Cookie
Lee
Paul
According
to the 1931 Dallas, Texas city directory
Cookie Lee Paul was a domestic
at Maple Avenue Apartments; she resided at
3616 Thomas Avenue.
The first mention of Cookie Lee Paul was
in The
Kerrville Times'
edition dated October 1, 1936 in which an
article, "Darky Girl Who Cut
Up Rival's Togs Is In Jail House Now," was
printed. The incident which
landed Cookie was over the failure of her
boy friend to keep a date
with her and who later she found in the
company of another girl.
Witnesses testified that the boy
friend had promised to
return to
the appointed time and place shortly for
their date. When he
failed to returned, Cookie suspected foul
play and, as assumed, found
him with another girl whereupon Cookie
pulled a sharp blade which
caused both the third girl and the young
man immediately escaped to
safer ground. With nothing else to
take her vexation on,
Cookie
proceeded to use the blade instead on the
rival's clothing, shredding
them into small remnants and carving up a
pair of shoes.
Cookie
was assessed a fine of $50 and costs
totaling $69.50 for which she was
remanded to jail in default of payment.
(The
Kerrville Times,
October 1, 1936, pg.1)
Later
she moves south 65 miles to San Antonio
where he life style changes to
that of an elite member of African
American society and activism.
Cookie Lee Paul was frequently in
"Jo's Jottings" social
affairs.
One article stated that she was
hostess to a beautifully
appointed breakfast in July 1942 honoring
past Presidents and members
of the executive board, Mr. and Mrs.
Everett Bumbrey, house guests of
Cookie's; the guest count was 75.
The attendants of the
social
event were important people in the African
American activist ranks from
areas across the state.
On
January 1, 1945 Cookie Lee married Willie
Randol Merriweather in Collin
County, Texas. The Dallas, Texas
1945-1947 listed Cookie Lee
as
owner of Paul's Rest Home, located at 1104
E. 9th. The 1947
Dallas City Directory shows a change in
Cookie's marital status to Mrs.
Cookie L. Merreweather; she was clerk at
Sun Mutual Burial Association.
Willie P. Merreweather was a
salesman for Sun Mutual Burial
Association. They both resided at
1104 East 9th.
Moving
from San Antonio, Texas to Denison, Cookie
Lee Paul was involved in
local African American affairs.
Grayson County Deed Records
show
that Paul's Rest Home, aka "Paul Lee Rest
Home" or "Cookie Lee Paul
Rest Home" was located at 330 East Texas
Street. 1953-1959.
An
advertisement in the paper advertises her
rest home as "the Heaven for
the aged and blind and veterans and notes
the facility has doctors and
registered nurses on staff. (The Denison
Press,
February 13, 1948) In June of the
same year Mrs. Cookie Lee
Paul advertised for a Practical Nurse
for her Rest Home, with
interviews conducted at 1717 East
Houston Street. (The San
Antonio Register,
June 25, 1948)
Editor's
Note:
Cookie Lee is using her maiden name,
Paul, by 1948 but retains "Mrs."
as her marital status.
In
1954, Cookie Lee brought aged neighbors to
the tax office to get their
poll tax exemptions. Among the group
were at least three
people
who claimed to be over the age of 100 -
Charley D. Tucker and Ben
Gilbert; the third person was Sarah Perry
who recalled that her son was
stolen when an infant by "cowboys" and
that she had never seen him since.
The
photographs were taken by Texoma Radio Co.
Carl Whitton was
listed as a professional photographer and
owner of Texoma
Photo
Supply at 126 W. Chestnut. (The Denison
Press,
Friday, March 16, 1956, pg. 6)
As
early as May 1956 six Negro citizens,
representing the local branch of
the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People"
attended the school board meeting to read a
prepared statement to know
what the results of a study of integration
regarding the Denison school
system had shown. Cookie Lee Paul was
the only woman among
the
six that was present for the meeting; C.H.
Organ was spokesman for the
group The attorney for the Denison
school district, Charles
Gullett, responded to their request by
stating that school was making a
comprehensive study of the problems related
to the problems of the
present school plant in order to be in
compliance with the opinion of
the United States Supreme Court. (The Denison
Press,
May 25, 1956).
On
Wednesday in December 1980 a
fire, which began in a wood stove
about
9:15 a.m., swept through the nursing home on
Wednesday, December 30,
1980. Two elderly women were
killed in the fire as
they lay
in their beds. (New Braunfels
Herald-Zeitung,
Wednesday,
December 30, 1980, pg. 6) The fire
spread too quickly, fed by
an
abundance of clothing, mattresses and
papers, for the fire department
who arrived 10 minutes after the report was
received that a fire was
burning in the dilapidated building.
The collapse of the roof
pinned the women to their beds. At
least 4 and possibly 6
were
living in the house. Ed McKinney
escaped and stated that he
saw
the fire in a couch in a middle room.
(The
Times -
Shreveport, Louisiana, January 1, 1981, pg.
4)
Cookie Lee Paul died October 11, 1986 at the
age of 71 and is buried
at Rosehill Garden in Marshall, Harrison
County, Texas
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