ASALH 2025 Conference Presentation - Black Women Legacies

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, African American women recognized that they were excluded from the dominant history narratives and were determined to write themselves into history. Clubwomen and girls deliberately created their own histories, heroes, and heroines. They engaged in insurgent education practices that rejected the dominant narratives by naming their clubs, as well as institutions-- such as homes for working girls and young women, kindergartens, old age homes, and more--after their own contemporary and past Black women leaders. Rejecting historical narratives that did not recognize or name them, Black women and girls took control of history as a means of celebrating themselves. Named clubs served as public history memorials for Black women, from Mary B. Talbert Clubs…