In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

conclusion Black women’s work in the NAACP was the foundation upon which the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s was built. Women activists drew together broad social and professional networks under the auspices of a committed integrationist and politically minded association . Indeed, in Louisiana there would have been no NAACP at all if it had not been for this group. Women’s participation in the civil rights struggle created a stable NAACP presence in the South through the maintenance of local branches. Their efforts enabled the organization to take advantage of a growth in its membership during times of general black political mobilization , such as World War II. They adapted their social and political networks, such as the churches, to work for the NAACP, which could then channel community feeling toward specific civil rights aims, like voter registration and antilynching campaigns. The New York–based NAACP understood the influence of these women and made it an organizational policy to tap into community networks to establish branches, raise money, campaign, and spread its message across the United States. An example of this is the Masonic lodges’ contribution to the early establishment of the NAACP in the Deep South. The women’s auxiliaries to the Knights of Peter Claver and the Knights of Pythias gave crucial organizational experience to the NAACP, a tradition established during the clubwomen’s era, and also offered membership numbers and financial sponsorship to the fledgling association. This focus on the community did not fundamentally change during the 1930s; indeed, the Great Depression did little to alter women’s traditional roles, and women’s roles in the NAACP, although pivotal, continued to circle around their traditional areas of expertise. Moreover, the NAACP tended to be a highly bureaucratic and centralized body that sent continual missives to its branches demanding financial contributions, which emphasized fundraising, another province dominated by women and their local networks . Black women suited such a network-centered model of local leadership . They maintained community contacts on various levels, most notably as teachers, and had the advantage of a wide perspective on civil rights activity that influenced much of their organizational lives. 138฀฀/฀฀in v isible฀activ ists Their roles as educators alongside their professional associations, such as Parent Teacher Associations and their unions, gave them direct access to a local community, and their social status permitted certain financial latitude to speak on political matters. Charity and church work was an extension of their commitment to a better community existence both within and beyond segregation. Individual concerns could also interweave with local issues and have wider implications for civil rights causes and racial uplift. For instance, the New Orleans teacher Fannie C. Williams had interests in education, racial pride initiatives, health day programs for children, and the Republican Party, as well as the NAACP. This wide focus and integrated approach to career, philanthropy, and other personal commitments made her and other women’s participation in civil rights a comprehensive ideological proposition. While civil rights work combined individual and collective involvement , there was also a strong personal connection to the cause by families . The majority of NAACP branches in Louisiana survived because of the personal connections of its long-term membership, in which certain family names became virtually synonymous with civil rights organizing. The Baton Rouge and Monroe NAACPs were led by family groups that maintained membership levels through the 1920s and 1930s. The Johnsons of Monroe are a prime example of a family that persistently supported the NAACP through at least two decades. This could mean the difference between existence and nonexistence when national guidelines required more than fifty members to charter and maintain a branch. Businesses, Masonic lodges, and family ties provided a firm foundation for the Louisiana NAACP. For instance, the Greens of New Orleans were not only members of the city’s branch from the 1920s through to the 1940s but were also major financial contributors to the NAACP. Indeed, the Greens were one of the wealthiest black families in New Orleans, with their grocery business and involvement with the Liberty Independent Life Insurance Company. They were major figures in the Knights of Pythias Masonic lodge, and were involved in many racial uplift groups. Nevertheless, individual women also contributed to the NAACP without necessarily having family links to other members. Such a person was Mrs. G. G. Willis of New Orleans, who was twice married, was a successful businesswoman, and contributed her wealth and social standing to...

Share