The Working Girls Home Association, later renamed The Phillis Wheatley Association, was organized by Jane Edna Hunter in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1911. In the first years the Association concentrated its efforts on housing and employment for young African American women. With a budget of $1,500, the Association maintained a boarding home for twenty-two girls. As the demand for housing expanded, by 1917 it was necessary to purchase a larger building to accommodate an increasing number of residents. The building was purchased for $37,000, raised by contributions.
In 1919, aided by the Welfare Federation of Cleveland, the Phillis Wheatley Association purchased an adjoining building for the development of an educational and social center and established the Stephen School of Music.
Residents of the Association lived in a wholesome atmosphere where cafeteria meals were cooked with a southern flare and attractively served at prices within the means of the residents. Cooking classes were established for the purpose of planning and preparing luncheons, dinners, and teas. Those employed who wished to become more skillful and more valuable to their employers and women who wished to improve their homemaking skills were encouraged to attend the training school that was established in 1931. Other programs successfully developed were sewing, dressmaking, sports such as swimming, basketball, baseball and tennis; dramatization, handicraft, discussion groups, and literary programs geared toward the development of friendship and cooperation.
The Phillis Wheatley Association is an example of an African American self-help organization designed to help young women adjust to city life. The intellectual achievements perpetuated and the vocational training offered in this institution aided young women in overcoming countless obstacles to advancement and thus became an important aspect of Cleveland's history.
The Phillis Wheatley Association Records, 1911-1960 and undated, consist of financial and committee reports, minutes of meetings, financial statements, insurance policies, newspaper clippings, printed brochures, photographs, speeches, and correspondence.
This collection will be useful to researchers studying the history of Cleveland, Ohio, and its African American community in the twentieth century. Those studying the history of African American women, employment and training issues, and the transition from rural, southern life to urban, northern life will find this collection particularly useful. These records reflect the internal administration of the Association and contain material relating to the many activities which it undertook. Of special interest is the correspondence relating to contributors who assisted in the financing of the Phillis Wheatley Association.
The collection is arranged in eight series.
All photographs have been removed to PG 74 Phillis Wheatley Association Photographs.
The researcher should also consult PG 74 Phillis Wheatley Association Photographs; MS 3544 Jane Edna Hunter Papers; and MS 4867 Jane Edna Hunter Papers, Series II.
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 3527 Phillis Wheatley Association Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Gift of the Phillis Wheatley Association in 1971.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.