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Women's Loyal Union of New York and Brooklyn

The Women's Loyal Union of New York was a club dedicated to the constant fight for civil rights and social service. In 1892, Maritcha Remond Lyons and Victoria Earle Matthews co-founded The Women’s Loyal Union of New York and Brooklyn, otherwise known as the WLU. This organization was one of the first ones ever created for the purpose of giving black women a political space to act as an interest group advocating towards racial justice and women’s rights.[1] This organization is furthermore recognized as a starting point for the National Association of Colored Women and its works against lynching with the alliance of Ida B. Wells. [2]

Background

Origins of the creation of The Women's Loyal Union

The Women’s Loyal Union of New York, or WLU, started with Maritcha Remond Lyons; she was an African American educator known to be a suffragist and activist. Lyons spent most of her life dedicated to finding new ways through education and advocacy to stand up for women’s rights and most importantly, the racial injustices that came with being an African American Women in a period in time where women in a broad perspective weren’t given the same rights as their counterparts, one being the 15th amendment. This being said, one of the many ways in which she serves towards this cause was partnering with educator and activist Victoria Earle Matthewson October 5, 1892. Both women were in charge of hosting and organizing a testimonial dinner in New York’s Lyric Hall for the journalist and civil rights activist Ida B. Wells and her anti-lynching campaign They raised remarkable funds and this slowly led the path into founding the Women’s Loyal Union of New York.[3]

After some time, the organization became a pathway for the well known National Association of Colored Women (NACW) as well as recognized for their intense resistance to the Color Line. which was a way of expressing the segregation that existed between the black and white communities [4][5]and their anti-lynching work which included Wells’ ideas of not only advocating towards stopping lynches from going on but also dismantling the untold truths of the unjust punishments African American’s had to endure for crimes that weren’t factual, the most use one being false accusations of sexual harassment from black men to white women. [6]

The Suffrage Movement

The Women's Loyal Union was one of the organizations who supported women's suffrage in the 1800. This list also included the National Woman Suffrage Association which was run by white activists.[7]. However, most of these white led organizations focused on the progression and equal rights for white women, not for their black sisters as well.[8] Many women’s suffragists were biased about supporting the ratification of the 15th Amendment and which seemed like an ideal option, however this new addition did not specify women’s right to vote as well. [9]

Marginalization of African American Women

The marginalization of African American Women throughout the civil rights movement caused many from these communities to rise and create their own organizations. Black and white women had different intentions towards why the ability of voting was so important and the different backgrounds of why they wanted to vote. [10] Many women from the white community were seen as oppressed wives and mothers who wanted the chance to politically involve themselves and challenge society’s norms. The African American woman suffrage movement had different views from white women organizations when it came to the reasoning behind why the right to vote was so important. [11] African American women suffragist organizations wanted to lift up and empower their communities which have and had been disparaged over the years. There were many rival organizations around the nation like the National Woman Suffrage Association and Northeastern Federation of Colored Women’s club; although many saw southern suffragist organizations as drawbacks because of the oppression black women organizations would receive from southern white women organizations. [12]

Founders

Maritcha Remond Lyons

Maritcha Remond Lyons

Early Life

Maritcha Remond Lyons was an African American woman who made a name for herself as an educator, suffragist, and civic founder [13]. She was born in the streets of New York City in May 27,1861 and died on March 10, 1907. Her peers' names were Ablro Lyons Sr. and Mary Joseph Lyons. She was a religious woman to a certain extent which assisted the African Church of St. Philips in Five Points with her parents and 5 siblings [14] [15].

Education

She proceeded her education at Manhattan’s Colored School No.6 as a child and because of issues with NYC Draft Riots,her and her family were forced to to move out to Salem Massachusetts. She was the first African American student to graduate from Providence High School after many rejections from this organization and the state, but after her family sued the state they successfully won the case against segregation at schools. Mrs. Lyons then became a school teacher, specifically teaching elementary school, and devoted herself to her passion of education and activism for about 50 years.

Activism

She was also known for her incredible public speaking skills and allegedly even won a debate against Ida B. Wells at Brooklyn Literary Union. She was the founder of one of the first women’s rights and racial justice organizations in the United States. The name given to this organization was the Women's Loyal Union of New York and Brooklyn, also known as the WLU. Maritcha Remond Lyons and her co- founder, Victoria Earle Mathews both formed this organization after organizing an event for Ida B. Wells and anti-racism and her antilynching campaigns.[16]

Victoria Earl Matthews

Victoria Earle Matthews

Early Life

Victoria Earle Matthews was a successful African American activist, journalist, and entrepreneur; she was born in Fort Valley,Georgia on May 27,1861 and died on March 10,1907. [17] She was born into slavery in Fort Valley,Georgia but once her mother, Caroline Smith fled their masters, Victoria’s and her siblings were given the chance to buy their freedom through their mother’s hard work [18].Many believed she was of mixed race and that her past master/owner was her father, this was not very surprising during this time. After becoming free people Matthews family migrated to New York City in 1873 and pursued an education and assisted public schools but dropped out to become a domestic servant to help support her family[19]. She later on married William E. Matthews, who was a coachman from Virginia and they had a son named Lamartine Matthews. Victoria Earle Matthews died at the age of 45 of tuberculosis. [20]

Education

Even though she did assist a public high school when she was a teenager, she was considered an autodidact who took advantage of her employers home library and finished her tasks as a domestic servant faster so she could get back to her studies, the owner allowed her to[21].Her work started out as a journalist with little to no experience but she was bright and as “the foremost of her sex of our race” as the [22] recalled.

Activism

Victoria Earle Matthews became the very first president of Women's Loyal Union Lyons after meeting and organizing Ida B. Wells testimonial dinner. They supported and complied with the anti-lynching campaign Wells had been fighting foe. The WLU worked alongside Ida B. Wells and her anti-lynching crusade and the termination of racial discrimination. She was also part of different organizations like the National Association of Colored Women and formed part of the White Rose mission. After the passing of her son Lamartine Matthews, she became involved in settlement work around the south and the New York area which helped many young black lives who immigrated to these parts because of the Great Migration. Mathews provided housing and educational skills through organizations which were called the White Rose Home for Working Class Negro Girls or also known as the White Rose Mission. She had many allies who supported her cause like Adam Clayton Powell who was the pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church.

Ida B. Wells and her Contributions

Ida B Wells was an American Journalist best known for her work with women’s rights and her anti-lynching campaign. Apart from this, Wells was a feminist and early leader in the Civil Rights Movement that worked hand in hand with other women, especially black women in order for them to find power through voting rights for women. [23] Wells used her political voice in order to shed light into other organizations, amongst them was the Women's Loyal Union of New York and Brooklyn.

B. Wells had a testimonial dinner held by activist club members that included organizations like the National Association of Colored Women and the recent Women's Loyal Union club of New York and Brooklyn. Remond Lyons and Victoria Earl Matthews actually helped Mrs. Wells raise funds for her anti-lynching campaign.

Even though Wells was not a founder of the Women’s Loyal Union, she did form great part in the inspiration behind the founding and purpose of the organization, working hand in hand with Lyons and Matthews as to create new forms of advocating towards racial justice, most importantly against lynching and creating a space where women were welcomed to actively participate in political manners.

Mission and Accomplishments

Mission

The Women's Loyal Union’s mission was to help the Ida B. Wells anti-lynching campaign prevail and help black women organize themselves and create interest group so they could act in political matters. [24]

Accomplishments

As mentioned before, the beginning purpose of the Women’s Loyal Union of New York and Brooklyn was to aid women and give them a voice during a time where women were not included in the 15th amendment. It led an organization that was fundamental into paving the way for other organizations into finding a space where women could be given a voice and become advocates. Apart from this, one of the greatest accomplishments from the WLU was being a big part of funding Ida B Wells’ antilynching pamphlet, "Southern Horrors: Lynch Laws in All Its Phases" which became one of the center issues that the WLU tackled. [25]

References

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• Roumell, E. A., & James‐Gallaway, A. C. D. (2021). Social movements, Community Education, and the fight for racial justice: Black women and social transformation. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 2021(170), 21–31. https://doi.org/10.1002/ace.20422
• Goodier, S. (n.d.). Seeking and seeing black women: Hester C. Jeffrey and woman suffrage ... Historians Corner. Retrieved October 23, 2022, from https://searchworks.stanford.edu/articles/31h__129241056
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• Terborg-Penn, R. (1999). African American women in the struggle for the vote, 1850-1920. Indiana Univ. Press.
• P. Dodson, A. (2022). From Start to Finish: African Americans in the Woman Suffrage Movement. Torch.
• Gold, David. “Creating Space for Black Women’s Citizenship: African American Suffrage Arguments in the Crisis.” Rhetoric Society Quarterly, vol. 50, no. 5, 30 Sept. 2020, pp. 335–351, 10.1080/02773945.2020.1813322. Accessed 15 Nov. 2020.
• Jones, Martha. “For Black Women, the 19th Amendment Didn’t End Their Fight to Vote.” National Geographic, 7 Aug. 2020, www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/black-women-continued-fighting-for-vote-after-19th-amendment.
• Ware, Susan. Why They Marched : Untold Stories of the Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote. Cambridge, Massachusetts, The Belknap Press Of Harvard University Press, 2019.
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• “Anti-Lynching Movement.” Wikipedia, 12 Dec. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-lynching_movement.
• Bobo, Jacqueline, et al. “Https://Search.library.ucla.edu/Discovery/Fulldisplay?Vid=01UCS_LAL:UCLA&Search_scope=ArticlesBooksMore&Tab=Articles_books_more_slot&Docid=Alma9953077313606533&Context=L.” Search.library.ucla.edu, 2004, search.library.ucla.edu/discovery/fulldisplay?vid=01UCS_LAL:UCLA&search_scope=ArticlesBooksMore&tab=Articles_books_more_slot&docid=alma9953077313606533&context=L. Accessed 5 Dec. 2022.
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• Brown, Elsa Barkley, et al. “Black Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia.” Www.scholars.northwestern.edu, 1993, www.scholars.northwestern.edu/en/publications/black-women-in-america-an-historical-encyclopedia. Accessed 5 Dec. 2022.
• D. Hicks, Cheryl. Talk with You like a Woman: African American Women, Justice, and Reform in New York. University of North Carolina Press.
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• Douglass, Frederick. “Accept Terms and Conditions on JSTOR.” Www.jstor.org, 1881, www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/25100970.pdf.
• “Historic New York Suffragists.” Welcome to the State of New York, 10 Aug. 2017, www.ny.gov/new-york-state-womens-suffrage-commission/historic-new-york-suffragists-0.
• J. Giddings, Paula. “When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America - Harvard Book Store.” Www.harvard.com, 1984, www.harvard.com/book/when_and_where_i_enter_the_impact_of_black_women_on_race_and_sex_in_america/. Accessed 5 Dec. 2022.
• Johnson, Val Marie. ““The Half Has Never Been Told”: Maritcha Lyons’ Community, Black Women Educators, the Woman’s Loyal Union, and “the Color Line” in Progressive Era Brooklyn and New York.” Journal of Urban History, vol. 44, no. 5, 1 Feb. 2017, pp. 835–861, 10.1177/0096144217692931. Accessed 18 Apr. 2021.
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• Lakin Hutcherson, Lori. “Women’s Loyal Union of New York and Brooklyn.” Good Black News, goodblacknews.org/tag/womens-loyal-union-of-new-york-and-brooklyn/. Accessed 5 Dec. 2022.
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