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THE FEDERATION JOURNAL
April, 1955
THE FEDERATION JOURNAL
“Lifting As We Climb”
ISSUED BY
The North Carolina Federation of
Negro Women's Clubs
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
MRS. ROSE D. AGGREY Salisbury
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
MRS. NORMA DARDEN Wilson
MRS. EDNA B. TAYLOR Southern Pi.ies
MRS. H. B. BYNUM Kinston
MRS. P. R. BROWN Hoftman
MRS. ALICE P. COJXINS Smithfield
MRS. AMMIE P. FOSTER Pinehurst
MRS. CORINNE THOMAS Salisbury
Taking Our Place In The
National Association
For the past year the president has
been working toward the arousing of more
interest in, and larger participation with
the National Association of Clubs. In the
earlier days of our state organization, our
interest in national membership, our sup
port of the aims and projects of the par
ent body, our desire for worthy repre
sentation and participation in the execu
tive area of its work, were all much keen
er; and all these were manifested more
creditably, we confess, than they have
been in these later years. Heretofore,
our own state projects, we have said,
seriously needed all our strength; and in
deed, we have not yet succeeded in secur
ing full support for our Project for the
Blind, our Scholarship Fund, nor have
we secured one hundred per cent pay
ment of State association membership
dues, this latter, a requirement initiated
upon the adoption of our new constitution.
However, if we are to become reputable
members of the outstanding National As
sociation, we must pay national dues, and
report the amount accurately according
to our local club membership. We have
been sending an affiliation fee of fifty dol
lars; but our membership dues, if proper
ly paid, would amount to more than that,
and no individual member would thereby
suffer any extreme poverty; but on the
other hand would have the consciousness
of contributing to the progress and devel
opment of one of the finest organizations
of women in the world.
As we renew our work in our local clubs
for the incoming year, as we return from
this annual meeting and plan for im
provement in all of our projects; let every
leader, every delegate, every club woman,
resolve to become a member of the na
tional, to pay national dues and try to
help support national projects. Set a time
for collecting national dues, and include
in your programs information on the life
and achievements of our great women
leaders, our Negro institutions, our na
tional projects and enterprises. The de
sire to honor our leaders and to support
these worthy causes will increase accord
ingly.
We are trying to set up in our own state
federation, some of the departments sim-
Apartheid
Many of our club women remember
with great pleasure having heard Mrs.
Madie Hall Xuma of Johannesburg, South
Africa when she addressed our Conven
tion in Statesville in 1948 and again in
Shelby in 1951. In each lecture,
among other things Mrs. Xuma described
the political and social situation that was
distressing the South African native peo
ple at that time. It is for us now, a seri
ous reflection that some of the fears that
Mrs. Xuma expressed then have very
sadly come to pass; for over the radio,
through television, and newspapers re
ports have come to us describing the re
moval of the native people to a segregat
ed town. Dr. and Mrs. Xuma like 60,000
other non-whites are under government
orders to move outside the city 14 miles
away to a designated segregated town.
Johannesburg issued its final decree
against natives living anywhere in close
proximity to the white population, and
the decree was enforced.
Mrs. Xuma was Miss Madie Beatrice
Hall of Winston-Salem, daughter of a
prominent physician. She met Dr. Alfred
Xuma while she was a student at Colum
bia University. Together for fifteen years
they have worked together in South
Africa where Mrs. Xuma organized clubs
for the uplift of the native women, pro
moted the YWCA and worked among the
people generally as one of the useful wo
men in Johannesburg; while her husband
one of the best qualified Negro medical
doctors in the city has served not only
the members of his own race, but many
white persons as well. Activity in his
practice did not preclude leadership in
other areas for Dr. Xuma. For nine years
1940-1949 he served as president of the
African National Congress—an organiza
tion which is now the largest political
group among the native people.
To Dr. and Mrs. Xuma our club wo
men express their regret that such use
ful persons are forced to give up a com
fortable home and pleasant surroundings.
As they face what must be a most pain
ful situation, we wish them to know that
over here we are thinking of them and
praying that God may overrule all their
unhappiness and displeasure for His
eternal good. The world is not standing
still. Truth, justice and right have al
ways conquered and will conquer over
there; for God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform” and “He standeth
now within the shadows, keeping watch
above His own.”
ilar to those set up by the National As
sociation. Directors of these departments
have been selected already, and soon we
shall be gathering sufficient inspiration
from their reports for projecting our in
terest into other departments.
The following ladies have accepted the
Continued on Page 3
Something New Has
Been Added
Dear Hobbyists:
Yes indeed—we will have our Hobby
Show again this year and are sure your
group will be well represented when the
hobbies are displayed. Some have asked
about hobbies they brought last year, but
let’s look at it this way: if crocheting was
your hobby last year, it most certainly is
your hobby this year. One does not change
hobbies with the seasons or years. So
bring or send what you have to Concord,
so we can have a big show.
The new wrinkle is a SALE. Each mem
ber of the Federation is asked to bring
or send something to the meeting. May 13,
14, 15, which can be sold for the benefit of
the Federation. Do not send anything to
be sold for yourself. This will be a gift to
the Federation, so let us have whatever
you have to offer: canned fruits, vege
tables, jellies, handiwork, aprons, any
thing for which we can get a sale.
The purpose of the sale is to help take
care of minor expenses of the Federation
meeting such as janitor service, postage,
telegrams, etc. Please do your bit by send
ing us something to sell. All money w’ill
be carefully accounted for and turned
over to the treasurer of the Federation.
Sincerely yours,
(Miss) SNOW BAILEY,
Chairman, Durham, N. C.
COMMITTEE
Mrs. Miriam Davidson, Box 502, States
ville, N. C.
Mrs. L. S. Pittman, 212 Dowdy Street,
Rocky Mount, N. C.
Mrs. Mary L. White, 407 Shephard St.,
Elizabeth City, N. C.
Mrs. L. V. Merrick, 906 Fayetteville, St.,
Durham, N. C.
Miss Snow Bailey, Chairman, 808
Fayetteville, Street, Durham, N. C.
OUR DISTINGUISHED GUEST
Continued from Page 1
Chicago; and is the first time a member
of the Negro race has led the ticket in
either Party in the City of Chicago.
For this achievement Mrs. Gaines was
recently awarded the citation of the
“Woman of the Year” by the Chicago and
Northern District Association of Colored
Women.
Mrs. Gaines is a Steward of Bethel
A.M.E. Church. She is the President of
the Maude E. Smith Day Nursery As
sociation, one of the few interracial
Nurseries in Chicago. She is a member of
the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority and an
honorary member of Iota Phi Lambda
Sorority.
She serves as guest speaker for numer
ous churches, orgamizations in Chicago and
the State of Illinois, as well as other sec
tions of the country. She now gives her
full time to community services as a
Volunteer.