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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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