Anna Langford was born in Springfield, Ohio to an African American father and a white mother. Both of her parents died when she was young. However, it was the circumstances of her mother's death which would having a lasting impact on Langford's life and her involvement with the civil rights movement. Her mother, who was white, was taken to an Ohioan hospital suffering from appendicitis. However, when her children, including Anna, who were biracial, came to visit their sick mother, the hospital immediately ordered her transferred to another hospital for African Americans. Langford's mother suffered a burst appendix while enroute to the second hospital and did not survive. Her mother's death, which was caused by racism and discrimination, would shape the rest of Langford's life.