Club Movement Teacher Guide Sisters in Service
Teacher Facilitation Guide
Duration 50 MIN
Learning Objectives
Analyze the social and political threats that catalyzed the Black Women's Club Movement.
Define and apply the concept of intersectionality to historical activism.
Compare the missions and methods of the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) with other Progressive Era organizations.
Lesson Timeline
5m
Warm-Up: Slogan Analysis
Students predict differences in goals between "Lifting As We Climb" and "Votes for Women."
10m
Video Viewing: Crash Course
Note: Contains content warning (1:19) regarding sexual violence. Use the guiding question: "How did their mission differ from male-led organizations?"
20m
Activity: Comparative Venn Diagram
Comparing NACW to the GFWC (General Federation of Women's Clubs) or early NAACP.
15m
Closing: Exit Ticket & Reflection
Summarizing the necessity of intersectionality in social movements.
Materials
Lifting As We Climb Slides
Sisters in Service Worksheet
Perspective Shift Exit Ticket
Key Concepts
Intersectionality
Addressing overlapping identities (race + gender) to solve unique forms of oppression.
Self-Help Philosophy
Community improvement through education and social services (e.g., kindergartens, libraries).
Discussion Guide & Answer Key
Video Pause Point (6:03)
"Lifting as we climb." How does this motto reflect the responsibility felt by middle-class Black women toward their entire community?
Key Insight: Unlike individualistic success, these women saw their personal advancement as inextricably linked to the survival and elevation of the Black masses.
Video Pause Point (7:30)
Why did the Great Depression trigger a shift from "self-help" to "structural change"?
Key Insight: The scale of economic collapse was too large for community clubs alone to solve. It required federal intervention and political power, leading to Bethune's work with the Roosevelt administration.
Venn Diagram Reference
NACW (Black-led Clubs)
Missions focused on anti-lynching, voting, AND social services.
Addressed race + gender simultaneously (Intersectionality).
Protected women from specific sexual violence.
GFWC (White-led Clubs)
Missions often excluded women of color (segregated).
Focused on "social housekeeping" (sanitation, education).
Primary focus on gender rights (suffrage) without racial context.
The "Middle" (Common Ground)
Organized as federations of local clubs.
Middle-class leadership/membership.
Philanthropic work (libraries, kindergartens).
Critical Background for Teachers
It is vital to emphasize that the Black Women's Club Movement was not just a "social club" in the modern sense. It was a political survival strategy . In the post-Plessy South, Black women were legally and socially vulnerable. The clubs provided a defensive shield against the hypersexualization and dehumanization used to justify violence against them. Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin's call for "sisterhood" was a call to arms for the protection of Black families when the state refused to do so.
Lifting As We Climb Slides The Progressive Era
Lifting As We Climb
The Origins and Mission of the Black Women's Club Movement
HS HISTORY
Warm-Up: Decoding the Slogans
"Lifting As We Climb"
Motto of the NACW
"Votes for Women"
Mainstream Suffrage Slogan
Predict & Discuss
Based on these slogans, how might the goals of Black women activists have differed from those of white suffragists?
What does "Lifting" imply?
Who is "We" in each slogan?
Origins of the Movement
660 SECONDS
Embedded media
Content Warning (1:19)
Brief mention of physical and sexual violence in the context of the Jim Crow era.
Guiding Question
"What specific threats spurred the creation of these clubs, and how did their mission differ from organizations led by men?"
Listen For:
Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin
Self-Help Philisophy
Intersectionality
Beyond a Single Identity
The Club Women understood that race and gender could not be separated.
They fought for universal rights, but addressed the specific ways Black women were targeted by both racism and sexism.
RACE
GENDER
Intersectionality
Group Analysis: Sisters in Service
Using your worksheet, compare the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) with a contemporary reform organization.
Option A
NACW vs. GFWC
Option B
NACW vs. Early NAACP
Focus Concept: "Self-Help" vs. "Structural Change"
Sisters in Service Worksheet Sisters in Service
Analyzing the Black Women's Club Movement
Name: ________________________________
Date: ________________________________
Video Analysis: Origins & Missions
1. What specific threats during the Jim Crow era catalyzed the formation of the Black Women's Club Movement?
2. How did the motto "Lifting as we climb" represent the philosophy of the National Association of Colored Women (NACW)?
The Comparative Lens: Mapping Reform
Compare the NACW with a contemporary group of your choice (GFWC or Early NAACP). Think about: Leadership demographics, primary goals, methods (self-help vs. political), and who they were trying to protect.
NACW
Comparison: _________________
Shared Mission
Analysis: Self-Help vs. Structural Change
Early clubs focused on "self-help" (building kindergartens, libraries, etc.). Later, under leaders like Mary McLeod Bethune, they shifted toward "structural change" (federal lobbying, ending discrimination in federal jobs).
Why was this shift necessary by the 1930s?
Perspective Shift Exit Ticket Exit Ticket: History Lab
Perspective Shift
Topic: Intersectionality in Reform
Name: _________________
The Challenge:
Explain why "intersectionality" is a necessary lens for understanding the Black Women's Club Movement. How does looking only at race OR only at gender fail to tell the whole story?
Your 3-Sentence Summary:
Lifting As We Climb
Exit Ticket: History Lab
Perspective Shift
Topic: Intersectionality in Reform
Name: _________________
The Challenge:
Explain why "intersectionality" is a necessary lens for understanding the Black Women's Club Movement. How does looking only at race OR only at gender fail to tell the whole story?
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