The Women’s Club Movement

March 4, 2022

|In Black History in Two Minutes (or so), Season 2

Black women have been no stranger to organizing since America’s earliest inception. But it would be during the Reconstruction era that Black women were able to elevate their messaging and form their own group called the Women’s Club.

Focused on holding America to its founding principles, women across the country gathered to highlight injustices like lynching. The success of these meetings led to the formation of the National Association of Colored Women, where the group’s scope widened to include issues, such as voting rights, housing, and other race-related matters. Despite many male figures protesting women as they utilized their voices, the Women’s Club movement became a vital part in supporting women and their right to speak and organize.

In this episode of Black History in Two Minutes or So hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr. — with additional commentary from Daina Ramey Berry of the University of Texas, Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham of Harvard University and Imani Perry of Princeton University — we look at how women uplifted one another as they climbed their way to the top.

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Archival Materials Courtesy of:
• Eartha M. M. White Collection, Thomas G. Carpenter Library, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, Florida
• Library of Congress
• The New York Public Library

Additional Archival Material Courtesy of:
• The Appeal
• The Chicago Tribune
• The Crisis
• The Gazette

Executive Producers:
• Robert F. Smith
• Henry Louis Gates Jr.
• Dyllan McGee
• Deon Taylor

Senior Producer:
• William Ventura

Series Producers:
• Chinisha Scott
• William Ventura

Executive in Charge of Production:
• Robert L. Yacyshyn

Post Production Supervisor:
• Veronica Leib

Post Production Coordinator:
• Katherine Swiatek

Written By:
• Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Additional Writing:
• Kevin Burke
• Kelsi Lindus
• Chinisha Scott
• William Ventura

Editors:
• Margaret Metzger
• Anne Yao

Producer:
• Kevin Burke

Archival Producer:
• Megan Graham