Minnie Flanagan, (1902-1987), an African American Civil- Rights leader, was born in 1902 in Chandler, Texas. She moved to Dallas in 1918 where she became involved with the civic affairs of the city. From 1937 to 1949 Minnie Flanagan was active in the Democratic Progressive Voters League and became one of two women on the league’s executive committee. She also served on the National Metropolitan Council of Negro women and with the Dallas Negro Chamber of Commerce. In the 1950s, with her husband, she opened the Oak Cliff Youth Center in their home, thus providing a place for Dallas teenagers to meet on weekends. By day, the center functioned as a nursery for working black mothers. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s her interest in civil rights increased. She worked to organize, and participate, in demonstrations against segregated cafeterias and public facilities in Dallas. She served as president of the Dallas NAACP from 1959 to 1961. In 1986 her achievements were recognized by the bestowal of the NAACP Heritage Award. In her last years she gave dedicated service to the American Cancer Association. Minnie Flanagan died in May 1987.