Detroit Study Club facts for kids
The Detroit Study Club is a group for Black women in Detroit, Michigan. It was started in 1898 by African American women who wanted to learn more and help their community. This club began around the same time as many other Black women's clubs across the country. The women who created the Detroit Study Club first wanted to learn about books and important social issues. Later, they also started working to improve their community. In 2018, the group celebrated 120 years of continuous activity.
History of the Club
The Detroit Study Club began on March 2, 1898. Gabrielle Pelham and five friends met at Pelham's home. These friends were Fannie Anderson, Sarah Warsaw, J. Pauline Smith, Mrs. Wil Anderson, and Mrs. Tomlison. They met to talk about books, culture, and social topics. Pauline Smith was the club's first president.
At first, they called themselves the Browning Study Club. This was because they focused on the writings of Robert Browning. He was a popular British poet and playwright from the 1800s. He was married to the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning. The club chose a line from Browning's poetry as their motto: "Let man contend to the uttermost for his life’s set prize."
After five years, the group decided to study more than just Browning. They started to learn about other writers, art, religion, and history. In 1904, the women changed their name to the Detroit Study Club. But they promised to still have one meeting each year about Robert Browning's life and work. The Detroit Study Club was one of many groups in the Black Women's Club Movement. This movement was very important in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Helping the Community
The club members cared a lot about educating Black children. They also wanted to support older Black women. In 1897, Fannie Richards, a Study Club member, helped start the Phillis Wheatley Home for Aged Colored Ladies in Detroit. Richards was a very important public school teacher. She started the home with Mary McCoy. The Wheatley Home was a safe place for older Black women. For many years, members of the Detroit Study Club held a Christmas party for the people living at the Wheatley Home. They also gave five dollars each year for gifts.
In 1917, the National Association of Colored Women started a project to save Cedar Hill. This was the home of Frederick Douglass, a famous abolitionist, writer, and activist. The NACW bought and fixed up the home. They did this with help from clubs all over the country. The women of the Detroit Study Club sold special spoons to help pay for the home's purchase and upkeep.
Saving Cedar Hill and turning it into a memorial was important. It showed how much Black club women wanted to protect places that marked African American history. This honored the legacies of the Black past. The Detroit Study Club's involvement in this national effort showed how connected they were to many other club women. Cedar Hill is in Anacostia and is now a National Historic Landmark. The National Park Service takes care of it.
Important People
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- Gabrielle (Lewis) Pelham was the founder of the Detroit Study Club. She was born in Adrian, Michigan. She was the first woman to get a bachelor's degree in music from Adrian College. She was also the first person of color to have a formal job in Michigan State's Music Teacher Association.
- Lillian Johnson was a writer and an activist for civil rights and women's rights. She was the eighth president of the Detroit Study Club from 1918 to 1920. Johnson wrote many of the club's materials, like event programs, invitations, and speeches.
- Fannie Richards was a member of the Detroit Study Club. She was Detroit's first African American teacher. She worked hard to make Detroit public schools open to all races. She also helped American elementary education. In 1872, she asked school leaders to try a kindergarten program. This made Detroit one of the first U.S. cities to have kindergarten classes. Richards also helped start and was the first president of the Phillis Wheatley Home for Aged Colored Ladies in Detroit.
- Margaret (McCall) Thomas Ward created and kept the records for the Detroit Study Club. These records are at the Burton Historical Collection of the Detroit Public Library. She was the first leader of the club's history committee. Ward's mother, Margaret McCall, and her husband, James McCall, published two Black newspapers. These were The Emancipator in Montgomery, Alabama, in the 1910s, and the Detroit Tribune in 1933.
- The Honorable Geraldine Bledsoe Ford was a member of the Detroit Study Club. She was the first African American woman in the United States to be elected as a judge. Her mother, Mamie Geraldine Bledsoe, was also a member. Mamie was married to Harold Bledsoe, who was the first African American to be a state attorney general in Michigan.
- The Honorable Chief Judge Denise Page Hood is a member of the Detroit Study Club. President Bill Clinton appointed her to be a federal judge in 1994. This was for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. In 2016, Judge Hood became the chief judge for that court. She was the fourth African American to hold a chief judgeship in a federal court.
Being Recognized
On May 10, 1999, President Bill Clinton sent a letter to the Detroit Study Club. He congratulated them on their 100th anniversary. In April 2016, the Historical Society of Michigan honored the Detroit Study Club. They gave the club the Milestone Award for its long history. A plaque noted the group's contributions to Michigan's strength and growth.
