Hazel N. Dukes, an early and unwavering crusader for civil rights who survived personal, professional and political setbacks to serve for nearly a half-century as the perennial president of New York State’s N.A.A.C.P., died on Saturday at her home in Harlem. She was 92.

Her death was announced by her son, Ronald.

From 1990 to 1992, Ms. Dukes was the national president of the venerable civil rights organization formally known as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. She was also president of the organization’s New York State conference from 1977 until her death, as well as the founder and president of Hazel N. Dukes & Associates, a consulting firm that focused on strategic planning.

“She has been a fearless advocate for equal educational opportunity and has participated in the development of some of the nation’s most important advancements for early childhood education,” Leon W. Russell, the chairman of the N.A.A.C.P. national board of directors said in a statement.

Mr. Russell noted that Ms. Dukes made her voice heard as recently as last month at a national board meeting.

Former Gov. David Paterson of New York, who knew Ms. Dukes as a neighbor on Long Island, described her in an interview as “omnipresent, someone who when she came into a room you knew she was there and didn’t leave until it was accomplished.” Her legacy, he added, “was that she didn’t see any boundaries that she couldn’t cross if she thought it was necessary to correct a situation that was unfair.”

Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state and U.S. senator from New York, said in a statement that Ms. Dukes “was a fearless and indefatigable force on the front lines of civil rights.”