03/03/2024
As we kickoff Women’s History Month, we want to recognize the oldest clubs organized by African American women. Formed in 1908 in Richmond, Virginia, our own Treble Clef and Book Lovers' Club (TCBLC) is a social, nonprofit organization comprised of women who possess an affinity for literature and music. It is one of the oldest Black book clubs in the United States. The club was established by Mrs. Mary Simpson and the club's founding members were Mrs. Annie Hughes, Mrs. Ellen Russell, Mrs. Emma Roper, Mrs. Blanche Burke, and Mrs. Lucille Barco. Initially, the members were married ladies whose husbands were the faculty of Virginia Union University. Today, the Treble Clef and Book Lovers' Club is composed of single, married, and widowed women who hold prominent positions in education, business, health and other industries. Many are professional musicians and published authors.
TCBLC was founded at a time where other African American women’s associations were being formed and thriving. Let’s recognize “Four African American Women's Clubs That Helped Write History.”
Phyllis Wheatley YWCA—Washington, D.C. (picture)
The oldest YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association) building in the nation’s capital sits just a few blocks south of Howard University, whose Founders Library is a National Treasure of the National Trust. Washington’s chapter of the YWCA was organized in 1905 by several African American women who shared membership in a booklover’s club. They held their first meetings in the old Miner Institution Building before their present Colonial Revival-style headquarters could be constructed in 1920, financed in part with funds appropriated by the national YWCA’s War Work Council.
F***y Jackson Coppin Club—Oakland, California
Named in honor of the first African American woman to become a school principal, the F***y Jackson Coppin Club was founded in 1899 by members of the Beth Eden Baptist Church. Its priority was to provide African American travelers who could not stay at segregated hotels welcoming places to spend a night (a kindred spirit with Victor Hugo Green, author of the Negro Motorist Green Book which included 60 YWCA's). But in keeping with its motto—“Not failure, but low aim is the crime”—and its namesake’s impact as an educator, the club introduced services that benefitted more members of the community, such as tutoring for students and musical performances featuring artists like world-renowned tenor Roland Hayes.
Detroit Study Club—Detroit (pictures)
The Detroit Study Club began modestly in 1898, when six learned African American women gathered at the home of music teacher Gabrielle Pelham to read works by British poet Robert Browning and further educate themselves on cultural and social issues of the time. Soon the scope of the club’s meetings expanded, and not just in terms of its reading list.
The Grand Old Lady—Washington, D.C. (Picture)
The National Association of Colored Women's Clubs (NACWC) is an American organization that was formed in July 1896 at the First Annual Convention of the National Federation of Afro-American Women in Washington, D.C., United States, by a merger of the National Federation of Afro-American Women, the Woman's Era Club of Boston, and the Colored Women's League of Washington, DC. As the first permanent headquarters of the NACWC, the five-story “Grand Old Lady” is both a guardian of the past and a steward of the future for a storied organization. It was constructed in 1910 and served the Knights of Columbus before the NACWC’s purchase in 1954. Today it houses records, artifacts, and more that document the NACWC’s history since its establishment in 1896, while also maintaining its use as administrative offices and meeting spaces.
