The Political Activities of Detroit Clubwomen in the 1920s

A Challenge and a Promise

Jayne Morris-Crowther

• Publisher: Wayne State University Press
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9780814338155
• eBook ISBN: 9780814338162
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

In the early 1900s, Detroit's clubwomen successfully lobbied for issues like creating playgrounds for children, building public baths, raising the age for child workers, and reforming the school board and city charter. But when they won the vote in 1918, Detroit's clubwomen, both black and white, were eager to incite even greater change. In the 1920s, they fought to influence public policy at the municipal and state level, while contending with partisan politics, city politics, and the media, which often portrayed them as silly and incompetent. In this fascinating volume, author Jayne Morris-Crowther examines the unique civic engagement of these women who considered their commitment to the city of Detroit both a challenge and a promise.By the 1920s, there were eight African American clubs in the city (Willing Workers, Detroit Study Club, Lydian Association, In As Much Circle of Kings Daughters, Labor of Love Circle of Kings Daughters, West Side Art and Literary Club, Altar Society of the Second Baptist Church, and the Earnest Workers of the Second Baptist Church); in 1921, they joined together under the Detroit Association of Colored Women's Clubs. Nearly 15, 000 mostly white clubwomen were represented by the Detroit Federation of Women's Clubs, which was formed in 1895 by the unification of the Detroit Review Club, Twentieth Century Club, Detroit Woman's Club, Woman's Historical Club, Clio Club, Wednesday History Club, Hypathia, and Zatema Club. Morris-Crowther begins by investigating the roots of the clubs in pre-suffrage Detroit and charts their growing power. In the end, Morris-Crowther shows that Detroit's clubwomen pioneered new lobbying techniques like personal interviews, and used political education in savvy ways to bring politics to the community level. An appendix contains the 1926 Directory of the Detroit Federation of Women's Clubs.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1. Early Twentieth-Century Detroit and the Beginning of Women’s Activism: “The Growing Power of Women’s Clubs in Detroit”
• 2. The Club Work of Enfranchised Women: “Vote, Women Vote”
• 3. Policies That Affect Women and Children: “We believe in the glory of woman,Her influence, her motherhood blest . . .”
• 4. Protecting the Home against Enemies: “If there is one thing that clubwomen the country over stand formore than another, it is the American home”
• 5. Home as Part of the Urban Environment: “The water supply and our garbage pails remind us that somethingis managed for us, not by us”
• 6. The Limits of Enfranchised Citizens: “Plan is not practical . . . it is just like a woman”
• Conclusion: “No effort is in vain; the reward is in the doing”
• Appendix: Directory of the Detroit Federation of Women’s Clubs, 1926
• Notes
• Selected Bibliography
• Index