National Association of Colored Women
| Officers elected at the first meeting of the National Association of Colored Women, July 1896 | |
| President | Mrs. Mary Church Terrell |
| First Vice President | Mrs. Fanny Jackson Coppin |
| Second Vice President | Mrs. Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin |
| Third Vice President | Mrs. F. E. W. Harper |
| Fourth Vice President | Mrs. Josephine Silone Yates |
| Fifth Vice President | Mrs. Sylvanie Williams |
| Sixth Vice President | Mrs. Ella V. Chase Williams |
| Seventh Vice President | Mrs. Lucy Thurman |
| Recording Secretary | Mrs. Alice Ruth Moore |
| Corresponding Secretary | Miss A. V. Thompkins |
| Treasurer | Mrs. Helen A. Cook |
| Chairman of the Executive Committee | Mrs. Margaret Murray Washington |
| National Organizer | Mrs. Victoria Earle Matthews |
| Editorial Staff | Mrs. Margaret Murray Washington, Dr. Rebecca Cole, Mrs. Rosa D. Bowser, Mrs. Ida Wells-Barnett, Mrs. Frances J. Jackson |
| Ways and Means Committee | Mrs. J. Napier Kemp, Miss Lulu Chase, Mrs. Ella Mahammitt, Miss Julia F. Jones |
| Committee to Draft Constitution | Mrs. A. V. Jones, Mrs. Anna Jones, Mrs. C. L. Franklin, Mrs. Rosa D. Bowser, and Mrs. V. E. Matthews |
| Other significant attendees | Mrs. John H. Smyth |
The National Association of Colored Women 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 African-American Women, the Woman's Era Club of Boston, and the National League of Colored Women of Washington, DC, at the call of Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin. From 1896 to 1904 it was known as the National Association of Colored Women (NACW). It adopted the motto "Lifting as we climb", to demonstrate to "an ignorant and suspicious world that our aims and interests are identical with those of all good aspiring women." When incorporated in 1904, NACW became known as the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs (NACWC).
“In 1895 an obscure man in an obscure Missouri town sent a letter broad-cast over this country and England, reflecting upon the character and morals of our Women. So utterly false were the vile statement, that the women were aroused as never before and when Mrs. Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, President of the New Era Club of Boston, called a meeting of protest in July 1895, the indignant women from North, South, East and West flocked to the “Classic Hub”, and in no uncertain terms vindicated the honor of the Race. The National Federation of Colored Women’s Club was the result of that meeting, with Mrs. Booker T. Washington at its head. However, another National organization, the Women’s Loyal Union, with Mrs. Cooke (née Helen Appo Cook) as President existed at Washington and the women soon realized that two organizations so identically similar could not work harmoniously as separate units. Therefore, the two organizations met in July 1896, and each appointed a committee to arrange for a consolidation, which was effected and the National Association of C.W.C came into existence with Mrs. Mary Church Terrell, of international fame, as President. This joint session was attended by some of the most notable women of our Race, among whom were Harriet Tubman. Francis E.W. Harper, poet and writer, Victoria E. Matthews, founder of the White Rose Mission of New York, Josephine S. Yates, teacher and writer, an others. Mrs. Ida B. Wells Barnett and Elizabeth Lindsay Davis were the delegates from Illinois.” Elizabeth Lindsay Davis, N.A.C.W.C. Historian, 1933
The National Association of Colored Women (later National Association of Colored Women's Clubs) was established in Washington, D.C., on July 21, 1896. This first of what would later become biennial convention meetings of the association was held at the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church. The organizations attending this convention included the National Federation of Afro-American Women, the Women's Era Club of Boston, and the National League of Colored Women of Washington, DC, the Women's Loyal Union as well as smaller organizations that had arisen from the African-American women's club movement. These organizations and later others across the country merged to form the National Association of Colored Women. The organization helped all African-American women by working on issues of civil rights and injustice, such as women’s suffrage, lynching, and Jim Crow laws.
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