Eula Hudgens was raised in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She moved to Greensboro in the mid-1950s to attended North Carolina A&T State University, and continued to work at A&T as a librarian in the sixties. There she often came in contact with the "Greensboro Four," particularly Joseph McNeil, who worked in the library as a student.
Hudgens was active in civil rights issues, and participated in an early freedom ride that was likely part of CORE's Journey of Reconciliation program in 1947. She was active in the local NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) chapter, the Pearson Street YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association), the Chamber of Commerce's Community Unity Council, and efforts to ease the integration of schools.