{"id":19003,"date":"2026-02-11T07:00:39","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T07:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/?p=19003"},"modified":"2026-01-27T05:30:52","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T05:30:52","slug":"colored_womens_clubs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/11\/colored_womens_clubs\/","title":{"rendered":"A View from the Vault: State Federation of Colored Women\u2019s Clubs of Delaware"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Kallie Comradelle, doctoral student from the Department of English<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The State Federation of Colored Women\u2019s Clubs\u00a0of Delaware was one of many chapters of the National Association of Colored Women\u2019s Clubs (NACWC), which concerned itself with\u00a0a range of\u00a0social causes\u00a0including\u00a0civil rights and women\u2019s suffrage. The Delaware chapter\u00a0was\u00a0particularly interested in education as a means of social welfare, as the chapter\u2019s members\u00a0were\u00a0largely associated\u00a0with Howard High School\u00a0–\u00a0the first, and for a long time\u00a0<\/span>only<\/span><\/i>, high school\u00a0for Black students\u00a0in the state of Delaware. The Delaware chapter also\u00a0was\u00a0responsible for\u00a0the creation and establishment\u00a0of the Industrial School for Colored Girls, which helped to house and\u00a0educate\u00a0\u201cdelinquent\u201d\u00a0African American\u00a0girls, as well as\u00a0those\u00a0who were orphaned or impoverished.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While\u00a0doing research for\u00a0the current Special Collections exhibition\u00a0<\/span>Lifting As We Climb: Churches, Schools and the Formation of Delaware\u2019s Free Black Communities<\/span><\/i><\/a>, I was particularly excited to find\u00a0this pamphlet for the 1926 annual convention of the State Federation of Colored Women\u2019s Clubs of Delaware in the\u00a0<\/span>Alice-Dunbar Nelson papers<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0From the moment we started planning our exhibition, I was\u00a0drawn to stories of the African American women who shaped Delaware society in the early 20<\/span>th<\/span>\u00a0century.\u00a0From my research,\u00a0I knew\u00a0that women\u2019s clubs like the Delaware chapter of the NACWC existed, but I struggled to find evidence of their history\u00a0and activities.\u00a0Locating this pamphlet amongst the many folders of ephemera in the Dunbar-Nelson papers felt like a triumph and\u00a0an important step\u00a0towards recovering and repairing\u00a0historical silences about the history of Black Americans and, more specifically, Black women.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The pamphlet is simple, outlining the schedule for the 1926 annual convention, which was held at Ezion M.E. Church in Wilmington. The cover features the quote\u00a0we used as inspiration for the\u00a0title\u00a0of our\u00a0exhibition,\u00a0\u201cLifting\u00a0As\u00a0We Climb,\u201d which also\u00a0was\u00a0the motto of the National Association\u00a0of Colored Women\u2019s Clubs. Mrs. Alice Dunbar-Nelson, who taught at Howard High School and helped\u00a0establish\u00a0the Industrial School for Colored Girls, is\u00a0listed as a member of the convention\u2019s\u00a0\u201cProgram Committee.\u201d\u00a0The pamphlet\u00a0also credits\u00a0a \u201cGroup of Girls from the Industrial School\u201d as providing the music for the event.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You can see\u00a0this pamphlet and other materials from Special Collections in our current exhibition\u00a0<\/span>Lifting As We Climb: Churches, Schools and the Formation of Delaware\u2019s Free Black Communities<\/span><\/i><\/a>, on view from February 2 through August 7,\u00a02026\u00a0in the Morris Library Information Room. We also hope\u00a0you\u2019ll\u00a0join us for a special exhibition tour and panel discussion on February 26 from 4:00-6:00\u00a0pm.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cA View from the Vault\u201d showcases some of the unique, notable or rare items that are a part of the Special Collections and Museums holdings at the University of Delaware. Each month, we highlight a different work and share interesting facts or intriguing histories about it. If you are interested in seeing any of the materials featured in person or want to learn more about any work showcased in the series, please contact Special Collections and Museums at <\/span>AskSpec<\/span><\/a> or <\/span>AskMuseums<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Kallie Comradelle, doctoral student from the Department of English\u00a0   The State Federation of Colored Women\u2019s Clubs\u00a0of Delaware was one of many chapters of the National Association of Colored Women\u2019s Clubs (NACWC), which concerned itself with\u00a0a range of\u00a0social causes\u00a0including\u00a0civil …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":180,"featured_media":19004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[17,4,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-museums","category-news","category-special"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-22 23:37:06","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19003"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/180"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19003"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19008,"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19003\/revisions\/19008"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}