Victoria Earle Matthews

Victoria Earle Matthews (née Ella Victoria Smith, May 27, 1861 – March 10, 1907) was an American author, essayist, newspaperwoman, settlement worker, and activist. She was born into slavery in Fort Valley, Georgia and, with her family, moved to New York City after emancipation. She attended school and worked as a domestic servant to help her family.

As a married woman, Matthews became involved in women's clubs and social work, at a time when the settlement movement started in Great Britain in 1884 was influencing American social work in major cities. In 1897 Matthews founded the White Rose Industrial Home for Working Class Negro Girls, also known as the White Rose Mission, a settlement house for young black women, to provide them with safe housing, as well as education, and life and job skills.

Victoria Earle was born into slavery in 1861 in Fort Valley, Georgia. Shortly after she was born, her mother Caroline Smith ran away from her master, leaving Victoria and her older sister. Her mother reached New York, where she planned to earn enough money to purchase her freedom and that of her daughters. In 1869, Smith returned to Georgia to reunite with her daughters and seek custody of them. She was the first black woman to be recognized in Georgia's court system. Smith and her daughters returned to New York City.

Brown (1988) describes the young Victoria Earle as “gentle, respectful to elders, affectionate and most helpful to all who seemed to need her services.” (p. 208) In New York, she attended public school but had to withdraw to help support her family. Earle became a domestic servant and found that the home she worked in had a full library. The owner discovered Earle reading but gave her permission to do so when she had time. Earle worked harder to finish tasks in order to read and learn.

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