Empire State Federation of Women's Clubs
The Empire State Federation of Women's Clubs (ESFWC) was founded in 1908 and is an umbrella organization for African-American women's groups in New York. The organization worked to help improve the lives of young women and helped care for Harriet Tubman until her death in 1913. The organization was affiliated with the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10978888/|title=Federation to Convene Next Week|date=27 June 1912|work=The New York Age|access-date=13 May 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} and worked with the NAACP.{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tmHEm5ohoCUC&q=%22Empire+State+Federation+of+Women%27s+Clubs%22&pg=PA504|title=The Encyclopedia of New York State|publisher=Syracuse University Press|year=2005|isbn=9780815608080|editor-last=Eisenstadt|editor-first=Peter|location=Syracuse, New York|pages=503–504|chapter=Empire State Federation of Women's Clubs}}
About
Alice Wiley Seay founded the Empire State Federation of Women's Clubs (ESFWC) in Brooklyn in August 1908.{{Cite web|url=http://meg.library.albany.edu:8080/archive/view?docId=apap041.xml|title=Empire State Federation of Women's Clubs Records|website=M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections & Archives|publisher=University of Albany|access-date=13 May 2017}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10978278/|title=New Federation of Women's Clubs|last=Lawton|first=M.C.|date=3 September 1909|work=The Bystander|access-date=13 May 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} The first convention took place at the Bethel A.M.E. Church in New York City in July 1909.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10975991/|title=Empire Federation Convenes|date=22 July 1909|work=The New York Age|access-date=13 May 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} The organization has created educational endowments. In 1933, they formed the Empire State Association of Youth Clubs for black girls.
The organization also saw that Harriet Tubman, who was living in poverty in the Tubman Home, would need continuing donations to support her care in her old age.{{Sfn|Humez|2003|p=113,115}} The ESFWC was sending Tubman $25 a month for expenses, which supplemented the $20 a month she received as a pension.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10978591/|title=Harriet Tubman Needs Federation Money, part 1|date=8 February 1912|work=The New York Age|access-date=13 May 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} Tubman's expenses came to around $40 a month.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10978805/|title=Harried Tubman Needs Federation Money, part 2|date=9 February 1912|work=The New York Age|access-date=13 May 2017|via=Newspapers.com}} The club has continued to honor Tubman's memory in various ways. In 1915, the group created a monument designed by Mrs. Jackson Stewart at Tubman's grave.{{Cite web|url=http://www.harriettubmanbiography.com/_wsn/page13.html|title=Auburn, New York|website=Harriet Tubman Biography|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227060032/http://www.harriettubmanbiography.com/_wsn/page13.html|archive-date=27 February 2008}} In 1974, the ESFWC paid tribute to Tubman at their annual convention, and over 300 women attending the convention visited the Tubman home.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11018406/|title=Willas Women's Whirl|date=31 August 1974|work=The Pittsburgh Courier|access-date=15 May 2017|via=Newspapers.com}}
Notable members
- Mary Frances Gunner (president)[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8809080/obituary_for_cicely_savery_gunner/ "Hillburn, N. Y."] New York Age (July 24, 1943): 9. via Newspapers.com{{open access}}
- Frances Reynolds Keyser (president)
- Maria Perkins Lawton (president 1916–1926){{cite web|last1=Delaney|first1=Ted|title=Black History Month: Chronicling Lynchburg's roots|url=http://www.newsadvance.com/lifestyles/black-history-month-chronicling-lynchburg-s-roots/article_33e1d984-2b37-5755-b4c2-9cf04e3bfdc2.html|website=The News & Advance|access-date=8 February 2018}}
References
= Citations =
{{Reflist}}
= Sources =
- {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k9l_lA3Inw4C&pg=PR4|title=Harriet Tubman: The Life and the Life Stories|last=Humez|first=Jean M.|publisher=The University of Wisconsin Press|year=2003|isbn=9780299191238|location=Madison, Wisconsin}}
External links
- [http://meg.library.albany.edu:8080/archive/view?docId=apap041.xml Empire State Federation of Women's Clubs Records]
{{Woman's club movement}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:1908 establishments in New York (state)