White Rose Mission facts for kids

The White Rose Mission was an important organization created on February 11, 1897. It was also known as the White Rose Home for Colored Working Girls and the White Rose Industrial Association. Two African American leaders, Victoria Earle Matthews and Maritcha Remond Lyons, started it.

The Mission was a safe place, like a community center, in New York City. It offered shelter, food, and help to African American women arriving from the southern United States and the West Indies. Many of these women were looking for work and a new life.

Helping New Arrivals

Victoria Earle Matthews and Maritcha Remond Lyons knew that young African American women faced many dangers when they arrived in New York City. Some people tried to trick them or offer them bad jobs.

Volunteers from the White Rose Mission met women at piers, docks, and train stations. They offered help and guidance. This was very important because other traveler services often did not help African American women. The White Rose Mission made sure these women had a safe start.

Why the Mission Was Needed

Victoria Earle Matthews had been enslaved before. She became a strong leader who worked to improve society. She studied the difficult working conditions faced by young African American women.

Matthews noticed that other groups of young, lonely women had many places to go for help. But for Black girls and women, there was almost nothing. So, she gathered a dedicated group of people who shared her goal. This group included educator Maritcha Remond Lyons and poet Alice Dunbar Nelson.

After the Civil War, many African Americans moved to New York City. They often found it hard to get good jobs or find safe homes. They also faced poverty, unfair treatment, and violence because of their race. The White Rose Mission was created to help with these big problems.

Services Offered

The White Rose Mission gave shelter and food to women who had just arrived and needed help. It also helped them find jobs. At that time, African American workers were often only allowed to do low-paying jobs. The Mission aimed to help women find good jobs as skilled housekeepers in middle-class homes.

The Mission also taught women important skills for housekeeping. These included cooking, sewing, serving, and doing laundry. It also had a clean room where women who were members could meet visitors.

Learning and Growth

Over time, the White Rose Mission offered even more services that African Americans could not easily find elsewhere. These included classes to help women learn and grow. They also offered lessons on how to raise children.

The Mission even had a special savings program called the Penny Provident Bank. This helped women save small amounts of money.

The Mission's Library

The White Rose Mission had a very special library. It contained books and materials about the history and achievements of African and African American people. This was one of the most important early collections of Black history materials.

The library included:

• A 1773 book of poems by Phillis Wheatley.
• An 1859 issue of the Anglo-African Magazine.
• A first edition of An Appeal in Favor of that Class of Americans Called Africans by Lydia Maria Child.

Important Speakers and Clubs

The Mission regularly held lectures. In 1908, Hubert Harrison gave classes on race history. He was a writer, speaker, and activist who helped start the "New Negro Movement."

Hubert Harrison also helped create a book club at the White Rose Home. He gave talks about the time after the Civil War, known as the Reconstruction era. He also led the Home's Boys Club.

After Victoria Earle Matthews passed away in 1907, Frances Reynolds Keyser became the director of the White Rose Mission. She led the Mission from 1907 to 1912.

Mission Locations

When it first opened in 1897, the White Rose Mission was located at 217 East 86th Street in New York City.

In 1918, the Mission moved to a new location at 262 West 136th Street. It continued to operate from there until it closed in 1984.