North Carolina Federation of Negro Women’s Clubs
This post is part of our virtual event, “She Changed The World,” commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment. Thanks to our assistant site manager, Leslie Leonard, for this blog post.
In 1895, Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin issued a national call to organize the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs, by 1896 it was formed and Mary Church Terrell was voted as the first president of the organization. During the next ten years, the NACWC became involved in campaigns in favor of women’s suffrage and against lynching and Jim Crow laws. By 1909, Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown, Minnie S. Pearson, Cottie Dancy Moore, Maggie Jones, and Julia M. Warren, would follow the example of the NACWC and found the North Carolina Federation of Negro Women Clubs as an outgrowth of the National Association, developed to uplift the finer “Negro” womanhood. The federation consisted of social service organizations focused on issues that affected women, children, and communities of color in North Carolina.
Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown was not only an integral participant in founding the North Carolina Federation of Negro Women’s Clubs, she won the presidency of the federation in 1912. By 1916, she served on the national board of directors of the NACWC. Her national prominence enabled the women of North Carolina to gain access to the country’s most dedicated women activists, and many local clubs benefited from the connections.
The group’s motto, “Lifting as we climb,” helped to illustrate the philosophy that drove the generations of women who participated in the Federation’s various clubs throughout the state. Members promoted the importance and value of human life and the constant desire for acceptance and worth. The issues that are closest to the heart of the NC Federation include fundraising for educational scholarships, providing Braille resources for the blind, raising awareness for sickle cell, advocating for children, youth and senior citizens, and supporting the NAACP.
In 1920, several southern Black club leaders recognized there were unique issues that were attributed to legal segregation in the South and several women’s clubs joined together to form the Southern Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs. Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown became the chair of that executive board.
The organization hosted the 60th biennial and 120th Annual Convention of the National Association of Colored Women’s Club and Youth Affiliate in Concord, N.C. in July 2016. You can find many of the archival materials at North Carolina Central University and digitally at DigitalNC.org.
