THE FRIENDS OF BEULAH SHEPARD LEGACY
Who is Beulah Ann Raleigh Shepard!
Political Icon and Community Activist Known as the unofficial "Mayor of Acres Homes"
A small town girl from a rural community in Plain Dealing Louisiana.
Shaking things up, getting things done
Born June 14, 1921 Died September 11, 2010
Born and raised in the rural community of Plain Dealing Louisiana. Beulah and her family worked in the fields chopping and picking cotton, receiving 50 cents per 100 pounds. Education was very important to Beulah, who received only a formal education through the seventh grade in Louisiana and was largely self-taught.
Early in life she wasn't able to vote, in 1948 she moved to Texas and paid $1.50 for her first poll tax. A fee paid for the right to vote.
Her first exposure to politics was as a volunteer with Lyndon B. Johnson between the 1948 U. S. Senate campaigns, the experience taught her to attend rallies while studying candidates and their platforms.
Beulah became a Constituent Liaison for veteran Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner, E. A. "Squatty" Lyons after he heard of her political activism as a community aide. Beulah has received invitations to the White House and met 35th President John F. Kennedy, 36th President Lyndon B. Johnson, 39th President Jimmy Carter, and 42nd President Bill Clinton. She lived to cast her last vote in 2008, for the 44th and first African American President, Barack Obama. Politicians both local and state, city council members, and others sought her advice. They looked for her endorsement and she in turn had 24-hour access to them. If you wanted political office, she had the power to help you get it.