Phillis Wheatley Club facts for kids
The Phillis Wheatley Clubs are special groups for women, started by African Americans in the late 1800s. The very first club began in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1895. Many of these clubs are still active today! These clubs were named after the famous poet Phillis Wheatley.
The main goal of Phillis Wheatley Clubs was to make their neighborhoods and the lives of people better. They often worked on important social changes. Some clubs even helped with ending segregation (keeping people of different races apart) and getting voting rights for everyone.
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What the Clubs Did
Phillis Wheatley Clubs focused on improving their communities and helping people. They were involved in many good causes.
In New Orleans, for example, the Phyllis Wheatley Club started a hospital in 1896. This hospital was special because it was the only training hospital for Black doctors and nurses at that time!
The Chicago club was founded in 1896 by a group of Black women, led by Elizabeth Lindsay Davis. This club created a safe home for young women who didn't have a permanent place to live. It was the first club for Black women in Chicago. The first Phyllis Wheatley Home in Chicago opened in 1908. It helped many Black women who moved to the city during the Great Migration. The club's last building is hoped to be restored and turned into a public exhibit about Black women's history.
The New Orleans club, started by Sylvanie Francoz Williams, also opened a kindergarten and day care for working mothers. This club also worked for Black women's right to vote. In Nashville, Tennessee, the club bought a home for older women in 1925. The club in Billings, Montana, helped to end segregation in their city and offered scholarships for young women. Some clubs, like the Phyllis Wheatley Progressive Club in Pennsylvania, even opened a night school in the late 1920s.
Many clubs also encouraged learning. The Chicago club focused on Black literature. Clubs often gave books to public libraries to celebrate Black History Month. The club in Atlanta helped build a reading room, also named after Phillis Wheatley. In Buffalo, the club celebrated 30 years since the end of slavery by putting on a play. The club in Racine, Wisconsin, brought in talented Black performers like Maud Cuney Hare and William H. Richardson in 1921. The Charleston, South Carolina club hosted events with famous Black leaders and artists such as Marian Anderson, Mary McCleod Bethune, Countee Cullen, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Langston Hughes. The club in Coshocton, Ohio, also promoted Black history by creating a yearly program about important Black figures.
To pay for their charity work and other projects, the clubs held fundraisers. These events included balls, dances, theater shows, and musical performances. In Tampa Bay, the Phyllis Wheatley Club held an annual "Defense Dance" to raise money. Clubs also raised money for other non-profit groups, like the NAACP.
Some clubs worked with the YWCA, while others worked on their own. The first club in Nashville joined the National Federation of Colored Women's Clubs (NFCWC) in 1897. Other clubs, like the Fort Worth Phyllis Wheatley Club, also joined the NFCWC.
Early club members were often professional women or married to important men in the community. However, some clubs had younger members or members from many different backgrounds. Many Phillis Wheatley Clubs have been active for a long time, even into the 21st century. The El Paso, Texas club celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2005!
Club History Timeline
The Phillis Wheatley Clubs started in the late 1800s and grew across the country.
1890s
The very first Phillis Wheatley Club was formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1895. Another club started in Chicago in 1896, focusing on improving neighborhoods and helping those in need. It was one of the first groups for African American women in Chicago. Detroit's Phillis Wheatley Club began in 1897. Mame Josenberger started the club in Fort Smith, Arkansas, in 1898. She later became president of the Arkansas Association of Colored Women.
1900s
The Newark, New Jersey Phillis Wheatley Club was founded in 1909. This club focused on literature and reading. Musette Brooks Gregory, who worked for voting rights and civil rights, was one of the presidents of the Newark Club.
1910s
In Cleveland, Jane Edna Hunter started a group in 1911 that later became the Phillis Wheatley Association. The El Paso, Texas Phillis Wheatley Club began in 1915. Charleston, South Carolina, started its club, named the Phillis Wheatley Literary and Social Club, in 1916. Another club was founded in 1918 in Billings, Montana, with Mattie Hambright as its first president. This Billings club continued its work until 1972. Dora Bell started a club in Racine, Wisconsin, in 1919. The Fort Scott, Kansas club also began in 1919 to "study current topics, civics and economics."
1930s
In 1932, a club in Passaic, New Jersey, worked to raise $5,000 to create a community center for Black residents. The Coshocton, Ohio, club started in 1933, just a few months before the 159th anniversary of Phillis Wheatley's book of poems. The Coshocton club was connected with the YWCA and was started by Thelma Crowthers.
Important Members
Many inspiring women were part of the Phillis Wheatley Clubs:
- Jane Edna Hunter, who founded the Cleveland group.
- Mame Josenberger, who started the Fort Smith, Arkansas group.
- Vivian Osborne Marsh.
- Drusilla Nixon.
- Mary Burnett Talbert, one of the founding members of the Buffalo, New York group.
- Sylvanie Francoz Williams, who founded the New Orleans club.
See also
- Phillis Wheatley
- Phyllis Wheatley YWCA
- Woman's club movement
