Dukes swore in Kathy Hochul as governor of New York.[12] In March 2023, a street in Roslyn Heights, New York, where Dukes once lived, was given the honorary name of "Dr. Hazel Dukes Way".[13]

New York mayor Rudy Giuliani publicly condemned her management of NYCOTB, saying that the organization lost money under her leadership.[5][6]

• Turnquests, Joshua. "A Tribute to Hazel Nell Dukes." NAACP Connect. NAACP, 2014. Web. 29 Oct. 2014.