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Madie Hall-Xuma

A. B. Xuma's wife, Madie Hall-Xuma and a prestigious figure in middle-class social circles, she headed the African National Congress Women's League (ANCWL) from 1943 until 1948. She was born Madie B. Hall in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and met Xuma, then a widower, on his visit to the United States in 1937-1938.

She was at that time completing a master's degree in education at Columbia University, and she subsequently studied social work at Atlanta University.

In 1940 she married Xuma and came to South Africa, where she was active in women's organisations and as a fundraiser for the African National Congress (ANC). She was a founder of the popular Zenzele self-help movement and in 1955 was elected president of the national council of the South African Young Women's Christian Association.

Following Xuma's death in 1962, she returned to the United States.

References

Gerhart G.M and Karis T. (ed)(1977). From Protest to challenge: A documentary History of African Politics in South Africa: 1882-1964, Vol.4 Political Profiles 1882 - 1964. Hoover Institution Pres: Stanford University.