Introduction

Many would say that Eartha M.M. White was a prominent African American female leader in Jacksonville. However, what do people mean when they call her a “leader”? How did the primarily elite and middle-class African American women that supported Black America before the Civil Rights Movement view their activities and work? What did leadership and organizing mean to them? This exhibit explores several ways black women in Jacksonville and the United States more broadly supported their local communities, negotiated new boundaries to gendered behavior, and worked together to contribute to the black freedom struggle in the United States.

Black women’s work within the church laid the foundation for their efforts to support their local communities through humanitarian aid. Club work was a more secular extension of women’s service, providing official leadership opportunities within national, state, and city organizations like the National Association of Colored Women. In matters of educating the youth and providing an alternative black legacy within a discourse dominated by racist ideas, black women served in important roles as educators and historical preservationists. To work towards racial equality, black women played the role of diplomat negotiating better representation and treatment within American politics. Often at the same time, they worked as political agitators employing direct action and focused campaigns to achieve specific goals.