Throughout history women fought obstacles to power and overcame perceptions of their role in society. This February, events held at the Main Library location of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County showcase African American women who refused to take a limited role, and became leaders who made a difference in the Cincinnati community.
Empowerment and Achievement: African American Women in the Queen City
- 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3 — Cincinnati Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs
Historian John Harshaw and members of the Cincinnati Federation of Colored Women talk about one of the oldest African American women’s organizations in the U.S. Established in 1904 with a mission to cultivate and educate women; the federation had 40 chapters by the 1950s. The women established day cares, cultural art groups and scholarship awards. They also provided clothes and food for needy families, and volunteers for hospitals and retirement homes. The event will include discussion of efforts to preserve and renovate the federation’s clubhouse, a Samuel Hannaford-designed mansion and registered national historic landmark, at 1010 Chapel Street in Walnut Hills.
- 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10 — Marian Spencer: Keep on Fighting
Join biographer Dorothy H. Christenson for a talk about Cincinnati legend, Marian Spencer, who achieved a number of civic leadership firsts in her adopted home of Cincinnati and a legacy of lasting Civil Rights victories. Of these, the best-known is the desegregation of Cincinnati’s Coney Island. Her campaign to raise awareness of industrial toxic-waste practices in minority neighborhoods was later adapted into national Superfund legislation.
- 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24 — Miss Black Cincinnati and Miss Black Teen Cincinnati Pageants
Thirty-eight years ago, Robert L. Humphries created a pageant that focused on the inner beauty of the contestants and valued young African American women for their intellect and poise. Humphries and former contestants discuss the history of these pageants and the impact it made on individual lives and on the community.
All programs will take place in the Reading Garden Lounge on the first floor of the South Building at Main. Visit our events page or call 513-369-6905.
