ABSTRACT
Claudia Alta Taylor was born in Karnack, Texas, on December 22, 1912, to Thomas Jefferson “T. ].”Taylor and Minnie Patillo Taylor. Her parents were married in 1900 and already had had two sons: Thomas, J r,. and Antonio. When Claudia was a child, she acquired the nickname “Lady Bird,” which stayed with her for the rest of her life. Comparing her to the ladybird beetles of East Texas, an AfricanAmerican cook in the family said that the child was as pretty as a lady bird. Her efforts to shake loose from the nickname during her youth proved futile.
