Chicago Defender founder and publisher Robert Sengstacke Abbott created Bud Billiken in 1923 for the Defender Junior, the newspaper’s children’s page. The Bud Billiken Club encouraged reading, good behavior, and community involvement. Though based in Chicago, club membership was open to children across the country, and 14 year-old Christine McDaniel quickly applied.

Chicago Defender, 3 March 1923.

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In the 1920 census of Wilson, Wilson County: widow Mamie McDaniel, 36, laborer; daughter Christian, 11; roomer Mattie Allen, 29, cook at Wilson Sanatorium; and brother Thomas Hicks, 18, cafe cook.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: widow Minnie McDaniel, 58; daughters Christine Smith, 27, teacher at Turner School, and Erma L. McDaniel, 14; and roomers Mozelle Simms, 22, and Lizzie Rogers, 20, both cooks.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Minnie McDaniel, 64, widow; son-in-law Robert Armstrong, 29, local hospital orderly; wife Christine, 35, elementary school teacher; and lodger Emma L. Armstrong.