In the year 1952, The Democratic Party of Texas and the Harris County Democratic Party endorsed Republican Dwight Eisenhower over Democrat Adlai Stevenson. Angered by the actions of the Party, a group of 13 good Democrats met on December 9, 1952 to discuss the formation of a new political group that would support loyal Democrats at the local, state and national level. Among those at that meeting were Eddie Ball, Chris Dixie, Lonnie Smith, George Nelson, Eleanor Freed and Eleanor Ball. Plans were made to hold a meeting on March 2, 1953, Texas Independence Day, to see if there were other Democrats who felt as strongly about party loyalty as they did. One hundred and ten people did and they were at that March meeting – the first of the Harris County Democrats. That gathering, as was the one on the previous December, was integrated. That simple, but unusual for those times, act set the tone for HCD from that day on.

After electing J. Edwin Smith as the first chairman of HCD, the group set up committees and established goals. Goal number one was to elect Precinct Executive Committeemen (now called precinct chairs) - even women were called committeemen. They started by setting up an office at the Electrician’s Union Hall and began contacting other like-minded Democrats to build their membership. It was about this time that a woman of wealth, Mrs. Frankie Randolph, showed up at the HCD office to make a $1,000 contribution and ended up staying to become it’s guiding force for years to come. Mrs. Randolph began to organize – she put phones, typewriters and other office equipment in place and started to contact loyal Democratic Executive Precinct Committeemen to attend executive committee meetings and to find people to run for the committeemen positions against the Democrats who had supported the Party’s position on Eisenhower. Instead of just the elite group who had been running the party, all kinds of Democrats, minorities, working class, union people and progressives began to participate. They were so successful in their efforts that Eddie Ball was elected as Secretary of the County Party. That was a very big deal in 1953. That was followed in 1954 by the election of another HCD person, Tom Diamond, as Harris County Chairman.

When Billie Carr was 20, still too young to vote, she caught the political bug while volunteering for the Truman campaign in 1948. David, Billie’s husband, was elected president of his steelworker’s union in the fifties and they began to learn the political ropes by working with the union. They attended their first precinct convention in 1952 and soon met Mrs. Randolph. Frankie Randolph had assembled a staff and had hired Bud Mosier to be the Precinct Organizer and Teresa Green to be secretary for HCD. The office was open every day and volunteers were always there. Mrs. Randolph said that people would work longer if you feed them, so she had great food brought in to feed everyone. Billie Carr was one of those regular volunteers. Mrs. Randolph recognized her as a person who could organize and took Billie under her wing and began to teach and train her.

The 1950’s were not a time of inclusiveness. HCD had to hold its meetings in union halls because there were no other halls that would allow an integrated group. There is an HCD story that shows how the times were and how they began to change. In the mid fifties, HCD wanted to hold a banquet but was having difficulties locating a place that would accept black guests. Finally, the Rice Hotel agreed that HCD could have their banquet for all the members. But, there was a catch, it would have to be a buffet dinner and nobody could sit down. When some elderly African American women sat in the few chairs left in the room, the management quickly removed the chairs. This came to be known as “vertical integration”. A truly integrated banquet was later held at the Shamrock after it was bought by Conrad Hilton.

With the persistence, dedication and sheer will of HCD ‘s early leaders, HCD became the voice for liberal / progressive Democrats. They deserve our appreciation and our pledge to continue their good works.