National Association of Colored Women Founded 1896

Black women's clubs from across the country merged into the National Association of Colored Women in Washington DC on July 21, 1896, with Mary Church Terrell as founding president. The NACW united over 100 clubs and 5,000 members to fight lynching, disenfranchisement, and segregation, and to establish schools, orphanages, and community services. Its motto — 'Lifting As We Climb' — expressed collective responsibility.