History of the Married Ladies Social, Art and Charity Club of America

On September 8, 1902, twelve women of Houston’s affluent African American community held a meeting in the home of Mrs. Mary Crawford in Houston to establish a nonprofit club known as the Married Ladies Social, Art and Charity Club. The founding members included Nannie Murray, Mary Crawford, Mrs. E.A. Nogan, Lilla Love (wife of Charles N. Love), Melissa Price, Effie Collins, Luella Walker, Eliza Scott, Jennie Clarke, Chloe Woods, Lula Anderson, and Venora Bell. Nannie Murray served as the first president, and Mrs. E.A. Nogan was the organization’s first secretary. The club’s purpose was to engage in charitable and social endeavors in Houston and Harris County to promote the social welfare of its members and the greater community as well as inspire its members “along intellectual, industrial, and artistic…lines.”      

The club initially met twice a month in different members’ homes, and monthly dues were five cents. With a waitlist of eligible married women, the organization’s membership was limited to seventy-five “respectable” married women who “measured up to the moral, spiritual, and social ideals of the Club.” Early activities included making clothes for children in need during routine sewing circles and planning and hosting entertainment such as decorating floats for Juneteenth parades. In addition, these clubwomen also accommodated prominent Black visitors, such as Sissieretta Jones, Roscoe Conklin, and Booker T. Washington, when Jim Crow laws restricted their travels and lodging. Club members also assisted victims of the Fifth Ward fire of 1912. Through the years, the club made donations in support of various social initiatives to uplift Houston’s Black community and assist elderly people.

In 1932, under the club’s second president, Mary Hunter, the members purchased a plot of land that they initially intended as the site of an “old folks home,” but with the opening of a similar home at another location, they eventually leased the property to Humble Oil Company (see EXXON COMPANY, U.S.A.) for $300. The land was later sold. In 1939 the club incorporated as the Married Ladies Social, Art and Charity Club of America, Inc., and put together its first yearbook in the mid-1940s. In 1947–48 Mrs. S. H. Ross served as the club’s president, and she housed battered women and helped them find employment. Under her leadership, the club raised money for donations to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and Riverside General Hospital.

By the early 1950s the members purchased their first club house, at 1902 Berry Avenue, which was established for their members to meet and serve the local Black community. Unfortunately, in 1966 the city purchased the club house for the construction of State Highway 288. However, board members and realtor Roasie Harris found a new location, and on July 2, 1967, opened their new club house at 1814 Southmore Boulevard.

Between 1969 and 1971, during the presidency of Geraldine Jones, the members revised their 1930s constitution. The 1970s brought financial difficulties for the club, however, the members persevered. With the changing times of the 1980s, President Ella Holliday, who acknowledged the shift in family dynamics and a large membership of widows, offered an amendment that opened membership to all women that met their “strict requirements of…high character, membership, and community involvement.”

Noted members have included civil rights activist Christia Adair and civic leader Jennie Covington. By the early 2000s the Married Ladies Social, Art and Charity Club of America provided math and reading clinics, scholarships, and book giveaways. Their quilting circle donated quilts to M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Riverside General Hospital, and Project Row Houses. The organization received a Texas Historical Marker in 2010. Still operating out of 1814 Southmore in Houston, the club charged $35 monthly dues to its members and stood as the oldest surviving civic organization of Black women in Houston and the state of Texas.