Cincinnati Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs “Lifting As We Climb” . The Cincinnati Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs (CFCWC) was organized May 6, 1904, during a meeting called by Mary Fletcher Ross at the Allen Temple A.M.E. Church. Gathering together eight existing African-American women’s clubs, the CFCWC sought to unite in their work promoting “the betterment of the community.” At a time when both government and private philanthropies overlooked the needs of Black Americans, CFCWC members helped to organize the city’s first kindergartens for Black children, taught in Cincinnati African-American public schools –including the Walnut Hills Douglass and Stowe schools, and raised money for the Home of Aged Colored Women. Since 1904, the Cincinnati Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs has ensured the civic and constitutional rights of all African Americans while meeting the needs of their city. ,
Cincinnati Federation Clubhouse . The Cincinnati Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs has contributed to African-American education and social welfare in the city for more than a century. Early member groups met in private homes and church halls until they were able to raise subscriptions for a clubhouse. In 1925, the CFCWC purchased the C. H. Burroughs Residence designed by Samuel Hannaford. The 1888 Queen Anne mansion provided ground-floor meeting rooms and, during the 1920s-1930s Great Migration, the upstairs offered much-needed housing to young African American women seeking employment in the north. On October 27, 1946, the clubs gathered for a service of thanksgiving and mortgage burning. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, the clubhouse remains the hub of CFCWC gatherings as they continue their work to “Lift As We Climb.”
Cincinnati Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs
“Lifting As We Climb”
The Cincinnati Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs (CFCWC) was organized May 6, 1904, during a meeting called by Mary Fletcher Ross at the Allen Temple A.M.E. Church. Gathering together eight existing African-American women’s clubs, the CFCWC sought to unite in their work promoting “the betterment of the community.” At a time when both government and private philanthropies overlooked the needs of Black Americans, CFCWC members helped to organize the city’s first kindergartens for Black children, taught in Cincinnati African-American public schools –including the Walnut Hills Douglass and Stowe schools—and raised money for the Home of Aged Colored Women. Since 1904, the Cincinnati Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs has ensured the civic and constitutional rights of all African Americans while meeting the needs of their city.
Cincinnati Federation Clubhouse
The Cincinnati Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs has contributed to African-American education and social welfare in the city for more than a century. Early member groups met in private homes and church halls until they were able to raise subscriptions for a clubhouse. In 1925, the CFCWC purchased the C. H. Burroughs Residence designed
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by Samuel Hannaford. The 1888 Queen Anne mansion provided ground-floor meeting rooms and, during the 1920s-1930s Great Migration, the upstairs offered much-needed housing to young African American women seeking employment in the north. On October 27, 1946, the clubs gathered for a service of thanksgiving and mortgage burning. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, the clubhouse remains the hub of CFCWC gatherings as they continue their work to “Lift As We Climb.”
Erected 2021 by Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile Jr. US Bank Foundation • Cincinnati Federation of Colored Women's Clubs • The Ohio History Connection. (Marker Number 99-31.)
Location. 39° 7.871′ N, 84° 29.184′ W. Marker is in Cincinnati, Ohio, in Hamilton County. It is in Walnut Hills. It is on Chapel Street east of Monfort Street, on the left when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1010 Chapel St, Cincinnati OH 45206, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the American Midwest and in the Ohio River Valley. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, and the Northwest Territory.
Other nearby markers.
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, May 28, 2024
Also see . . . 1. Cincinnati Federation of Colored Women's Clubs. In 1904, eight local Black women’s organizations across Cincinnati came together to form the Cincinnati Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs (CFCWC). Their stated purpose was for “the betterment of the community and the race at large, by bringing together the various clubs for unity and action and exchange of ideas in the furthering of race progress." (Andrea Gutmann Fuentes and Sue Plummer, Clio: Your Guide to History, June 3, 2020) (Submitted on May 30, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)
2. C.H. Burroughs Residence (PDF). Ohio Historic Inventory form on the house, which was part of a group of Hannaford-related structures
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, May 28, 2024
listed on the National Register in 1980. (via National Archives) (Submitted on May 30, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)
Credits. This page was last revised on October 11, 2024. It was originally submitted on May 29, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 588 times since then and 48 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on May 29, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
